Valerija Iljin is a Lithuanian spinto soprano of Ukrainian descent who recently graduated with a Master of Arts from the Royal Academy of Music. Valerija is mentored by Janet Haney, Marcus van den Akker, Joan Rodgers and Dr Christopher White. Valerija holds a Bmus degree from Trinity Laban and a BA theatre degree from VIKO and LCM. In 2024, Valerija became a finalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition and won the Isabel Jay Memorial Prize and the Third Medici Prize. In 2023, Valerija made her Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall debut. Valerija was a semi-finalist of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards 2023 and a runner-up of the Clara Schumann lieder competition. Recent opera and theatre credits include Chrysothemis Elektra at the DVP Berlin, with Maestra Elda Laro (Deutsche Oper), Elsa Lohengrin (RAM), Norma Norma (RAM),  1st Lady  Die Zauberflöte at the Manhattan Opera Studio with maestro Keith Chambers, Maria West Side Story (Vilnius Philharmonic), and Susanna and Emma Khovanschina (Bolshoi theatre, Simon McBurney, Leah Hausman, Complicité).