"Antonida Kocharova a crowing glory as the Golden Cockerel, resplendent in gold and pink" - Daily Info (2023)

"not just played but embodied by Antonida Kocharova" - Oxford Blue [The Golden Cockerel] (2023)

"Yet, it was the ‘Кокори! Кокорико!-ing’ Golden Cockerel (Antonida Kocharova), clad in quasi-Walkürian golden feathers, who exemplified the dark irony of the production." - Opus (2023)

"...ably supported by Antonida Kocharova" - Opera Magazine [A Feast in Time of Plague] (2021)

Antonida is an Oxford-based soprano who has recently completed with Distinction her Masters in Vocal & Operatic Performance at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, supported by a conservatoire scholarship. She was the 2018 winner of the Roy Harvey Memorial Cup for best opera or oratorio performance at the Oxford Music Festival, and at the RBC she was the winner of the Edward Brookes Lieder Prize, took 2nd prize in the Delius Society Prize 2023 and joint 2nd in the RBC Singing Prize, and was finalist in the Edward Brookes Lieder Prize, Ashleyan Opera Prize, and Mario Lanza Opera Prize in 2022. In 2024 she was selected to appear in the live rounds of the International Puccini Competition in Lucca and the International Elena Obraztsova Competition for Young Opera Singers in St. Petersburg.

Antonida recently appeared in the title role in Orchestra Vox's "Ophelia: In Her Own Words", which staged the character's scenes from the original Shakespeare together with Prokofiev's Ophelia songs. Other recent roles include the title character in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel (Orchestra Vox/The People's Opera, 2023), the Mother in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire; Leicester Symphony Orchestra, 2024), the two roles of the Forester's Wife and the Owl in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2023), the cover of Sarah Roberts in Stephen McNeff's Banished (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 2022), and Mary Cui's A Feast in Time of Plague (Oxford Opera Society, 2021). In opera scenes, Antonida has performed the roles of Agathe (Der Freischütz), Elsa (Lohengrin), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), Suor Angelica, and Iolanta.

In concert, Antonida regularly appears around Oxford, London, and Birmingham, including a recent engagement opening Aida Garifullina's recital at the Oxford Union. In addition, she has been a soloist for the Cherubim Trust's Purcell (2022) and Handel (2023) weekends and has also appeared as a soloist in oratorio with Oxford University Chorus, NewChoir Oxford, and St Hilda's College, Oxford.

In addition, Antonida has also sung in chorus with the Oxford Opera Company (2018), New Chamber Opera (2017), Cavatina Opera (2018), and VOPERA’s award-winning virtual production of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (2020). Her solo experience with oratorio includes Schubert’s Das Paradies und die Peri (2019, Oxford University Chorus), Vivaldi’s Gloria (2017, NewChoir), and in Haydn’s Nelson Mass (2017), Mozart’s Coronation Mass (2015), Handel’s The Messiah (2013) and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (2011) with the choir of St Hilda’s College.

As President of the Oxford Opera Society, Antonida has directed the 2024 Opera Scenes and has been producer on the Society’s 2019 production of Gluck’s Orfeo, 2021 filmed production of Cui's A Feast in Time of Plague, and its 2018, 2020, and 2024 productions of Opera Scenes. As part of her desire to broaden access to opera, she created the Pub Opera Nights 2022 in partnership with The Oxford Blue, and the inaugural Puccini Concert & Talk at the New Theatre, Oxford.

Originally from St Petersburg, Antonida has a personal interest in Russian music, and has worked as a Russian coach and prepared translations and transliterations for opera. She has given recitals of Russian romances and recorded a selection of early 20th century revolutionary Russian songs and has recently given a joint recital in Estonia in collaboration with the Tallinn Russian Cultural Centre, which is planned to become a regular event.

Antonida is keen to collaborate on all sorts of projects, and has, in addition to formal concert experience, performed at weddings, deputised for evensongs, made demo recordings for new operatic and song compositions, as well as voiceovers for podcasts and title voiceovers for a student radio station.

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