"The Russian mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina is only in her early 20s, but she has got it all: striking good looks, a vibrant stage presence and a great voice. ‘The new Netrebko’"

David Mellor, Daily Mail

Biography

Current and upcoming

The title role of Carmen, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Charlotta Werther for the Royal Opera House, Angelina Cenerentola, Carmen for Teatro Real in Madrid, Maddalena Rigoletto for the Metropolitan Opera, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia Opera de Paris, Elisabetta Maria Stuarda Dutch National Opera, Carmen Deutsche Oper Berlin, Olga Eugene Onegin for San Francisco Opera.    

Future Engagements

Future engagements include debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, and returns to Teatro Real, Opera de Paris, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Zurich Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Theater an der Wien among others.

Other Engagements

Carmen, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia Deutsche Oper Berlin, Preziosilla La Forza del Destino, Carmen in Barrie Kosky’s production and Carmen La Tragédie de Carmen, Royal Opera House, Polina Pique Dame Baden-Baden Festival and Berliner Philharmoniker, Fenena Nabucco Staatsoper Hamburg, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia Opernhaus Zürich, Prince Orlofsky Die Fledermaus New National Theatre Tokyo, Varvara Katya Kabanova Glyndebourne Festival, Polina Pique Dame Teatro di San Carlo Napoli, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Olga Eugene Onegin* with Israeli Opera, Dulcinea Don Quichotte for Wexford Opera Festival, a concert version of West Side Story with Accademia di Santa Cecilia [*- cancelled] 

Awards

Grand Prix at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.

Recordings

Cenerantola's Aria

"Carmen" from the Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera - Rossini - The Barber of Seville - 'Una voce poco fa'

"Carmen" from the Royal Opera House

"Carmen" from the Royal Opera House

Rosina's Aria

Carmen

Carmen: Finale

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Schedule

Past | Upcoming

 June. 20 
2023

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Benoît Jacquot, Stage Director

 June. 23 
2023

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Benoît Jacquot, Stage Director

 June. 28 
2023

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Benoît Jacquot, Stage Director

 July. 01 
2023

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Benoît Jacquot, Stage Director

 July. 04 
2023

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Benoît Jacquot, Stage Director

 Sept. 21 
2023

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Lina Wertmüller, Stage Director

 Sept. 26 
2023

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Lina Wertmüller, Stage Director

 Sept. 30 
2023

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Lina Wertmüller, Stage Director

 Oct. 03 
2023

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Lina Wertmüller, Stage Director

 Dec. 31 
2023

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 03 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 05 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 09 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 12 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 16 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 19 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 23 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

 Jan. 27 
2024

Daniele Rustioni, Conductor
Carrie Cracknell, Stage Director

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 May. 28 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 25 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 21 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 18 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 15 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 12 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 09 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 May. 06 
2023

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Jetske Mijnssen, Stage Director

 Mar. 06 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Mar. 01 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 28 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 22 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 15 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 13 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 09 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 05 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 02 
2023

Rafael Payare, Conductor
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Dec. 29 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 23 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 20 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 17 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 14 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 11 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 08 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Dec. 03 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 29 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 26 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 20 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 17 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 14 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Nov. 10 
2022

Speranza Scappucci, Conductor
Bartlett Sher, Stage Director

 Oct. 14 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Oct. 11 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Oct. 09 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Oct. 06 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Oct. 01 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Sept. 28 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 Sept. 25 
2022

Vassilis Christopher, Conductor
Robert Carsen, Stage Director

 July. 20 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 July. 17 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 July. 14 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 July. 11 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 July. 08 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 July. 05 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 10 
2022

Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 07 
2022

Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 04 
2022

Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 02 
2022

Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 May. 30 
2022

Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 Apr. 18 
2022

Kirill Petrenko, Conductor
Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Apr. 15 
2022

Kirill Petrenko, Conductor
Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Apr. 12 
2022

Kirill Petrenko, Conductor
Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Apr. 09 
2022

Kirill Petrenko, Conductor
Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier, Stage Director

