Roman Yakobov: The Laboratory Singer

Born in a war-torn Tajikistan in 1991, I immigrated to Israel at the age of 4 where I spent 12 years of my life.  Since my early childhood, I was raised in a family where music was integrated in daily life.  I would often see my father play the piano or his accordion while my mother sang along.  However, in Soviet families, playing an instrument would rarely come as a career.  Both of my parents have an engineering degree and, like many others, wished their kids to become doctors.

Around the age of 9, I started playing on the accordion on my own and singing the songs I knew while strolling in the backyard.  I was strongly attracted to art of different forms such as painting and drawing but something much stronger brought my attention to singing.  Unfortunately, soon after I started, a family member approached me and said that I didn’t have a “musical ear” and should rather focus on school.  After a few such comments, that passion to pursue music started diminishing within me.

 When I arrived to the USA in 2007, a music teacher at my new high school heard my voice and asked if I sing.  Soon after auditioning, I joined the high school choir.  A year later, I started my education at a Jewish university where I took cantorial classes that have added a new twist to my perception of music.  Premedical education at the university felt superfluously hard and lacking the need of my analytical thinking.  For this reason, I changed my major to chemical engineering, which I pursued at a new university.  Having a hard time concentrating on one particular thing, I started taking vocal lessons with Maestra Bayburina concurrently.  I have been performing throughout my undergrad career and am picking up the pace these days while pursuing my graduate education.

As of today, my repertoire ranges from pop to folk to opera while arias are dominating.  Being exposed to several cultures throughout my life, I sing in several languages including Russian, Hebrew, English, Italian and Spanish.  The song I have decided to share for my Encounter was recorded at my workplace cubicle in the laboratory where I currently work.

Being well aware that music as a career can be very daunting, I dream of the day I can dedicate my full time to singing.  However, in the meanwhile, I enjoy music as a compliment to my engineering career.