Marina Domashenko was born in Kemerovo (Russia). She graduated with honours as a pianist and conductor from the Kemerovo School of Music, and from the Ekaterinburg Conservatory, where she studied in the opera singing class under the guidance of Svetlana Zaliznyak.
She won first prizes at the 32nd "International Antonín Dvorak Singing Competition" (Karlsbad, Czech Republic, 1997) and the Concorso Internazionale per Giovani cantanti d'Opera (the International Competition for young opera singers) "Gianfranco Masini" (Reggio Emilia, Italy, 1999).
She made her European debut in 1998 singing the role of Olga in
Evgenij Onegin at the State Opera in Prague. In the 1998/9 season she returned to Prague to perform Pauline in Tchaikovsky's
The Queen of Spades, the title role in
Carmen and Dorabella in
Così fan tutte. In 1999 she took part in the tour of the Prague National Theatre in Japan with
Carmen.
Her American debut took place in the year 2000 at San Francisco Opera, where she performed
Samson et Dalila (Dalila) at a gala concert together with Placido Domingo.
Highlights of her 1999/2000 season include Rossini's
Stabat Mater in Montpellier,
Suor Angelica at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam,
Evgenij Onegin (Olga) in Moscow,
Alexander Nevsky in Athens and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, as well as
Carmen in Cagliari and solo concerts in Greece.
In the last season, Marina Domashenko took part in the productions of
The Tsar's Bride (Lyubasha) and
Luisa Miller at the San Francisco Opera,
Die Fledermaus and
The Queen of Spades at the Opéra National de Paris. In addition she appeared in
Missa Glagolitica with the London Symphony Orchestra and Colin Davis in London and in New York, at the Lincoln Center, followed by
Nabucco at the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. More recently Marina Domashenko has made her successful debut at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna with
The Queen of Spades.
During her career, she has had the opportunity to collaborate with such conductors as Belohlàvek, Chailly, David, Jurowsky, Kitayenko, Kolobov, Korsten, Runnicles, Temirkanov.
Highlights of her future engagements include
Nabucco and
Evgenij Onegin at the Opéra National de Paris and
Carmen at the San Francisco Opera, at the Arena di Verona and at the Philadelphia Opera Company. Others are
The Queen of Spades in Barcelona,
Falstaff with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Colin Davis,
Alexander Nevsky at the Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon and
Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In the 2003 Opera Festival in the Arena di Verona, Marina Domashenko will once again perform the title role in the opera
Carmen by Bizet.
June 2003