What does it mean to have your heart split in two by the conflict at the gates of Europe that is devastating Ukraine? Tamara Usatova, a jazz and soul singer with over 15,000 views on YouTube, born in Ukraine to a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother, told NRW about how torn she is feeling right now. Because she, like manyhe Russian people, has the impression that she is in the middle of a civil war. For this reason, she organized concerts in March in Milan with a double objective: to raise funds in support of the Ukrainian people and to help create a bridge to bring the two countries in hostility closer together. She has looked back at the various stages of her life for us, from the performances in the United States on the stages she shared with artists such as Ricky Martin and Justin Bieber, to her arrival in Milan, where she settled two years ago.
Tamara Usatova’s journey from Crimea to New York
Born in Ukraine and raised in Crimea until adolescence, Tamara Usatova went through the long training to prepare for entry into the art world: «I went to St. Petersburg to study art and languages and after graduation I spent five years in Moscow, for music studies. While I was there, I won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I stayed for three years, until 2014. Between a jazz composition course and a songwriting lesson she met her future husband, a young Milanese student at the beginning of his career as a music producer.
Together they moved to New York and stayed there seven years, where they experienced professional successes but also sacrifices due to a stressful lifestyle
“In the United States I was very satisfied as a performer and singing teacher, but the daily life was chaotic and there was no time to make friends. Unlike Italy where life is very real, normal and human. We were tired of that way of life and we decided to settle in Milan about two years ago, exactly two months before covid broke out».
Fake news coming from Russia
In Milan she feels at home, she says. “In Italy people are very similar to Ukrainians and Russians but they are happier.” Especially now, needless to say, with the war going on, thinking of the family and friends who are over there. She tells us about her father who is in Crimea right now, while her mother and brother are in St. Petersburg. “Unfortunately, I don’t see how this conflict can be resolved quickly. I have a double passport, I know well and I love Ukrainian culture, I follow it almost more than the Russian one. I feel really split in half.”
Knowing the Ukrainian language, she explains that fortunately she can follow the news directly from Ukrainian sources because in Russia there is so much fake news
“The situation of false information coming from the media is very worrying. I’m also having problems with friends because in Russia many people initially didn’t believe the news about the war and claimed that Ukrainian information was lying and that I was also posting fake news.”
Convinced that everyone must mobilize with the means they have at their disposal, Tamara organized two concerts in Milan, the proceeds of which will go to support the humanitarian cause in Ukraine. She had to put aside her jazz and soul training, which grew up in the wake of refined voices like those of Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, because, she tells us with a lump in her throat, “I can’t think of singing pop music right now“.
Over the course of the two evenings, the first on March 10 at Après Coup and the second on March 26 at the Court of Miracles, the setlist was dedicated to Ukrainian songs, coming from the popular tradition but also from the repertoire of contemporary classics
“It was also an opportunity to return to the stage after the lockdowns. When I arrived in Milan everything was blocked and artists’ performances were significantly impacted. I was able to start performing in Italy only a few months ago». We at NRW hope, however, to return soon to listen to her signing soul and jazz classics or even pop music in the style of Mahmood, “my favorite Italian singer” as she tells us. It will also be a sign that we will no longer have the emergency of raising funds for humanitarian purposes.
Photo: Lauren Savannah
Translation Adam Clark
