Ophelia
From Clumsy Media
Duscha Hai Yusupov (born 11 September 1995) more commonly known by her stage name Ophelia is a Russian-Chinese singer, song-writer, producer, lyricist and pianist. Active in music industry of China, Korea and Japan, she is known for her unique lyric mezz-soprano vocal range and deep conversational tone voice.
Born in Paris, France with a strong interest in music since childhood she was discovered by entertainment agency Avex Group at a public competition in Tokyo, Japan. She went through several management changes until she settled wither Clumsy Media, her current label. She was trained under the guidance of award winning violinist Kim Chee Yun, musical professor and pianist Lim Dong Min, contemporary classical music composer Toshio Hosokawa and singer Lin Shu Ji and Lee Jin Hwa.
In February 2012, after three years of training in multiple areas, she made her debut with the Strawberry Fields Forever and Heartstrings in both Japan and Korea and both releases received critical acclaim and achieved commerical success. She became the first artist to have chart topping releases in their respective released countries at the same time. After another year of activities and music release including her first studio album Sincerely, Ophelia, she announced the decision to go on an education hiatus. As of February 2014 , she is a second-year student at The Juiliard School of Music, majoring in classical composition and piano.
Besides her own endeavours, Ophelia has also produced for other artists and is noted for her responsibility in establishing Korean idol group EXO's career as the co-producer of their award winning debut album XOXO (Kiss&Hug). She is currently working as a composer full time at Studio Ghibli, with her first work in the soundtrack of the 2013 animation film The Wind is Rising under the guidance of composer and pianist Joe Hisaishi who's publicly recognised as her mentor and teacher.
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Background Information
Birthname: душа хаи Юсупов / 尤苏波夫·德斯凯·海
DOB: September 11, 1995
Nationality: Russian-Chinese
Graudate: Horikoshi High School (2010-2012) || The Juilliard School (2013-2015)
Assosicated Groups: Coffee Musicians, Sunday Dalliance, T.O.M
Management: Clumsy Media (2010-current) || Pastel Music (2012-2015)
Early Life
Ophelia was born and raised in Paris, France to a wealthy Russian businessmen and a deceased Chinese mother as the youngest of two. Her older brother is named Dimitri "Sacha" Yusupov. She is known to be the seventh generation direct descent family member of the prestigous Russian royal family, the Yusupovs, who were of Tatar origin. The family was appointed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin for relating to Felix Yusupov.
For a brief period of her childhood the family lived in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. During her teenage years the family settled around different countries due to her father's occupation. As a result she spoke a combination of Chinese, Russian, Japanese, English and French during the early formative years, making her fluent in all five languages. She was later also taught Korean during her entertainment training process.
She briefly attened two years of primary schooling in Port William, Scotland and later continued her education in Sitka, Alaska. She started her high school education at the Hinkson Christian Academy located in central Moscow, and a year later became homeschooled until ultimately graduating from Horikoshi High School, a Japanese private high school in Nakano, Tokyo after she moved to Japan for entertainment training sessions. In 2013 she began studying at the Juiliard School of Music and graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Music (Classical Music and Piano Composition) suma cum laude.
Career
2009-2011: Audition, hardships and training
When Yusupov was tweleve years old, she went on a trip to Tokyo, Japan with her step-mother at the time to accompany on a musical concert. Whilst there she entered a singing competition hosted by Avex Group and ultimately finished third, as a result she was offered a training contract. She rejected as she entered without an adult's knowledge. However, upon seeing her potential, the company contacted her parents after they returned to Russia. After months of persuasion Yusupov decided it is an 'opportunity by chance' and moved to Japan for dance and vocal training. She stayed in Japan for a duration of two years where she also attended the local school. Her training period was noted to be difficult since she did not like being in front of a camera or a public audience. Her disinterest in being 'a clown on stage'; a term she used to described entertainers was also another problem and she later even refused to attend the lessons. After she rejected debut as an idol figure, she was dropped from the label.
