Natalia Ushakova

Natalia Ushakova received her vocal training at the “Rimsky-Korsakov-Conservatory” in St. Petersburg. She won a scholarship to the Graz Opera Studio in Austria and sang all major roles for Soprano in Mozart´s operas. She continued with the master class at the University of Munich and the “Accademia di perfezionamento” of the Teatro alla Scala in Milano. Natalia Ushakova won first prize in two prestigious Italian opera competitions, namely the “Concorso Internazionale Riccardo Zandonai” at Rovereto and the “Concorso delle voci verdiane” at Busseto,the birthplace of Verdi. There she made her opera debut as Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” and portrayed Giuseppina Strepponi (Verdi’s second wife) as well as Violetta Valéry in the BBC television film “The private life of Giuseppe Verdi”. In