Origa

Origa
Birth name	Ol'ga Vital'evna Yakovleva
Born	October 12, 1970 (1970-10-12) (age 41) Novosibirsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Origin	Russia
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Gemmatika
Associated acts	Yoko Kanno
Website	Official Site

Origa (given name Ol'ga Vital'evna Yakovleva (Russian: Ольга Витальевна Яковлева), born October 12, 1970 in Kochenёvo, Novosibirsk oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union) is a Russian singer who works mostly in Japan.

After graduating from music school in 1990, she took an opportunity to visit Japan in 1991 and finally contracted with the ROAD&SKY Organization [1] in 1993. Origa has since participated in several projects with various artists in addition to the Radio Japan Series and being part of the chorus for the Kobe earthquake disaster charity single.

As of 2005^[update], Origa has released seven solo albums, two mini-albums, and 3 singles. She gained popularity outside of Japan with the release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the subsequent original soundtracks, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2.

These were written by long-time friend and composer Yoko Kanno, and both the first season's theme song, Inner Universe (featuring boy soprano Ben Del Maestro) and the second season's theme song, Rise used Origa's vocals. Origa first performed with Kanno for ∀ Gundam, singing Gabriela Robin's "Moon" with the Gey's AX chorus.

In 2005, Origa performed songs for the anime series Fantastic Children, most notably the ending theme "Mizu no Madoromi".

In 2006 Origa was involved in lyrics & vocal performance for the opening song ("Player") and the ending theme ("date of rebirth") from the movie Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society.

In 2007, Origa performed with Yoko Kanno for the Ragnarok 2 Concert. There, she performed all three Ghost in the Shell opening themes, "Player" for Solid State Society, "Inner Universe" for the first season, and "Rise" for 2nd Gig respectively, and substituted for Ilaria Graziano on "Yoru_Vo", Pierre Bensusan on "ELM", and Gabriela Robin on "Torukia".

She also performed alongside fellow vocalists Maaya Sakamoto and Mai Yamane and joined in singing selected songs originally performed only by Maaya.

Origa is no longer active in Russia, but she still holds concert tours across the globe.

In 2008, she performed at Sugizo's "Rise to Cosmic Dance" concert held on 2008.12.19 at Shibuya-AX hall in Tokyo. She later appeared on his 2011 single "The Edge".^[1]

Discography

Albums

• The Songwreath (2008)
• Aurora (2005)
• Era of Queens (2003)
• The Best of Origa (1999)
• Eternal (Eien) (1998)
• Lira Vetrov (1996)
• Illusia (1995)
• Origa (1994)
• Olga [Demo] (1991)

Singles

• Electra's Song (Release Year Unknown)
• Hana Gumori (2007)
• Spiral (2006)
• Land of Love (2006)
• Leleyala (2006)
• Mizu no Madoromi (2004)
• Le Vent Vert—Le Temps Bleu (Полюшко Поле) (1998)
• Kaze no Naka no Soritea (1995)

Mini-Albums

• Aria (1996)
• Crystal Winter (1994)

Featured Discography

• Aion : OST Featuring (2008.11) Korea NCsoft MMORPG
• CM Yoko / Yoko Kanno (2007 - vocals for "Exaelitus")
• Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society O.S.T / Yoko Kanno (2006 - vocals & lyrics for "Player", "Date of Rebirth")
• Fantastic Children: Drama & Image album / Kouji Ueno (2005- vocals & lyrics for "Fuyuu Yume" - both Japanese & Russian versions-)
• Fantastic Children: Original TV Soundtrack 1 / Kouji Ueno (2005 - vocals & lyrics for "Pobezhdaet Ljubovj? (TV-Edit)")
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T 2 / Yoko Kanno (2004 - vocals & lyrics for "Rise")
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T / Yoko Kanno (2004 - vocals & lyrics for "Inner Universe" and "Rise (TV-Edit)")
• "GET9" [Single] / Yoko Kanno (2004 - vocals & lyrics for "Rise")
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T / Yoko Kanno (2003 - vocals & lyrics for "Inner Universe")
• Princess Arete: Original Movie Soundtrack / Akira Senju (2001 - vocals & lyrics for "Krasno Solntse (Puroroogu)", "Majo no Yubiwa", "Krasno Solntse (Sutoorii)" & "Krasno Solntse")
• ∀ Gundam: The Concert / Yoko Kanno (2000 - vocals for "Moon")
• Ao no Jidai: Original TV Soundtrack / Various Artists (1998 - vocals & lyrics for "?Le Vent Vert? ~ Le Temps Bleu (Poljushko Pole)")

References

1. ^ http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/04/sugizo-announces-anti-nuclear-power-song-no-more-nukes/

External links

• Origa Official Site
• Origa on Facebook
• Origa discography at MusicBrainz
• Largest Origa international fansite

Persondata
Name	Origa
Alternative names	Yakovleva, Ol'ga Vital'evna (real name); Ольга Витальевна Яковлева (Russian)
Short description	Singer
Date of birth	1970-10-12
Place of birth	Kochenёvo, Novosibirsk oblast, Russia
Date of death
Place of death