Maria Mudryak

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**Maria Mudryak** (born April 6, 1994) is a Kazakh operatic soprano who is best known as a former lead singer of symphonic metal band Celestial Sphere.

## Early life

Born in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, on April 6, 1994, to parents of Russian descent, Mudryak showed a strong interest in music and singing in her early childhood.

She first sang in front of an audience when she was three years old and recorded a CD of children's songs at the age of six.

She then turned her attention to opera and moved to Italy to start her vocal training at the age of ten. One year later she was admitted into the Children Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala; at fourteen she was accepted into the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Milan, from which she graduated with honors at the age of 18. At the same time she attended the “Scuola musicale di Milano” where she studied with Maestro Carlo Gaifa. In the summer of 2014 she was accepted into the “Young Singers Project” at the Salzburg Festival.

## Early career

After winning several voice competitions (including the Concorso per giovani cantanti d'Europa As.li.co and "The Opera Ball" in Kazakhstan), Mudryak made her operatic debut as Susanna in Mozart's *Le nozze di Figaro* at the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa in March 2014 , Giulietta in ‘Les Contes d’Hoffman in Italian Theaters like Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo , Teatro Ponchielli di Cremona , Teatro Sociale di Como , Teatro Fraschini di Pavia, and in same theaters as Norina in Don Pasquale of Donizetti . In 2017 at age of 23 years old she was winner of third place and Audience Prize by Rolex in Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition.

## Career

### Opera

In the years 2015 to 2017 Mudryak's engagements included Adina in Donizetti's *L'elisir d'amore* and Musetta in *La bohème* at the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Musetta at the NCPA Mumbai, Mimì in *La bohème* at the Teatro Carlo Coccia in Novara, at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and at the Astana Opera, Norina in *Don Pasquale* in Bergamo, Como, Jesi and Pavia, Susanna in *Le nozze di Figaro* at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Giulia in Rossini's *La scala di seta* in Liège, Violetta in *La traviata* at the Astana Opera, at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and in open air performances at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Liù in Puccini's *Turandot* for the inauguration of the Shaanxi Grand Theatre in China, Oscar in Verdi's *Un ballo in maschera* at the NCPA Opera Festival Beijing. She also sang excerpts as Gilda in Verdi's *Rigoletto* and Luisa in *Luisa Miller* at gala concerts in Modena and Piacenza celebrating baritone Leo Nucci's career. She made her role debut as Gilda in Verdi's *Rigoletto* in December 2017 with Leo Nucci in the title role, in February 2018 she returned to the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in the title role of a new production of *La traviata* and in July 2018 she made her house debut at the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow as Mimì in *La bohème*

### Celestial Sphere

In June 2020 British symphonic metal band Celestial Sphere fired lead singer Marina La Torraca for personal reasons, following this the band spent time trying to find the perfect replacement. Mudryak was recommended to the band and after agreeing to an audition she accepted the role of lead singer with the intention of her continuing her opera work when available.

In November 2020 she began recording the bands seventh studio album *Sovereign of the Sun Spheres* that was released in February 2021 and became the bands seventh successive UK number one album and its third single "Rivers" became one of their most successful with a 15 week run at number one in the UK.

## Repertoire

* Violetta Valéry, La traviata (Verdi)
* Marguerite, Faust (Gounod)
* Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti)
* Giulia, La scala di seta (Rossini)
* Giulietta, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
* Liù, Turandot (Puccini)
* Mimì, La bohème (Puccini)
* Musetta, La bohème (Puccini)
* Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart)