Sofia Livotov is a lyric soprano, equally at home performing opera, art song and contemporary music. Based in Leeds, she has appeared at international venues such as Tonhalle Zürich, Southbank Centre London, Oxford Song Festival, TivoliVredenburg as well as the concert stage in Jakarta.
Since 2022, Sofia has been performing on the stage of Opera North and has appeared in the role of the Owl in 'The Cunning Little Vixen' and in productions such as 'Parsifal', Masque of Might', 'The Pearl Fishers' 'La Rondine', 'Requiem' and 'Simon Boccanegra' as part of the Opera North Chorus. As a soloist, her recent engagements include appearances at the Leeds International Concert Series with organist Darius Battiwalla, the University of Leeds International Concert Series’ Summer Festival 2023, the Ulverston International Music Festival, as well as the soprano solo part in Mendelssohn`s oratorio ´Elijah` with the Halifax Choral Society and the Bradford Festival Choral Society.
An established concert singer, both in recital and oratorio, Sofia presented 2022 in Salzburg an all-female composer programme with pianist Natalia Pegarkova-Barenboim and was invited by musicians of Orchester des Wandels (Orchestra of Change) to perform in the orchestra's climate concert series in Germany.
Sofia has performed with ensembles such as Festival Strings Lucerne and Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and has worked with conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, David Zinman, Garry Walker, Richard Farnes and Jurjen Hempel. She has been re-invited to sing the solo parts in various projects of the Sinfonietta Zurich, including Haydn`s oratorios The Creation and The Seasons under the baton of Joao Santos. Sofia has given recitals with established pianists including Haiou Zhang (International Festival Buxtehude) and Frans van Ruth and has performed Ravel`s Shéhérezade under the baton of Ed Spaanjard in Amsterdam.
A keen performer of contemporary music, Sofia gave her debut in London at the Tête à Tête Festival 2019 in the premiere of 'Apollo`s Mission' by Edward Lambert. Besides her appearances in contemporary opera productions at the Lucerne Theatre, further roles and covers on the operatic stage include Musetta (La Bohème), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Anna (Nabucco), Prima Sorella Cercatrice (Suor Angelica), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Pamina (The Magic Flute), and Micaela (Carmen).
A graduate of Hochschule Musik Lucerne (2013) and Conservatorium van Amsterdam (2017) under the tutelage of Valérie Guillorit, Sofia has received numerous scholarships from Swiss, German and British foundations. Together with pianist Prajna Indrawati, she has been selected for the Oxford Lieder Residential Mastercourse 2021 and awarded the Transmission Fund 2020 by Help Musicians UK as well as the Second Prize in the Chamber Music Category of the London Classical Music Competition 2022. Sofia has participated in masterclasses with Joan Rodgers, Ann Murray, Margreet Honig, Malcolm Martineau, Klesie Kelly and Regina Werner -Dietrich and is currently coached by Nelly Miricioiu in London.
During the pandemic, together with tenor Satriya Krisna, Sofia has been recording her first short album "Sounds of Indonesia", which has been featured on the German radio SWR2, Radio Klassik Stephansdom and Canadian radio CKIA FM.
Before becoming a professional opera singer, Sofia trained as a pianist at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media. She is also a certified singing teacher (MMus in Vocal Pedagogy) with over 15 years of experience. In addition to her performing career, she enjoys working online with adult piano and singing students from around the world.
Due to her bilingual background in Russian and German, Sofia also offers language coaching for singers.
​
​