Marina Vladimirovna Devyatova (russian: link=no, Мари́на Влади́мировна Девя́това, born 13 December 1983) is a Russian singer and interpreter of
Russian traditional music
Russian folk music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russians, Russian people.
Ethnic styles in the modern era
The performance and promulgation of ethnic music in Russia has a long tradition. Initially it was intertw ...
. She was a finalist of the third edition of
''Narodni Artist'' (''People's Artist''), the Russian equivalent of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''.
Biography
Marina Devyatova was born on 13 December 1983 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. She is the daughter of Natalya Lopato, a choreographer, and singer Vladimir Devyatov, who was awarded the distinction ''
People's Artist of Russia
People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...
''. Devyatov discovered his daughter's talent in her early childhood, when she started singing and feeling rhythm at the age of three.
[ Her parents divorced when she was five years old.] After the divorce, she was raised mainly by her mother. At the age of 11, she met again with her father, who encouraged her wish to become a professional singer and took her to sing with him at one of his concerts at the Rossiya concert hall.[
In 1990, her parents enrolled her in the Shostakovich Children's Music School to study choral ]conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...
. In 1999, she continued her studies at the Schnittke Musical College, specializing in solo folk singing. Two years later, she won the all-Russian Ippolitov-Ivanonv contest for folk music performers held in Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
.
In her fourth year in music college, she accepted an invitation to become the lead-singer of the Indrik-Zver musical ensemble, which performed traditional Russian and Slavic music incorporating elements of modern rock and pop. Combining study and work, Devyatova attended the Faculty of solo folk singing of the Gnessin Academy of Music between 2003 and 2008. During her first year in the institution, she made her first appearance at the renowned Slavic Music Festival Slavianski Bazaar
The International Festival of Arts “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk” ( be, Міжнародны фестываль мастацтваў «Славянскі базар у Віцебску», uk, Міжнародний фестиваль мист ...
, held yearly in Belarus.
Amid persistent criticism that her music lacked format, Devyatova decide to participate in the 2006 edition of the program ''Narodni Artist/Народный Артист'' (''People's Artist''). She went on to reach the final, where despite being praised by the jury after performing the folk song "This could be love" in a duet with the winner of the first edition, Aleksey Goman
Aleksey Vladimirovich Goman (russian: link=no, Алексей Владимирович Гоман) (born 12 September 1983, in Murmansk) is a Russian pop singer, composer and television presenter, who rose to popularity after winning the first se ...
, the public chose Mongolian-Russian performer Amarkhuu Borkhuu
Amarkhuu Borkhuu ( mn, Борхүүгийн Амархүү, Borkhuugiin Amarkhuu; born 1 July 1987) is a pop singer and actor of Mongolian origin residing in Buryatia, Russia.
Life
When he was a child his parents moved from Mongolia to Ulan-U ...
as the winner.
Despite the loss, her presence in the contest made her gradually known and allowed her to start an international tour in Germany, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, USA, South Korea, China, Laos, Vietnam and even Mongolia. In 2007, she was part of Russian delegation in Guatemala at the ceremony of choosing the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
. The city of Sochi on the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
coast was selected and she performed the patriotic World War II song Katyusha at the event.
In 2008, her first solo concert, dedicated to national traditions and folklore, was sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
*Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
. The next year, Devyatova was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
and the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
to perform at a presentation of Russian folk music in the United Kingdom for Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
and the royal family. Along her career, Devyatova performed at prominent events attended by high-rank politicians and foreign heads of state, such as Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
, Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in off ...
and Libyan revolutionary Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
.
In 2009, during the premiere of her show ''Poydu, Vyydu'' at the Moscow State Estrada Theater, Devyatova launched her debut album ''Ne dumala, ne gadala''. Her second album ''Ya schastlivaya'' ("I'm happy") would come out two years later. According to her, the album title describes the state of mind and energy in her creative art. Her third album ''V lunnom siyanii'' followed in 2013. In December of that year, she celebrated her 30th birthday with the solo concert ''V den' rozhdeniya s lyubovyu'' at the Rossiya Concert Hall.
