Ukrainian conductor says Estonia has become part of his life

Ukrainian conductor Aleksandr Bražnik says Estonia has become part of his life and hopes to conduct at the Song Festival one day, ERR reported.

Bražnik, who is from northern Ukraine, came to Estonia in 2014 with his family to visit relatives in Pärnu. During a trip to Tallinn, he noticed an audition notice at the Estonia National Opera, which was looking for a bass singer for its choir. He took a photo of the notice and later contacted the opera from Ukraine.

After a concert in Warsaw, he travelled by bus to Tallinn and auditioned the next morning. He was hired. Bražnik had graduated from a conservatory in Ukraine with a degree in choral conducting and had worked as a choir conductor in Kyiv. He continued pursuing his goal of becoming a conductor after joining the opera choir, studying orchestral conducting in Estonia.

He learned Estonian intensively for a year and a half, attending language classes twice a day and passing a B1-level exam. He then enrolled in orchestral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and completed his studies in Tallinn. While singing in the opera choir and taking small solo roles, he also worked as a food courier for Bolt.

The war in Ukraine is deeply personal for Bražnik. His mother lives in an area reached by Russian tanks. “Some cars were bombed and people were killed,” he said. He described the war and the bombing of cities as difficult to talk about, saying he could not understand why people could not sit down and talk to each other.

Last season, Bražnik was music director for the Vanemuine theatre production of “Silva.” He is due to rehearse the production again in Tartu this week. His upcoming work includes a new production of “Carmen” and an orchestral rehearsal for the ballet “The Rite of Spring.”

This autumn, he also appeared in the film “Seatapp,” his first film role. He said it was initially difficult to watch himself at the premiere, but he hopes to act in films again. Bražnik has sung at the Song Festival but has not conducted there. “There is something to look forward to,” he said.