2009 Finalists

Danny Braz was born in Odessa and immigrated to the United States in 1978 with his parents.  A graduate of New York University, Danny continues to take part in many special events, particularly Community Theater, music and fundraising functions.  Since relocating to Staten Island in 1999, Danny's passion for entertaining has become evident in many ways.  From organizing 'Karaoke for a Cause' at the American Cancer Society's fundraiser, to participating at the Staten Island Film Festival, to performing with his band at the Borough President's Beach Festival, Danny always abounds with fresh ideas and limitless energy.  His most recent project is "Jewardy! Live!"

Soprano Anya Fidelia made her professional debut at the Caramoor International Festival in the summer of 2005 where she returned during subsequent seasons to work on the roles of Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore as well as Leonora in La Forza del Destino. Ms. Fidelia also appeared in numerous concerts with the company.

Ms. Fidelia’s recent and current seasons include the roles of Suor Angelica; Georgetta in Il Tabarro; Santuzza in Cavaleria Rusticana; Tatyana in Eugene Onegin; Leonora in Il Trovatore; Blanche de la Force in the Dialogues of the Carmelites; Mimi in La Boheme as well as the title roles of Puccini’s Tosca and Madame Butterfly throughout Europe and US. Ms. Fidelia’s domestic and international engagement highlights also include numerous appearances at The Metropolitan Opera Guild; recitals with International Rachmaninov Society in New York City presided by Vladimir Ashkenazy and for the UN VIP guests of the UN Russian Mission, sponsored and hosted by Mayor Bloomberg among others.

Past seasons highlights included such roles as Puccini's Tosca, Mozart's Donna Anna and Countess at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; appearance in Stefan Weisman's new opera “Darkling” with the American Opera Projects; a soundtrack for Tribeca Film Festival award winner documentary "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" and Cannes Festival award winner documentary “Bye-bye, Babushka!”  as well as the tour of France with the New York Opera Society.

During the upcoming season Ms. Fidelia will return to Russia for a recording, more concerts and operatic performances. In addition, Ms. Fidelila will debut this season in Wagner’s Isolde Liebestod with Ridgewood Symphony.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Yelizaveta Grebenyuk emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1992. She grew up in New Jersey, where she started first grade. As she gradually became Americanized, in an attempt to assimilate she began introducing herself as Lisa (a name she heard on a then popular TV show “Saved by the Bell”). She enjoyed a typical suburban adolescence, participating in a myriad of extracurricular activities, working part-time, and dreaming of living in New York City. It wasn’t until her late teen years that she started to reconnect to her Russian roots, making a concerted effort to regain fluency in Russian.

A pivotal point in her life came when she matriculated Hunter College on a full scholarship and moved to Manhattan. There she began taking Russian Literature courses and met several Russian-Jewish people with whom she became fast friends. These first few connections led to a circle of people that was highly influential in her life; individuals with a well-developed sense of Russian-Jewish identity. Upon their recommendation, Lisa went on the Birthright Israel program, where she began to grapple with her Jewish identity for the first time. Two years later, she went on a volunteer trip to Israel with the organization Livnot ULehibanot. The hikes through the vast Israeli desert allowed her a spiritual insight into Judaism beyond just its cultural framework. Lisa then joined the leadership training program with EZRA USA, a Russian-Jewish organization that helped her realize her potential as an organizer in the community.

After college she worked as Director of Operations for a real estate firm in Manhattan but continued to search for a creative outlet. She is now taking on the task of organizing a Family Camping Retreat through a COJECO grant and developing her event planning business.

The Russian-born soprano Nika Leoni has toured internationally, appearing in opera and concert at theaters throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Her performance repertoire ranges from large-scale opera roles to intimate art songs, and she also made her recent debut as a dramatic actress/singer in a Broadway-style musical play.  Earlier this year, Nika Leoni’s first recorded album of Russian Romances and Traditional Songs titled “Dark Eyes” was released on Larion Records.

 As a participant of the MiniGrant Project, Ms. Leoni is producing a short opera “Queen Ester” by Albert Markov for Russian-speaking children based on the traditional Purim holiday theme.  The opera will be staged in costumes and sung in Russian by professional singers accompanied by a small chamber ensemble.  It will be presented as part of a Purim celebration at the JCC-Manhattan on February 28^th, 2010.

Olga Monastyrskaya immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 16. Having graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2003, she has been working as a graphic designer in advertising and publishing industries. Olga has 5 years of classical art school education both from the Ukraine and the United States.

In her art exhibition titled "Recognizing History or How My Red Star Changed Its Color", Olga will bring together the presently disintegrated community of Russian-Jewish visual artists who foster similar passions for the past they share, the present they live in, and the future that they are building.

Olga says, “My story is not in any way different… Being such, I am convinced that through the form of visual expression, it will spark a beautiful dialogue with other artists who have their unique stories to tell as well as with the audience, who I hope will recognize their internal and external world in the works on view.”

Anna Rozenblat is a New York based freelance photographer specializing in weddings and events photography, as well as fashion and experimental work. After studying art at Art Students League, and graphic design at FIT, Anna finally chose photography as her medium of choice for its ability to instantly capture spirit, depth and the essence of passing moments. Anna's MiniGrant project is called "Yidishe Mame". It brings together a group of several young rising photographers within the Russian Jewish community that will collaborate on creating a body of work for an exhibit that will honor our elder generation, and creatively explore immigrant Jewish identity.

vydavy sindikat (Misha Sklar/Zhenya Plechkina) is a Brooklyn-based artist collective. The collective’s activities include video, performance art, poetry and architecture. In recent years, vydavy sindikat participated in numerous shows in the United States and in Europe. Works of vydavy sindikat are in the collections of the  State Museum of Architecture (Moscow), Buchenwald Museum of Art (Germany), The Stein Archive of Russian Immerge Books (The Netherlands) and private collections.