Maria Burmaka (; born June 16, 1970, in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) is a Ukrainian singer, TV personality, musician, and songwriter in the genres of rock, pop, folk, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. She also holds the title of People's Artist of Ukraine.

Biography and education

Burmaka was born into a family of teachers. She began singing Ukrainian songs while studying in guitar class in a musical school. She graduated from that school, specializing in guitar. In 1987, she entered the faculty of

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

of Kharkiv University of Karazin. As a student, she began to write original songs. In 2004, Burmaka graduated from the

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

with a degree in journalism. She also has a PhD degree in philology.

Early festivals and contests

Early in her career, Burmaka won several important and All-Ukrainian musical contests or festivals, which quickly made her famous and made her an icon of the Ukrainian music. In 1989, Burmaka won first place in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

at the Oberig music festival and came second at the famous Chervony Ruta youth music festival in

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

. In June 1990, she won in Kaniv the All-Ukrainian Festival DZVIN, earning the title of "Laureate". In 1993, she won the hit-song contest "12-2" organized by the radio platform Promin.

Music career

Burmaka has been an active participant in many events in modern Ukrainian history, including the aforementioned first Chervona Ruta festival (1989), Student Hunger on Granite (1990), "Orange Revolution" (2004) and Revolution of Dignity (2013–2014). In 1991, she recorded her first CD, ''Maria'', which was produced in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

by the Canadian company Yevshan. This became the first Ukrainian-language musical CD to be launched in Ukraine. In 1998, Burmaka released another album, ''Znovu lyublyu'' ("In Love Again"). The presentation of the record was special: Burmaka invited her closest friends and the press to the 17-18th century icons hall in the National Fine Arts Museum, where she gave an acoustic guitar concert.

Language

Burmaka is a staunch supporter of the Ukrainian language and is the only People's Artist of Ukraine who does not perform in the Russian language, nor has a musical repertoire in Russian language. She stated, "Ukrainian regions without Ukrainian language lose their ethnic identity and freedom."

Performances

In 2005, Burmaka recorded several English versions of her songs, produced new musical clips, and gave several charity concerts in North America. She performed at the largest Ukrainian festival in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Verkhovyna, and at the Lemkivska Vatra festival in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In 2011, she gave a joint performance at the festival Soyuzivka. In the summer and autumn of 2014, as part of the tour "Support Ours", she gave performances in the ATO zone, in front-line cities. The funds collected from these performances were spent on the needs of the volunteer battalion. In the winter of 2015, the singer performed at charity concerts in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. That spring, she also performed at charity concerts in the US, and in Canada that November.

TV career

In the 1990s, Burmaka served as a TV host on the STB channel of shows including ''Kin'', ''Rating'', ''Who is there'', and ''Teapot''; and on the UT-1 channel of the show ''Create Yourself''. In May 2011, Burmaka was the lead author of the show ''Music for Breakfast'' on the 1+1 channel. As of September 2011, she was the lead author of the show ''Music for adults with Maria Burmaka'' on the TVi channel. Currently, she is the lead author and host of the show on the Expresso channel, ''Cult-Express''.

Awards and recognition

* 1997: received the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine * 2007: awarded the Order of Princess Olga (III degree) * 2009: awarded the honorary title "People's Artist of Ukraine" * Named on ''Focus'' magazine's list of the top 100 most influential women in Ukraine

Albums

*1990 ''Ой не квiтни, весно'' (Oy ne kvitny, vesno; Oh Spring, Do Not Bloom...) *1992 ''Марiя'' (Mariya; Maria) *1994 ''Лишається надiя'' (Lyshayet'sia nadiya; Hope is left) *1998 ''Знову люблю'' (Znovu liubliu; I love again) *2001 ''Iз янголом на плечi'' (Iz yanholom na plechi; With the angel on my shoulder) *2002 ''Мiа'' (Mia) *2003 ''I Am'' *2003 ''Живи'' (Zhyvy; Live) *2004 ''N9'' *2008 ''Саундтреки'' (Soundtracks) *2010 ''Do not laugh at me'' (Не смійся з мене), joint album with Peter Yarrow *2011 ''Album for Children'' (Дитячий Альбом) *2014 ''Тінь по воді'' (Tin' na vodi; Shadow on the Water)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burmaka, Maria 1970 births Living people 20th-century Ukrainian women singers 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Musicians from Kharkiv National University of Kharkiv alumni People of the Revolution on Granite Recipients of the Vasyl Stus Prize Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd class Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian women pop singers Ukrainian rock singers Ukrainian women rock singers