About me – Yuliya Tkachenko

Biography

Ukrainian soprano Yulia Tkachenko graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory (National Music Academy of Ukraine). She refined her skills in the Young Artist Program of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro.

Yulia’s path to opera was rather long. Although she studied music from childhood—playing the accordion for seven years and studying choral conducting for four—her passion for theater and acting was stronger at that time. She pursued a career as an actress, performing leading roles at the Nikolaev Drama Theater, her hometown’s main stage. Later, she moved to Kyiv, where she continued working in film and television productions.

At the age of thirty, she developed a profound interest in opera after being heard by Cecilia Bartoli’s pianist, who advised her to dedicate herself exclusively to opera singing. She then enrolled at the Kyiv Conservatory, and after earning her degree, she moved to Italy.

She made her operatic debut in 2017 as Mimì in La Bohème by Puccini at the New Opera of Kyiv. In 2018, she made her Italian debut at Teatro Tiberini, performing as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini.

From 2019, she began a three-year collaboration with the Ravenna Opera Festival, where she appeared as Marta in Szenen aus Goethes Faust by R. Schumann, La Hostess in Il viaggio di Mastorna by Matteo D’Amico, and La Fata Turchina in Pinocchio by Aldo Tarabella. She also participated in the legendary concerts of Riccardo Muti, Le Vie dell’Amicizia.

In 2022, she made her debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in the title role of Iolanta (Iolanta by P. Tchaikovsky) under the baton of Michael Guttler. During the same period, she sang Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by Paolo Olmi in Piacenza Cathedral, and performed as Mädchen in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill at the Teatro Regio di Parma, under the direction of Christopher Franklin.

She returned to the Teatro Regio di Parma in 2024, performing as Giannetta and covering Adina in L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti.

In July 2022, she sang at the Mozarteum in Salzburg as the lead soprano in the documentary film Mozart for Solidarity.

In November 2022, she portrayed Silvia in the contemporary opera Delitto all’Isola delle Capre by Marco Taralli at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi.

In May 2023, she made her debut at the Prague Spring Festival, conducted by Oksana Lyniv.

In October 2023, she appeared at the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza and the Teatro Pavarotti-Freni in Modena, performing the role of Contessa Olga Sukarev in Fedora by Umberto Giordano, directed by Pierluigi Pizzi. During the same period, she made her recital debut at the Teatro Grande di Brescia under Oksana Lyniv.

In June 2024, she will make her Wagnerian debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, singing Woglinde in Das Rheingold, followed by Gerhilde in Die Walküre in October 2024, both under the baton of Oksana Lyniv.

In 2025, she will return to the Teatro Comunale di Bologna for the fourth part of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Götterdämmerung, and for a production of Il barbiere di Siviglia by G. Rossini.

In February 2025, she will perform Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Regio di Torino.

In recent years, Yulia has performed as a soloist in some of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses and concert halls, including the Lithuanian National Opera, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Rudolfinum Dvořák Concert Hall (Prague Spring Festival), the Bozar Concert Hall (Brussels), the Palais des Congrès (Strasbourg), the Salle du Solarium (Bordeaux), and the Israeli National Opera. She has worked with conductors such as Oksana Lyniv, Christopher Franklin, Sesto Quatrini, Michael Guttler, Gustav Kuhn, Paolo Olmi, Aldo Sisillo, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, and stage directors including Pierluigi Pizzi, Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, Walter Malosti, Luca Micheletti, and Daniele Menghini.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022), Yulia has performed in benefit recitals and concerts worldwide to support her homeland.

Operatic Repertoire

Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart)
Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, Mozart)
Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Bellini)
Adina (L’elisir d’amore, Donizetti)
Violetta (La Traviata, Verdi)
Desdemona (Otello, Verdi)
Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi, Puccini)
Liù (Turandot, Puccini)
Mimì (La Bohème, Puccini)
Micaela (Carmen, Bizet)
Contessa Olga Sukarev (Fedora, Giordano)
Iolanta (Iolanta, Tchaikovsky)
Tatiana (Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky)
Woglinde (Das Rheingold, Wagner)
Gerhilde (Die Walküre, Wagner)

Cantatas & Oratorios

Stabat Mater (Pergolesi)
Requiem (Fauré)
Requiem (Mozart)
Messa Solenne (Rossini)
Requiem (Verdi)

REVIEWS AND CRITICISM

"Still, much of the expression fell to Ukrainian soprano Yulia Tkačenko, who sang with operatic anguish. Tkačenko is a rarity, a high soprano with the heft of a lower register, an ideal voice for carrying delicate lines freighted with emotional angst. The juxtaposition of purity and pain was captivating, a deeply personal outcry that at the same time spoke for multitudes."

Frank Kuznik

Bachtrack ( Prague Spring Festival, May 2024)

"The solo part was performed by the Ukrainian singer Yulia Tkachenko, an artist with a successful balance of competition successes and opera engagements in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, especially in Italy. Her dominant expressive position lies in a rather mobile anchoring somewhere in the middle between lyrical and dramatic expression.(...) The roughly twenty-minute piece was performed in its entirety, without caesuras, attacca, and Yulia Tkachenko's performance sounded completely authentic. The audience was enthusiastic about her performance as well as the collective one, and the applause showed it appropriately. This undoubtedly enhanced the success of the important piece of music, which had it's world premiere in Prague."

Julius Hulek

Klasikaplus ( Prague Spring Festival, May 2023 )

"In the title role, we find fellow countrywoman Yuliya Tkachenko. A vocally well-executed performance, thanks to a sound and musical instrument that is smooth in the mid-range and well-projected towards the high notes. A refined performer who, through engaged phrasing and naturally expressive gestures, successfully portrays the character from initial innocence to the throbbing ecstasy of the finale."

Opera Libera

( Iolanta, Aprile 2022 )

"Yuliya Tkachenko is a Princess Iolanta with a vibrant, fresh, and full vocal delivery."

Giornaledellamusica

"A charming and lively Yuliya Tkachenko also appears extremely at ease in the role of Countess Olga Sukarev. Her performance, convincing from the start, builds up over time, with the soprano displaying increasing confidence and musicality, while the actress gradually reveals the character’s more subtle psychological traits."

ApeMusicale

"Yuliya Tkachenko is excellent in the role of a sensual yet highly elegant Olga. The soprano stands out for her bright and well-toned voice, with a delicate delivery and remarkable projection in the upper register. Her phrasing is lively, as is her stage presence, always confident and carefree."

Opera Libera

"Also remarkable is the performance of soprano Yuliya Tkachenko, captivating on stage and possessing a light lyric voice with a tone that is not too sharp, but rather smooth and rounded."

Gbopera

"Yuliya Tkachenko completed the quartet of protagonists in the role of Countess Olga. The Ukrainian soprano impressed with her light and crystal-clear voice, as well as excellent diction and stage presence."

The.blogArtPost

"Elegant and musically delightful, Yuliya Tkachenko's Olga."

Andrea Merli

Impiccione Viaggiatore

"De Siriex (...) is well countered by Yuliya Tkachenko’s fresh, lively, and well-sung Olga Sukarev, who is appreciated for her charmingly playful portrayal of the character."

Artesnews

"Well-chosen were also the three lively (and later desperate) Rhine Daughters: (...) the vibrant and brilliant Yuliya Tkachenko (Woglinde), previously Iolanta at the Teatro Comunale."

Silvano Capecchi

OperaClik ( Das Rheingold, Giugno 2024 )