Solomia (real name - Olena Karpenko) is a singer, composer, writer, journalist, cultural diplomat, and social activist born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Solomia studied opera singing at the vocal faculty of the National Academy of Music (Ukraine, 2003-2007). Also, she got her BA in Art Studies and MA in Journalism from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine, 1998-2005).
Among her feature events were: solo concert as a part of the official reception devoted to the 20th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence, performed at the invitation of the Chief of the European Council (Strasbourg, France, 2011); charity tour, and fundraising for Ukrainian orphans of the Russian-Ukrainian war (USA, 2016); the signature song of the Ukrainian show at New York Fashion Week (2015), music for "Shevchenko Live. Lesya’s Testament" film (directed by S. Bihun, 2015) and many more.
She is a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine (since 2013), National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (since 2014), and a jury member of the “Coronation of the Word” International literature contest (since 2015).
Solo albums: Solomia (2007); Rondo (2011); Birthday (2011); Shadow (2019); Sky Flight (2019) and Aria (2020).
Singles: Carmen (2019), La Traviata (2019) and Serenade (2019).
Books: Touch - a book of poetry (1998); Necklace - a book of poetry (2005); Troyan Horses of TV Advertisement - a best-seller on mind manipulation (2007); Dialogues With Silence - a book of poetry (2014) and Angel's Schoolbook - an antidepressant novel (2016, 2017), Frequences - a book of poetry (expected in 2022).
This site features Solomia’s ARIA album, which is focused on the popularization of great opera hits.
Solomia brings a fresh impact in her interpretation of everlasting classics. She experiments by combining original melodies with bright vocal improvisations, jazzy and pop bass lines, and makes classics sound unexpectedly modern.
Solomia's musical work
Solomia writes music in different styles (Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Acoustic, Adult Contemporary, Classical, Children, and World). By performing in various countries, she provides her mission of cultural diplomacy.
Among her feature events as a performer were: the solo concert as a part of the official reception devoted to the 20th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Independence, performed at the invitation of the Chief of the European Council (Strasbourg, France, 2011); charity tour and fundraising for Ukrainian orphans of the Russian-Ukrainian war (USA, 2016); the signature song of the Ukrainian show at the New York Fashion Week (2015), etc.
As a composer, she created Angel’s Schoolbook (2+ hours long musical play), 8 Women (2+ hour-long concert project), more than 500 songs, and instrumental compositions.
Solomia studied opera singing at the vocal faculty of the National Academy of Music (Ukraine, 2003-2007). She is a winner and a laureate of a number of national, international, and worldwide competitions on vocals and composition: Billboard World Song Contest (USA, 2007, 2009); Song of the Year (USA, 2007); Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards (Canada, 2007); Your Talents, Ukraine (1996), just to name a few.
Literature work
Olena’s poetry and prosaic pieces were published in a number of newspapers, magazines, almanacs, and books of modern literature in Ukraine and abroad, being translated to a few languages.
For “Angel’s Schoolbook” Olena was awarded a Grant of Kyiv Mayor (2016) and a diploma from the “Dnipro Book Festival” (2018). In 2004 and 2006, she twice became a laureate of the “Smoloskyp” literature contest for two investigations. One of them – “Trojan Horses of TV Advertisement. Language Manipulations” (2007) – was published by the “Smoloskyp” publishing house and became a best-seller. It was included in studying plans for journalists, philologists, marketing specialists, and psychologists of a few Universities in Ukraine.
Sites:
www.solomia.us
www.solomia.net