Vadim Alekseevich Kozin

Vadim Alekseevich Kozin – a popular stage singer (lyric tenor), composer, poet, and the author of several hundred songs. He began his artistic career as a sound effects artist, providing sound for silent films. In the mid-1920s he began performing, taking part in Charov's comic choir and in mixed concerts at major cinemas in Saint Petersburg.

 

From 1929 Kozin began performing popular romances, such as 'Kalinka', 'Misty Morning' (Utro tumannoe) and 'My Bonfire' (Moi kostyor), quickly winning public recognition. He toured extensively across the country, performing with well-known accompanists — David Ashkenazi, Arkady Pokrass and Mikhail Dulov. During the Great Patriotic War he gave concerts for servicemen. In December 1943 he took part in a concert for participants of the Tehran Conference, after which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star by Marshal Baghramyan.

 

In 1945 Kozin was arrested and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He was released early in 1950. In the late 1950s Kozin resumed his concert activity and wrote many new songs set to the verses of well-known Soviet poets such as Leonid Oshanin, Nikolai Braun and Andrei Dementyev. Over his lifetime he created about 300 songs. Kozin performed on stage almost until the end of his life, working at the Magadan Musical Drama Theatre. Vadim Alekseevich Kozin passed away on December 19, 1994, in Magadan.