A world renowned opera singer, Irina Bogacheva is the soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1963, and the Head of the Solo Singing Department of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
She graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad State Conservatory and was trained under Professor Barr (1968-1970) at the La Scala Theater (Milan, Italy). Having won the the Glinka Competition as a conservatoire student yet, Irina Bogacheva was invited to the Mariinsky Theatre. On its famous stage the singer has brilliantly performed a number of leading mezzo-soprano parts in operas by Bizet, Verdi, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, etc. Her most outstanding roles are those of Carmen in the same-name opera by Bizet, Amneris in Aida by Verdi, and Lyubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride.
An incredible combination of Irina Bogacheva's beautiful voice, flawless vocal technique and great acting mastery make all of her performances unforgettable.
The opera repertoire of Irina Bogacheva is enormous. She has performed all of the leading mezzo-soprano parts on the world's major stages, such as the Mariinsky Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Bastille, La Scala, Teatro Colon, the San Francisco Opera, and many others.
The singer  has also extensively toured with solo programs across Norway, France, China, Spain, Japan, Korea, England, Germany, Italy and other countries.
For many years, she has worked as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She has brought up lots of great singers, who sing in the leading opera houses of the world. The name of Olga Borodina only says about the great contribution of Irina Bogacheva into the world  opera culture. Her former and present day students, namely Olga Savova, Helen Whitman, Natalia Evstafieva, Yuri Ivshin, Natalya Biryukova, Yulia Simonova, Maria Litke, and Olesya Petrova perform in the largest opera houses of St. Petersburg: the Mariinsky Theatre and the Mussorgsky Theatre.
Irina Bogacheva is the Honorary Citizen of St. Petersburg, the holder of the State Awards of Russia and the Golden Mask Award (2016) as well as the Order For Merit of the 3rd degree and the Vernadsky Star Order of the 2nd degree.