Valeria – Personal Life, Family, Education, Success Story, History and News

BIOGRAPHY OF VALERIA

Valeria (name at birth Alla Yuryevna Perfilova, officially changed her name to Valeria Yuryevna Perfilova in 1993) - a popular Russian singer, People’s Artist of Russia, People’s Artist of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika, Member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art.

FAMILY AND CHILDHOOD

 Alla Perfilova was born on April 17, 1968 in the city of Atkarsk, Saratov Region, in a family of music teachers. Father, Yuri Ivanovich Perfilov (1945 - 2009), was the director of the Atkar School of Music, and his mother, Galina Nikolaevna Perfilova (before her marriage, Nikitina, born in 1938) worked as a teacher in the same music school. Both father and mother were awarded the title of Honored Worker of Culture.

The girl from early childhood was distinguished by curiosity, scrupulousness and thoroughness in all matters. She went to school with pleasure and did well in all subjects, the most favorite of which was mathematics. In addition to the comprehensive school, Alla studied at the music school in piano, and also attended a dance club, was engaged in volleyball and skiing. According to her mother, the girl managed to do everything thanks to her innate abilities and high organization. As a result, both schools were graduated with a gold medal.

But despite the success in mastering the piano, Alla did not want to become a professional pianist - she was more attracted to pop singing. As a schoolgirl, she performed as part of the jazz ensemble "Impromptu" at Atkarskiy Palace of Culture. Later, the singer recalled: “It seemed to me then that most of the pop singers came from amateur performances. And where is the best amateur performance? I thought at Moscow State University. " And she decided after school to enter the history department of Moscow State University, the department of art history. The girl’s mother was also sure that she would make a good historian.

EDUCATION 

The plans for admission to Moscow State University unexpectedly changed when in 1985, immediately after school, Alla was invited to work in the Reflection ensemble at the Saratov Philharmonic. In the same year, in the target direction from the Saratov Philharmonic, she entered the pop vocal class of the Gnesins State Music and Pedagogical Institute, in the correspondence department. Her lover, musician and composer Leonid Yaroshevsky, who also helped her in the initial stages of her career, pushed her to this decision.

In parallel with her studies, Alla earned singing in restaurants. But the work never prevented the beginning singer from studying well: her mentors, People's Artist of the USSR Joseph Kobzon and People's Artist of Russia Gelena Velikanova, were pleased with her. The girl successfully graduated from college in 1990. 

THE RISE OF A SOLO CAREER

 In 1988, Alla Perfilova first appeared on the TV screen - she performed the song “Be with me” in the program “Wider Circle”. Then, in order to avoid direct competition with another Alla ( Pugacheva ) already reigning on the stage , the novice singer took the pseudonym Valery. Subsequently, under her name, her whole life passed, and gradually, her friends, acquaintances, and even her mother began to call her Valeria, Leroy.

Soon after graduation, the singer’s musical career quickly went uphill. In 1991, Valeria took part in the television contest of young performers “Morning Star” and won it, after which in 1992 she won the international competition “Bratislava Lira”, and then participated in the song festival “Jurmala-92” and received the audience prize .

In the same year, Valeria met with producer Alexander Shulgin and recorded her debut album “The Taiga Symphony” to the music of Vitaliy Bondarchuk and lyrics by Richard Niles. “Everything started spinning right away: rehearsals, recordings in the studio. She had nothing, and suddenly the proposal to record an album in Germany was immediately, ”the first husband of the singer Leonid Yaroshevsky recalled about this time.

It was a truly large-scale work: recordings were made in the studios of Munich, London and Moscow, and musicians from the groups Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Pet Shop Boys, as well as the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Kogan took part in the work . The songs were performed in English, and the album was released not only in Russia, but also in several European countries.

In parallel with this, by order of Olympia Disk, the singer worked on the recording of the album of Russian romances “Stay with me”. Valeria’s clip for the romance “Flowers” has won five international awards, including “Post-Montpé-92” (France), as well as “Anigraph-92” (Russia), “Generation-92” (Russia, 2nd place) .

Since that time, Alexander Shulgin closely led the singer, and in 1993 she married him. He carefully composed her repertoire, thought out the image to the smallest detail, organized performances and recordings. And the work of the family-creative tandem was rewarded: in 1993, by the decision of the Union of Journalists of Russia, Valery was named the “Person of the Year”.

Since the beginning of 1993, Valeria worked on the recording of the album "Anna", which was released in June 1995 and immediately became one of the sales leaders. For a long time, songs from this disc occupied the top lines in the charts of Russia. The premiere of the concert program “Anna” was successfully held on December 3, 1994 in Kiev, and soon a full house was waiting for Valery at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and at the Gorbunov Palace of Culture in Moscow. 

Valeria's bright talent and her ability to control her voice were highly appreciated not only among the general public, but also in professional circles, and in 1996 the singer was invited to teach at the Music Academy. The Gnesins, her alma mater, where she worked until 1998. In parallel with teaching, in 1997 Valeria released the album “Last Name, Part 1” and made a big tour around the cities of Russia and the near abroad.

In the fall of 1999, Valeria reissued her favorite songs, collecting them into a single album, "The Best." This album also included a new composition, “You Are Somewhere Over There,” which for a long time occupied the top lines of musical ratings. In the spring of 2000, the multimedia max-singles Metelitsa and Riga - Moscow were released, and in July the First INTERNET Album was released. After that, the singer drew up the program “Do not offend me” and went on a big tour, known as the “All-Ukrainian Tour 2000”.

In September 2001, she released a new album, “Eyes of the Color of the Sky,” and on September 18 and 19, 2001, with her full house, her solo concerts took place at the State Central Concert Hall “Russia”. After that, due to a break with her husband and producer Alexander Shulgin, the singer stopped musical activity and returned to her parents' house in Atkarsk. She spent a year and a half in her native land, with her beloved parents and children, almost without dreaming of returning to the big stage. 

REPEAT SUCCESS

 In April 2003, the famous producer Joseph Prigogine turned to the singer, and Valeria entered into an agreement with him and his company Knox Music. The new producer, he is new love and Valeria’s new husband seemed to have breathed new creative powers into her, and by October 2003 the album “Country of Love” was recorded with the assistance of composer Victor Drobysh as a sound producer.

New success more than broke all previous records, and Valeria resumed her active concert activities on a large-scale tour in the cities of the Far East, Bashkiria, the Urals, Siberia and the Volga region. For the second half of 2003, the singer gave more than two hundred concerts - not only in Russia, but also in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, including two concerts at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and three concerts at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.