Silvi Vrait (28 April 1951 – 28 June 2013) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

n singer and music teacher.

Biography

Vrait was born in

Kehra Kehra is a town in Anija Parish, Harju County, Estonia, most known for its pulp and paper mill. The town is situated on the banks of the Jägala river, and has a station on the Tallinn-Narva railway. As of January 1, 2021, the town had a popu ...

in 1951 to Einar "Edward" Wright, a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

-born American of Finnish ancestry and his Estonian wife Senta (née Schönberg). She had a half-sister, Pille, five years her senior. Vrait graduated from the Kehra Music School in 1968 on piano. In 1974 she graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

with a degree in

English philology English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is ...

. From 1994, she taught English in a secondary school in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. Vrait coached vocalists,

Evelin Samuel Evelin Samuel (born 13 May 1975) is an Estonian singer, songwriter, musical theater performer, author of children's books and participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Evelin Samuel has been singing since childhood and was even record ...

and

Kaire Vilgats Kaire Vilgats (born 11 January 1976
Kaire Vilgats: mulle ...

among many at the Georg Ots Music School in Tallinn.

Stage career

Silvi Vrait first appeared on stage in 1972 when she performed in a TV show. She was a member of several pop and rock musical ensembles, including Viker 5, Suuk, Initsiaal and in 1975, she joined the popular band Fix. From 1976 to 1983 she was active in theatre

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It was the first Estonian language theatre. History ''1870–1906 The Beginning of the Beginning. Koidula’s Theatre, Wiera’s Theatre.'' On June 24, 1870 was the first day in Estonian theatre ...

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...

. Her style varies from jazz to country and from rock to folk. In the late 1980s, she was an important figure within the Estonian armless struggle for restoring the independence, the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of th ...

, for at least two recordings, "Väikene rahvas, väikene maa" ("Small Nation, Tiny Country") and "Ei ole üksi ükski maa" ("No Land Is Alone"). She appeared in musicals and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

s, such as ''"Põhjaneitsi"'' (''"The Maid of the North"'') (title role, 1980), ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy'', its ...

'' (Bess, 1985), ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the child ...

'' (Lady Thiang, 1998), '' Zorba'' (Leader, 2000), ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

'' (Mama Rose, 2001), ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

'' (Mama Morton, 2004) and ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' (Mother Abbess, 2003, reprised in 2010), ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

'' (Fräulein Schneider, 2012). In 1994, Vrait was the representative of Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest, held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

that year. Her song "

Nagu merelaine The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the second time that Estonia had attempted to enter the contest, having failed to qualify from the semi-final stage of the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The pre-selection process featured multiple artists for ...

" ended up on 24th out of 25 places, beating only Lithuania.

Death

In 2013 Vrait was hospitalized with a brain tumour and died on 28 June 2013, aged 62. She was buried at Tallinn's

Forest Cemetery A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. Vrait is survived by her son, Silver Vrait.Suri lauljanna Silvi Vrait

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrait, Silvi 1951 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Estonian women singers Estonian pop singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1994 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Estonia Estonian musical theatre actresses Estonian people of Finnish descent Estonian people of American descent Estonian music educators People from Kehra Singers from Tallinn Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in Estonia Burials at Metsakalmistu University of Tartu alumni 20th-century Estonian actresses 21st-century Estonian actresses Women music educators Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 5th Class Teachers of English as a second or foreign language 21st-century Estonian women singers