Maria Konoshenko, mezzo-soprano & composer

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I am a mezzo soprano singer, pianist and composer of Russian origin. I have to further explain my context, so this is going to be a bit lengthy.

So far, I have been mostly pursuing an academic career having a PhD in General Linguistics; I am currently working on multilingualism in West Africa. Yet I was trained as a pianist in a music school, and as a classical mezzo soprano singer at Saint Petersburg University, while simultaneously getting degrees in Linguistics. I studied jazz music in an evening amateur school for adults.

Since I my teens, I have been performing as a singer collaborating with professional musicians, ensembles and orchestras; also sometimes accompanying myself on the piano – but always as a side thing, ‘after work’. I only started working more seriously as a composer – and a performer of my own music – a couple of years ago. The driving force was the Ukrainian war and my experience of emigration.

Before the Ukrainian war, I had some little projects as a singer performing chamber music. I was planning to focus on Russian art songs organising small gigs now and then. In 2022, after the full-scale Russian invasion in the Ukraine, I had to leave Russia (and continue my linguistics career abroad, first in Germany, then in Helsinki, where I currently work as a researcher at the University of Helsinki). Yet, on the musical side, performing classical Russian songs felt inappropriate, I had to rethink my repertoire as a singer, and I also felt an urge to process all that grief caused by emigration and the war in general.

While reading some wonderful modern poetry processing the current war, e.g. by Evgenia Berkovich, Alja Khajtlina, Vera Polozkova, I felt that these texts urged to become songs. I didn’t know what to sing. I had to write the songs for myself. Thus I became a composer. Then – at a conference – I met Michael J McEvoy, who believed in what I was doing and suggested to produce this. The first outcome of our collaboration was the ‘Progulka’ track based on the lyrics of Evgenia Berkovich, released on February 24th. I don’t know yet where this is going to take me! But I still have my ‘main’ job as a linguist doing fieldwork in Guinea, quite fun too!

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

I can list the challenges on and on, but right now the main one is how to combine a linguistic career and music making. Mostly in my head, then in the time schedule. These two activities require such different kinds of brainwork that one is suppressing the other in my head. Other than that, harsh self-criticism, the not ‘good enough’ feeling, but I guess, this comes with being a musician! (I am still convincing myself about being one, lol)

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

So far, I am mostly proud of the variety of what I have done. I have performed with a Russian folk orchestra (Russian folk music), with a Norwich Baroque ensemble (some Renaissance), with local musicians in Guinea (the song I wrote in Kpelle, the language I am working on as a linguist). Yet my most watched video on YouTube is a life performance of ‘Kominternlied’, or ‘Comintern Song’ in English, a Communist Hymn performed at the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution in Russia.

Now, in this ‘Song of Exile’ project, I’m working on my first album, and this is something I honestly very happy about, and I still cannot believe this is happening.

Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?

As a singer, I like performing the songs of Kurt Weill and Alexander Vertinsky. I also love doing tangos by Carlos Gardel and Osvaldo Pugliese. But yeah, my own music sometimes feels nice to perform too since I took care to foreground my strengths and hide the weaknesses when writing it.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

My music reacts to what is happening in the world. Then life decides.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

So far, I have mostly performed in the churches, nice acoustics!

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

Going nature, good sauna, listening to some good singers. Reading about the historical context of the music I am playing.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

It’s hard to choose really. But let me pick one. Last Christmas, I visited my dad, a former newspaper CEO, who emigrated from Russia to the UK at the age of 53, started playing the organ at 60 and gradually became the main organist in a parish in North Norfolk. He had been booked for three Christmas services: two on the Eve and one on Christmas morning. The day before he fell ill, lying with strong fever. At noon, on December 24th, he came to me and said, ‘I’m going to stay in bed. You will have to play the organ for me tonight. The services cannot be cancelled. I know you can do it.’ Huh. I had never played the organ before, and I had only several hours to learn twelve Anglican hymns. Quite dramatic – would I be able to step in for my dad? But I loved the challenge. And I did it, even played with my feet at some places! Unforgettable.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

To see my very critical 10-year-old son humming my song.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

Not being too serious about the music we are making and ourselves. A bit of irony and fun can break the ice! And smile sometimes when performing. Also, the term ‘classical’ is quite pretentious, but I don’t have a better one.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about which you think we should be?

I think what sometimes breaks people’s spines in classical music is the need to adhere to very specific standards. I was told many times that I don’t have the right voice to be a classical singer, meaning that it was not loud enough. I am not saying we should compromise on the sound quality, but the canon is quite narrow, and many people might feel too strained in it. ‘Classical’ music is not tolerant towards people who are trying to experiment and hybridise things. Some experiments are possible, yet they have a certain glass wall that is not to be crossed. Think about Mozart’s sonatas recorded with some contemporary electro-guitar sound effects and percussions on top. Would many classical labels release that?

Another related thing is gatekeeping. In the Western music industry, you can be considered a ‘professional’ musician if you have a degree in music, you must be certified. In West Africa, you are a musician if you are making music and you have some audience. I love the African approach so much more. I am grateful to my African colleagues for first pointing this to me – that I am a musician too.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians?

On top of other things, try to read and educate yourself. A good musician is an educated musician. And sleep enough.

What is your most treasured possession?

For the singer, it’s the voice. Also the brain. And knowing languages, they open the doors.

Maria Konoshenko releases her second single, ‘He Fought in the War,’ on 29 April 2026. The track is taken from her forthcoming album Songs of Exile, scheduled for release in September 2026.

mariakonoshenko.com