Sofia Fomina

Noted for her “formidably striking” and “stunning silvery” soprano sound as well as her committed stage craft, Sofia Fomina appears regularly on the most important opera stages, recital and concert venues around the world such as Paris Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Semperoper Dresden, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms. 

Highlights of Fomina’s 2023/24 season include her anticipated debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Konstanze Die Entführung aus dem Serail and her return to Glyndebourne to star as Micaëla in a new production of Carmen. She also reprises the role of Konstanze at Hamburg Staaatsoper.

Last season she was heard as Pamina Die Zauberflöte at Semperoper Dresden; Konstanze Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Zurich Opera; Ännchen in a new production of Der Freischützby David Marton at Theater an der Wien and Oksana in Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely performed Christmas Eve with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski.

Recent operatic successes include her US Operatic debut as Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Seattle Opera, her role and company debut as Pamina in a new production of Die Zauberflöteat Glyndebourne Festival and the BBC Proms; her debut at the Norwegian opera as Micaëla in Calixto Bieito’s acclaimed staging of Carmen; Musetta La bohème at the Festspiele Baden-Baden with Teodor Currentzis and Gilda Rigoletto, Olympia Les Contes d’Hoffman and Jemmy Guillaume Tell at Royal Opera House; her debut at Opéra de Paris as Blondchen in a new production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Berthe Le Prophète at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse; a company debut as Zerbinetta Ariadne auf Naxos at Staatsoper Hamburg; her role debut as at Konstanze Die Entführung aus dem Serail and return as Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Adele Die Fledermaus, Gilda Rigoletto, Fiakermilli Arabella and Oscar Un ballo in Maschera, all at Bayerische Staatsoper; and Aquillo in a concert performance of Adriano in Siria at Theater an der Wien.

On the concert platform her recent engagements include Mahler Symphony No.4 with the Boston Philharmonic, Les Noces with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin at the Enescu Festival; Amanda Le Grand Macabre with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; Mahler Symphony No.8 with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Fabio Luisi; Woglinde Das Rheingold and Mahler Symphony No.2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski, and the latter also with Hugh Wolff and the Belgian National Orchestra; Haydn Harmoniemesse in Eisenstadt with Fabio Biondi; her Wigmore Hall debut together with pianist Iain Burnside and a recital at Middle Temple Hall with Julius Drake and Roderick Williams; the 2017 Deutsche Aids-Stiftung Operngala at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Marzelline in a concert version of Fidelio at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Carmina Burana in a New Year Gala Concert with the Czech Philharmonic and Jakub Hrůša; Mussorgsky The Nursery and Mahler Symphony No.4 on tour in Ferrara, Bologna and Frankfurt with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Gerald Finley and Vladimir Jurowski; Nanetta in a concert version of Falstaff for her debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner; a New Year’s Gala Performance with Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Mahler Symphony No.8 and Mahler Symphony No.4 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Madrid, Valencia, Alicante, Dresden and New York; and Mahler Symphony No.2 in Toledo Cathedral with Orchestra of Teatro Real. 

Her discography includes a solo recital debut on Chandos, dedicated to Russian composer Nikolei Medtner; Mahler Symphony No.4 and Janáček The Eternal Gospel, both with the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski. 

Born in Russia, Fomina studied at the Orlovsky Music College and the Gnesin Academy of Music, Moscow. Her career began at the Novosibirsk Opera Theatre. She later joined the ensemble of the State Theatre of Saarbrücken and from 2013 to 2015 she was a member of Frankfurt Oper.