Sasha Magerova: general information
- Full name: Alexandra Magerova
- Date of Birth: July 18, 1986
- Place of birth: Severomorsk
- Height: –
- Weight: –
- Short biography: Music from Sasha Magerova is a vitamin-jazz cocktail that will certainly warm you up and charge you with positive energy this fall!
- Education: Kosygin Russian State University, Academy named after. Maimonides
Biography
Her music lifts you above the hustle and bustle.
Her music is about life through the prism of Sasha’s extraordinary look. It is about how important it is to stop and catch the beauty of the moment. The author’s songs by Sasha Magerova are absolutely life-affirming, when even sadness is through the light, as in the new single “I’m Alive”.
The combination of jazz, funk and soul has developed into a unique musical style, where there is a place for both lyrics and fantastic drive.
Sasha Magerova Band concerts are a special art. It is always live communication with the public and a unique atmosphere when you want to live, create, love. Sasha Magerova performs and records with the stars of the Russian jazz scene – Salman Abuev, Alexander Bruni, Lev Trofimov, Alexander Rodovsky and many others.
The first serious achievements of the singer were performances at the international jazz festivals Nordlys and Varangerfestivalen (Norway, 2003 and 2004) and in the national selection for Eurovision 2009. This was followed by participation in a series of various projects – as a result, it led Sasha to create his own Sasha Magerova Band, with which the best Russian instrumentalists collaborated at different times: Anton Davidyants, Dmitry Ilugdin, Alexander Rodovsky, Boris Ionov, Salman Abuev and many others.
In January 2018, Sasha released her first single and video “Thank You”, about a year later – her debut album “The Gifts”.
Along the way, she developed and enriched her concert talent – bright, honest, charming.
On March 3, together with Sasha, the Club staged: Oscar Chuntonov – keyboards, Alexander Rodovsky – guitar, Anatoly Kozhaev – bass guitar, Salman Abuev – trumpet, Alexander Bruni – flute.
Sasha Magerova in social networks
- Sasha Magerova official website http://sashamagerova.com
- Vkontaktehttps://vk.com/sashamagerova
- Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/sashamagerovaband/
- Yandex. Musichttps://music.yandex.ru/artist/5577846
- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/SashaMagerova/featured
Interview with Alexandra Magerova
Lyadov Moscow Music School
Alexandra Magerova, teacher of pop-jazz vocals
When talking with Alexandra on the phone, it seems that she is somewhere nearby, sitting with you in the kitchen, drinking tea and enthusiastically talking about her students. The sparks of her voice run through the wires, and you are already picking up this wave – jazz fun and improvisation. And also a constant smile that you don’t see, but you hear – wide, sincere. On the stage, Sasha turns into the Cosmos, and in the school class he becomes a friend and mentor, whom children adore, with whom every lesson they take steps forward, dream and, of course, sing.
“For me, the stage is a high concept. I think that in a certain sense you need to earn the right to be on it. The most important thing is to have something inside, to understand: “Why am I standing here?”
— Sasha, hello! Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the School Newspaper! You have a very interesting path from academic singing and folklore to jazz. Can you tell us a little more: what did classical education give you? And was it difficult to rebuild in a new direction for you? As you said in one interview, it’s “like a runner suddenly jumping into swimming.”
Hello, hello!) I’m very happy with our communication and I congratulate the school on the appearance of its own newspaper, it’s very cool!
I owe a lot in my life to education and, most importantly, to my teachers. I studied in three cities: a music school in my native Severomorsk, a college in Murmansk, and an academy in Moscow.
Classical education gave me two very important things: a strong professional base and an attitude towards the stage.
For me, the stage is a high concept. I think that in a certain sense you need to earn the right to be on it. The most important thing is to have something inside, to understand: “Why am I standing here? I want to sing this song to share something kind and beautiful with the audience? Or for everyone to look how cool I am, with a microphone and in this suit!
At the age of 19, I realized that my vocation lies in another area – I wanted to play jazz. Maybe the word “calling” sounds loud, but it really was a call that I could not ignore. At the age of 16, I first heard this music live, and this time was enough to deprive me of peace for the rest of my life.
It was not easy to change direction, but the inner impulse was stronger. It took a lot of work, but it was worth it!
— You taught at Maimonides State Classical Academy. How did you get into school? Are teaching students and young children two completely different stories?
Yes, I was a university teacher for six years, thanks to the leadership of the Academy for this precious experience!
I came to work with children when my own children were born. Now my daughter is 10 years old, and my son is 6.
Of course, there are similarities and differences in working with students and children.
Entering a university in the vocal department is not an easy task, guys come from all over the country, each of them already has a musical education and a huge motivation to grow in the profession. This is a big difference from the school, where children need to be “ignited”, for this the teacher needs more energy, faith and patience.
— What were your discoveries in classes with children?
My biggest discovery in working with children was personal and not very pleasant. I realized that in my lessons. too much of me. I am a leader by nature, I perform a lot solo myself, the status of a university teacher pleasantly amuses my self-esteem. But when I came to the children, all this turned out to be superfluous. Children needed space for experience and creativity, trial and error, space for understanding and approval. And not a wonderful teacher-soloist who is overwhelmed with himself. Of course, I’m still working on this, on the ability to observe. And when you get to see a child, feel it, touch it, these are the most precious minutes.
— Now you are working with children aged 6-7. They are still small, just came to school, a clean slate. What is the difficulty of working with this age and what, on the contrary, is the ease?
