Lithuanian tenor Ilja Aksionov (born 1996) began their stage career as a boy soprano, performing the role of the Prince in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince and appearing as a soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s MASS. These early performances marked the beginning of their involvement in opera.
Ilja pursued vocal studies with Prof. Virgilijus Noreika at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, and later with Prof. Konrad Jarnot at the Robert Schumann Conservatoire in Düsseldorf. They have participated in masterclasses with artists such as Dame Sarah Connolly, Anne le Bozec, Hans Eijsackers, Henk Neven, Peter Gijsbertsen, Juliane Banse, Margreet Honig, and Christianne Stotijn. Ilja is currently studying with John Evans.
In the 2023–2024 season, Ilja a member of Les Arts Florissants’ Le Jardin des Voix, touring Europe and North America with a production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, conducted by William Christie and Paul Agnew.
Their operatic repertoire includes roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, and Teapot, Little Old Man, and Tree Frog in L’enfant et les sortilèges. Ilja has also appeared at the Ettlingen Festspiele in the roles of Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Prince Ramiro in La Cenerentola, as well as portraying Rodé in Peter Eötvös’ Three Sisters at Hagen Theatre and Orphée in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice in Enschede. Most recently, they performed with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in the semi-chorus of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.
Ilja has received recognition in several international competitions, including the Press Prize at the IVC song competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2021, 1st Prize in the International Competition Kaunas Sonorum in 2015, and 2nd Prize at the Città di Barletta Competition in Italy. In 2021/22, they were awarded a scholarship by the Richard Wagner Association Düsseldorf.