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Altos

Anastasia Shumanova

In the choir since 2018

Anastasia Shumanova graduated from the Shebalin Omsk Music College (class of Natalia Statkevich) and the Mussorgsky Ural State Conservatory (class of Vyacheslav Krasheninnikov) majoring in Choral Conducting. She has been the musicAeterna choir artist since 2018.

From 2006 to 2009 she worked as a choir artist at the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre (presently — Ural Opera Ballet). From 2009 to 2018 she performed in the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic choir conducted by Andrei Petrenko. As a soloist in the All-Night Vigil by Sergei Rachmaninoff she took part in the choir’s tours in Denmark and France. In the same period, she was a member of the Fleurs-De-Lys ensemble (directed by Vyacheslav Krasheninnikov).

In 2017, with the performance of the first alto part in Coro by Luciano Berio, the singer began her collaboration with the musicAeterna choir and her participation in the European tours of the collective.

In 2018, she became a full-time member of the choir.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MUSIC?

I did it on my own. It was not about immense talent or higher calling, though — still, I now think it was inevitable. I guess that is how fate works: our everyday decisions can change our life and give it a whole different direction.

IF NOT A MUSICIAN, WHAT COULD YOU HAVE BECOME?

I have thought over this a lot; I think I would have been either a photographer or a cook. Just like music, both those areas allow you to be creative and create something unique. And just like in music, the hardest part is to retain that spark of inspiration when it becomes your job.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST MUSICAL IMPRESSION?

This question has just made me realize that all my greatest musical impressions have been related to my direct involvement in the creative process. But there is a work that I find deeply touching as a spectator. I am talking about the “Jeanne au Bûcher” oratorio by Honegger, Castellucci and Currentzis: it is an embodiment of synergy among music, acting, and message.

WHAT DOES MUSICAETERNA MEAN TO YOU?

This might sound trite but to me, musicAeterna is a dream come true.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO PERFORM AS PART OF THIS TROUPE?

Bach’s Motets, Alexey Retinsky’s works, and something that has yet to be created…