Anniversary of the children's studio "Solnyshko (The Sun)"

In September 2019, the 20th anniversary of the children's opera and ballet studio "Solnyshko" is celebrated. But the history of the children’s team under the Bolshoi Theater began in the late 70s of the last century, and if you delve into the archive of the theater museum, you can find photos dated 1965.

Young artists began to appear on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, participating in performances in which there are children's choirs. These are operas – “Carmen” by J. Bizet, “The Queen of Spades” by P. Tchaikovsky and “Othello” by J. Verdi. The premiere of "Carmen" in Tashkent took place back in 1944, the premiere performances of "Queen of Spades" and "Othello" were held in 1947 and in 1950. Now it’s hard to say whether the young artists took part in these productions or not. The museum’s archive contains photos of the children's choir and soloists, on the back there is the name of the opera and the date – “Boris Godunov”, 1965.

Small choristers were brought by teachers of the music studio of the Republican Palace of Pioneers, located nearby - in the palace of Prince Romanov. In 1978, at the invitation of choirmaster Leonid Shilkrut, the children's studio was relocated to the theater. The head of the “Solnyshko” Studio at that time was Tamara Matveevna Igunova, the dance was taught by Vladimir Vasilyevich Smolin. A large and responsible mission was entrusted to the teachers: to organize children, teach, prepare for participation in performances - access to the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. Often there were difficulties with the free classrooms for classes, there were not enough teachers, and invited Igunova and Smolin were out of the staff list. But, despite all the difficulties, teachers continued to selflessly engage with their students. In addition to the already mentioned, the young artists were engaged in the following performances - “Pagliacci” by R. Leoncavallo, “Aida” by J. Verdi, “Child and Magic” by M. Ravel, and “The Magic Flute” by V. A. Mozart.

It is necessary to say especially about the last performance. “The Magic Flute” was a unique production for the children's studio, because in this performance the young vocalists sang solo, and not in chorus.

A wonderful teacher Tamara Matveevna Igunova raised several generations of young artists. Many of her pupils became professional singers, laureates of international competitions, vocal teachers in music and art schools in our country and abroad. So, the winner of international competitions Yanika Bagryanskaya (mezzo-soprano) is the leading soloist of the Bolshoi State Academic Bolshoi Theater named after A. Navoi, the winner of all-Russian and international competitions Lyubov Makukha (soprano) continued her studies in Kiev, she is currently a soloist of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic Society (Russia), Rano Tokhtamuratova (soprano) studied and works in Italy. As the soloist of the theater, Galina Golubkova appeared on the stage. A graduate of the studio, probationer of the SABT Lyubov Frankova is now a soloist of the State Opera and Ballet Theater of the Udmurt Republic. Sisters Farida and Sazhida Abdulina, Natalya Tregubova worked in music schools.

Tamara Matveevna Igunova and Vladimir Vasilyevich Smolin served the chosen cause until the end of their days.

Years passed, the repertoire grew and the creative potential of the theater increased, the need arose to revise the work and the role of the children's studio. In 1999, the children's team was headed by the lead soloist of the theater Talat Bakhramov. "Solnyshko" has gained a new status - children's opera and ballet studio. New tasks were set: to create a training and production team in which children will study choral and solo singing, the theory and history of music, solfeggio, rhythm, the basics of classical dance and acting. The teachers began to carry out all their plans - choirmaster Oksana Stremilova, accompanist Inessa Nam, choreographer Vladimir Smolin, and music theory teacher Juliana Krukovskaya.

The first serious work and exam for young artists was participation in a joint Uzbek-Japanese project in 2001, when the opera Yuzuru (Crane Feathers) by Japanese composer Dan Ikuma was staged at the Bolshoi Theater. Children's choir sang in Japanese. Young singers worked a lot on pronunciation under the direction of a Japanese director, and at the premiere they sang so that the audience mistook them for performers from the Land of the Rising Sun. This was also facilitated by a magnificent make-up in which even the parents did not recognize the children.

In the future, there were joint projects with many conductors from other countries - France, Italy (“Bohemia” with the conductor J. Guarieri), Germany, and the USA. Every year the collection of operas in which children performed was replenished, and now there are already more than 16 of them. Among them - “Dilorom” by M. Ashrafi, “Takhir and Zukhra” by T. Dzhalilov and B. Brovtsyn, “Eugene Onegin”by  P. Tchaikovsky, “Troubadour”, “Masked Ball” by J. Verdi, “Village Honor” by P. Mascagni, "Sadokat" by R. Abdullaev. Young artists also participate in the children's play of the theater - in the ballet Chipollino by K. Khachaturian.

In 2002, with the advent of the new choirmaster Olga Bulgakova, and then Karina Roshchina and accompanist Sabina Tatarenko, the choir mastered polyphonic singing.

The repertoire included songs of the peoples of the world in Italian, German, Greek, Hebrew, English, Ukrainian, Korean, Uzbek, and Latin.

An equally important place in training is ballet. Children, who study in the studio from 7 to 16 years old, perform serious dances - Spanish, Gypsy, Russian, Ukrainian; solo dances from the ballets “The Nutcracker” and “Coppelia”.

In addition to performances, the children's studio takes part in concerts of the theater and its leading soloists, in festivals of choral music and children's art.

Since 2004, the team has been collaborating with the Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments named after T. Jalilov.

In 2006, the students took part in the ballet “The Nutcracker” in conjunction with the State Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Conductor V. Basiladze praised the choir's performance of the vocal part, learned in just ten days, as excellent.

In 2007, the children's musical fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was staged to the music of E. Kolmanovsky, arranged by A. Ergashev, Honored Artist of Uzbekistan. The soloists of the theater Angelika Mukhametzyanova (Snow White), Yanika Bagryanskaya (Queen), Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Avaz Rajabov (Leader) helped with the voicing of the main characters. But all the roles were played by children - they played, danced and sang.

Outing concerts were held with great success in schools, orphanages, a boarding house for war and labor veterans, and at the Tashkent State Higher School of National Dance and Choreography.

In 2016, a new play “Aladdin's Magic Lamp” by S. Varelas was presented to a children's audience. The first production of this opera-tale on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater named after A. Navoi also with the participation of artists from the "Solnyshko" was held back in 1978.

On New Year's holidays, students traditionally take an active part in New Year's performances, playing roles on the stage in Winter Tales. Their list is so large that we will not list all, but we will name only some of the performances of recent years - “Megabyte Tale in the Bolshoi” (2015), “Superheroes in the Bolshoi” (2016), “The Nutcracker Returns” (2017), and “The Snow Queen"(2018).

Currently, students are engaged under the guidance of choirmaster Olga Bulgakova and choreographer Maria Akhrarova.

Graduates of the opera and ballet children's studio enter music colleges, the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, the Tashkent State Higher School of National Dance and Choreography, the State Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan and subsequently return to their native stage.

We congratulate all teachers, participants and graduates of the studio "Solnyshko" on the anniversary! 20 years, and if you count since 1978, more than 40 years, several generations of young artists, along with professional adult performers are full participants in many performances of the theater, delighting and admiring the audience with their skills.

Materials from the archive of the theater museum and publications of the republican press used in the article (authors - D. Babadjanova, N. Vetkasova, I. Ribar, A. Romashko, V. Titova, and B. Khasanov).

Press service of the Bolshoi Theater named after A. Navoi with the assistance of the theater museum.

28 сентября 2019