TAMARA KALINKINA – Künstleragentur Sandra Milankov

SOPRAN

Lyric-Dramatic Soprano | Honoured Artist of Ukraine

Lyric-dramatic soprano Tamara Kalinkina is an internationally acclaimed opera singer whose career encompasses leading roles at major opera houses and appearances at prestigious concert venues across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Distinguished by her rare, deep and velvety vocal timbre, expressive musicality and distinctive dramatic presence, she combines remarkable artistic versatility with an extensive repertoire.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tamara graduated from the R. Glier Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music and the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine.

From 2011 to 2023, she was a leading soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv. Since 2022, she has also been a leading soloist at the State Opera Stara Zagora in Bulgaria, where her repertoire has included Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, the title role in Bellini’s Norma, Desdemona in Otello, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin and Mimì in La bohème, among other roles. On 1 July 2025, Tamara took part in the Anniversary Gala Concert dedicated to the centenary of the State Opera Stara Zagora. Held at the Ancient open-air forum Augusta Traiana, the landmark event brought together distinguished guest artists and the company’s leading soloists to celebrate the opera’s 100th anniversary.

Following her First Prize at the 2012 Riccardo Zandonai International Voice Competition in Italy, Tamara continued to refine her vocal artistry with renowned Italian soprano Mietta Sighele and distinguished tenor Veriano Luchetti, the married couple who founded the competition. She developed a particularly close artistic relationship and lasting friendship with Mietta Sighele. As a laureate of the competition, Tamara was repeatedly invited to perform at the Musica Riva Festival in Riva del Garda, Italy, where she appeared as Violetta Valéry in Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata and in the title role of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca in concert performances, as well as in a series of concerts conducted by Marco Boemi.

In March 2018, she performed Verdi’s Requiem in Tuscania, Italy, in a concert dedicated to the memory of Veriano Luchetti, under the baton of Maestro Isaac Karabtchevsky.

In 2020, she won the Vienna International Music Competition. Her other distinctions include Second Prize at the 2012 Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition in Kyiv.

In 2018, she was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Artist of Ukraine.

From 2023 to 2026, Tamara was a regular guest soloist at Vanemuine Theatre in Estonia, where she made her debut as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly under the baton of Risto Joost. Her engagements there also included Liù in Turandot, in a production directed by Giorgio Madia, and Mimì in La bohème, directed by John Ramster.

In September 2023, Tamara Kalinkina performed the leading role of Nadzeya Yanouskaya in the world premiere of The Wild Hunt of King Stakh at London’s Barbican Theatre. The production featured music by contemporary Belarusian composer Olga Podgaiskaya and a libretto by Andrei Khadanovich. It was conducted by Vitali Alekseenok and directed by Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, founders of Belarus Free Theatre. The production and Kalinkina’s performance attracted international critical attention, including coverage in The New York Times.

A distinguished concert performer, Tamara appeared alongside Andrea Bocelli in August 2021 at a concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. She was accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Veryovka National Choir of Ukraine, conducted by Marcello Rota.

Her international appearances include Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Regio di Parma, Polish National Opera in Warsaw, Estonian National Opera, Macedonian National Opera and Ballet in Skopje, Los Angeles Opera, Dubai Opera, the National Opera of Algeria, Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, Teatro Sérgio Cardoso in São Paulo, Teatro Mario Del Monaco in Treviso, Opéra de Marseille, Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Musikverein in Graz, the Grand Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonia, Worms Theatre in Germany and Vilnius City Hall, among others. She has performed throughout Austria, Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Bulgaria and other countries.

Throughout her career, Tamara has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Marco Boemi, Vello Pähn, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Alexander Samuilé, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Marcello Rota, Filippo Arlia, Luis Fernando Malheiro and Pavel Baleff. Her stage collaborations include acclaimed directors Mariusz Treliński, Giorgio Madia, Dejan Projkovski, Mariano Bauduin, Ognian Draganov and Giandomenico Vaccari.

Cio-Cio-San — Madama Butterfly — Giacomo Puccini
Maddalena di Coigny — Andrea Chénier — Umberto Giordano
Floria Tosca — Tosca — Giacomo Puccini
Elisabetta di Valois — Don Carlo — Giuseppe Verdi
Desdemona — Otello — Giuseppe Verdi
Violetta Valéry — La traviata — Giuseppe Verdi
Norma — Norma — Vincenzo Bellini
Turandot — Turandot — Giacomo Puccini
Mimì — La bohème — Giacomo Puccini
Leonora — Il trovatore — Giuseppe Verdi
Aida — Aida — Giuseppe Verdi
Musetta — La bohème — Giacomo Puccini
Liù — Turandot — Giacomo Puccini
Lauretta — Gianni Schicchi — Giacomo Puccini
Angelica — Suor Angelica — Giacomo Puccini
Nedda — Pagliacci — Ruggero Leoncavallo
Donna Anna — Don Giovanni — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Countess — Le nozze di Figaro — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Susanna — Le nozze di Figaro — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Soprano Soloist — Messa da Requiem — Giuseppe Verdi
Marguerite — Faust — Charles Gounod
Antonia — Les Contes d’Hoffmann — Jacques Offenbach
Tatiana — Eugene Onegin — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Iolanta — Iolanta — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ksenia — Boris Godunov — Modest Mussorgsky
Rusalka — Rusalka — Antonín Dvořák
Oksana — Christmas Eve — Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Katerina — Katerina — Mykola Arkas
Natalka — Natalka Poltavka — Mykola Lysenko
Oksana — Cossack Beyond the Danube — Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
Nadzeya Yanouskaya — The Wild Hunt of King Stakh — Olga Podgaiskaya
Soprano Soloist — Oh, Righteous Soul — Bohdana Frolyak
Rosalinde — Die Fledermaus — Johann Strauss II
Silva Varescu — Die Csárdásfürstin — Emmerich Kálmán
Mariza — Countess Mariza — Emmerich Kálmán
Ninon — The Violet of Montmartre — Emmerich Kálmán
Eliza Doolittle — My Fair Lady — Frederick Loewe
Snow White — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — V. Domshynsky

Her concert repertoire also includes opera arias, romances, folk songs, chamber music and crossover programmes, including the solo projects Frankly About Love and Avec Le Temps.