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 residence 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 in opposition to 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 along with his spouse and three kids and teaches music to center college college students whereas he tries to revive his singing profession within the U.S., the place he stays comparatively unknown.
“I am known in Europe, but I’ve never performed in the States, and it was like a blank piece of paper for me, just a new page,” he mentioned throughout a current interview in Boston. “We had to start from scratch here.”
When Lukashenko gained 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 have been violently suppressed and resulted within the arrests of hundreds.
“It was so evident to all of us that we could not keep silent any more,” he mentioned.
He renounced three awards that he had obtained personally from Lukashenko.
His mates warned him of the dangers.
“They mentioned, ‘What is the problem with you? You have everything you need,’” he said. “I was well paid in Belarus and I had all the benefits from that. I said, ‘Yes they pay me, but they don’t personal me.’”
His public opposition to Lukashenko acquired him fired from the opera for an “act of immorality” and he was black-listed, he mentioned. In response, he had yet one more act of defiance — utilizing his baritone voice in a video of the standard Belarusian hymn, “Mahutny Bozha,” which implies “Mighty God,” and has develop into a signature anthem of the opposition to Lukashenko.
Still, 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 youngster 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.
“Lots of kids in Belarus have both parents in prison,” he mentioned.
The household got here to the East Coast a couple of 12 months in the past on the suggestion of Marina Lvova, who runs the nonprofit Belarusians in Boston.
Lvova and her husband first noticed Silchukou at considered one of his final public performances in Minsk and “fell in love with his voice,” she mentioned.
But she was additionally impressed along with his bravery for standing as much as Lukashenko.
“Ilya is a real patriot of Belarus,” she mentioned. “You cannot be successful in a country that is a prison, and unfortunately our country is a prison right now.”
Silchukou has returned to the stage, collaborating with pianist Pavel Nersessian, an affiliate professor at Boston University, for 2 current 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 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 am looking forward with hope,” he mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”