Biography
Soprano Fotina Naumenko embraces a spectrum of vocal repertoire stretching from Russian Orthodox choral traditions to the stage of musical theater. Beyond performance, she has established herself as an influential teacher and scholar, building an online platform that supplies diction guidance for Russian operatic arias. Several recordings of music by choral composer Benedict Sheehan feature her voice, and her first appearance as a lead artist came with the 2024 recital Bespoke Songs.
Born in Rochester, New York, on May 23, 1988, Naumenko draws on her Russian heritage to champion broader inclusion of Russian repertoire in both concert programs and discographies. At the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester she completed a bachelor’s degree, taking the soprano solo in Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232, and taking part in opera productions as well as a staging of the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. She continued her studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning master’s and doctoral degrees while appearing in operas by Rossini and Poulenc and performing at the conservatory’s summer festival in Spoleto, Italy. A Fulbright Scholarship supported research in St. Petersburg, Russia, that resulted in the website RussianAriaResource.com, which presented “Diction Resources for Russian Arias” during the mid-2020s. Naumenko later joined the faculty of Wittenberg University in Ohio and held a resident-artist position with Indianapolis Opera. Her first recording credit arrived in 2021 on an album of Benedict Sheehan’s Vespers with the Saint Tikhon Choir.
She has performed as soloist with prominent American ensembles such as Conspirare, Skylark, the Experiential Chorus, and the PaTRAM Chorus, and she appeared with the Boston Pops in its production of the musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim. Summer festivals have provided additional visibility, among them the Ravinia Festival near Chicago, the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim, Norway, and the Tanglewood Festival in Massachusetts, where she sang Niccolò Castiglioni’s Cantus Planus and David Lang’s just. In 2024 she issued the recital Bespoke Songs, supported by an array of chamber ensembles, on the New Focus label. Since joining the faculty of Shenandoah University in 2018 she has advanced to the rank of associate professor.
Born in Rochester, New York, on May 23, 1988, Naumenko draws on her Russian heritage to champion broader inclusion of Russian repertoire in both concert programs and discographies. At the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester she completed a bachelor’s degree, taking the soprano solo in Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232, and taking part in opera productions as well as a staging of the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. She continued her studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, earning master’s and doctoral degrees while appearing in operas by Rossini and Poulenc and performing at the conservatory’s summer festival in Spoleto, Italy. A Fulbright Scholarship supported research in St. Petersburg, Russia, that resulted in the website RussianAriaResource.com, which presented “Diction Resources for Russian Arias” during the mid-2020s. Naumenko later joined the faculty of Wittenberg University in Ohio and held a resident-artist position with Indianapolis Opera. Her first recording credit arrived in 2021 on an album of Benedict Sheehan’s Vespers with the Saint Tikhon Choir.
She has performed as soloist with prominent American ensembles such as Conspirare, Skylark, the Experiential Chorus, and the PaTRAM Chorus, and she appeared with the Boston Pops in its production of the musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim. Summer festivals have provided additional visibility, among them the Ravinia Festival near Chicago, the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim, Norway, and the Tanglewood Festival in Massachusetts, where she sang Niccolò Castiglioni’s Cantus Planus and David Lang’s just. In 2024 she issued the recital Bespoke Songs, supported by an array of chamber ensembles, on the New Focus label. Since joining the faculty of Shenandoah University in 2018 she has advanced to the rank of associate professor.
Albums