Bio

[link="http://www.wix.com/iouliakoznova/ik"]Official Ioulia Koznova Website[/link] EARLY YEARS - RUSSIA Born and raised in Pyatigorsk, Russia, Ioulia (You-Lee-Ya) began her musical education at the age of 6. Coming from a family of musicians, she was trained in classical piano by her mother Victoria Koznova: a professional classical pianist/piano teacher. Ioulia’s training in classical piano allowed her to enter various competitions across Russia, from her home town of Pyatigorsk to Moscow. She was successful, placing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd and receiving medals. Ioulia’s father, Valeri Koznov, a professional song-writer/guitarist/vocalist and sound engineer also influenced Ioulia’s musical goals. While he trained her in vocals and her mother trained her in classical piano, Ioulia got accepted to a conservatory of music for musically gifted children at the age of 7. Being a very competitive child, Ioulia entered and won competitions, participated in festivals held around the country and sung in concerts, pushing herself to become an even better piano player and vocalist. THE MOVE – CANADA At the age of 11, Ioulia moved to Ontario, Canada, where she decided to continue her musical path at the Royal Conservatory of Music. After auditioning for the RCM, Ioulia was skipped from grade 4 to grade 10 classical piano. This was about the time that Ioulia began composing her first songs. THE WRITING PROCESS Every song tells a story. Whether it is her own or someone else’s, it is always personal. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places and there has never been a specific order in which a song is born. Sometimes the melody is first, other times – the words. However, Ioulia always collaborates on the writing process with Valeri Koznov, her dad, who also records all her music. Together, they produced Ioulia’s album Tumbling. UNIVERSITY In June 2011, Ioulia received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours diploma from York University. Majoring in Classical Piano and Vocals, Ioulia studied under the instruction of one of Canada’s foremost pianists, Christina Petrowska Quilico. [b][link="http://www.youtube.com/iouliakoznova"]www.youtube.com/iouliakoznova[/link][/b][/link]