 I
was born in 1971 in Kiev in the Ukraine where I attended a school for
the visually impaired. It was my greatest wish to study singing but with
my disability it was impossible to do this in my home country.
I therefore studied at the University of Culture in Kiev
a related subject, which was Music Folklore. My special area of study
was the music of Western Ukraine. In 1994 I came to study in Prague
where I was able to study singing at the Jan Deyl Conservatory in the
Lesser Town area.
From the very beginning of my stay in the Czech Republic I have given
performances. Sometimes I give my own concerts but I have also appeared
with the Spiritual Quintet, with Vladimír Merta and many others. In 1998
I had a part in the film Hamsa. In 2000 the Czech director Martin Pátek
made a documentary film about my life called Kackele. Also in 2000 I
recorded a CD of Jewish songs entitled Jedyd nefesh. On this CD there
are songs in Jiddish, Ladino and Hebrew.
In 2000 I attended the Festival of Sephardic
Culture, Esperansa 2000, in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I also gave several
concerts.
I do not intend to return to the Ukraine because I am now married to a
Czech. Our wedding took place at the Old-New Synagogue on Sunday,
24.10.1999. I became a member of the Prague Jewish Community. In June
2001 our daughter Debora was born, she is of course the most beautiful
infant in the world.
 In
2003 I recorded another CD entitled Karev jom - Close is the day. It
contains Jewish religious songs in Hebrew.
In 2003 I also took part in the Klezfest Festival in Kiev in the Ukraine.
It was a very rewarding experience where I had the opportunity to attend
various workshops on Jewish music.
In the future I wish to concentrate mainly on Jewish music.
Kateryna Tlusta – Kolcova
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