COMPETITION WINNERS 2021:
Nancy Adejor, Frederique Afandiyev
"My name is Nancy Adejor. I was born in the former USSR, in Kazakhstan. I've been singing at various stages since my childhood in Almaty and continued to do so in Toronto, Canada, that has become my new home. Singing has always been a very important part of my life. Growing up I was exposed to the rich culture of Russian movies and songs about the Great Patriotic War and the people of all ages and nationalities struggling, surviving and winning in it. Every year we celebrate the Victory Day on May 9th, giving thanks to everyone who fought for peace and freedom. Though I belong to a completely different generation, this part of history is very meaningful to me, my family and my friends. That's why it's a tremendous honor for me to participate in the festival, and at the same time I'm excited to share my love and joy for singing with people around. My voice is an instrument that allows me to share my thoughts and emotions through music as the most universal language of all. My name is Frederique. I have graduated from OCAD University majoring in bachelor of fine arts. My passions are photography, art, singing and writing music. It is a great honour for me to be a part of this magnificent festival. I used to learn about history and War from my family since I was a child. My great grandfather was a tank man and he died in a tank in Poland, on March 24. My relatives and I hold and pay great respect for him. "No one and nothing is forgotten." It is an honour for me to sing a song "To That Fellow" which my mother and I had to work on and translate together. I am extremely grateful for getting a chance to sing this song with one of the greatest vocalists Nancy Adejor."
Nancy Adejor, Frederique Afandiyev
Federico Martello
"I am a singer, performer and songwriter with internationally recognized artistic merits. After studying different singing techniques, I did a long apprenticeship around the world (USA, Russia, Gibraltar, Poland, Spain) because I wanted to know and compare with different cultures to grow myself. Music is a great communication tool and we artists have an obligation to convey positive messages. This is why I decided to represent Italy in Yalta on the anniversary of the Great War: remembering a painful past helps to face the future with awareness and the same courage as a fighter for his ideals."
Federico Martello
Jānis Lemežis
"Jānis Lemežis is a vocalist, composer, multi-instrumentalist. Jānis Lemežis was born in Saldus, Latvia in 1985. He graduated from the Saldus Music School twice: as an accordionist and a saxophonist. In 2006 he graduated from the Liepāja Music High School as a saxophonist. He started his stage career as a pianist and backing vocalist in a Liepaja rock band with Felix Ķigelis and a music group "Stendera Street Boys". After that he played in a band with Ivo Fomina, where his piano and vocal skills were improved. Also, the song “We Live in Fairy Tales” was co-written, for which Jānis, as one of the authors, received the Copyright Infinity Award. After receiving this award, he realized that he wanted to improve as a vocalist and composer and in 2011 he released a single with Nick Matvējeva. Jānis is a laureate of several international vocal competitions. He sings in six languages: Latvian, Russian, English, Armenian, Kazakh and Lithuanian."
Jānis Lemežis
Tiago Barbosa
"I was born in a small town in the north of Portugal. In my hometown music studies were reserved to the very privileged ones, which was not my case. After finishing high school, I started to work as a mason in my father’s marble factory. My friends saw my vocal potential and invited me to join several musical projects, which gave me confidence I could be a musician one day. When I was 23, I decided to take singing lessons. Every Friday, for three years, I drove 160 km to attend the classes, it was very exhausting but crucial to the singer I am today. I also started to work with a popular band that played at fairs and summer festivals, where I remained as one of the lead singers for several years. In 2017 I moved to Porto and started to work as a street musician. In 2020 I enrolled in a TV Show Contest (The Voice Portugal). I won the third place and the experience opened me several doors in the national context. This Festival is the right challenge for me. Especially because of the historical and political context and the intention to perpetuate the musical heritage. I’ve never heard of anything like that before."
Tiago Barbosa
Duet Kanelu Charlotte Lundgren, Franco Gennaro
"This duo was formed in Barcelona where they met in 2018. They both have been long time in the music industry. Kanela (Charlotte Lundgren) was born in Chile but grew up in Sweden. She started with music when she was 6 years old and has been working as a singer and songwriter in Chile, Sweden and Spain, combining a solo career and collaboration with other artists. Franco Andrés Gennaro (Kaku) is from Argentina. He studied music from the age of 9. Franco is a musician, singer and producer. He started as a piano player and later he started to play other instruments (guitar, drums, base). He works as a producer for himself and for other artists. The duet works in Barcelona, performing at different events and concerts Their repertoire includes mainly Latin music, such as Latin pop and Reggaeton, but they also do more pop and soul music."
