Liudmila Zykina

Born June 10, 1929, in Moscow. Soviet Russian singer, People’s Artist of the USSR (1973).

Beginning in 1942, Zykina took part in amateur talent activities. After 1947 she sang as a soloist with the M. E. Piatnitskii Russian Folk Chorus and after 1951 with the Russian Song Chorus of the Ail-Union Radio; since 1960 she has sung with the Moscow Concert Society. Zykina’s creative training was greatly influenced by the Piatnitskii Choir directors V. G. Zakharov and P. A. Kaz’min and the director of the Russian song radio choir A. V. Rudneva. In 1969 she graduated from the M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov Moscow School of Music, where she was in E. K. Gedevanova’s class. Zykina sings Russian and Soviet songs. Her art is notable for its sincerity, intimacy, and great inner depth. The singer’s voice is strong and deep, its timbre is rich and warm, and its flow mellifluous and expansive. Among Zykina’s most famous songs are “The Riazan’ Madonnas” by Dolukhanian, “The Orenburg Kerchief” by Ponomarenko, and “Flows the Volga” by Fradkin. She has toured Japan, Great Britain, France, the USA, India, Australia, and the Federal Republic of Germany. She was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1970 and has received the Order of the Badge of Honor and medals.