Sopranos

Olga Maslennikova

In the choir since 2025

Olga Maslennikova graduated from the Ponomaryov Musical Choral School ‘Spring’, and later the Gnessins Music College (the class of Oksana Glazeva) in 2018, and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory majoring in Choral Conducting (the class of Professor Alla Kulikova) in 2023.

From 2018 to 2025 she was a teacher of choir singing, solfeggio, listening to music, and conducting at the Children’s Musical Choral School ‘Vesna’. In 2025, she decided to experiment and worked in the field of IT recruiting. At the same time, she performed in the Arielle vocal ensemble under the direction of Elmira Dadasheva. In the autumn of 2025 she joined the musicAeterna Choir.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE A MUSICIAN?

At the age of five, I entered the Children's Musical Choral School 'Vesna', which now bears the name of Alexander Ponomaryov. My mother, my aunt and uncle studied at this school — we are almost a dynasty. My studies at school and personal acquaintance with Alexander Sergeyevich Ponomaryov greatly influenced my attitude to music and my desire to become a choral conductor. We had highly qualified teachers, and the choir won the Grand Prix at competitions in Europe. Anyway, to me, it is more important that me and the other kids feel at home there.

HOW HAVE YOU BECOME A MEMBER OF MUSICAETERNA?

In my first year at the Conservatory, I returned to my music school as a teacher and worked there until 2025. It was a wonderful experience, but at some point I realized that I needed to move on. I participated in the Educational Programme of the Diaghilev Festival. I got into its spirit, got acquainted with musicAeterna, and received a positive response, but they didn't have time to audition me then. ln autumn, when I least expected it, I was invited first to audition, and then to join the choir. I had just moved into a new apartment in Moscow, but I grabbed my three cats, and in anticipation of future changes, we moved to St Petersburg in just a week.

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST CONCERT?

I was most anxious about Esperia concerts at Dom Radio in November 2025. It was my first performance with musicAeterna, and I was trusted to sing a solo. Katerina Imsokva and I stood at different ends of the stage and took turns singing stanzas from Hildegard of Bingen's O Virga Ac Diadema sequence. It was technically challenging and exciting. To be honest, it was much easier for me to sing solo when I was a kid. And now I'm getting more anxious, probably because I'm thinking more about the quality and beauty of what I'm doing.

WHO WOULD YOU BECOME IF NOT A MUSICIAN?

Because I grew up in a large team, I've been good at communicating with people and organizing things since childhood. I have several creative project ideas, and I like to think of ways to combine music, light, and dance... So, if it weren't for choral conducting, I'd probably be creating projects that combine different art forms.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR AN ARTIST?

It seems to me that the first thing an artist needs is love for their work. And also honesty — art does not tolerate guile. Of course, in order to develop in the profession, an artist must be able to make connections and present themselves correctly. Health is also very important. However, the most important thing is still love.