Ksenia Dejneva is a professional operatic soprano. She holds four musical qualifications – distinguished matriculation from Music School; a First-Class Diploma from the
Gnessin Academy of Music; a course of Solo Vocal Studies; and a Postgraduate Degree
from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire.
Ksenia Dejneva was born on the 26th October in the Moscow suburban town of
Zhukovsky. With the exception of her mother Elena, who works in medicine, Ksenia's
whole family are involved in aviation. Despite this, Ksenia's future profession became
clear due to her granny Galina, and her love for classical music – and to her father
Andrei's own natural love for music, and who even sang at one time with a local rock
band called 'Paradox'.
It was her dad who enrolled the young Ksenia into the well-known local children's
choir Polyot – thus setting the stage for her future career. Perhaps he even fulfilled his
own dreams of a career in music through his daughter instead? She enjoyed her music
lessons so much, that she used to spend hours every day at the piano – so much so, that
her teacher even recommended her parents to keep the piano locked-up some of the
time.
Ksenia matriculated from the Children's Arts School after piano studies with her
teacher Irina Sigalova, who prepared her for the entrance exams at the Gnessin Academy
of Music. There the teachers noticed her great musical facility, and enrolled her in the
class for Choral Conducting, which was taught by the State-Honoured pedagogue Valery
Kalinin. This choice of discipline, connected with singing, seemed very clear – but very
soon Ksenia realised that her true calling was opera.
Her decision to change courses came after a very significant event in her life – after
first meeting the well-known vocal teacher who headed the Academic Vocal Studies
department, and also the Young Artistes of the Bolshoi Theatre Program – Dmitry
Vdovin. Among Vdovin's many pupils can be listed such well-known opera stars as the
baritone Rodion Pogosov and the tenor Maxim Mironov. Ksenia continued to study with
Dmitry Vdovin for a number of years whilst continuing to follow Choral Conducting
studies in parallel.
The breakthrough moment for Ksenia's career came two-and-a-half years later, when
Dmitry Vdovin recommended her as a pupil to the legendary Gnessin vocal teacher
Margarita Landa. Landa's pupils can be found performing at the world's leading opera
theatres. It's sufficient to mention the names of Elena Zaremba, Elena Mikhailova, and
Sergey Zakharov. Filipp Kirkorov is another who has studied with this great teacher.
Margarita Landa passed away in 2009, and was called a 'magician' by the Gnessin
Academy, for her abilities to train and establish a voice.
It was Landa who confirmed Ksenia's correct choice of profession, and set her training forth on a path to the Moscow Conservatoire.
It was in 2001 that Ksenia Dejneva became a student at the Moscow Tchaikovsky
State Conservatoire, which she entered at the first attempt, due to the excellent tuition
she had received. Just as with her enrollment at the Gnessin, Ksenia was quickly
pigeon-holed among the brightest of the year's intake, and entered the Solo Singing
faculty with the highest marks. There she began studying with Vera Kudryavtseva, the
widow of the legendary Russian tenor Lemeshev. She often visited her tutor at home, in
the home of the famous tenor. She went on to complete her Conservatoire studies as a
pupil of the famous teacher Galina Pisarenko. Thereafter she went on to take a postgraduate course of studies at the Conservatoire.
It was when she was in her third year at the Conservatoire than Ksenia made her
operatic debut – in the role of Susanna, in Mozart's comic opera The Marriage Of Figaro,
at the Tatarstan State Academic Opera & Ballet Theatre. Shortly afterwards she was
selected to sing the title role in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden at the
Moscow Novaya Opera Theatre. Ksenia has continued to maintain her artistic collaboration with the Tatarstan State Academic Opera, in Kazan. In June 2015 she is cast to sing
the role of Adina in Donizetti's opera L'Elisir d'Amore in Kazan.
Ksenia also sang a number of the main roles in opera at the Opera Studio of the
Moscow Conservatoire. These roles include Musetta (La Boheme, Puccini), Zerlina (Don
Giovanni, Mozart), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), Eros (Orfeo e Euridice, Glück),
and many other roles.
Since 2010 Ksenia has been teaching vocal studies herself, at the Gnessin Academy of
Music, despite her punishing professional schedule.
In 2011 Ksenia Dejneva was awarded the First Prize in the IIIrd Pathway To The Stars
international music contest for singers, organised by singer Irina Velichka.
In 2012 the People's Artist of Russia, Alexander Serov, invited Ksenia Dejneva to
perform in his project at Crocus City Hall, where she performed the famous number
“Time To Say Goodbye”. After the concert, Serov suggested that their collaboration
might develop further, and to this day Ksenia tours widely with Serov's group, performing numerous numbers in the genre of classical cross-over, such as La Voix and Canto
Della Terra.
Ksenia Dejneva is often invited to take part in many official events, City Day concerts,
professional holidays and festivals, and jubilee concerts all over Russia. She has often
participated in cultural events organised by the City Government of Moscow, in particular including the many Book Week Festivals in Moscow, London, Frankfurt-am-Main
and Beijing. She is a frequent performer in charity concerts organised by the
well-known pianist, People's Artist of Russia, Yuri Rozum.
In 2014 Ksenia Dejneva was declared a prize-winner of the Natalie Schiller All-Russia
Open Contest for Singers, “Stars of Russian Music”, in which she took Third Prize.
In the New Year Olivier-Show on Channel One Television in Russia, Ksenia sang a
duet with the famous performer Valery Meladze, singing a number based on musical
ideas from Verdi's opera La Traviata.
Nowadays Ksenia Dejneva is to be found performing in the large-scale television
music show Main Stage on the Rossiya Television channel. The contest began on 30th
January 2015. Ksenia believes passionately in popularising opera, and bringing classical
music to mainstream modern audiences – this is her main rationale for participating in
such projects.
The main aspect of her character, which helps her in her professional career, is her
ability to deal with stage fright and concentrate on the work in hand – along with the
intense personal scrutiny of her own work.
Ksenia Dejneva prefers to spend her free time with her friends – travelling, or watching new movies, or reading arthouse literature. Some of her favourite authors are Ernest
Hemingway, Marc Levi, or Francoise Sagan.
Although she confesses to a sweet tooth, none of her favourite desserts prevent her
from staying in trim form. In addition to not smoking, she doesn't drink hard spirits,
and takes a strong line against drugs. Her friendships with positive people help to keep
her emotions high. This is something which Ksenia values most of all. Insults just wash
off her like water off a duck's back, and her main motto in life is helping other people.
For all enquiries::
[email protected]
+7 985 364-74-64
www.dejneva.com