Festivali Ooperi Galakontsert / 12. rahvusvaheline muusikafestival ''Klassika Kütkes''

August 14, 2026, 6:00 PM
Festival Opera Gala Concert
History Museum, Small Hall of the Great Guild Hall
Soloists:
Michael Bulychev-Okser, piano (USA)
Dominika Zamara, soprano (Poland/Italy)
Maria Veretenina, coloratura soprano (Estonia)
Aleksei Bljahhin, baritone (Estonia)

The program includes opera arias from the works of Mozart, Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti and Delibes, Arditi's "Il Bacio", Francesco Cilea's "Adriana", Frederic Chopin's romances and Estonian folk and patriotic songs.
Michael Bulychev-Okser will also perform as a soloist at the concert, playing Liszt's iconic transcription of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto".

Maria Veretenina made her debut at the Finnish National Opera in 2011 in Mussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov” with world-famous opera soloist Matti Salminen. She currently lives in the UK and performs in many countries around the world (Sweden, Finland, Russia, Italy, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, etc.). One of her most notable performances was a performance for His Royal Highness Prince Charles at the Sourozh Cathedral in London (2016) and for Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during his visit to Great Britain (2016). M. Veretenina began her singing studies at the Georg Ots Music School and completed her master’s degree at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre under the guidance of renowned pedagogue and opera singer Prof. Jaakko Ryhänen (2009). She has furthered her skills at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Italy (2009) and participated in master classes with prominent musicians (Montserrat Caballé, Larissa Gergieva, etc.). M. Veretenina has won major prizes at several competitions. In 2014, she won the Grand Prix at the International Competition in London (Royal College of Music). She has performed as an opera, oratorio and chamber singer in such prestigious halls as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Vienna Chamber Opera, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Zaragoza Concert Hall, St. John's Square in London, the Astrakhan Philharmonic, the Estonia Concert Hall and others. Her repertoire includes Cleopatra (Handel, Julius Caesar), Queen of the Night (Mozart, The Magic Flute), Fiordiligi (Mozart, Così fan tutte), Zerlina (Mozart, Don Giovanni), Olympia and Antonia (Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann), Liu (Puccini, Turandot), Lauretta (Puccini, Gianni Schicchi), Musetta (Puccini, La Bohéme), Violetta (Verdi, La Traviata), Marfa (Rimsky-Korsakov, The Tsar's Bride), Xenia (Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov), Tatyana (Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin). M. Veretenina has also made regular recordings for Estonian Radio and Estonian Television.

Soprano Dominika Zamara received early musical recognition in her native Poland. Her operatic debut took place in 2010 in Italy in the role of Mimi in Puccini's opera "La Bohéme" under the baton of Maestro De Mori. This quickly opened doors for him to international stages around the world – in Europe, the USA, Mexico, Argentina, China, South Korea and Australia.

Notable musical highlights and venues include: Carnegie Hall in New York, Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria, South Africa, all’Opera Theatre in Damascus, Syria, the beatification concert of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in Warsaw, which was broadcast worldwide. Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Mostra del Cinema and La Biennale di Venezia; the role of Dori in G. Coronaro’s opera “Un Tramonto” (Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza); Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center (NYC); Manuel Ponce Hall (Mexico); Verdi Theatre in Padua (in the contemporary opera “La Serva di Padova”); Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (Rome); World Youth Day in Kraków (in the presence of the Pope); Haydn’s oratorio “Creation” (Chicago); New York National Opera Center; Mythos Opera Festival – Verdi’s opera “Aida” at the Antique Theatre of Taormina; Opening of the InCanto Barocco Festival in Sicily; Mercadante Theatre (Altamura) – San Mercadante Concert Arias; Vivaldi’s Gloria (New York); and Sala della Protomoteca’s Campidoglio Theatre in Rome. In 2023, she joined the roster of the New York Composers’ Circle as an international performing artist.

Ms. Zamara’s numerous awards and recognitions include the Cartagine Prize in Rome, the Fonane Prize in Rome (awarded by the Vatican); the Kobiety Charyzmaticzejnej Prize (Warsaw). She is mentioned in two encyclopedias: "Polscy Muzycy w Świecie1, autor Zbigniew Andrzej Judycki" (Warsaw) and "Encyclopedia Dziedzictwa Polonii Świata. AmbasadorowieK Polrakoniowi2dorowie". He was the author of the encyclopedia "Philosophy of Music. Knowledge, Knowledge, Meaning3", which was presented at the 15th "World Congress of Semiotics" held at the University of Macedonia (Macedonia).

In addition to his concert career, he has been actively involved in the integration of art, culture and fashion, being the brand ambassador for the Mather Milani cosmetics line, and has presented the highest achievements of the fashion world - presenting clothes from world-famous designers, including Rosy Garbol, Ela Piorun and Marta Jane Alesan at concerts. He was photographed by master photographer Stefano Geardi, whose photo won a silver medal in the advertising category at the prestigious "World's Top 10 Black & White Competition".

Michael Bulychev-Okser is a world-famous American pianist, composer and producer. A laureate of the "Who's Who in Music" award, Mr. Bulychev-Okser has performed on the most prestigious stages in the world: Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center, Salle Pleyel (France), Wigmore Hall (London), Rachmaninov Hall (Russia), Suur Saal (Estonia) and Centermex Theater (Mexico).

Bulychev-Okser is the organizer of international music events: the Gershwin International Music Competition in New York and the Classical Hugs Festival in Estonia. Michael is a guest artist at numerous music festivals, competitions and concert series in England, France, Germany, Mexico, Israel, Estonia, Georgia, Ukraine, Austria, Finland, South Korea, China, Serbia, Singapore and the USA.

In 2022, Michael Bulychev-Okser performed Mendelssohn's Double Concerto with the famous violin virtuoso Shlomo Mintz. Michael Bulychev-Okser is a professor of piano and chamber ensembles at the Lucy Moses School at the Kaufman Center in New York.

Aleksei Bljahhin - I am a physicist by education, a programmer by profession. About 15 years ago, I became fascinated with psychology and realized that the best way to understand something is to explain it to someone else, and I started giving lectures on psychology.

In addition, I found that various psychological situations can best be viewed as examples of literary works. This is much more effective than just saying: "One of my girlfriends ..."
And 12 years ago I met a wonderful person - Mikhail Kaziniku, because of whom I fell in love with classical music.
And although I have no musical education, I realized that talking about music is even more interesting!
And I started giving concert lectures.