Russian singer, mezzo-soprano Maria Ostroukhova, has called upon the organizers of the Norwegian Queen Sonja Singing Competition to stop treating Russian artists as pariahs within the classical music world after she was excluded from the competition based on her nationality, this according to a letter the mezzo sent to Competition’s organizers.

In her letter, Ostroukhova states that over the course of the year, the organizers had “time to make a well informed decision based on facts.” The facts she listed include Russian artists’ risk of losing their careers, their lives, and the safety of their families by taking a stand against the war.

Ostroukhova cites the Competition’s statement as discriminatory:

“Together with the rest of the liberal world, Norway has strongly condemned Russia’s illegal and inhuman attacks on Ukraine. We fully support this condemnation, and we stand in strong solidarity with Ukraine and its citizens in defence of our mutual democratic values. Applications from singers with Russian and Belarusian citizenship will this year, therefore not be accepted. This regulation is set to exclude Russia and Belarus as nations, rather than the individual applicant.”

In her rebuttal, Ostroukhova wrote:

“Surprisingly, you do not see how awful, condescending and illogical this statement is. Since when did the democratic values of the liberal world include discrimination based on nationality? How does this ban help Ukranian citizens? And lastly, do you think that two sociopaths that call themselves presidents of Russia and Belarus care if your institution publicly humiliated the artists who had the misfortune of being born in these countries… You can not [sic] be aware that most Russian artists left or fled Russia. We receive no support, solidarity, or help, although we, unlike the ‘citizens of the liberal world,’ did everything we could to voice our protest and stop this from happening.”

In her letter, the singer also pointed to the banning of Russian artists from Moniuszko Singing Competition and The Dublin Piano Competition.

Ostroukhova wrote that she fully expected an answer and outlined three steps for resolving the situation.

“1. An immediate lift of the discriminatory ban on Russian and Belarusian artists.
2. A written apology from the organisation’s committee.
3. A substantial monetary donation to any of the Ukrainian opera theatres. I would propose the Odesa Opera Theatre (https://operahouse.od.ua/en/), one of the oldest theatres in Ukraine.”

She finished the letter, stating, “Kicking defenceless and powerless Russian and Belarusian artists to the curb is free, simple and bears no consequences, but it is neither solidarity nor charity.”