 Feb. 18 
2022

Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Oliver Mears, Stage Director

 Jan. 29 
2022

Dima Slobodeniouk, Conductor

 Jan. 02 
2022

Matteo Beltrami , Conductor
Katharina Thalbach, Stage Director

 Dec. 30 
2021

Matteo Beltrami , Conductor
Katharina Thalbach, Stage Director

 Nov. 21 
2021

Paolo Arrivabeni, Conductor

 Nov. 17 
2021

Vladimir Spivakov, Conductor

 Nov. 07 
2021

Paolo Arrivabeni, Conductor

 Nov. 04 
2021

Paolo Arrivabeni, Conductor

 Oct. 31 
2021

Paolo Arrivabeni, Conductor

 Oct. 09 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Oct. 05 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Oct. 03 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Oct. 01 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Sept. 28 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Sept. 26 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 Sept. 24 
2021

Riccardo Frizza, Conductor
Stefan Herheim, Stage Director

 July. 02 
2021

Gianluca Marcianò, Conductor

 June. 19 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 17 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 12 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 08 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 05 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 June. 03 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 May. 29 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 May. 26 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 May. 22 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 May. 20 
2021

Robin Ticciati, Conductor
Damiano Michieletto, Stage Director

 Apr. 06 
2021

Fabio Mastrangelo, Conductor

 Mar. 13 
2021

Timur Zangiev, Conductor
Alexander Titel, Stage Director

 Mar. 11 
2021

Timur Zangiev, Conductor
Alexander Titel, Stage Director

 Feb. 12 
2021

Georg Petrou, Conductor
Johannes Pölzgutter, Stage Director

 Feb. 06 
2021

Georg Petrou, Conductor
Johannes Pölzgutter, Stage Director

 Feb. 02 
2021

Georg Petrou, Conductor
Johannes Pölzgutter, Stage Director

 Jan. 28 
2021

Georg Petrou, Conductor
Johannes Pölzgutter, Stage Director

 Jan. 24 
2021

Georg Petrou, Conductor
Johannes Pölzgutter, Stage Director

 Jan. 02 
2021

Daniel Carter, Conductor

 Dec. 29 
2020

Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Conductor
Keith Warner, Stage Director

 Dec. 26 
2020

Daniel Carter, Conductor
Katharina Thalbach, Stage Director

 Dec. 22 
2020

Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Conductor
Keith Warner, Stage Director

 Dec. 15 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Dec. 13 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Dec. 06 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Dec. 05 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Dec. 03 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Dec. 01 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Nov. 29 
2020

Christopher Franklin, Conductor
Heinz Zednik, Stage Director

 Oct. 25 
2020

Stefan Blunier, Conductor

 Oct. 17 
2020

 Sept. 24 
2020

 Sept. 18 
2020

Gustavo Dudamel , Conductor

 Sept. 18 
2020

Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor

 Sept. 04 
2020

Antonio Pappano, Conductor

 June. 24 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 21 
2020

Antonio Pappano, Conductor

 June. 20 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 18 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 16 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 14 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 10 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 June. 08 
2020

David Afkham, Conductor
David Pountney, Stage Director

 May. 09 
2020

Dirk Kaftan , Conductor

 Apr. 10 
2020

James Gaffigan, Conductor

 Apr. 01 
2020

Nimrod David Pfeffer, Conductor
Jean-Claude Auvray, Stage Director

 Mar. 28 
2020

Nimrod David Pfeffer, Conductor
Jean-Claude Auvray, Stage Director

 Mar. 26 
2020

Nimrod David Pfeffer, Conductor
Jean-Claude Auvray, Stage Director

 Mar. 07 
2020

Yuval Zorn, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Mar. 05 
2020

Alessandro de Marchi, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Mar. 01 
2020

Alessandro de Marchi, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Feb. 28 
2020

Alessandro de Marchi, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Feb. 25 
2020

Alessandro de Marchi, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Feb. 23 
2020

