Oleksii Valentynovych Zaiets (*4 March 1990) is a Ukrainian singer, folklorist, local historian, winner of the First Prize of the Chervona Ruta Festival of Contemporary Youth Music (2011), and a diploma winner at many international and national festivals and competitions. Member of the National Union of Local Lore of Ukraine.
Biography.
Born in the village of Fasova, Makariv district, Kyiv region. In 2007, he graduated from Pashkiv secondary school. In 2009, he entered the Faculty of Musical Arts of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts (speciality - musical folklore). He works as the head of the House of Culture in Ludvynivka village, Makariv district, and leads the village folklore group "Barvinok". He is a member of the folklore group Drevo.
Oleksii's first appearance in the media was during the casting of the popular TV programme The Voice. At that time, none of the "star coaches" dared to take the boy under their care. Alexander Ponomarev called him "the diamond of Ukraine". His style of performance is unique, deep, and has a fantastic ethnic basis that was only inherent in our distant ancestors.
After the TV show, thousands of concerned people became concerned about the talented young man, declaring him the "discovery of the year" in the genre of Ukrainian ethnic music. Letters were sent to TV channels and radio stations asking them to support the true "voice of the country". The Artistic Council of the Krayina Mriy Festival unanimously agreed to invite the singer to participate in the concert programme.
At the end of 2011, Oleksiy won the first prize of the Chervona Ruta Festival of Contemporary Youth Music in the Ukrainian Authentic Folklore nomination in the solo singing category and was awarded the 2011 Young Person of the Year nomination in the Discovery of the Year campaign, which is held under the auspices of the Kyiv Regional State Administration to celebrate the significant achievements of young people in various spheres of public life and encourage them to actively participate in the public life of the Kyiv region.
Diploma winner of the international festivals "Glory of the Cossacks" (St. Petersburg, 2011), "Living Tradition" (Moscow, 2012), "Pokrovsky Bells" (Vilnius, 2012), "Berehynia" (Lutsk, 2013), "Domotkan" (Kyiv, 2013), "Nativity of Christ" (St. St. Petersburg, 2013) and the winner in the "Solo Singing" nomination of a number of all-Ukrainian festivals and competitions, including "From the People's Source" (Rivne, 2009), "Lesyni Dzherela" (Novohrad-Volynskyi, 2009), "Slobozhanskyi Vernissage" (Kharkiv, 2010), "Pokut Plus" (Kharkiv, 2012), etc.
