 Anita Tsoi (born Moscow, 7 February 1971) is a Russian singer of Korean descent. Her grandparents emigrated from Korea to the Russian Far East, and were later caught up in the 1937 deportation of the Koryo-saram to Central Asia.
She began violin lessons at a young age; she later studied piano, flute, and guitar. Her mother was branded a "class enemy" in the 1970s in response to her record of speaking out in support of Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Andrei Sakharov, for which she was briefly committed to a mental institution. She attended the teacher training college, then law school at Moscow State University, where she met her husband Sergey Tsoi.
After graduation, rather than becoming a teacher or lawyer, she began saving up money in order to launch a singing career. Her first album Polyot (Flight) was released in 1997; she kept it a secret from her husband until after she had already signed the contract with her production company.
She went to the United States in 2003 to record an English-language album, where she worked with cinematic composer Lee Holdridge; while there, she was offered a five-year contract as a solo vocalist in the Cirque du Soleil, but turned it down in order to return to Russia and be near her family.
She was appointed as "tourism ambassador" between Russia and South Korea by South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun during his official visit to Russia in 2004.
Her husband Sergey currently works as the press secretary for Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov. Sergey`s comments in the aftermath of a ban on a planned Moscow gay pride parade, condemning "aggressive" behaviour by Russian LGBT activists sparked a media controversy; Anita, in response, commented that she might attend the planned parade despite the ban, and stated that she enjoys singing in gay nightclubs.
Aside from singing, she also works with international charity Save the Children.
|
Culture and Art 