Singer-songwriter Olga Gavrilov’s journey from a small Siberian village to a new life in the U.S. has been defined by her grit to succeed and dedication to the words of the American Pledge of Allegiance.
Gavrilov arrived in Springfield in 1998 along with her husband and young son. Speaking no English — and with no marketable skills beyond teaching Russian folk music — she and her family were spurred to leave their native home by the promise of America and its religious freedom.
The words of the nation’s foundational document spoke to her, Gavrilov said.
“The phrase: ‘one nation under God’ really resonates with me,” she said. “It reminds me that beyond race or nationality, we are one family,” adding that her own “walk of faith, love of family and community” guide her music.
While Gavrilov has since made a mark as a licensed ultrasound technician — a career she loves — her spare time is devoted to honing her musical talents as a keyboardist, singer, composer and producer, all carried out from a makeshift studio in a modest home in the city’s Indian Orchard neighborhood.
Gavrilov is now gaining an audience for her compositions and recordings, which can be found on YouTube, Pandora, Spotify and other platforms, and recently produced a music video, “A Melody of Hope for Our Community” that has captured the attention of Mayor Dominic Sarno.
In a posting on the city’s website, which includes a link to the YouTube video of Gavrilov’s original song, Sarno writes: “What a truly touching Melody of Hope, Love and Joy for the New Year.
With the Court Square’s holiday lighting display as its backdrop, the music video welcomes a new year and serves as a love letter to the city of Springfield and its historic landmarks, including Old First Church, City Hall, Symphony Hall and the Campanile clock tower.
“It is because of residents like yourself that makes Springfield such a wonderful place to not only live and work but to truly call home,” Sarno’s post continued.
While honing her musical skills over the last few years, Gavrilov has learned how to record, compose and create music videos on her own — inspired by mentors who encouraged her to teach herself how to master music software programs from her laptop computer.
“They told me I didn’t need to go to a recording studio,” which was very expensive and time-consuming, she said. “I just needed a mic.”
Gavilrov’s determination and creativity is evident in her basement recording booth fashioned from a sound-proofed sauna built by her husband Eugene, a poet and truck driver, who doubles as her lyricist.
In addition to her New Year’s song, Gavrilov has composed, sung and produced about a dozen songs in English, as well as some songs in both English and Russian.
Journey from Siberia to Springfield
During her journey from the former Soviet Union to America, Gavrilov faced many challenges.
She was born and raised in a family without religious beliefs, but her home was always filled with music, with an accordion and Russian folk instruments always on hand.
Her father, an electrician by trade, also served as a local DJ who sought out the latest records from famous bands in America and Europe.
Gavrilov’s aptitude and talent for music was recognized by musically inclined neighbors and friends — leading to her acceptance to a special program at a music college designed for students from villages with little or no musical background. The program aimed to teach the students and send them back to their communities to help others gain an appreciation for the arts.
So, at the age of 15, she left her home to pursue her passion for music —mostly playing guitar and domra, a Russian string instrument. It was during that time that she wrote her first song and began to tinker with the piano.
While the practice of religion was not tolerated in Communist Russia, Gavrilov, then 16, yearned for meaning in her life. So, she joined her cousin in visiting a small church. It was at church that she met her husband and found her voice as a singer.
The church provided Gavrilov with “a vibrant, lively, progressive and nurturing environment that also helped me grow in her faith,” she said.
Although the Soviet Union was collapsing, religious intolerance persisted, she said, leading to her family’s decision to seek refuge in America.
After settling in Springfield, she quickly realized that cleaning homes and working shifts at Dunkin’ Donuts weren’t going to pay the bills, so she enrolled in an English language course at Springfield Technical Community College — her classmates were Russian immigrants eager to become American citizens.
Her fellow classmates urged her to consider enrolling in the nursing program at STCC. With a college degree in musicology, Gavrilov said she never considered working in a medical field, least of all as a nurse.
But she was intrigued by a course on sonography, so she met with a professor to find out what the field entailed. “It opened a whole new world to me,” she said, adding that the diagnostic feature of being an ultrasound technician was “appealing, inspiring and beautiful.” The non-invasive scans — from prenatal care to cardiac and abdominal exams — allow doctors to make recommendations to patients.
In addition to her songwriting and recording, Gavrilov plays keyboard and sings at Church of the Valley in Chicopee. She and her husband have been married for 30 years and have two sons, Oliver, 29 and Tim, 22.
Gavrilov was busy preparing with bandmates — including Juan Montoya, a saxophonist and fellow church member — for their first paid live performance set for Jan. 31 at a café in Millbury.
Montoya, a facilities engineer specializing in acoustics and lighting changes for the City of Springfield, was born in Columbia and immigrated to the U.S. after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, which he attended on a student artist Visa.
Like his fellow immigrant Gavrilov, Montoya’s first love was music and the saxophone. He, too, realized that a career specializing in acoustics was a good way to do both.
Montoya and his daughter Ana appear in Gavrilov’s “Melody of Hope” video and are listed in the video’s credits.
