Friday, October 4, 2019

The "subway soprano" from Russia

Emily Zamourka, 52, moved to the United States from Russia more than 20 years ago and was teaching violin and piano, but she fell ill and became homeless when she could not afford medical care. To earn money, she played her violin in Los Angeles, California, subway stations for donations, until someone tried to steal her violin and broke it. The only choice she had left was to sing for donations. That's when the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted a video of her singing opera in a station. It received over 880,000 views.


The Internet fell in love with her voice. A reporter tracked her down and she was shocked when someone told her she'd been seen on TV. Since then, she's found a place to live. Someone is giving her a new violin, and Grammy-nominated music producer Joel Diamond sent her an offer to make a huge, classical cross-over hit record by "the subway soprano." Two GoFundMe campaigns have raised over $90,000 for her, and she scored a gig at an Italian heritage event.

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