Alessandro de Marchi, Conductor
Martin Lyngbo, Stage Director

 Jan. 19 
2020

 Dec. 15 
2019

Juraj Valčuha, Conductor
Willy Decker, Stage Director

 Dec. 14 
2019

Juraj Valčuha, Conductor
Willy Decker, Stage Director

 Oct. 29 
2019

Timothy Myers, Conductor
Rodula Gaitanou, Stage Director

 Sept. 04 
2019

Michelangelo Mazza, Conductor

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Press

London Royal Opera House - JPYA Summer Performance -

Aigul Akhmetshina, who opened the second act in Dalila's big aria, launching herseld with ease over the huge orchestration...She has a dark quallity to her voice and shone dramatically on stage


Louise Flind , OperaNow

London Royal Opera House - Bizet - Carmen - Carmen

Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina has an immaculate voice. It is slender, gentle, and soothing on many levels, making her a solid Carmen. She has a ringing top that was on full display throughout the inserted portions of the Habanera, which challenges the singer with a higher tessitura. She managed her voice quite well throughout this version of the piece, especially in moments where she had to sing over a blasting choral ensemble. There was great flexibility in her singing throughout the Seguidille, but she truly shone throughout Gypsy song that opens Act two. Here she not only managed to tackle all of the piece’s vocal challenges, but did so while dancing incessantly. Her voice never sounded the least bit troubled by the choreography; it was a true virtuoso display. “En vain pour éviter” was perhaps the lone moment where her Carmen projected any contrasting emotions, the mezzo darkening her delicate timbre and even expressing a sense of dread with some sharp accents in the lower reaches of her voice as she lamented her fate.


David Salazar , OperaWire

London Royal Opera House - Recital at Lunch

Aigul Akhmetshina, a 21-year-old Russian mezzo-soprano, is the real deal. She was discovered as a 19-year-old by David Gowland, the artistic director of the Jette Parker Young Artists programme, who proudly and skilfully accompanied her in a lunchtime recital at St Clement Danes in London. Akhmetshina began with Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, sounding much more mature than 21 (already a Brangäne for Tristan und Isolde), although there's a charming naivety about her. She has the beauty in her voice for this music but also darkness and blade, with an intense vibrato. She's innately musical - and instinctive - which was revealed in Shostakovich's Spanish Songs. Her resonant lower register and easy top combine a 'cool hotness' - perfect for Carmen, which she's covering at ROH next year. Akhmetshina is heading for the major mezzo roles, and deserves to be a big star. 


Louise Flind , Opera Now

Royal Opera House - Verdi - La forza del destino - Preziosilla

The star of the evening was undoubtedly Aigul Akhmetshina, whose vivid, vocally lustrous Preziosilla should really have been chosen for the cast. This singer is clearly going places.


Hugh Canning

Royal Opera House - Verdi - La forza del destino - Preziosilla

Jette Parker Young Artists’ Program member Aigul Akhmetshina was a technically secure and often exciting Preziosilla with a youthful and agile voice. Even more remarkably, this mezzo from Bashkortostan threw herself with gusto into the highly choreographed dance sequences, a mix of chorus line, belly dancing and burlesque. I don’t envy her A-cast colleague who needed to compete with the moves of this multi-talent. 


Philip Eisenbeiss , Interlude.hk

Royal Opera House - Verdi - La forza del destino - Preziosilla

Aigul Akkmetshina did everything that was asked of her as Preziosilla, which is a lot, ranging from attempted seduction of Don Alvaro, to creating a series of musical-theatre style dance numbers for the final scene of Act Three. Akhmetshina has a high, bright mezzo-soprano voice and is perhaps not a conventional Preziosilla but she shone here with a winning personality and I look forward to her in further roles.


Planet Hugill

Royal Opera House - Verdi - La forza del destino - Preziosilla

Aigul Akhmetshina was a superbly alluring Preziosilla, executing her song-and-dance numbers with panache and displaying some great low-register vocal technique along the way. She’s a talent to look out for.


