The Sunny Soul & Jazz Singer from Southern Estonia.

 “…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…” Jazzkaare, Anne Erm, Director of the Jazzkaar festival and promoter of jazz in Estonia.

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

Jazz singer-songwriter Sofia Rubina was born in Tartu into a family of scientists who nonetheless appreciated music and supported Sofia to pursue a musical career. Sofia studied music at the renowned Vilandi Academy of Culture whose curriculcum includes teatre and dance arts, music, Estonian native crafts, youth work and culture management.

And like the city and training Sofia Rubina had, her resulting music, songs and performances are energetic, colourful, cheery and optimistic blending all the genres you love. Taking vocal lessons from age 10, Sofia was inspired early on by the Golden singers of jazz such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson,  Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves.

Celebrating life on the edge of music, Sofia Rubina loves both spectrums equally; from straight-ahead jazz standards, improvisation, and vintage songbird sounds to collaborations with DJs with pop, soul and electro music, the Estonian artist immerses herself into all of it with vigour and style, promising to move both body and soul. Sofia consolidated her musical skills at Boston’s Berklee College’s global jazz institute as instructed by Danilo Perez. 

Sofia Rubina’s catchy tunes and infectious grooves have brought her all around the world, from the famous Blue Note in New York to the corners of Asia and back, performing with Joe Lovano, Danilo Perez, shared stage with Seal and Incognito. 

Aside from collaborating with notable musicians and big bands in Estonia such as Estonian Dream Big Band, Kaunas Big Band, Latvian Radio Big Band and several other orchestras. Sofia has also collaborated with many notable composers during her six album career including Latvia’s Raimond Pauls and American trumpeter, Phillip Lassiter. As well as being much-loved jazz singer within Estonia, Sofia has performed internationally in the USA, Panama, Italy, Spain, Uk, Germany, Austria, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Faroe Islands, China, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. 

As Sofia says in her own words,

“Singing and music is freedom and also also what I feel on stage is unity, unity with band members and also unity with the audience.” 

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