Sofia Vicoveanca
Encyclopedia
Sofia Micu known by her stage name
of Sofia Vicoveanca, is a renowned Romanian singer of popular music
music from the Bucovina region.
Her childhood was marked by difficulty, her father being taken prisoner by the Soviets after the annexation of northern Bucovina by the Soviet Union
. She escaped with her mother to the commune of Vicovu de Jos in the Suceava district; out of love for the village, she later changed her stage name to Sofia Vicoveanca.
Constrained by the poverty of living as a refugee, the young Sofia learned the traditional crafts of Bucovina. She graduated from the Şcoala Populară de Artă in Suceava before winning, in 1959, a competition to join the same city's "Ciprian Porumbescu" Ensemble of Song and Dance. In 1965, she released her first album. Since 1998, she has performed as a soloist with Moldavia's foremost folk music orchestra, the Ensemble "Rapsozii Botoşanilor" in Botoşani
.
The repertoire of Sofia Vicoveanca includes lullabies, wedding songs, doinas of love and longing, Christmas songs, laments and ballads, but most of all songs of joy, some of them lightly admonishing or full of the humor of Romanian villages.
In the course of her career she has released ten solo albums and six collaborations, available on audio cassette, video, and CD. She has given performances around Romania and abroad, touring Israel, Portugal, the USA, France, Denmark, Germany, and the former Yugoslavia.
She has been awarded the Honorary Citizen award in Suceava, Rădăuţi, Siret, Pojorâta, Ciocăneşti and Vicov (all in Suceava district), as well as in the commune of Ion Creangă in the Neamţ district and in Ciocârlău, Maramureş.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of Sofia Vicoveanca, is a renowned Romanian singer of popular music
Romanian popular music
In Romania, the syntagm popular music is used to denote a musical genre based on folklore, but distinct from it. The distinction is both in form and essence and it arises mainly from the commercial aspect of the popular music.-Origins:...
music from the Bucovina region.
Musical career
Sofia Vicoveanca was born Sofia Fusa on 23 September 1941 in the commune of Toporăuţi (today Toporovtsy), near Cernăuţi (today Chernivtsi in Ukraine). She was one of the four children of the merchant Gheorghe Fusa and his wife Veronica.Her childhood was marked by difficulty, her father being taken prisoner by the Soviets after the annexation of northern Bucovina by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. She escaped with her mother to the commune of Vicovu de Jos in the Suceava district; out of love for the village, she later changed her stage name to Sofia Vicoveanca.
Constrained by the poverty of living as a refugee, the young Sofia learned the traditional crafts of Bucovina. She graduated from the Şcoala Populară de Artă in Suceava before winning, in 1959, a competition to join the same city's "Ciprian Porumbescu" Ensemble of Song and Dance. In 1965, she released her first album. Since 1998, she has performed as a soloist with Moldavia's foremost folk music orchestra, the Ensemble "Rapsozii Botoşanilor" in Botoşani
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
.
The repertoire of Sofia Vicoveanca includes lullabies, wedding songs, doinas of love and longing, Christmas songs, laments and ballads, but most of all songs of joy, some of them lightly admonishing or full of the humor of Romanian villages.
In the course of her career she has released ten solo albums and six collaborations, available on audio cassette, video, and CD. She has given performances around Romania and abroad, touring Israel, Portugal, the USA, France, Denmark, Germany, and the former Yugoslavia.
Prizes and awards
In recognition of her nearly fifty years of service to Romanian folk music, Sofia Vicoveanca has been honored with many distinctions, among them: "Cultural Merit," fourth class (1973); the "Tudor Vladimirescu" medal, first class (1975); "Cultural Merit," first class (1976); National Cross of "Faithful Service," third class (2002); and Grand Officer of the Order of "Cultural Merit" (2004).She has been awarded the Honorary Citizen award in Suceava, Rădăuţi, Siret, Pojorâta, Ciocăneşti and Vicov (all in Suceava district), as well as in the commune of Ion Creangă in the Neamţ district and in Ciocârlău, Maramureş.