Anna Buturlina

— One of the most popular jazz singers in Russia, arranger and actress with the Stas Namin Theater. She became the first woman to appear on the Jazz.Ru magazine cover.

Born in Moscow, Anna first graduated from the department of conducting and choral music at the Gnessin State Musical College and then from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music specializing in pop and jazz vocals. At the age of 19, she made her debut in one of the best jazz orchestras in Russia — Anatoly Kroll's MKS Big Band, and the next step in her career was collaboration with Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra and the best Russian jazz performers, including Alexei Kuznetsov, Georgy Garanyan, Daniil Kramer, Alex Rostotsky and Igor Butman. Today, Anna is a soloist with Igor Kantyukov's Orpheus big band.   

In addition to her solo jazz projects, which can be heard in famous Moscow clubs, Anna performs with the Russian State Symphony Cinema Orchestra led by Sergei Skripka and big bands from different cities of Russia. She also works for Walt Disney Studios, participates in composer Gennady Gladkov's projects and records vocals for movies.

Anna has performed at many international jazz festivals all around the country — in St.Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, Vladikavkaz, Novosibirsk, Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don. She also participated in the Jazz in the Hermitage Garden and the Usadba Jazz festivals and won international jazz vocalist contests the Lady Summertime 2008 (Kajaani, Finland) and the Jazz Voices 2010 (Klaipeda, Lithuania). She performs solo programs in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia and Finland, and collaborates with famous Russian jazz musicians, including Daniil Kramer, Alexei Kuznetsov, Vladimir Danilin and Yakov Okun, as well as Oleg Lundstrem and Igor Butman's bands.

In 2002, Anna starred in the Dracula musical; in 2009 she voiced the main role of Princess Tiana in the Russian version of the Princess and the Frog animated movie, and in late 2013, the main role of Princess Elsa in the Cold Heart animated movie. In September 2011, Anna starred in the Penelope, or 2+2 musical premiere at the Stas Namin Moscow Music and Drama Theater.

She released two solo albums: Black Coffee (2002) and My Favorite Songs (2006). She also organized the first Moscow Jazz Vocalist Contest in February 2009.

On January 2013, Anna presented a new original Russian-language program "Jazz Focus: Songs from Soviet Movies," which featured the most famous music by 20th century Russian composers in her own arrangements.

Anna Buturlina, like many other Russian jazz singers, shows that there is still a lot to be achieved in the mainstream, and that Russian vocalists can compete with American singers. 

At the Koktebel Jazz Party, she will collaborate with Vahagn Hayrapetyan's New York — Yerevan jazz quartet, whose members are:
— Vahagn Hayrapetyan, piano, vocals;
— Keith Balla, percussion;
— Zaid Nasser, alto saxophone;
— Ari Roland, bass.

Photo by Dmitry Poslavsky