Bass YEVGENY NIKITIN (Shekalov) has been a prizewinner at the Pechkovsky International Young Opera Singers' Competition (St. Petersburg, 1996), the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1998), and the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition (St. Petersburg, 1998). He is also a recipient of the Golden Sofit, St. Petersburg's most prestigious theater prize, for his interpretation of Grigory Gryaznoi (The Tsar's Bride, 2005).

Born in Murmansk, Nikitin graduated from the vocal faculty of the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in 1997 (class of Professor Minzhilkiev), where he took part in performances of the school's State Theater. He became a Mariinsky Theater soloist in 1996 and has since performed with the Mariinsky Opera Company at several international festivals in Salzburg, Mikkeli, and St. Petersburg. He has toured with the Mariinsky Theater to Italy, Austria, Finland, the USA, Israel, Turkey, the UK, Germany, and France. His recordings include Boris Godunov (1997, conducted by Valery Gergiev) and Semyon Kotko (2000, conducted by Valery Gergiev) with Philips Classics.

Nikitin's repertoire with the Mariinsky Theater includes Ruslan (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Boris and Rangoni (Boris Godunov), Shaklovity (Khovanshchina), Prince Igor (Prince Igor), the Demon (The Demon), Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), Ebn-Hakia (Iolanta), Gryaznoi (The Tsar's Bride), Creonte (Oedipus Rex), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), the Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), Heinrich der Vogel (Lohengrin), Fasolt (Das Rheingold), Wotan (Das Rheingold and Siegfried), Gunther (Götterdämmerung), Amfortas (Parsifal), Jochanaan (Salome), Colline (La bohème), Banco (Macbeth), Lodovico (Otello), and the High Priest (Samson et Dalila).

08/07