Shahzoda (Шахзода; real name Zilola Bahodirovna Musayeva, as it is spelled in Uzbek) is an Uzbek singer and actress. Shahzoda grew up in Fergana, in the Uzbek SSR. She was interested in music from her childhood, but has no musical education—she studied management at the International State University of Kyiv, but left the university to […]

Zhenya Milkovskiy (Женя Мильковский) is a Russian-speaking Ukrainian musician who sings, plays the piano and guitar, and writes his own music. Most recently, he is the leader of the band Nerves (Нервы), which blends many elements of R&B, pop, and rap with generally very soft lyrics and vocals. Milkovskiy’s musical education started early, when he […]

Vera Brezhneva (Vera Viktorovna Kiperman, Вера Брежнева / Вера Викторовна Киперман) is a Russian-speaking Ukrainian singer from Dnipropetrovsk oblast. While she was growing up, she acted in local productions at a youth theater. She enrolled in an engineering college after finishing school, but when the group VIA Gra was auditioning for new members in 2002, […]

Anna Sedokova (in Ukrainian Анна Володимирівна Сєдокова) is a Russian-Ukrainian singer from Kyiv and a former member of the pop group VIA Gra. Sedokova was involved in music and dance from a very young age, participating in a Ukrainian folk group from the time she was six. She studied piano at music school and then […]

MakSim (real name Marina Abrosimova Maksimova; МакSим / Марина Абросимова) is a Russian singer, author, and producer. Her stage name was given to her by her brother, Maksim—it was her nickname growing up, and she carried it over to her musical career. It is derived from her patronymic, a Russian naming tradition in which the […]

Maksim Leonidov (Максим Леонидов) is a Russian singer originally from St. Petersburg. Best known for leading the popular Soviet band Secret (Секрет), he has also led a solo career in Israel and Russia. Leonidov’s parents both worked in theater, and he grew up surrounded by theater and music. He attended music school in St. Petersburg, […]

Melnitsa (Мельница; translates as Windmill) is a Celtic folk rock group from Russia. Founded by Natalia O’Shea, whose stage name is Hellawes, the group’s current members are Aleksey Orlov (electric violin, violin, mandolin), Aleksey Kozhanov (bass guitar, acoustic guitar), Dmitriy Frolov (drums), Sergey Vishnyakov (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backup vocals), Dmitriy Kargin (flute), and O’Shea […]

Natalia O’Shea (Наталья Андреевна О’Шей) performs self-composed Celtic folk rock in Russian. She has released music as part of the popular folk band Melnitsa (Мельница) and as a solo artist under her stage name Hellawes (Хелависа). She is also a linguist and a specialist in Celtic languages. Hellawes studied piano at music school, but her […]

Elena Pogrebizhskaya (Елена Погребижская), is a Russian singer, documentary filmmaker, and writer. Pogrebizhskaya was born in northwest Russia but has spent most of her life in Moscow. Her musical education consisted of music school and singing in a church choir. She started out as a television journalist, but in 2001 she began to concentrate on […]