Opera singer driven from Belarus tries to rebuild life, career in Boston

By MARK PRATT

BOSTON (AP) — Ilya Silchukou was a cultural icon in his native Belarus, the lead soloist on the State Opera Bolshoi who represented his nation at official authorities features at dwelling and overseas and carried out at opera homes throughout Europe.

He lived a privileged and comfy life in his homeland.

And he gave all of it up.

Silchukou dared to talk out towards Alexander Lukashenko, who has led the previous Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three a long time.

He’s now dwelling in suburban Boston together with his spouse and three kids and teaches music to center faculty college students whereas he tries to revive his singing profession within the U.S., the place he stays comparatively unknown.

“I’m recognized in Europe, however I’ve by no means carried out within the States, and it was like a clean piece of paper for me, only a new web page,” he stated throughout a latest interview in Boston. “We needed to begin from scratch right here.”

When Lukashenko received a sixth time period in workplace in 2020 in an election regarded by his opposition and the West as fraudulent, Silchukou joined tens of hundreds of Belarusians at election protests that had been violently suppressed and resulted within the arrests of hundreds.

“It was so evident to all of us that we couldn’t hold silent any extra,” he stated.

He renounced three awards that he had acquired personally from Lukashenko.

His buddies warned him of the dangers.

“They stated, ‘What’s the downside with you? You will have all the things you want,’” he stated. “I used to be properly paid in Belarus and I had all the advantages from that. I stated, ‘Sure they pay me, however they don’t personal me.’”

His public opposition to Lukashenko obtained him fired from the opera for an “act of immorality” and he was black-listed, he stated. In response, he had yet one more act of defiance — utilizing his baritone voice in a video of the normal Belarusian hymn, “Mahutny Bozha,” which implies “Mighty God,” and has develop into a signature anthem of the opposition to Lukashenko.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t till March 2021 when the police got here after his spouse, Tanya, and accused her of defrauding the nation’s state-sponsored little one assist system and threatened her with two years in jail that he knew he needed to get out. He took it as a thinly-veiled risk to interrupt up their household.

“Plenty of children in Belarus have each mother and father in jail,” he stated.

When his kids completed faculty in Could of that 12 months, the household packed 4 suitcases with some very important paperwork and images and flew from Belarus to the nation of Georgia, then on to Seattle, the place his mother and father dwell.

The household got here to the East Coast a few 12 months in the past on the suggestion of Marina Lvova, who runs the nonprofit Belarusians in Boston, drawn by Boston’s cultural scene, proximity to Europe and vibrant Belarusian expatriate neighborhood.

Lvova and her husband first noticed Silchukou at considered one of his final public performances in Minsk and “fell in love together with his voice,” she stated.

However she was additionally impressed together with his bravery for standing as much as Lukashenko.

“Ilya is an actual patriot of Belarus,” she stated. “You can’t be profitable in a rustic that could be a jail, and sadly our nation is a jail proper now.”

Silchukou is making ends meet educating fifth by ninth graders on the non-public Star Academy faculty.

“It’s fairly unbelievable that he’s in a position to share among the experiences he’s had at among the greatest opera homes in Europe,” stated Margarita Druker, Star Academy’s co-director.

The varsity has many college students of Jap European descent whose households have related tales of fleeing oppression.

“It was very brave for somebody of his stature to stroll away from all he had into a lot uncertainty,” Druker stated.

Silchukou has returned to the stage, collaborating with pianist Pavel Nersessian, an affiliate professor at Boston College, for 2 latest concert events in Boston and New Jersey.

For each, he put collectively a retrospective of a few of his private favourite items spanning his profession from his first singing classes to his time on the nationwide opera, together with “Papageno” from “The Magic Flute” and “Cavatina Figaro” from the “The Barber of Seville.” He capped off the exhibits with what he known as the “jewel of the live performance,” a duet together with his mezzo-soprano spouse.

He not too long ago had an audition with the Boston Lyric Opera and is attempting to safe auditions with different opera homes within the U.S., and he’s in negotiations with U.S. brokers.

“I’m wanting ahead with hope,” he stated.

A type of hopes is a return to his homeland.

He stays in contact with buddies and colleagues in Belarus who’re “working in concern,” afraid of talking out towards Lukashenko.

“We hope to see them once more, and for certain we are going to sing our songs on the squares on our true independence day,” he stated.