Baritone (RUSSIA)
Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Young Artist Program, Professor, Voice Department Chair, State Sveshnikov Choral Art Academy, formerly of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, Voice Department Chair, Gnessins College of Music. Jury member at numerous international competitions including Tchaikovsky Competition, Glinka International Voice Competition (2003, 2005, 2007) and Bella Voce International Competition (2004-2007). In 1996 Mr. Vdovin became a full-time assistant to the renowned Russian mezzo soprano Irina Arkhipova and a voice teacher and artistic director of her summer school. Mr.Vdovin has given master classes and consultations for singers in Russian cities such as Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, Saratov and USA (Russian-American Cultural Foundation in San Fransisco and Berkeley, repeatedly for the Houston Grand Opera Studio), Belgium (European Center of Opera and Vocal Art in Ghent) and Mexico. From 2000, he serves as the Artistic Director and teacher of the Annual Moscow International School of Vocal Art where voice teachers, coaches and artistic managers from Russia, USA, Italy and Great Britain participate. From 1986 to 1992, Mr. Vdovin was a music/opera critic for major Moscow newspapers and periodicals. Studied at the Moscow State Lunatcharsky Institute of Theatrical Arts (currently Russian Academy of Theatrical Arts). From 1984-1986 as the soloist with the Red Army Ensemble, he toured former USSR, Finland and Eastern Europe. Throughout his professional career Mr.Vdovin served as an Artistic Advisor to the most important Russian opera companies and orchestras including the Bolshoi, Kirov, Novaya Opera, Russian National Philharmonic, Moscow Virtuosi, Stanislavsky, Helikon Opera and many Russian regional theaters. As a Chairman of the opera department of the National Theater Union from 1987 to 1992 he produced the Anniversary Festivals honoring the great composers Mussorgsky (1989), Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev (1990) at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Light Opera Festival in Odessa (1990) and Light Opera and Young Musicians’ Competition in Moscow (1992). From 1992 Mr. Vdovin serves as the Artistic Manager of the Moscow Center for Music and Theater, the artistic agency that coordinates interaction between Russian and International Opera Companies and concert organizations such as Bolshoi, Kirov, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, La Fenice in Venice, London Royal Philharmonic, Madrid Festival among others. He served as a host for the 20 segments of the “Grand Prix of Moscow” TV-Young Singers Competition on the 1st National Channel. Many of Mr. Vdovin’s voice students have won major International competitions and have become principal artists. These include baritone Rodion Pogossov – winner of the Anton Dvorak Int. Competition in Czech Republic, member of the Lindemann Young Artists Program and soloist of the Metropolitan Opera, Frankfurt Oper, Glindebourne Festival, Toronto etc., recorded for EMI’s “Debut” series; tenor Dmitry Korchak – winner of Glinka, Vinas and Operalia of Placido Domingo Int. Competitions, soloist at Teatro alla Scala, Opera di Roma, San Carlo in Naples, Berliner and Wiener Staats Oper, Covent Garden, Opera Bastille, La Monnaie, performed under the baton of Muti, Maasel, Chailly, Zedda, leading roles in “Dom Sebasien” by Donizetti and in “Sonnambula” at Carnegie Hall; soprano Katerina Surina-Castronovo, winner of Rimsky-Korsakov and Elena Obrastzova Int. Competition, soloist of the Met, Berliner and Wiener Staats Oper, Royal Covent Garden, La Scala, Opera Bastille and many others; tenor Maxim Mironov, winner of Neue Stimmen Int. Competition in Germany, soloist at Champes Elysee, La Fenice, Teatro Communale di Bologna, La Monnaie, Hamburg Staats Oper, Glyndebourne, Pesaro and Aix en Province Festivals, one of the leading Rossini’s tenors, has many recording on major labels; bass Nikolay Didenko – the member of Houston Grand Opera Studio, the soloist at Moscow Novaya Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Bilbao etc.; baritone Vassily Laduk – 1st prize winner of the Vinas, Operalia Placido Domingo, Shizuoka Int. Competitions (2005), the soloist of Moscow Novaya Opera, La Monnaie, will open the season at the Bolshoi as Prince Eletsky in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” Met debut as Prince Andrey in the production of Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” in December 2007; soprano Albina Shaghimuratova, member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, winner of Tchaikovsky Int .Competition (2007) who is scheduled to appear at 2008 Salzburg Festival with Muti, Houston Grand Opera, Covent Garden, Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan and New York City Opera.
