Yulia (also Yulia Townsend and Yulia MacLean) is a Russian-born New Zealand
classical crossover
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differ ...
singer. Her first solo album ''Into The West'' went platinum in its first week of sales in New Zealand. She won two
NZ Music Awards; 'Best Female Solo Artist' and ''42 Below'' 'Best Selling Album in New Zealand'. She has supported
Amici Forever
Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music (operatic pop). The band's first album, '' The Opera Band'' ( 2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States ( ...
and
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang "God ...
with two sold-out tours in Tokyo. Yulia's albums ''Into the West'' and ''Montage'' had three top 40 radio hits in New Zealand, "Into the West", "Angel" and "We're All Alone". Yulia was the first female vocalist in New Zealand to have two back to back number one hit albums. Yulia's voice was once described as a "lovely rich
contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
with passion and conviction",
and she also have the ability to perform in the
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
range.
Life
MacLean was born and raised in
Volgograd
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. She and her mother emigrated from Russia to
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 2002 after being abandoned by her abusive father.
Career
Within two years of living in New Zealand, Yulia learned to speak English, finished her education and signed a recording deal with
Sony Music New Zealand
Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony ...
. Yulia was first discovered on regional television as a last minute subject for a ten-minute segment on ''Good Living With Kerry Pierson'' on Christchurch's local television station
CTV. Her debut album, ''Into the West'' was released in 2004 and was a commercial success, reaching number one in New Zealand's album chart and went four times Platinum. Two years later, Yulia released her second album, ''Montage'' which also topped the charts.
Soon after the release of ''Montage'' Sony and Yulia parted ways. After becoming disillusioned with the music industry, Yulia decided to change her career and become a flight attendant. In 2007, she met Glyn MacLean, the director and owner of Oikos Music Group. MacLean encouraged her to continue with her career in music and signed Yulia to a management and publishing deal. The pair married in February 2008 and invited 168 fans to the wedding at their own cost. In March 2011 the couple announced that Yulia was pregnant with the couple's first child. She gave birth to a son late 2011. She had another son in early 2014. The couple separated in 2015 after their second child was born. Glyn moved to Australia and ceased being her manager, and Yulia reverted to her maiden name.
In 2010 Yulia won the Grand Prix in the European Song Competition in Riga, Latvia, and the national award for Best Nationwide Entertainment in the Corporate Events Guide 2010 People's Choice Awards. While in London in November 2010, Yulia "delivered" for producer Craig Leon. Leon, who has worked with a variety of artists including Blondie, The Bangles, The Ramones, and Pavarotti, heard Yulia's music online and requested a meeting. Yulia signed a music production deal with Craig Leon in November 2010 and was reported to be working on pre-production for a third studio album, but this did not materialise.
In 2010 Yulia recorded and self-produced four live shows which were presented as limited edition collectable CDs. ''Live at Mills Reef'', ''Live at Mill Bay Haven'', ''Enchanted Song'' and ''Live at Ascension Wine Estate''.
In 2013 Yulia's international music career was to be launched by Grammy Award Winning music producer Craig Leon and International Media Executive Gustavo Sagastume.
She was part of a world music TV special to appear on PBS TV USA called ''Divinas'' along with Irish singer
Méav Ní Mhaolchatha
Méav Ní Mhaolchatha ( , ), mononymously known as Méav, is an Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist specialising in the traditional music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary ...
and Persian-born Israeli singer
Rita
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...
. Following the U.S. public television premiere of this special, a Divinas tour was set to take place in the United States in the Spring of 2013.
Discography
Albums
*''
Into the West'' (2004) #1 NZ (4× Platinum – 60,000+)
*''Into the West Special Christmas Edition'' (2004)
*''
Montage
Montage may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films
* Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing
* ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film
Music
* Montage (music), or sound collage
* ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 2017 ...
'' (2006) #1 NZ (2× Platinum – 30,000+)
2010 Live Concert Series; limited edition collectables:
* ''Live at Mills Reef''
* ''Live at Mill Bay Haven''
* ''Enchanted Song''
* ''Live at Ascension Wine Estate''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yulia
1986 births
Living people
New Zealand contraltos
Russian emigrants to New Zealand
Musicians from Volgograd
New Zealand women pop singers
New Zealand mezzo-sopranos
21st-century New Zealand women singers
Sony Music New Zealand artists
Musicians from Christchurch