Out on her arias! ‘World-class’ Russian soprano, 25, is denied the right to stay in the UK

A Russian performer once described by English National Opera as a ‘world-class’ soprano has been denied the right to stay in the UK.

Erika Baikoff, 25, wanted to settle in the country after graduating with a masters degree in 2018 from the Guildhall School of Music.

She had been using a global talent visa which allows internationally-recognised artists, among others, to stay in the UK for five years. 

The scheme is a part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s drive to attract the ‘brightest and best’ of the world to the country.

However, when the young soprano applied to settle in the UK after being granted her visa in 2019, it was rejected, according to The Telegraph.

The newspaper reported that the Home Office claim the performer hasn’t spent enough time in the UK to make it her home.

The scheme is a part of Rishi Sunak ‘s drive to attract the ‘brightest and best’ to the country

The 25-year-old is challenging the ruling because she says opera singing is an international profession.

She slammed the decision, declaring: ‘There are so many musicians living here but the musicians who want to stay, they don’t encourage to stay.’

The performer told The Telegraph she had no choice but to go abroad because the country was so badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In her travels, she performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she won a place on its young artist development programme.

The singer’s legal team say this has exposed a flaw in the scheme to attract talent to the UK.

They claim academics are permitted to travel overseas without damaging their chances, but not artists or musicians.

Visa holders shouldn’t spend more than 180 days in a 12-month period outside the UK under the rules, but academics are exempt from this.

Ms Baikoff’s team allege the Home Office didn’t consider the provision that absence from the country wouldn’t count if it was due to travel disruption during Covid or other ‘compelling’ reasons.

The auditorium of the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera, is pictured

Her lawyer told The Telegraph: ‘The pandemic had a particularly devastating impact on opera in the UK.

‘There was almost no new opera work in the UK from the start of the pandemic until deep into 2023. As a result, Erika had to travel outside of the UK for a substantial period of time to take up work in order to make ends meet.’

In her application, the singer included a letter of recommendation from the previous artistic director of the ENO calling her a ‘world class soprano’.

As a Lindemann Young Artist, she sang the roles of Xenia in Boris Godunov and Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro opera. 

She also joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra’s tour of Das Rheingold and was featured as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s 4th Symphony with Maestro Daniele Rustioni and the Ulster Orchestra. 

In 2021-22 her performances included debuts with Schubertìada and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

From 2018-20, she was a member of the Opéra National de Lyon Studio, where her roles included Le Feu/ Princesse/ Rossignol in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Juliet in Blacher’s Romeo and Juliet, Anna in Nabucco, and the soprano solo in Mahler’s 4th Symphony. 

She is the recipient of a George London Award and a Sullivan Foundation Career Development Grant, and was named a 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Semi-finalist.