Baritone, Director, and Educator, Sergey Khalikulov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  In 1990, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in San Francisco. He attended the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (Vocal Department). While at SOTA, his participation in many musical productions (including Fiddler on the Roof, City of Angels, Follies, The Apple Tree, and Jekyll and Hyde) solidified his passion for the performing arts and arts education.

 

His studies led him to the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he earned his BA in music while studying voice with Vladimir Chernov. Some favorite appearances with Opera UCLA include Menotti’s The Medium (Mr. Gobineau), Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Antonio), Handel’s Agrippina (Pallante), and West Coast premieres of Cavalli’s Giasone (Hercules) and Jonathan Dove’s Flight (Immigration Officer).

 

After graduating from UCLA, Sergey moved back to San Francisco, where he acquired his master's degree and post graduate diploma studying with Cesar Ulloa at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  There he continued his development as a versatile performer and appeared in numerous productions with the Musical Theater Program, Opera Department and Baroque Opera Program, such as: Sondheim’s Into the Woods (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (Sam), Adamo’s Little Women (Friedrich Bhaer), Britten's Albert Herring (Superintendent Budd), Handel’s Serse (Ariodate), Argento’s Postcard from Morocco (Man with the Cornet Case)--a co-production with Portland Opera and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and L'elisir d'amore (Dr. Dulcamara), which traveled to Washington, D.C. for a performance at the Kennedy Center.

 

He has participated in Artist Training Programs including the  Tanglewood Institute, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, the inaugural seasons of IVAAP (formerly Summer in Payerbach), the Mosher Studio Artist program with Opera Santa Barbara, and the Apprentice Artist program with Sarasota Opera.

 

Sergey has appeared in productions with a variety of companies and institutions throughout the Bay Area, including  the title role in Don Giovanni with Waffle Opera, La Serva Padrona (Uberto) with Livermore Valley Opera and Waffle Opera, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mr. Page) with Pocket Opera,  Opera Parallele’s World Premiere of My Head is Full of Colors (Father), The Woman in the Wall (Fortitude) with Overtone Industries, My Fair Lady (Freddy) with Broadway by the Bay, The Most Happy Fella (Joey) and The Fantasticks (El Gallo) with Cinnabar Music Theater, Foothill Music Theater’s productions of South Pacific (Lt. Cable), for which he was nominated by BATCC for best principle actor in a musical 2014, and the title role in Sunday in the Park with George. Additionally, he is a regular performer with the San Francisco opera troupe Opera on the Spot, with whom he puts on "pop-up" opera performances at non-traditional locations all over San Francisco!

 

Sergey has received numerous awards and prizes, including: scholarships from Opera Buffs, Inc., Pacific Musical Society, the Bev Sellers Memorial Scholarship for Singers (for which sang on a concert that was live-streamed from the Honolulu Convention Center), East Bay Opera League (Prize Winner), Sarlo Émigré Youth Scholarship, Fritz and Maria Altmann Scholarship,  James H. Schwabacher, Jr. Scholarship, and the Wise Iphegenia Scholarship (which provided a full merit scholarship to attend SFCM’s Post Graduate Diploma program).

 

Special workshops include Mason Bates' opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and  "Emma," a new musical by Meghan Brown and Sarah Taylor Ellis, working with Apples and Oranges Studios Accelerator.

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In addition to his work as a performer, Sergey work as a stage director explores immersive theater, often focusing on the intersection of technology and the human condition.

 

Sergey is on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he holds the title of Assistant Director of Opera and Musical Theater. At SFCM, he directs opera productions, scenes programs, teaches the undergraduate opera workshop, and assists various faculty and guest artists to help produce the entire season of performances. In addition to is work at SFCM, he has worked as an assistant director for productions with various companies including for San Francisco Symphony's production of Boris Godunov. He has also served as a Russian language consultant for the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Conservatory. In addition Sergey has worked as a score reader and video assistant director for productions at SFS and SFCM and has given pre-talk lectures at the San Francisco Opera. 

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With over a decade of experience in teaching, Sergey maintains an active voice studio with students of all ages in San Francisco.  

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