Duet Kanelu Charlotte Lundgren, Franco Gennaro
Aashima Chhabra
"Music for me is Love, music connects souls, people and borders. I believe we should spread love in the form of music and make a "History of love" for upcoming generations. I am doing all my efforts in music to perform and sing in different languages so that different cultures can connect with each other. My enthusiasm and the initiative nature have made me take part in the war singing and folk singing events in India and I won gold and silver medals at state level competitions. In 2017, In Hungary, I performed in “The Night of thousand Lights” festival there I represented Indian national songs. Apart from Indian traditional songs I am also learning Turkish, South Korean folk songs. Now because of the “Road to Yalta” Festival I got to know the famous war songs of Russia. I am really thankful to this festival and I am so excited to perform and represent the traditional song in Yalta. In future I will also do my best to learn Russian songs to spread more love between India and Russia through Music."
Aashima Chhabra
Shouning Wan
"Wan Shouning comes from China. Shouning is a professional singer, a participant of many music competitions. He studied vocals in Russia. As an amateur he started singing while at school, but never even dreamed of a musical career, his father was against him becoming an artist. However, after graduating from high school, Shouning took up vocals professionally. On the advice of friends, he went to Russia and entered the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, step by step he reaching for his goal. Now Shouning lives in China, he tours actively and dreams of his own music show."
Shouning Wan
Trami Nguyen
"Hello! My name is Trami Nguyen, I'm 26 years old. I was born in Vietnam and currently live in the USA. I love and thoroughly enjoy music while having great passion for singing. I have attended a handful of Vietnamese singing competition and have earned myself some titles. I want to take this opportunity to challenge myself to more international singing contest events such as this one, to learn and hopefully present my voice to the world."
Trami Nguyen
Catherine Manandaza
"Catherine Manandaza, an opera singer feels at home both in Normandy and in sunny Madagascar. The winner of numerous competitions, she performs at the most prestigious French venues (the Chatelet Theater, the Salle Pleyel and Salle Gaveau, the cathedrals of Notre-Dame and Madeleine in Paris, the National Rhenish Opera in Strasbourg, the Amphitheatre 3000 in Lyon, and others), and on international stages (the National Opera of Algeria, the National Opera of Cairo, the National Opera of Damascus, theaters in Germany, Poland, China, etc.) Her repertoire includes numerous opera arias and sacred music programs. A documentary film "The Embankment of the Stage" was made about her for the TV programs Arte, Musik and Mezzo. Russian music is very dear to Katrin, she enjoys learning and singing arias from Russian operas and romances by Russian composers (with the help of conductor Andrey Shevchuk, with whom she has been working in France for a long time). Catherine wants to share with Russian listeners the masterpieces of French and European opera and get to know Russia and its culture better."
Catherine Manandaza
Nancy Adejor, Frederique Afandiyev
"My name is Nancy Adejor. I was born in the former USSR, in Kazakhstan. I've been singing at various stages since my childhood in Almaty and continued to do so in Toronto, Canada, that has become my new home. Singing has always been a very important part of my life. Growing up I was exposed to the rich culture of Russian movies and songs about the Great Patriotic War and the people of all ages and nationalities struggling, surviving and winning in it. Every year we celebrate the Victory Day on May 9th, giving thanks to everyone who fought for peace and freedom. Though I belong to a completely different generation, this part of history is very meaningful to me, my family and my friends. That's why it's a tremendous honor for me to participate in the festival, and at the same time I'm excited to share my love and joy for singing with people around. My voice is an instrument that allows me to share my thoughts and emotions through music as the most universal language of all. My name is Frederique. I have graduated from OCAD University majoring in bachelor of fine arts. My passions are photography, art, singing and writing music. It is a great honour for me to be a part of this magnificent festival. I used to learn about history and War from my family since I was a child. My great grandfather was a tank man and he died in a tank in Poland, on March 24. My relatives and I hold and pay great respect for him. "No one and nothing is forgotten." It is an honour for me to sing a song "To That Fellow" which my mother and I had to work on and translate together. I am extremely grateful for getting a chance to sing this song with one of the greatest vocalists Nancy Adejor."
