Mikhail Zakharovich Shufutinsky (russian: Михаи́л Заха́рович Шуфути́нский; born 13 April 1948) is a Russian pop singer. He was once a citizen of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from 1990 to 2003, but now lives in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. He is currently the pre-eminent singer of

Russian chanson Russian chanson ( rus, русский шансон, r=russkiy shanson}; from French "chanson") is a neologism for a musical genre covering a range of Russian songs, including city romance songs, author song performed by singer-songwriters, an ...

music. He was awarded the title of

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

of Russia in 2013.

Biography

Shufutinsky was born on 13 April 1948 in Moscow. His father, Zakhar Davidovich Shufutinski, was a Jewish

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

doctor and veteran. When he was five years old, his mother died and he was then raised by his grandmother, Berta Davidovna, and his grandfather, David Yakovlevich. Majoring in the accordion, Shufutinsky graduated from the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute with a specialization in the choral

Coryphaeus In Attic drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios (Greek κορυφαῖος ''koryphaîos'', from κορυφή ''koryphḗ́'', the top of the head) was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term (sometimes in an Anglicized form "coryphe") ...

style. He appeared with different bands in Moscow and Magadan, performing songs by

Alexander Vertinsky Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (russian: Александр Николаевич Вертинский, — May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Ru ...

and Pyotr Leshchenko, and later became leader of the instrumental band "Leisya, Pesnia", which usually played songs by

Vyacheslav Dobrynin Vyacheslav Grigoryevich Dobrynin ( rus, Вячесла́в Григо́рьевич Добры́нин, born Antonov/Анто́нов on January 25, 1946, Ryazanskaya oblast, Russia) is a popular Russian composer and singer also known as ''Docto ...

. At some point, Mikhail visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

for a concert and immediately fell in love with the city. This was during the boom of the Russian restaurant business in Los Angeles. As a famous singer and musician, Shufutinsky was offered a job in th
Arbat
restaurant in Burbank,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Shufutinsky had surprising success as an immigrant performer despite American expectations against Russians. In 1981, Shufutinsky and his family immigrated to the USA. Within 10 years, he had appeared with many bands in different restaurants, and created his own show, "Ataman-band" (named after the restaurant Ataman). Nowadays, he regularly tours in Russia. In 1990, he accepted an invitation to visit Russia and sang concerts in 75 sold-out stadiums. In 1998, Shufutinsky wrote an autobiography named ("Here I stand at a line"). In 2003, Shufutinsky returned to Russia as a permanent resident. His repertoire contains songs by songwriters

("Two candles" Две свечи,

Igor Krutoy Igor Yakovlevich Krutoy (russian: Игорь Яковлевич Крутой) or Ihor Yakovych Krutyi ( uk, Ігор Якович Крутий, born on July 29, 1954), is a Ukrainian and Russian music composer, performer, producer and musical p ...

("The 3rd of September" Третье сентября "Palma de Mallorca"; "Moscow taxi" Московское такси "Moscow doesn’t believe in tears" Москва слезам не верит, Oleg Mityaev ("Night guest" Ночной гость, Aleksandr Rozenbaum ("Khreschatik", "Zakhodite k nam na ogoniok" - "Visit our place", "Gop-stop"),

Oleg Gazmanov Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...

, Igor Zubkov, Vatslav Lisovskii, Olesia Atlanova,

Karen Kavaleryan Karen Kavaleryan ( hy, Կարեն Կավալերյան; russian: Каре́н Кавалеря́н; born June 5, 1961 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian-Armenian lyricist. He currently holds the record (with Sharon Vaughn and Ra ...

, and many others.

Discography

Filmography

Roles

*1984 —

Moscow on the Hudson ''Moscow on the Hudson'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky which stars Robin Williams as a Soviet circus musician who defects while on a visit to the United States. It co-stars María Conchita A ...

as an unnamed restaurant singer.

Soundtracks

*2012 — Brave — King Fergus (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

dubbing; originally voiced by

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

) *2014 — Vacation of Little Nicole — director of school (original voice - Francis Perren)

Books

*1997 — Михаил Шуфутинский. «И вот стою я у черты...» (Here I stand at a line) (Thrien publishing — ) *2004 — Михаил Шуфутинский. «Лучшие песни. Тексты и аккорды» (Best songs. Texts and accords) () *2021 — Даниил Ветлужских, Влад Максименко. «3 сентября» (The 3rd of September) ()

Recognition and awards

*1997 — Silver Rubber Shoe Award «Серебряная калоша» *2013 — Honorary title of recognized Russian performer («Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации»), for artistic achievements.

References

External links

Shufutinsky's home pageBiography at Foreign Language School ZNATOK
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shufutinsky, Mikhail 1948 births Living people Russian chanson 20th-century Russian male singers 20th-century Russian singers 21st-century Russian male singers 21st-century Russian singers Russian Jews Singers from Moscow Russian record producers Honored Artists of the Russian Federation Soviet male singers