In 2015, Devyatova shared the stage with honoured artist of the Russian Federation Varvara, with whom she would compete some months later for the Russian National Music Award
The Russian National Music Award (abbr. RNMA) (), also known as Russian Music Award, (abbr. RMA) (; abbr. РМП) or Victoria Award () is a music award, established in 2015 by the Academy of Russian Music, to recognise the talent and achievements ...
in the category Best Folk artist. The award went ultimately to fellow singer Pelageya. In 2019, she celebrated her 20th career anniversary with a concert at the State Kremlin Palace
The State Kremlin Palace (russian: Государственный Кремлёвский Дворец), formerly and unofficially still better known as the Kremlin Palace of Congresses (Кремлёвский Дворец съездов), is a ...
.
Image and style
Growing up under musical influence of her father, who sang mainly folk among other genres, she not only learned to appreciate Russian interpreters but also western classic rock groups, such as The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
.
On stage, Devyatova often wears traditional Russian costumes sewn by designers. She often collaborates with ballet ''Яr-Дэнс'' (Yar-Dance) and sometimes performs with children's dance squads.[ Her repertoire includes duets with artists, such as Vladimir Devyatov, Varvara, ]Nikolay Baskov
Nikolay Victorovich Baskov (russian: link=no, Николай Викторович Басков; born 15 October 1976) is a Russian tenor who performs in both operatic and popular music styles. His honors include commendations as Meritorious ...
, Alexander Buinov
Alexander Nikolaevich Buinov (russian: Александр Николаевич Буйнов, born 24 March 1950) is a Russian singer, songwriter and keyboardist. He is best known for his tenure with Vesyolye Rebyata between 1973 and 1989, before ...
among others. Besides her career as a folk singer, she participated in musical comedy sketches with humourist Svyatoslav Eschenko. According to ''Vechernyaya Moskva
''Vechernyaya Moskva'' (russian: Вечерняя Москва, literally ''Evening Moscow'') is a Russian local newspaper published in Moscow since 6 December 1923 daily (except Saturday and Sunday). It was founded as an organ of the Mossovet, la ...
'', Devyatova often gets invited to perform outside the country as an "ambassador" of Russian culture.
Personal life
Although having showed interest for music since an early age, Devyatova stated that she dreamed of working as a saleswoman in her childhood.[ Her grandfather, who was a military ]prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
, expressed his wish for her to become a jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
.[ However, she decided to follow her father's steps as a folk singer.
On 28 October 2016, she married Aleksey Pigurenko, a publicity industry executive who she had known since 2008. In 2017, the couple welcomed their daughter Ulyana.
After getting close to ]Krishnaism
Krishnaism (IAST: ''Kṛṣṇaism'') is a large group of independent Hinduism, Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as ''Svayam Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', ''Para Brahman'', the source of ...
in her years in the Shnittke Musical College, Devyatova stopped smoking and drinking alcohol, and started practicing yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
and meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
. When asked about her religious beliefs, however, she demurred, declaring it a deep personal matter. After visiting a slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility.
Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
in 2005, she became a vegetarian and stopped wearing fur and leather to avoid inflicting harm and pain on animals.
Discography
*2009: ''Не думала, не гадала'' (''I Did Not Think, I Did Not Say'')
*2012: ''Я счастливая'' (''I am Happy'')
*2013: ''В лунном сиянии'' (''In the Moonlight'')
*2018: ''Не будите меня молоду...'' (''Don't wake me up young'')
*2020: ''Можно, я буду рядом'' (''May I be next to you'')
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devyatova, Marina
1983 births
Living people
Russian pop singers
Russian folk-pop singers
21st-century Russian women singers
21st-century Russian singers
Vegetarianism activists