In response she returned to Russia and devoured herself to music, eager to prove to herself, believing her skills will be polished one day and prove the company wrong. In order to support this her parents agreed to her being home-schooled. Around this time she joined several musicals and even became involved in a performing band at the local middle school to further extend her knowledge. Several months later she accompanied one of the musical group for performance in Seoul, Korea. During her stay she attended a fan meeting of rapper song-writer Tablo who belongs to the Korean hip-hop group Epik High and gifted him a self-produced mix tape. Unexpecting of an reply, she was contacted two days later personally by his manager and was told that they were interested in signing her under as an artist. She signed the contract a week later, moved to Korea and began her training under Woolim Entertainment. Instead of focusing on singing, much of her days there were dedicated to learning how to compose music and writing lyrics. She eventually bonded a mentor relationship later with Tablo, who wrote and composed "The Falling Flower" (subtitle Ophelia's Flower) for Yusupov, and it was later published in Epik High's fifth studio album "Pieces, Part One".
However the stay was short, only to be around seven months as she terminated the contract due difference in music styles. Despite the short duration, she was able to find her signature lyric mezz-soprano vocal range voice with the help of singer Lee Jin Hwa. Upon her leave, Tablo suggested her to find a home with 'no music control' and under the guidance of her former company's sub-label, S&P Entertainment, she moved back to Japan to continue her training. She was offered to be part of the future idol group 8th & Beyond, but she dismissed the idea. Her training continued for another two years and this time Yusupov decided to focus heavily on her instrunmental skills. Some of her best known teachers include award winning violinist Kim Chee Yun, famed musical professor pianist Lim Dong Min, contemporary classical music composer Toshio Hosokawa and singer Lin Shu Ji.
The company started planning the details of her debut work in the early months of 2011. She started recording materials for the debut mid-year and was offered a chance to be featured in label-mate Japanese pop singer JayMi's album "N015 Street". The pair collaborated on a track named "Fate" which was a critical success. Due to the good receptions her debut was pushed forward instead of the planned mid-2012 date. She was noted to have trained for as long as a total of four years - one of the longest periods of time under a Japanese entertainment company.
2012: Award winning, best selling debut and singing hiatus
Yusupov made her debut on February 18, 2012 under Clumsy Media with the self produced digital single "Strawberry Fields Forever" in Japan. It proved to be a massive success; debuting at the first position across all majormusic charts and she was dubbed by the media as the most successful new artist that year. The public and professionals' respond to the track were all favourable, praising her musical abilities as she composed and written the lyrics for the song. According to Oricon, by the end of the year it became the most downloaded track by a solo debut artist that year.
On April 20, she released both the debut Korean digital single "Heartstrings" and her first Japanese mini album "Mellifluous Ending", both of which she took full creative control but also collaborated with the likes of award winning producers such as Skin Piece and Mini Bus. Both materials was able to debut at the first position across various charts and the later even became the best selling album of the year at one point. She became the first artist ever to have chart topping works in both Japan and Korea at the same time. In particular, the mini was not only commerically successful but received immense critical acclaim, by the end of the year she brought home three catergories winning of the prestigous Japan Golden Disk awards: New Artist of the Year, Asia Best New Artist and Song of the Year.
In May it was reported she joined Korean indie project group Coffee Musicians as a third generation member, taking over the role of lyrics writing, composing and female background vocal. Following the success of her first Korean single, she soon released another, a remake of a 2008 hit named "Easily Said" by underground indie artist Trillion Mark on May 15 titled, "Say It Easily" featuring the original artist as a guest. IT earned better than positive responses from critics for its mature approach and topped the peak on several charts, including the achievement of becoming the most popular song choice for Cyworld mini home page during the first half of 2012. It was during this time that Ophelia became recognised for changing her vocal levels to suit different types of music.
Within the same month she headed to China to film for a up-coming large production movie until she was hit with the news of her musical mentor Lee Jin Hwa's death. Immediately she returned to Korea for the funeral service and her officials delayed all of her planned future releases. It was announced that a mini Korean album and limited edition album was in planning. She made headline news when she publicly broke down and refused to eating and sleeping after being forced to restart filming in China. Her agency denied the news but announced she feels her current condition is unsuitable for filming and as a result dropped the project. In order to recover from the emotional stress she headed back to Russia in order to spent time with her family, and travelled across Europe. After two months she returned to Japan to concentrate on her first Japanese full album with composer Joe Hisaishi who would later become her mentor.
