The soprano Olga Zinovieva was born in Novosibirsk in Russia.
She started her musical education at the age of eight at music school,
learning to play the piano. When she was fifteen she was accepted into
Novosibirsk Music College where she began her major’s study in classical
piano.
Her singing education began when she was twenty-one at Gnesins’ Russian
Academy of Music in Moscow. Her singing teacher was the Russian soprano,
Professor Margarita Miglow, a former soloist at the famous Bolshoi
Theatre. Olga graduated in May 2004 with an Honors Diploma as Opera
Singer, Oratorio and Chamber Music Singer. While at the Academy she
performed in numerous opera productions including Rossini’s “Il Barbiere
di Siviglia” singing Rosina and Verdi’s “La Traviata” where she sang
Violetta. She also participated in numerous concerts on various stages
in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In the period of 2005-2008 Olga has been following a Masters course at
the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where her singing teachers were
Barbara Pearson and Diane Forlando. Olga has taken part in
master-classes given by Ira Siff, Jard van Nes, Michael Chance and Henk
Smit. She was also coached and directed by Kenneth Montgomery in an
abridged concertante performance of Mozart’s "Le Nozze di Figaro", where
she sang the role of Susanna.
Olga’s opera repertoire includes roles of Queen of the Night (Die
Zauberföte, Mozart), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart), Olympia (Les
Contes d'Hoffman, Offenbach), Gilda (Rigoletto, Verdi), Marfa (The
Tzar's Bride, Rimski-Korsakov).
The pianist Sergey Smirnov was born in Minsk, Belarus, in 1980. He graduated from the Music College of the Belarusian Academy of Music in 1998 and continued his studies at the Music Academy in Minsk (with Yuri Gildyuk). In 2003 Sergey came to The Netherlands to continue his studies with Naum Grubert at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 2006, he obtained his Master of Music degree as a solo piano performer.
In between, Sergey participated in masterclasses with such eminent mentors as Viktor Merzhianov, Charles Rosen, Stefan Vladar, Igor Roma and Jacques Rouvier.
Sergey's creative output is very high. His numerous recitals and chamber performances represent a wide repertoire, ranging from the baroque to contemporary music. Between 1990 and 2011, Sergey has played at concerts in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, France, England, Japan and India, and he has performed as a soloist in concertos by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich with several chamber and symphony orchestras.
Sergey Smirnov has been awarded many prizes in numerous international competitions, such as International High School music Competition in Takasaki (Japan) and Porto International Piano Competition (Portugal), to name a few.