I love my babies very much! I also have older students, guys 9-13 years old, but first-graders are a very special people. I would say that there are not difficulties, but their own characteristics! And they are very natural. This is a tender age, children do not yet have such a great concentration of attention, endurance, their body and mind are still developing. Yesterday they went to the garden, and now they have to combine their studies in two schools! This is a serious workload, so I think that classes for toddlers should be held in a very friendly atmosphere. For our first lessons, I brought a few soft toys from home that “helped” me teach the lesson and get to know the guys!) Therefore, there must be an element of the game! Not empty entertainment, but games in the best sense of the word. We are on the instruments. Let’s play!)
And, of course, we try to move more. This is very, very important! Sometimes we have joint vocal + dance lessons with our favorite choreography teacher Marina Korobko! Singing, working on songs – all with movement!)
— I remember last year we invited you to school for the festival “Your Art School”, where you held a master class in the hall for children, sang with them. After that, you came to our school as a teacher. Is it so? What happened, at what moment did this desire appear – to work in our school?
Everything in our life is not accidental! The opening of the pop-jazz department, inspired by Leonid Agutin, was very noticeable in the professional musical environment! All last year, even before coming to school, I watched the work of the department from the side. It seemed to me that this is a creative friendly place where they are open to new ideas and love children. Where, unlike many amateur studios, the task is not only to liberate children and bring them to the stage as soon as possible. But to provide them with a real musical education, knowledge. That’s why I’m here.
— What ignites you in working with children? What is the drive, because without it it is impossible, the children feel everything.
It seems to me that I myself am in many ways a child inside 🙂 And I’m interested in their stories! With what mood they come, what happens outside of school, what excites them! From this experience, we take the “fuel” for work, so that behind each song there is some kind of small story that concerns the child personally.
– As far as I know, children love your classes. What is your secret? What are you doing there that they are waiting and running to you?
Thank you for the kind words! I am very pleased, but I think it is better to find out from the guys themselves. And, probably, the secret is in the music itself!) They love to sing, I love to sing, we choose good songs that everyone enjoys. We love doing it together. Moreover, we sing jazz, and this is such energetic music!
– Some children, when they fail at something, don’t want to do it anymore. What do you say to a child when he is upset, when something is not working out for him, or when he is simply not in the mood to study?
I’m trying to make contact and find out what led to this mood. Often, some events in the family or school excite the child, and it is difficult for him to cope with the usual volume of affairs. For example, in the winter I noticed that one boy began to “hand over” – skip lessons, a strange mood. We talked, and it turned out that he was very worried about the loss of a loved one.
Another girl, a teenager, came to our school in the first grade without knowledge of musical literacy. She was greatly undermined that she stood out from her peers. It took us almost a year for this feeling to let go of her, and she was able to practice with pleasure and without regard to others.
If you are not interested in what lies in the soul of a child, you can break firewood.
And on the other hand, I understand that not all of the guys will choose music as their profession in the future. This is fine! Therefore, I try to normalize the load. Giving and demanding more from those “to whom more is given.” And distribute the load for the guys who feel that it’s hard for them.
— What is more difficult for you: performing or teaching?
Both of these things are my favorite. And there, and there I share my condition, mood, experience. Sharing is not difficult. But to organize the whole process and your regime, given that you need to have time to take care of yourself and your family, this is not an easy task.
— How do you manage to combine rehearsals, recording your own songs, concerts, family and school? Do you really have 24 hours in a day?
I’m like an undercover agent!) In the morning and afternoon I work, take care of the house and raise children. And in the evening. turning into a jazz singer. It looks something like this. In general, all my activities are connected. Singing, creativity, children – one way or another, everything revolves around it.
And most importantly, I am surrounded by wonderful people. When the children were very young, the musicians themselves came to us, and we did home rehearsals. I will never forget this!
Of course, our mode is not exactly like the usual one. I often had to take the children with me to concerts, rehearsals, lessons. Now they are older and more independent, and I have a little more free time for my work. For example, a month ago we released my song “I’m Alive”. This is an important work for me, in the recording of which the Main Strings string ensemble and the excellent pianist Lev Trofimov took part. Be sure to listen!
— Sasha, I read that you wanted to release an album with songs for children. Dream come true?
Yes, I composed a children’s cycle and I dream of releasing it! I hope my dream will come true soon. In the meantime, I’m thinking of learning some of these songs with my students next school year. Hope they like it!)
— Do you sing songs to your children? What is their favorite song you sing?
We often sing something together. We love music from modern cartoons. For example, now our permanent hit is Crab’s song “Live in Splendor” from “Moana”. More cool songs in the cartoon “The Secret of Coco”, we love them too.
Then they know almost all of my educational repertoire, because they often hear it. It’s jazz, children’s songs, movie music. And, of course, I’m pleased when they sing some of my songs.
— What is your favorite concert venue in Moscow?
Of course, this is Alexey Kozlov’s Club! How many different concerts I sang there myself and how many times I came to the concerts of other artists! I believe that this is the musical heart of Moscow.
— What gives you strength? How do you recover after hard work?
I try to listen to myself. Sometimes you need to cheer up – take a contrast shower, do exercises, dance. And sometimes, on the contrary, to gain strength – to sleep, to be in silence.
And, of course, gratitude gives you the most strength. Waking up and falling asleep, I say, thank God for my life and for everything He gives me.
— Three things that you adore the most?
I love beautiful flowers, interesting books and children’s drawings! )
— Alexandra, thank you very much for the conversation! We look forward to seeing you at school and at your concerts!
Саша Магерова Я жива
https://www.youtube.com/watch v=AFuyiOnhwX4&ab_channel=%D0%A1%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B0%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0-Topic
