“…Watching Sofia Rubina's performance, you can immediately tell that she is a sunny singer — she charms the audience from the first notes with her extremely positive and cheerful personality… The music flows and lives in her voice…”
— Jazzkaar, Anne Erm, Director of the Jazzkaar Festival and promoter of jazz in Estonia.

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Tartu, in southern Estonia, was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2024 by the European Capitals of Culture (ECoC) programme. Estonian and Finnic dialects are spoken here. Tartu is home to both traditional and modern artists — musicians, visual artists, and a wide spectrum of creative industries. The city boasts Estonia’s national university and was also home to the country’s first newspapers, cultural societies, and Estonia’s first national theatre.

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Jazz singer-songwriter Sofia Rubina was born in Tartu into a family of scientists who nonetheless deeply appreciated music and supported Sofia in pursuing a musical career. She studied music at the renowned Viljandi Academy of Culture, whose curriculum includes theatre and dance arts, music, Estonian native crafts, youth work, and culture management.

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Much like the city she grew up in and the training she received, Sofia Rubina’s music, songs, and performances are energetic, colourful, cheerful, and optimistic — blending genres you love. Taking vocal lessons from the age of 10, Sofia was inspired early on by the golden voices of jazz such as Ella Fitzgerald, Esperanza Spalding, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Dianne Reeves.

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Celebrating life on the edge of music, Sofia Rubina embraces both ends of the spectrum equally — from straight-ahead jazz standards, improvisation, and vintage songbird sounds to collaborations with DJs in pop, soul, and electronic music. The Estonian artist immerses herself in all of it with vigour and style, promising to move both body and soul. Sofia further consolidated her musical skills at Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Institute, under the artistic direction of Danilo Pérez.

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Sofia Rubina’s catchy tunes and infectious grooves have taken her around the world — from the legendary Blue Note in New York to the corners of Asia and back — performing with Joe Lovano, Danilo Pérez, and sharing the stage with Seal and Incognito.

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In addition to collaborating with notable musicians and big bands such as the Estonian Dream Big Band, Kaunas Big Band, Riga Orchestra, Latvian Radio Big Band, and several other orchestras, Sofia has worked with many acclaimed composers throughout her six-album career, including Latvia’s Raimonds Pauls and American trumpeter Philip Lassiter.

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Alongside being one of Estonia’s most beloved jazz singers, Sofia has performed internationally in the USA, Panama, Italy, Spain, the UK, Germany, Austria, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, China, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

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As Sofia says in her own words:

“Singing and music are freedom. What I feel on stage is unity — unity with the band members and unity with the audience.”

Sofia Rubina is married to trumpeter-arranger Jason Hunter, and they live in Estonia.