Page 302 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book

Some of her fees have been paid in full, others as a percentage, “so I am not empty-
handed”. Indeed, she regards herself as lucky, “because when our Butterfly was

interrupted, we were halfway through the run. There were many shows that never even

saw the stage.”

Despite her surname, which comes from her Ukrainian grandfather, who settled in the

UK during the Second World War, Natalya hails from Swansea, where she was brought

up by her single mother.

“My grandfather was the musical influence in the family. He was a Cossack dancer and

taught himself to play the accordion. He would take us to a Ukrainian club in
Morriston, and as a little girl I’d have a fun time – we’d always sing and dance; that’s

where it began for me.”

Later on, her mother used to play her videos of musicals such as Calamity Jane, Meet
Me in St Louis and West Side Story, “so I grew up watching those and joining in,

dancing about in the living room. I knew all the words”.

It was also her mother who realised that Natalya not only had a voice but also a passion
for singing. “So, when I was 12, she sent me for lessons. I loved it. I started to progress

in my grades, and that’s how I got to sing a little bit of classical music.”

Another singing teacher auditioned her for the music colleges and she eventually chose

Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying there for four years as an

undergraduate, and then for two years on the opera course.

‘I’m still learning all I was supposed to. It gives

me a sense of purpose’

Before she went to Guildhall, she had never seen an opera: her own previous stage

experience was confined to a couple of amateur musicals. The first time she sang in an
opera was for Welsh National Youth Opera in 2006, when she was given the leading

role of Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. Meanwhile at Guildhall, she

sang the title roles of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Almeida’s La Spinalba, and Blanche in

Poulenc’s The Carmelites.