The opera singer has devoted herself to the stage and spent most part of the last year in the United States working on many projects. The ideas for many of them were born in Ukraine. One of them is the Whitney Houston Memorial Tour, which was an astonishing success back in 2013. According to the Ukrainian singer, Whitney is her icon.

Lena studied at the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine and focused on pop music, which is radically different from the opera training.

Recently Shtefan has visited Ukraine as an honorary member of the jury in the International Music Festival ‘Young Halychyna’. The festival celebrated its 26th anniversary. Famous Ukrainian performers like Tina Karol, Kateryna Buzhinskaya, Natalia Buchinskaya, Mika Newton, Natalia Karpa have participated and won the first prize throughout the years of the festival’s existence.

This year, Lena alongside her producer Sergei Ustyugov prepares an unusual American-Ukrainian project: “There are many talented vocalists in Ukraine. However, there are limited opportunities to prove yourself to the public eye. We would like to unite our experience gained in the United States and Ukraine to create a number of creative international activities,” – says Lena about her current plans.

Photos provided by Lena Shtefan.