Nancy Adejor, Frederique Afandiyev
PARTICIPANTS OF THE CONTEST
Raul Fabian Solaro
"Hello, I am Fabián Solaro, I am 56 years old, from Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina. I am a lyric singer, graduated as a music, vocal and flute teacher. I worked as a music teacher and choir director. As a singer, I perform lyrical songs, Argentine and international with a number of choirs and orchestras. I am very excited to sing songs of the Great Patriotic War, because in them the will and heroism of the Russian people is manifested. Each song is a life and it is very important for all generations that the flame of the victory achieved by the Russian people is kept alive."
Raul Fabian Solaro
Ilina Eder
"My name is Ilina Eder, I'm from Austria. Since childhood, I have been professionally engaged in vocals at the Musikschule Margareten in Vienna, and I also dance in the youth professional ballet troupe "Europaballett". Singing and dancing have been very important to me since childhood, because doing it I feel like a fish in water or like a bird in sky – I am free. In 2014, I won the first prize in the Elena Obraztsova International Children's Vocal Competition in St. Petersburg. As my mom is Russian, and my dad is Austrian, I speak two languages, Russian and German. It is important for me to participate in the contest "The Road to Yalta", because the contest is dedicated to the 76th anniversary of the Second World War, through which my great-grandparents passed. It is very important to keep the peace!"
Ilina Eder
Alexa Grigoriadou
"Alexa is a singer and songwriter based in England. She showed her natural talent in music from an early age. Her passions were singing and playing the piano since the age of three when she started her first lessons with her Russian pianist mother. At the age of 10 she composed her first songs and later finished a music school and graduated in musicology. Alexa released her first debut EP ‘Forever Yours’ on 2013, it included three songs from Addicted2Bass, in association with Ministry of Sound UK. Continuing her collaboration with Addicted2Bass, she released her singles 'The One', (2013) 'Wild & Free ‘(2014) and ‘For Love’ (2015). Her latest single called ‘Out on My Own’ was released in May 2019. In June 2020, Alexa released the official music video of her latest track ‘Out on My Own’. Alexa collaborated on stage and in the studio with many artists and DJs from France, Italy, Russia, and Greece and toured in the United Kingdom, Germany, Cyprus, and Greece. Alexa’s live performances are characterized by emotion, sheer vocal strength and strong stage presence."
Alexa Grigoriadou
Linor Gauman
"My name is Linor Gauman and I am a singer. I am very happy to participate in the Road to Yalta Festival, because I have a deep connection to Russian culture and music. My grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and one of my grandfathers fought in the Red Army. I am a graduate of the Robin Conservatory in Haifa. I sang in the Air Force band in the Israeli army. As a child, I sang everywhere and in every circle that was close to home... But the beginning was very difficult. I was a very shy girl and had a hard time integrating socially. One day we fought with a child who abused me because of the origin of my parents. The music teacher heard me shouting and called me to come to the office immediately. She told me to not pay attention to abuses, stop yelling and start singing instead. And that’s what I’m still doing!"
Linor Gauman
Beata Muszler
"My name is Beata Muszler, I am Polish, I live in Warsaw. I graduated from the Warsaw University in Political Sciences. Currently I have a manager’s position at a medical clinic. I combine work with my hobby – music. And I love to do both. Ever since I was young, I have been singing – in kinder garden, school choirs, music groups. I performed as an amateur for smaller and larger crowds. I prefer to choose repertoire that touches my soul. I grew up listening to Polish and Russian bard songs of such authors as: Jacek Kaczmarski, Jacek Gintrowski, Vladimir Visotsky and of course Bulat Okudzhava. I live an active life that includes running, hiking, fitness and dancing."
Beata Muszler
Deniz Cem
"Deniz Cem is an internationally recognized Turkish artist. He has participated in many song contests around Europe at the beginning of his career and won many awards. He collaborated with many foreign artists, for example with Pierre Narcisse from Russia. Deniz Cem performs songs in several languages. His last single “Tamam Tamam” became a huge hit with over 200 million views on TİKTOK application. “Tamam Tamam” is still playing on radios and on Spotify list around 82 countries. He is going to release his new single ' Aşk Bitti ' very soon. Deniz Cem is the President of Turkish artist team called ART-IST which is a partner of an international social responsibility project called ART-FOOTBALL."
Deniz Cem
Trami Nguyen
"Hello! My name is Trami Nguyen, I'm 26 years old. I was born in Vietnam and currently live in the USA. I love and thoroughly enjoy music while having great passion for singing. I have attended a handful of Vietnamese singing competition and have earned myself some titles. I want to take this opportunity to challenge myself to more international singing contest events such as this one, to learn and hopefully present my voice to the world."