Anton Rubinstein Academy

Anton Rubinstein Academy is an educational initiative by musicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis for singers. The project aims to cultivate artists who not only excel in professional creative work, but also in artistic expression across a diverse spectrum of musical and theatrical genres.

Rooted in principles of technical excellence, the Academy focuses on the global cultural context, as well as a comprehensive model of professional development — from vocal skills to language competence and understanding of the profession as a cultural and ethical practice.

This approach to music education is both modern and rooted in tradition. The Academy bears the name of Anton Rubinstein, a musician who was not only one of the founders of Russian performing arts and the initiator of Russia’s first professional conservatory. Rubinstein thought of music as a system of values, he formulated the principles of education that are still relevant, and redefined the ideal of the Russian musician — not as a craftsman, but as an enlightened artist. He has built an institutional environment where the development of such artists, performers, mentors, thinkers and creators of a new cultural context is possible. With the support of the Anton Rubinstein Heritage Centre, musicAeterna continues to develop Anton Rubinstein’s ideas.

In the 2025–2026 season, promising young singers from all over Russia who have passed a multi-stage selection are invited to the Academy — undergraduates of conservatories, recent graduates, and aspiring opera theatre artists. The training programme is gratis and lasts for three years. The Academy’s educational programme includes individual and group classes, participation in musicAeterna concerts and stage productions, master classes with Teodor Currentzis and world’s leading mentors and artists, includes performing, humanitarian, and linguistic disciplines, as well as an extensive course of aesthetic education in music, literature, cinema, philosophy, and art. An individual curriculum will be devised for each singer.

Among the artists of the Academy’s first enrolment there are:
— Diana Nosyreva, a trainee assistant at the St Petersburg State Conservatory, who made her debut with musicAeterna in Last Four Songs by Richard Strauss;
— Yulia Vakula, who performed in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in the Russian part of the tour musicAeterna;
— Iveta Simonyan, a soloist of the opera troupe of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre;
— Ksenia Dorodova, a graduate of the Ural State Conservatory;
— Tatiana Bikmukhametova, a soloist of the Île Thélème Ensemble of Contemporary Music and the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theatre, who performed the role of the First Sibyl in Carl Orff’s opera De temporum fine comoedia at the Diaghilev+ satellite festival in Perm in 2022.

The Anton Rubinstein Heritage Centre was founded in 2024 by Ksenia Svetakova, a descendant of Rubinstein, and the ‘Svet’ Charitable Foundation. The mission of the Centre is to preserve and popularize the legacy of Anton Rubinstein as an outstanding pianist, composer and reformer of musical life. The Centre’s areas of work include scientific research on the life, work, and influence of Anton Rubinstein. Special attention is given to the support of musical institutions that share the values that Rubinstein stood for — striving for enlightenment, artistic freedom, and accessibility of music.

Tatyana Bikmukhametova

Rubinstein academy events

September 21, 20:00

Moscow | Новая Опера

Dusapin: opera Passion

Opera

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September 22, 20:00

Moscow | Новая Опера

Dusapin: opera Passion

Opera

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September 23, 20:00

Moscow | Новая Опера

Dusapin: opera Passion

Opera

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September 24, 20:00

Moscow | Новая Опера

Dusapin: opera Passion

Opera

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October 11, 19:00

Moscow | Zaryadye Hall

Hændel. A Dedication Ceremony to George Frideric Handel

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685–1759)

Prelude

Augelletti, ruscelletti, the aria of Maria Kleopova from the oratorio La resurrezione, HWV 47 (1708)

Zadok the Priest, Coronation Anthem No. 1, HWV 258 (1727)

Disserratevi, o porte d’Averno, the aria of Angel from the oratorio La resurrezione, HWV 47 (1708)

Ah! Crudel nel pianto mio, the aria of Armida from the opera Rinaldo, HWV 78 (1711)

Overture to the opera Agrippina, HWV 6 (1709–1710)

As with Rosy Steps the Morn, the aria of Irina from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

De torrente in via bibet, duet with chorus from the psalm Dixit Dominus, HWV 232 (1707)

Oh, Let the Merry Bells Ring Round, aria with chorus from the oratorio L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, HWV 55 (1740)

Pena tiranna, the aria of Dardano from the opera Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11 (1715)

Eternal Source of Light Divine, fragment from the cantata Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV 74 (1713)

Alla Hornpipe, No. 2 from the orchestral suite
The Water Music No. 2 in D Major, HWV 349 (1716–1717)

He Saw the Lovely Youth, chorus from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

Piangerò la sorte mia, the aria of Cleopatra from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (1724)

Ah! Stigie larve — Vaghe pupille, the recitative and aria of Orlando from the opera Orlando, HWV 31 (1733)

O Love Divine, thou Source of Fame, chorus from the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

Sing Ye to the Lord, chorus with solo soprano from the oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54 (1739)

Performers:

artists of the Anton Rubinstein Academy
Tatiana Bikmukhametova, soprano
Yulia Vakula, mezzo-soprano
Ksenia Dorodova, soprano
Diana Nosyreva, soprano
Iveta Simonyan, soprano
Sofia Tsygankova, soprano
Andrey Nemzer, countertenor, soloist and vocal coach of the Anton Rubinstein Academy
musicAeterna Choir and Orchestra
musicAeterna Dance troupe

Music Director and Conductor Teodor Currentzis
Stage Director Elizaveta Moroz
Choirmaster Vitaly Polonsky
Assistant Conductor Evgeny Vorobyov
Production Designer, Costume Designer Sergey Illarionov
Choreographer Valentina Lutsenko

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October 15, 20:30

Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki Concert Hall