Management

Principal Stage Director

Anna Motornaya

Recipient of the Francysk Skaryna Medal (2023)

Anna Motornaya graduated from Grodno State Music School with a degree in сhoral conducting in 1991. Later she graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Music as a choral conductor in 1997 (postgraduate course in 2001) and as a director of musical theatre in 2009.
Anna Motornaya joined the chorus of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre in 1993 and was appointed chorus master in 1997.
She began her career as a stage director with the production of Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell at the opera studio of the Belarusian State Academy of Music (graduation project). In February 2010, Anna Motornaya's project Tragicomic Reading, or Comitragic Singing of Sergei Kortes's opera The Jubilee (based on the works of Anton Chekhov, libretto by Uladzimir Khalip) was presented at the Republican Theatre of the Belarusian Drama.
In 2010, she was nominated stage director of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre. Her works there included: The Night Bell by Gaetano Donizetti, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Mister X by Imre Kalman, Der Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss, My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe, Ball im Savoy by Paul Abraham, Hello, I'm Charley's Aunt! by Oscar Feltzman, Truffaldino from Bergamo by Alexander Kolker, etc.
In 1998, she started her teaching career in choral conducting at the Belarusian State Academy of Music. Since 2010, Anna Motornaya has been a teacher at the opera department of the Belarusian State Academy of Music, where she has directed the chamber comic opera Fantasy by Vladimir Kuryan and La bohème by Giacomo Puccini.
In 2021, she was appointed stage director of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. In 2022, she was promoted to principal stage director of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus.

Her productions with the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus include:
Faust by Charles Gounod (2020)
King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Vladimir Soltan (2021)
L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti (2022)
The Story of Kai and Gerda (The Snow Queen) by Sergei Banevich (2022)
Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (2023)
Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (2024)
Pathétique Memory Book, based on the pieces by Belarusian composers and documentary evidence of the tragedy and heroism of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War (2024) – acting as a scriptwriter and director, and performing the same function for numerous significant cultural events of the theatre

Her accolades include:
2016: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Production of a Musical Theatre for My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe;
2018: Letter of commendation from the Minsk City Organization of the Belarusian Professional Union of Workers of Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism for many years of dedicated work in the field of culture, high level of professional responsibility, support for trade union initiatives and on the occasion of the theater's birthday;
2018: Honorary certificate of the Minsk City Council of Deputies for many years of work on patriotic education of the younger generation and a series of charity events for war and labour veterans;
2019: Certificate of merit of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Professional Union of Workers of Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism for many years of dedicated work in the field of culture, exceptional professionalism and active engagement in public initiatives;
2019: Letter of commendation from the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Belarus for many years of fruitful work and exceptional professionalism;
2019: Letter of commendation from the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War for participation in the festive programme "10 Shades of Museum Night" as part of the international campaign The Night of Museums and significant contribution to the successful implementation of the project;
2021: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Directorial Work in a Musical Production for Faust by Charles Gounod;
2022: Certificate of merit of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus;
2022: King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Vladimir Soltan won the National Competition for the Best Cultural Project on a Patriotic Theme in the category Best Production of a Musical Theatre;
2023: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Directorial Work in a Musical Production for King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Vladimir Soltan and The Story of Kai and Gerda (The Snow Queen) by Sergei Banevich;
2023: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Opera Production for King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Vladimir Soltan;
2023: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Production for Children and Youth for The Story of Kai and Gerda (The Snow Queen) by Sergei Banevich;
2024: The project Pathétique Memory Book won the National Competition for the Best Cultural Project on a Patriotic Theme 2024 in the category Best Production on a Patriotic Theme;
2024: National Theatre Prize in the category Best Opera Production for Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky;
2025: The project Pathétique Memory Book (concept by Anna Motornaya) won the company the Special Prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus to Culture and Arts Luminaries.

In October 2022, a guest performance of Anna Motornaya’s King Stakh’s Wild Hunt was presented on the Historic Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia.
In July 2024, as part of the company’s tour to Nicaragua, she directed the gala concert marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from Nazi invaders and the 45th anniversary of the Nicaragua Revolution held at the Rubén Darío National Theater in Managua.

In October 2024, a guest performance of Anna Motornaya’s King Stakh’s Wild Hunt was given at the Mariinsky Theatre as part of the Days of the City of Minsk in St Petersburg.

The following year, in April 2025, her Pathétique Memory Book was presented on the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. This performance, marking the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia, was organized by the Ministries of Culture of both countries, the Standing Committee of the Union State, and ROSCONCERT.

In May 2025, Motornaya once again participated in the company’s tour to Nicaragua, staging a gala concert at the Rubén Darío National Theater in Managua.