David Karlin , Bachtrack

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

Akhmetshina, already a rising star at Covent Garden for her Carmens, and a thrilling Preziosilla in the B-cast recent Forza del destino (she should have been alongside Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann), has everything for this role: the looks, the sultry vocal endowment and a natural “watch-me” stage charisma that had the audience on the edge of their seats. We can expect great things from this impossibly young — she is only 23 — singer, if she isn’t pushed into heavy roles too soon.


The Times

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

Aigul Akhmetshina is very much the star attraction in the cast. Her outstanding success as Carmen at the Royal Opera last summer was evident in the way in which she portrayed the sultry señorita with whom the Don is besotted. Akhmetshina clearly relishes the dance content – perfect flamenco wrists – and her every move crackles with electricity. Her vibrant mezzo is well-suited to the role too, earthy in the guitar-accompanied “Ne pensons qu'au plaisir d'aimer”, but gorgeously shaped in Dulcinée’s apology after she laughingly rejects Quichotte’s proposal of marriage.


Mark Pullinger , Bachtrack

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

Aigul Akhmetshina ist optisch und stimmlich eine Idealbesetzung für die Partie der Belle Dulcinée. Mit samtweichem Mezzosopran fängt sie einerseits die Melancholie der Figur ein, wenn sie in ihrer Auftrittsarie die Vergänglichkeit der Jugend beklagt, und spielt andererseits absolut glaubhaft die Verführungskunst dieser Femme fatale aus, die ihre Verehrer zappeln lässt. 


Thomas Molke , Online Musik Magazin

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

Russian mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina’s smoky tone and genuine emotional warmth set her up perfectly as Don Quichotte’s idealised innamorata Dulcinea – for whom no sacrifice could ever be too great.


George Hall , The Stage

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

The Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina is a sultry Dulcinée with a voice that’s appealingly ripe and fruity,


Michael Dervan , Irish Times

Wexford Festival Opera - Massenet - Don Quichotte - The beautiful Dulcinea

The beautiful Dulcinée was played by the Russian mezzo-soprano, Aigul Akhmetshina. In what was a powerful performance, her strong stage presence enabled to her capture the attention of the audience, as well as that of the local men, who hung on her every word. Certainly flirtatious, she was a woman in control, which she asserted from the very outset by her commanding entrance, singing the faux Spanish aria, “Alza, la femme,” which showed off the warm sultry color of her voice, as she boasted of her preference for freedom over security and riches, which contained more than a hint of Carmen. Nor was it a simple one-dimensional portrayal; in rejecting Don Quichotte’s marriage proposal, she was also able to bring out the sensitive side of her character, clothing the lines of her aria “Oui, Je souffre votre tristesse,” with tenderness and sympathy.


Alan Neilson , OperaWire

Glyndebourne Festival - Leos Janacek - Katya Kabanova - Varvara

Kudryash’s girlfriend, less likely to be crushed by her place in the Kabanov household than Katya, is lustrously sung by Aigul Akhmetshiina.


David Nice , The Arts Desk

Glyndebourne Festival - Leos Janacek - Katya Kabanova - Varvara

 Aigul Akhmetshina sparkles as the naughty, imprudent Varvara.


David Karlin , Bachtrack

Teatro di San Carlo - Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame / Queen of Spades - Polina

As Lisa’s companion Polina, Aigul Akhmetshima displayed a powerful mezzo-soprano, with an asserting firmness in the voice that gave her singing an ear-catching tension.


Lorenzo Fiorito , Bachtrack

Glyndebourne Festival - Leos Janacek - Katya Kabanova - Varvara

Kudryash’s girlfriend, less likely to be crushed by her place in the Kabanov household than Katya, is lustrously sung by Aigul Akhmetshiina.


David Nice , The Arts Desk

Glyndebourne Festival - Leos Janacek - Katya Kabanova - Varvara

 Aigul Akhmetshina sparkles as the naughty, imprudent Varvara.


David Karlin , Bachtrack

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Discography

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Contacts

Represented by

TACT Artists Management

Marcin Kopec

marcin@tact4art.com

+44 79 81 91 88 14



Kamelia Manovska

kamelia@tact4art.com