Our Board

We each bring unique perspectives, yet we are united by a shared commitment to meaningful work, intentional artistry, and authentic connection.

Anastasia Antropova

Founder, President and Treasurer

Anastasia Antropova is an international soprano performing at venues across Europe and the United States, with a repertoire centered on Italian, Slavic, French opera, and music of romanticism. Her recent roles include Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimì in La Bohème, Floria Tosca in Tosca, and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin.

Recent operatic highlights include appearances with the Prolírica Foundation (Festival in Medellín), North Wales Opera Company, Premiere Opera Foundation, Chicago Summer Opera, Morelia Opera Festival, Orquesta Sinfónica de Zapopan, Orquesta Sinfónica de La Mancha, and Vienna Opera Festival. In 2025, she performed with the Boulder Symphony; the concert was recorded by Parma Recordings. She began 2026 by performing Mimì in Opera Stara Zagora.

In 2025, she independently produced Carmen and Eugene Onegin in Chicago and subsequently founded the Chicago Nova Opera in 2026.

She holds master’s degrees from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and the Chicago College of Performing Arts. Anastasia is also an accomplished pianist, having released the album Chopin. Late Works in 2020. During 2021-2023 she worked as a collaborative pianist at Roosevelt university. Anastasia is a prize-winner of several international music competitions.

While currently focusing on solo engagements and entrepreneur work, Anastasia continues to teach both piano and voice.

Anna Onley

Vice President

Anna Onley brings a valuable blend of innovation and results-orientation to her work with Chicago Nova Opera.

As patent counsel at a leading international law firm, Anna assists established companies and startups in developing and implementing intellectual property strategies. For several consecutive years (2024-2026), Anna was recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Patent Law—a peer-review acknowledgment highlighting top 2% of early-career attorneys in private practice. She also maintains an active pro bono practice, receiving multiple United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificates for helping innovators in digital arts, performing arts, and education tech secure patents. This diverse experience makes her insights particularly relevant to the creative world of opera.

A long-term Illinois resident and proud Chicagoan, Anna's academic background includes a B.S. with highest honors in Computer Science from DePaul University and an M.A. in Public Policy from Northwestern University, where her research on public-sector innovation earned her a Master’s Thesis of the Year Award. Early career mentorship and internships were key to honing her skills, and it's this understanding of developing talent that drives Anna’s passion for Chicago Nova Opera’s mission to provide practical training and significant performance opportunities to young opera singers.

Anna is also a founder of the Nasimoff Philanthropic Fund, established to honor her family’s legacy of service, and is a founding supporter of Chicago Nova Opera.

Olga Ridgway

Secretary

Pianist Olga Rikova Ridgway has delighted audiences internationally with depth of musicality and technical brilliance. Originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan she graduated from Tashkent State Conservatory and subsequently studied at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium. Moving to Chicago in 2003, she studied at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, receiving an Artist Diploma in piano and Master’s in Piano Performance. Olga received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Northwestern University.

She studied with Ludmila Lazar and Alan Chow in Chicago, and Genya Paley in New York City.

Olga was awarded numerous prizes and awards including first prize at the Union League Competition, she was a prizewinner at the Thaviu-Issak Piano competition, Ibla Grand Prize International Piano Competition, Musician Club of Women Piano Competition (Farewell Award) and Central Asian Piano Competition.

Olga has performed as recitalist, chamber player and orchestral soloist in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and throughout the United States. Most recent appearances include performances at the Chicago Cultural Center, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Merkin Hall in New York City and Carnegie Hall.

In addition to being a performer, Olga has been an active educator. Over the course of 20 years she has served on a faculty at the British School of Chicago, Benedictine University and has taught numerous students in her own private studio.

Currently, Olga serves as a piano faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago.