Olena Tokar

Olena Tokar was born in Kirowsk, Ukraine, graduating in 2006 from the Music College in Lugansk. She went on to study at the Tchaikovsky National Music academy in Kiev gaining stage experience in Kiev Conservatory in productions and roles such as; Zemfira in Aleko, Iolanta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and the role of Bastienne in Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne. In 2010 Olena began to study Opera at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig in the class of Prof. Regina Werner Dietrich.
As part of the ensemble of the Leipzig Opera Olena has sung the roles of Gretel/Hänsel und Gretel, Papagena/Die Zauberflöte, Berta/Il barbiere di Siviglia, Zemina in Wagner‘s Die Feen, Antigona in Handel’s Admetus, King of Thessaly, the 1st Flowermaiden in Parsifal as well as the soprano part in The Great Mass, a ballet production by Uwe Scholz.
In 2008, Olena won the grand prize the International Boris Gmyrya Competition in Kiev, one of the most prestigious singing competitions in the Ukraine. Two years later she was also a finalist at the Ferruccio Tagliavini competition in Austria. In 2012, became a finalist at the Francisco Viñas competition in Barcelona. In the same year Olena won 1st prize at both the Lortzing Competition in Leipzig and the renowned ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
In 2011, Olena was a participant of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival taking part in master classes with renowned artists such as Ileana Cotrubas, Christa Ludwig, Michael Schade, Alfred Brendel. She also participated in workshops with Irwin Gage, Olaf Bär and Petr Beczala and Mathias Goerne.

This season Olena continues to be part of the ensemble in Leipzig has recently sung the roles of Papagena/Die Zauberflöte, Zemina/Die Feen there. She will also make her debut in the roles of; Mariana/Das Liebesverbot , Röschen/Dornröschen and Musetta/La Boheme , in Leipzig this season. Olena will also sing: Anna/Nabucco, Fünfte Magd/Elektra and the 1st Flower Maiden/Parsifal.
On the concert platform Olena appears regularly in recitals and her forthcoming appearances include performances in, Geneva, London, Leipzig and Lubeck.
2013 was a fantastic year for Olena who became a finalist at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist for the 2013/14 season.
Future engagements also include, Missa Solemnis with the Poznan Philharmonic as well as a concert performance of Eugen d' Albert’s, Hansel und Gretel with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Die seejungfräulein with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

02/2014