Born in Kharkov into a family of an opera singer, Alexandra Durseneva graduated from the Kharkov Institute of Arts in 1991 and became a soloist with the Kharkov Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre where she was instantly acclaimed for performances in leading mezzo-soprano roles.

In 1993, she became a laureate of the International Glinka Singing Competition and in 1994, won the International Chamber Singing Competition “The Amber Nightingale” in Kaliningrad, Russia. She joined the Bolshoi Opera company the same year where she has performed such parts as Vanya in Glinka’s IVAN SUSANIN, Konchakovna PRINCE IGOR, Basmanov OPRICHNIK, Marta IOLANTA, Filipjevna EUGENE ONEGIN, Marfa KOVANSCHINA, Lyubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s THE TSAR’S BRIDE, Ratmir RUSLAN & LUDMILA, Clarice THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES, Mother Superior THE FIERY ANGEL, Vesna THE SNOW MAIDEN, the Countess PIKOVAYA DAMA, Ulrica UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, Baba the Turk THE RAKE’S PROGRESS and the Princess de Bouillon ADRIANA LECOUVREUR.

In 1995, Ms. Durseneva became a Laureate of the International Moniuzsko Singing Competition in Warsaw, and in the same year sang the Page in Rimsky-Korsakov’s THE INVISIBLE CITY OF KITEZH at the Bregenzer Festspiele, to which she returned in 1997 as the Nurse in Rubinstein’s THE DEMON, which she also sang in concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus under the baton of Vladimir Fedoseey.

Other guest engagements include Amelfa in Rimsky-Korsakov’s THE GOLDEN COCKEREL at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at the Ravenna Festival, Filipjevna EUGENE ONEGIN at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Innkeeper BORIS GODUNOV at the Opéra national de Paris, Paris, Opera Ireland, Teatro la Fenice, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Podtochina in Shostakovich’s THE NOSE at Oper Leipzig and the Netherlands Opera, Marta IOLANTA at the Danish Royal Opera and Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Basmanov OPRICHNIK at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Parasha’s Mother MAVRA at the Arnhem Festival, the Duenna BETROTHAL IN A MONASTERY at the Glyndebourne Festival and at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia, the Old Gypsy Woman ALEKO at the Salle Pleyel, Ulrica UN BALLO IN MASCHERA at Opera Bergen, Amneris AIDA at the Kharkov Opera & Ballet Theatre and the role of Donna Mensia in the world premiere of Alexander Vustin’s THE DEVIL IN LOVE at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow.

Ms. Durseneva is a frequent recitalist presenting programmes including cycles by Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert and on the concert platform has sung the Prokovfiev Alexander Nevsky cantata and Mussorgsky Songs & Dances of Death. She has also released two solo discs on the Melodia label: ‘Alexandra Durseneva’ featuring by the great Russian composers of the 19^th and 20^th centuries and ‘Romances of the 20^th Century’, a disc of rarely performed works by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Vladimir Jurowski (senior) and Mark Minkov.