Alya Michelson, also known as Alya (stylized as ALYA), is a Russian-born philanthropist, songwriter, and singer. A vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning album ''

Mystic Mirror ''Mystic Mirror'' is an album by White Sun, released in 2022. The album earned a Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to ...

'' by

White Sun White Sun or Seto Surya is a 2016 biographical war drama film directed by Deepak Rauniyar and co-written by Rauniyar, David Barker. It stars Dayahang Rai and Rabindra Singh Baniya in the lead roles alongside Asha Magrati, Sumi Malla, Amrit Par ...

, she was formerly a special correspondent for Russia's international news agency,

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

, and a news anchor for Vesti-FM and Mayak. She is the co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies and a member of the California Film Commission's board of directors. She released her debut album, ''Ten Years of Solitude,'' in February 2019.

Early life and education

Michelson (b. Alevtina Schepetina) was born in Oryol, Russia in 1983. While in high school, she worked at

Russkoe Radio Russkoye Radio (, in English: Russian Radio) is a Russian radio station, broadcasting in some Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS countries. It differs from other similar stations since it broadcasts songs almost exclusively in Russian. Histo ...

and as a freelance journalist for local publications. In addition to attending a traditional high school, she studied vocal technique at Oryol Musical School. Michelson attended Moscow State University, where she received a degree in journalism. She earned a master's degree in economics from Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Career

Journalism and public relations

While in Russia, Michelson covered breaking news as well as business, politics, and the military as a special news correspondent for RIA Novosti. Fluent in Japanese, she was initially based in Moscow, and later reported from Tokyo. As a journalist, she reported on stories such as the

Kursk submarine disaster The Russian nuclear submarine sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, with the loss of all 118 personnel on board. The submarine, which was of the Project 949A-class (Oscar II class), was taking part in the first major Russ ...

and the

Beslan school siege The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was an Islamic terrorism, Islamic terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of mo ...

. She also contributed to the independent newspaper, ''

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

'', and served as a news anchor for the national news stations Vesti-FM and Mayak. Michelson enrolled at Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2006. She graduated with a Master's Degree in Economics in 2008, and subsequently served as the press secretary for the vice chairman of a State legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia, leaving in 2012 to pursue music.

Music

In 2018, while living in Los Angeles, Michelson independently released her first single, "Animals". She also directed the music video for the song, which won a Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood Award and the Best Music Video award at the California Women's Film Festival. She followed "Animals" with “Half of the Sun" and "Puppet Strings"; "Puppet Strings" hit the Top 10 on the Euro Indie Music Chart and the Independent Airplay Chart. Produced and mixed by David J. Holman, Michelson released her debut album, ''Ten Years of Solitude'', in February 2019. In April, it was nominated for four Independent Music Awards, including Best Electronic Album. Michelson released the single "American Beauty" in October 2019 and directed its accompanying music video. Produced by

Bill Schnee William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated ...

, a

Dave Aude Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

remix of the track charted on the ''Billboard'' dance club charts, peaking at #15 in February 2020. In September 2021, she released the single "Pleasure is Mine", which was also produced by Schnee. It was the most added song on the November 23, 2021 ''Billboard'' Pop Airplay/Mainstream Top 100 chart. In 2022, Michelson provided vocals for

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-award winning album ''

.'' In 2023, she released the single “Crazy” and the EP ''Crazy Remixes''. The EP was #1 on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

dance charts for several weeks. Her December 2023 holiday EP featured "

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

", a duet with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

. It charted in the UK and Germany. Her song "Hope" was released in 2024. A second version of the song, "Hope: The Sequel" (featuring

Erica Campbell Erica Monique Campbell (''née'', Atkins; born April 29, 1972) is an American Gospel singer and songwriter. Specializing in the urban contemporary gospel, Christian R&B, and contemporary R&B genres, she started her music career in the late 1990s ...

and

D Smoke Daniel Anthony Farris (born October 17, 1985), known professionally as D Smoke, is an American rapper and former educator from Inglewood, California. He first became known as the winner of the Netflix hip hop-based reality competition series '' ...

), debuted on the ''Billboard'' digital gospel chart in May 2025.

Philanthropy

Michelson is the co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies. She serves on the board of directors for the Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Michelson Medical Research Foundation, Michelson Center for Public Policy, and The Michelson 20MM Foundation. She and her husband signed the

Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

in 2016, committing to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes, and in 2017 donated $50 million to found the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. In 2022, Michelson received the Inner City Law Center's Humanitarian Award. She received the Humanitarian Award from the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics in 2024. In August 2024, on behalf of the Michelson Medical Research Foundation, Michelson and her husband gave the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy $100 million to establish two research facilities. They also gave $20 million to the institute to provide research grants for young students. Michelson has helped to find housing for refugees left homeless by the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelson, Alya Russian philanthropists Russian women philanthropists 21st-century Russian women journalists 21st-century Russian journalists Moscow State University alumni 1983 births Living people Russian pop singers Russian women pop singers 21st-century Russian songwriters Russian women songwriters English-language singers from Russia