By October Ophelia resumed her musical releases and announced the confirmation of her first Korean mini album "Map My Mind". However, just two weeks after this announcement she release an official media report that she will go on an indefinite voice hiatus; meaning she will focuse on writing for other artists instead. This news caused an uproar at the time, especially in Japan where she had the most active fan base. Despite the response Ophelia gave no proper explanation as to why the hiatus was decided to take place. To make matters worse, on the day the album was scheduled for release her company released a statement just two hours before hand that it will be pushed back indefinitely due to Ophelia's personal request. Instead, another fully composed indie album "Fantin Latour" will be released a week later instead. Even until today it is not known as to why she made such a decision.
The news was reviewed negatively but nevertheless the public had great expectations and pre-orders was full in just three hours after it begun. Experts believe her announcement of a 'voice-and-singing-hiatus' is one of the main cause of reasons as many, including non-fans wants a copy of her last official work, since it may be years before she will return in full condition. Ophelia personally named this album after one of her favourite artists: French painter Henri Fantin-Latour. She expressed through an public blog entry on her mini home page online that all tracks on the album were inspired by viewing Fantin-Latour's artworks, in particular, the first track Rose was born after seeing Vase de Pivoines (Vase of Peonies).
Originally the album was set for release in February 14, 2013 but due to the cancellation release of 'Map My Mind', this was pushed forward instead. On October 31, 2012 the album was announced with the cover artwork and track list and scheduled for release November 18. On the first day physical album sales exceeded 100,000 copies, becoming the second fastest selling mini album that year, behind G-Dragon's comeback album, One of a Kind. The mini album also received great reception from the critics, praising her musical style, composing abilities, writing lyrics and her improved control over her voice.
2013-2016: Producing activities, return to Japan and education hiatus
After the announcement of a singing hiatus in October, Ophelia decided to return to Japan to start working on her first full Japanese album with composer and pianist Joe Hisaishi. On February 17 it was announced that Hisaishi has accepted Ophelia as his first student and will play the role of her music mentor. During the same month, she was accepted into the prestigious graduate university Juiliard Music School under the recommendation made by famed American composer, conductor and pianist John Williams. However, she did not announce this news until April where she also announced a Japanese comeback with the release of her first ever full studio album titled "Sincerely, Ophelia". This would mean she breaks her promise of the vocal hiatus after seven months. Her representatives later explained the hiatus was intended for her activities in Korea only.
She released two pre-singles which all peaked on top of the charts, "Cinderella" and "My Last Ocean" before the ultimate release of the album. Afterwards, she released her first ever English track "Loving Another" to officially kick-start her education hiatus. All of her released during this period peaked every major music chart and drew in huge commercial and critical success. In June it was reported by the Oricon half-yearly chart ranking that the album has successfully sold 488,300 copies as of June 26, making it the highest selling album of the year at the time. She became the second female artist with a first album to achieve this feat after Utada Hikaru's debut album "First Love" back in March 1999 as well as being the first under twenty solo female artist to receive this title.
Since then she has gone on to produce for other artists, including idol group EXO's comeback album. In the areas of lyrics she has written for idol singer Yoseob's title track "Caffeine" in the mini album The First Collage, friend Lee Hi's debut album First Love and C.N.Blue's fifth mini album Re:Blue.
Despite the overwhelming success and positive messages received, Yusupov has only ever appeared in the public once during the promotion period for a live performance at a music festival. Despite the intensive long training years, she was still mindful of being in the spotlight, making her personal space as a top priority.
2017-current: Further pursuit of music composition and commercial artist hiatus
In July 2017, it was announced by Ophelia's management that she had accepted the role as a teaching assistant and composer specialising in jazz composition at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and confirmed that she has decided to continue her hiatus as a commercial artist. During her one year and a half tenure, she performed in many international prestigious music festival to universal acclaim including The Proms in United Kingdom, Chorégies d'Orange in France and White Nights Festival in Russia.
In 2018 she was revealed as a producer for the track Intro: Singularity of the Love Yourself: Tear album by South Korean idol group BTS although shortly after the release her agency confirmed she has no plans of returning as a commericl artist herself.
Discography
(For her full discography please click [here].
(For her current on-going musical process please click [here].
