Oda Slobodskaya

Oda Slobodskaya was a Russian born soprano who became a British citizen.

Her biographer Maurice Leonard quotes Slobodskaya as having been born onNovember 1888 in Vilno near the Polish border. She won a scholarship for secondary education but, having completed her schooling, to her displeasure, found herself working with her parents in a secondhand clothes shop. Knowing she had a good voice, in 1907 she applied for an audition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Having no classical repertoire she sang the simple songs she had learned as a chlld. Despite this lack of sophistication, her vocal potential was immediately apparent. The Director, Glazunov, and Natalya Iretskaya accepted her and awarded her a scholarship for nine years study.

Source: Wikipedia