The People’s Artist of Russia and three-time winner of the Ovatsiya (Ovation) national music award shared her feelings before the first Koktebel Jazz Party session at a news conference.
“During today’s rehearsal, it dawned on me that we didn’t really have such a big gap when we didn’t play music. We instantly recalled everything, sang and played at the top professional level,” Dolina said.
She confessed that she is delighted to follow Hibla Gerzmava all over the world. Dolina herself is followed by Yakov Okun. These musicians inspire each other.
“I’m not embarrassed in the least by people on the beach because they are a potential audience of the festival. They happened to listen to our rehearsal while sun tanning. A non-classic scene is part of the festival atmosphere in Koktebel on the Black Sea coast,” the singer emphasized.
Dolina believes that in jazz the main thing is not to oversing, not to go overboard, while preserving the culture of performance. As a teacher, she is glad that today so many students are devoted to jazz.
The respected jazz singer was particularly pleased to sing at the Koktebel Jazz Party after a long concert-free period due to the coronavirus restrictions.
“Today, I cannot afford to take a break. I have a very busy schedule. Tomorrow morning I fly to a concert in Moscow. And I’m happy that performances, recordings and filming have started up. I’m preparing a musical surprise for everyone for my milestone birthday in September,” Dolina summed up.