- Sincerely, Ophelia (2013)
Filmography
Dramas
- [Secret Love Affair] (cameo), (JTBC), 2014
Music Video
- "I'll Never Forget You" - Joosuc ft. Ailee (2013)
Endorsement
- "JMS Jeans Skin Fit" (2013)
- "Ato Urban Spring Beans" (2013)
- "Lioele Spring Sleep" (2013)
Modelling
- Abokki Online, (Flesh Cooperation), 2011
- H*ODIES 2013, (Limeorange Clothing), 2013
Awards
| Year | Awards |
|---|---|
| 2012 |
|
| 2013 |
|
Artistry
Vocal ability
Yusupov has a mezz-soprano vocal range and is often referred to as the "voice of the soul" by the public in Japan and Korea. Late mentor, veteran singer Kim Chee Won stated she "always had a strong and soulful voice". Experts have shared that Ophelia was blessed with an astonishing vocal range and extraordinary technical skill, which was refined heavily during her training days by various mentors. Many professionals estimated she has a range from approximately the G below middle C (G3) to the B two octaves above middle C (B5).
Her voice has been described to have a very smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Unfortunately she does not have the vocal agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano yet.
Influences
Due to the influence and work as a opera and musicals instructor of her step-mother, Yusupov has been faced with all different genres of music since an early age. In an interview, she said that music was constantly played at her home, especially the genre of classical. Although her dad does not work related to music he has been the main inspiration and contributor for her early finding interest in music. In an interview she acknowledged the role her father played in her decision of becoming a singer and musician, "We were all brought up in a well educated family and music is important. My dad was taught all different types of instrunments, including piano and guitar which he taught me since I was four [years old] and he introduced me to reading music searching for a deeper meaning within."
Both of her parents taught her a wide variety of instrunment, such as the grand piano and accoustic guitar by her dad and string ensembles including the harp, Chinese zheng, Japanese koto and Korean gayageum by her step-mother.
Yusupov labeled her dad as an major influence when it came to the jazz and rock genre and her mum when it came to the classical, smooth listening and world music. She credited Bill Evans as the main inspiration when it came to her piano playing as his music was a favourite among family members. She has also credited her mentor, rapper producer Tablo of Epik High to be one of her major influences, especially so when it came to her lyrics writing style. Others also includes Joanna Newsom and mentor Joe Hisashi.
In the media
Across many platforms - including online, fans and the general public, Yusupov is deemed to have a extremely private persona. In the days preparing for her debut, it has been known she requested her company to keep her appearance hidden from the media. The words, such as 'unapproachable' and 'cold' are often attached to describing her personality. Her fiercely private personality meant that she would not give much granted interviews or almost hardly ever talk to fans for much of her career. She distanced herself from the celebrity lifestyle, uninterested in a social scene which she was quoted saying as 'an deep jar that would consume anyone' and 'a battle between the old and new found self'.
She rarely appeared in public, even avoiding appearing in the public with a large population in the area.
Personal life and family
Almost immediately after debut, the media switched attention to her family members, creating many headlines at the time for her mixed heritage. Many believe her birth mother is an already deceased Chinese woman named Qin Min Hai.
It has been known that the mother figure in her life was a Japanese opera producer named Aoyama Kujo, the current only surviving member of the Japanese noble Kujo family, with many suspecting her to be Ophelia's stepmother. On July 1, 2012 it was reported by the Chinese news media that a divorce had occurred late last year to which Yusupov denied shortly on her official Chinese fan site stating it was a de-facto relationship, "a legal marriage never occurred and hence I do not think the term 'step mother' is appropriate" and refused to comment any further as she believed it's a "private issue of her father".
The extent of her family's wealth has been subject to much debate by the media and widely reported. It has been reported that her family owns summer vacation houses in Paris and the Scottish Highlands, assumed to be in Inverness. In 2018 it was revealed that her father is co-chairman of Reading F.C, as well as the Deputy Advisory Chancellor for the International University in Moscow and Russian New University.
Ophelia currently resides in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France.
Friendships
Yusupov has been reported to be close to many artists in the Asian entertainment industry, including but not limited to Kim Woo-bin, Shin Dong-ho, Jeanie, Lee Jong-hyun, Lee Hi, IU and Jon Atsushi. In 2013 she was the bridesmaid of model-actress Kei Nangon.
Relationships
In 2013, Yusupov confirmed her first public relationship with American actor Ryan Potter whom she met through a mutual friend whilst attending college in the United States. The coupled announced their break-up in November 2016. Since then she has been linked to Norwegian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen and American singer, songwriter and record producer Charlie Puth.
According to an interview with Complex magazine, Yusupov revealed her first boyfriend's name as Pearce Kvsurik and they were both fourteen-years-old at the time. The relationship ended two years later.
