Soprano Irina Medvedeva is described as being a “flexible, supple, yet powerful soprano” (The Globe and Mail) and has been praised for having “a large voice with an astonishing range” (Opera Canada).

Past operatic roles include Galatea in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, the title role in Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and covering Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème. Other operatic roles include La Fée in Viardot’s Cendrillon, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina, La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Le Feu and Le Rossignol in Ravel’s L'enfant et les Sortilèges and Florestine in the Canadian premiere of Milhaud’s La Mère Coupable. Irina was also part of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist at the Vancouver Opera for the 2019-2020 season. This engagement included singing
Annina in the mainstage production of La Traviata with the Vancouver Opera as well as covering Violetta Valéry, and Rosina in Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

 

Irina is one of the 2022 winners of the concerto competition at the University of Ottawa and performed Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate” with Dinuk Wijeratne and the University of Ottawa orchestra. She is also the 2018 winner of the Comic Opera Guild’s Harold Hugh Opera Competition and has recorded Nina in Victor Herbert’s “Girl in the Spotlight” with the Comic Opera Guild of Michigan. Concert engagements include the soprano soloist in Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Vespers, Handel’s Messiah and Purcell’s Ode to St. Cecilia.

Irina has performed at the National Arts Center as part of the Fourth Stage Concert Series, the inaugural season of the New Opera Lyra, the Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities (MASC), the Ewashko Singers, Ottawa Pops Orchestra, and is a member of the Ottawa based modular new music ensemble called Ensemble Allure.

In the 2022-2023 season, Irina performed the soprano solo in Laryssa Kuzmenko’s “Golden Harvest” with Raffi Armenian, a recital with Andrew Ager at the “Music as Sanctuary” concert series, “The Spirit Soars” concert celebrating Canadian music with the Ewashko Singers and thanks to a generous grant from the Ontario Arts Council, has made a recording of Canadian music with Ensemble Allure.

Upcoming 2023 performances include the role of Laura in the New Opera Lyra’s production of The Mummy, the soprano soloist with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and the CAMMAC Ottawa-Gatineau.

Irina holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music degree from the University of Ottawa.