Not just an opera singer!
Ekaterina Shelehova began studying music when she was 3 years old.
Growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, she participated in many competitions and concerts, such as the famous Kiwanis Competition where she secured first place in 2008, 2010, and in 2012.
When she was 10 years old she took part in her first opera, “Carmen” with the children’s choir, after which she developed a passion not only for singing, but for opera as well. Over the years, she has sung with Opera Ontario, Opera Bel Canto, and with StageToneScape, where she performed in many productions such as Tosca, Cavaglieria Rusticana, Traviatta, and The Magic Flute.
She also participated in many musical theater productions such as Sweet Charity, Grease, and Alice in Wonderland in leading roles.
During her high school years, Ekaterina studied at the Conservatory of Music in Toronto where she received three Gold Medals in Vocal and diploma for Grade 10 Vocal.
She has also finished her studies in Piano, and received her diploma for ARCT in Piano Pedagogy.
In Autumn 2012 she recorded her CD “Moonlight”.
At the winter of 2013, she was featured on Buffallo Radio.
In 2014 Ekaterina auditioned for the Conservatorio G.Verdi in Milan, Italy where she has completed now her Bachelors and Masters in Opera with outstanding marks.
She has since then participated in competitions where she has come up a finalist and prize winner, such as Concorso Lirico Salvatore Licitra in 2015, Concorso Internazionale Cleto Tomba in 2016, winning the Young Opera Hope award at the Magda Olivero International Competition in 2016 and The Public Choice Award at the Giuditta Pasta Competition in 2018.
In 2016, Ekaterina was invited to take part in the international Kostomuksha Music Festival in Russia, where she performed several solo concerts. Currently she is taking part in an Improvisation Concerts Series where she creates her own music and is a frequent performer at the Antonio Belloni Theater, which is very famous across Italy as one of the smallest opera houses in the world, where she has performed important roles such as Adalgisa in “Norma”, (V.Bellini) in 2017 and Rusalka in “Rusalka”, (A.Dvorak) in 2018.
She is currently living in Milan, Italy, and someday hopes to fulfill her dream of performing at La Scala and The Metropolitan Opera.