Olena Karpenko
Olena Oleksiyivna Karpenko (born September 16, 1981 in Kyiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian singer, composer, and poet with the stage-name Solomia. Olena composes in Ukrainian, English and Russian. She writes and performs jazz, blues, rock, pop, classics and world in Ukraine and abroad. Early life. Her father is Ukrainian psychophysiologist and cell transplantologist Alexey Karpenko. Karpenko received her bachelor's degree in art studies (2002) and master's degree in journalism (2005) from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She studied vocals at the National Music Academy of Ukraine (2003—2007) under Galina Sukhorukova and Ludmila Garmash . Career. In 2011, when Ukraine celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Independence, Olena Karpenko was invited by the Head of the European Council to perform a solo concert in Strasbourg in front of the top-diplomats of Europe. In 2015, Olena performed her "Oranta" as a signature song of the Ukrainian fashion show, held during New York Fashion Week. Her "Mermaid" song (lyrics by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, music by Karpenko) was featured in S. Bihun's documentary "Mother's Heart. Gongadze" (2015). Starting from 2015, Olena Karpenko has been a juror of the international literature contest Koronatsia Slova. In 2016 , she toured the US with a series of charity performances, all income of which was donated to help orphans of the war in Eastern Ukraine. Awards. Olena Karpenko is a winner and a laureate of a number of national, international and worldwide literature, vocals and composition contests. Just to name a few: