Yulia's Blog Posts

xena · Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject: Yulia's Blog Posts

Yula's blog dated Sept 22 07 is in the news section please CLICK HERE to read it.
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Your attitude determines your altitude in life

xcept · Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:48 am Post subject:

ENDOMETRIOSIS NZ - Nov 6 07

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing splendidly well and enjoying life! Here's something that I'd like to share with you.

I was born on the brink of communism and democracy. Sometimes our life's a similar struggle between the divide of successes that come only after much suffering and pain. Just as nations are born in turmoil, the real heroes are not the Diva's and the famous, but are born in the silent suffering of everyday people. It's as individuals, daughters and as sisters and mothers that we face the challenge of Endometriosis together. I am fortunate to have been presented the opportunity to learn and find healing and that's why supporting Endometriosis NZ is so important to me. Suffering can be eased first by learning and then by seeking treatment and young women who are brave enough to l come out and learn are sure to find a path to faster healing.

Please visit www.nzendo.co.nz

Do take care and have a lovely day you lot!

Many blessings,
YULIA

Source: Myspace

xcept · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:24 am Post subject:

"Engagement"

Yulia Townsend & Glyn MacLean

www.yulia.co.nz (while you're at it check out Yulia's new demo "LOVE SIEGE"

OUR STATEMENT (from Glyn with permission from YULIA)

After numerous failed attempts and equally numerous misalignments over the years AND after totally trying to avoid it, I fell in love over Christmas. It can take a lifetime to learn how to "truly" love and perhaps it's only when we find the real things that we should love about ourselves that we are able to love the person who is right for us.

I'm sure we'll write a book about it sometime, but it transpires that after stoically trying to avoid having any feelings for Yulia, it turns out we are each others soul mates, as it were. How does one prove that one has found ones... "soul mate"...? Well, I think it's when you find yourself naturally aligned, naturally sacrificing yourself for the other, when matters of the flesh become irrelevant and when you just know the other person because they are like a version of yourself. It's also when you go through trials and tribulations and in the darkest moment of servitude to their humanity, you find yourself deeply loving them with the virtues listed in 1st Corinthians 13:4 - 8. I found myself being much more patient, kind, without envy, not boasting, not being rude or easily angered, unable to keep records of wrong, rejoicing in the truth, persevering and most of all, forgiving.

Isn't it funny that you can think, "I'm her manager, I must be professional", thinking that integrity lies in keeping it professional and keeping your distance. Only to find that the real integrity lies in finding your true feelings and testing them. You see, at a dinner, Yulia realised I loved her and she actually challenged me, even then I would not reveal I loved her and remained stoic, but it was when she needed words of comfort that I could no longer justify being "distant" if I truly cared. If they (feelings) are real, then the only integrity that exists is in communicating these true feelings, but only after being dutifully tested. I tried ever so much to avoid that feelings based communication only to realize that to not love Yulia would be the greater crime. And so it happens that on 12th Jan we celebrate our engagement in CH CH with Yulia's parents.

In the process of so doing I took this very seriously and sought the approval of all parties involved, meaning the approval of the music publisher, the lawyers, Yulia's parents and so on. It was no easy path I can assure you! It is however a conduct I am very proud of as I have earned her heart and her hand in marriage based on nothing more than who I am as a real every day person and not based on what is in it for each other.

I guess you could draw parallels to Celine Dion and her husband Renee in that there is an age difference. Yulia is 22 and I'm 39. Wisdom knows no such boundaries and Yulia's own life path has been remarkably similar to mine. In fact, we are perfectly aligned in the sense that we share the same sense of vision, mission and values. How important it is to find and be with people with whom we are truly aligned. We have both suffered in some way as children with our fathers and this has shaped our sense of living and giving.

In the months we've been working together we built a strong friendship based on mutual respect. We kept our distance and were both very professional, even respecting each others prior relationships.

We're also both fundamentally Christian's with a love for Jesus and a passion for accepting the viewpoints of other religions. I'm studying the Koran (Quran) right now and aim to also study the Torah this year in order to embrace the commonalities between Christian, Muslim and Judaism. I also hope to similarly explore Bahai, Hindu and Buddhism faiths. Yulia and I are very well studied and we read books all the time, always exploring and hoping to grow in understanding, accepting that humanity has more in common than it has different. I am very, very well studied in terms of Christian faith, having completely worn out no less than four NIV Concordance Bibles, I can quote a great deal from Old and New testament scripture. however that means nothing without love. Love is the most important aspect of anyones humanity. We make no excuse for putting our values first in an age where it is just not cool to have good values, we say to hell with what people think as we make our own way in the world.

Yulia and I are broad minded people and we also study Quantum Physics, String Theory and the "unified theories" along with The Secret, Personal development books along with all the usual books like Celestine Prophecy and so on. We believe that humanity as a whole, is searching to move forward, that there is one God and a common sense of purpose amongst many people. We believe that music can communicate what words can not and that music and creativity can bring people together. Lets see where that takes us.

In bringing our lives closer together, we hope to further inspire people towards self love, the love of others and encourage people to embrace their unique and shared life purposes. Yulia and I will knuckle down and write and arrange around 50 songs over the next three months, some are already well on the way to fruition and will appear in top 40 charts in various places, having already been signed to EMI UK through various artists and so on, so it's an exciting year for us in 2008.

Far from being too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good, we are practical and developing our artistry commercially for international release, often bypassing NZ music industry focussing on UK and international markets.

I'll be uploading photos of Yulia and I on holiday with my sister over Christmas and keep those of you who remain interested, posted.

I remain as genuine as ever in my pursuit of inspiring, encouraging and empowering people (KIWI's) through creativity. However, now we have a much more powerful vehicle with the beautiful and versatile voice and song writing skills of Yulia Townsend and the Piano/Keyboard, Arranging/producing and song writing skills of Glyn MacLean. We've given ourselves permission to be truly creative and explore our perception of the world through our values.

Watch this space.

GLYN www.myspace.com/glynmaclean
YULIA www.yulia.co.nz

Smile

We continue, as always to live a humble existence, be charitable and up front and real and personal and are adamant that we will continue as much as possible to live this way.

Love to you all

Glyn & Yulia

valentina · Joined: Oct 12, 2007 Posts: 27

I read something about this the other day in the Sunday Star times, I think it was. Good for her!!! Very Happy

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xcept · Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:26 am Post subject:

A big thanks to all those who have sent us wishes of support and congratulations.

We're in Christchurch celebrating the engagement with Yulia's parents.

This week is even more exciting as we have a reporter from SUNDAY MAGAZINE "shadowing" us for two days, covering the story about the move from Classical to Pop and some info on some of the career changes.

However, we are keeping the "main story" exclusive and several magazines want the exclusive so we're keeping that aside for either Woman's Day, Women's Weekly or New Idea.

We meet with film, media and tv company personnel this week and release news about Yulia's securing the role as SNOW WHITE in a Cirque de Sole style show run by THE REAL THEATRE COMPANY in association with Webber Brothers.

In addition to that Yulia has been confirmed as the "ambassador" for a major cause that will be promoted nationally early this year and we're probably the most proud to be supporting this charity of all the meetings we're having this week.

It was 32 degrees here in Christchurch today and while Yulia shopped with her mother today I spent several hours with an accountant setting up a chart of accounts in MYOB on my mac computer so that we can ensure compliancy with taxation and so on.

We've also been approached by TV3 Nightline to appear in a "Nick & Jessica" style segment as it seems we're pretty popular on the national radar here in NZ. We're considering a reality TV show format and NZ hasn't had any really interesting celebrity series yet, so we're actually considering taking up the opportunity to allow the public more insight into our daily lives. The reason we'd consider this is that we hope to inspire people to consider being creative about the possibilities for their lives and about stopping to smell the roses along the way. If some people want to make a bit of fun of us, we're up for that. While we take creativity and quality entertainment very, very seriously, we're also able to laugh at ourselves and laugh with those who'd like to take the mickey out of us.

Anyway, that's a snippet from "a day in the life" of Yulia and Glyn at the moment.

More soon!

Love and Regards
Yulia & Glyn

Source: OS Myspace 13th Jan 08

Are you a scorpion or a frog? (we like frogs)

Message to our supporters

I've received an incredible amount of supportive emails and posts by people that I felt guilty not responding to each one individually. There are so many that even a fast typer like me who likes to write can not possibly respond to them so here goes.

Firstly, some people have indicated that they have heard a lot of flack about either me or Yulia or both of us. My feedback is "don't worry about it". When I initially had some fame in the Wairarapa, some local people targetted me quite badly and various people tried to tarnish my reputation out of spite and so on. It was a good lesson.

What I've since learned is that we need to rise above this. I am not able to control the perceptions that other people have about me. I can only control and am responsible for my own actions.

This is a very hard industry, of that there is no doubt. But I view this as very much like the children's tale of the little red hen in which everyone loves the smell of fresh baked bread, but few are prepared to do what it takes to make it. Over the years, just like any committed artist, I've suffered in order to pursue my passion and paid my dues. I am full of gratitude and gladness, not ingratitude and sadness. The struggle makes some people narcissistic and bitter which is quite unfortunate.

I find that many people are unprofessional and make agreements only to break them. I may not always be able to fulfill my word on time, but I will persevere to deliver at some point in time. We also need to know when to cut off and break away from people and situations that do not add value to the contributing parties. So an important lesson is not "how good" people are, it is "how good are they to work with". We find that some people who are extremely talented have poor values or professionalism and are therefore almost impossible to work with.

So to some people we are considered ogres when we say no. To yet others we are considered foolish for expressing our values or daring to live life the way we choose to. Anthony Robbins suggests that the one thing that humanity strives for is certainty. Ironically the bible states quite clearly that without faith it is impossible to please God. So there is this battle of principalities and powers over pre destination (genetic pre disposition) and free will (democratic choice). It is a common condition of humanity to seek certainty at any cost and any messenger suggesting human kind should dare to be different is going to be shot down in flames by those who are so insecure that they need to challenge anything that provokes uncertainty.

Another aspect is self destructiveness. Consider the scorpion and the frog. Success only comes through partnerships. However, the scorpion believes he can change and ride the frog across the river, the frog is weary but always accomodating. It is in the nature of the scorpion to sting the frog and thus, just as they near the river bank, the frog succumbs to the inherent nature of the scorpion, is stung and they both fail to reach the other side. This is show business folks.

As kindred spirits Yulia and I appreciate the value of unity, of doing things together, of working to each others strengths. Not a day goes by without challenges, but we choose to get across to the other side and put off the selfish nature for each other and each day we make it and are able to bask in the sunshine of appreciating each other.

We've both learned that the hard way, through failed or successful relationships of every kind and many, many personal trials.

What can be said to those who scorn us? Hmmm, well, what a waste of energy. If the law of attraction is that if we think negatively then this is what we will attract to ourselves. Actually, Yulia and I are very, very positive and we're attracting a great many very positive people to ourselves who are professional, efficient and effective and very good to get on with. People who are difficult and self destructive are too busy stinging themselves and drowning in the river of their own negative flow.

Yulia is asleep as I write this and it is my pleasure to serve her as I work most days until the wee small hours while communicating with overseas interests and so on. She delights in my efforts and I in hers whereas some people are sceptical we have faith.

If we succeed then are of course "genius" and if we fail then we have been foolish in the eyes of some. I will gladly have people call me foolish, knowing full well that I am on the path to my life purpose. Few people can really say that. I know I am already inspiring people.

As for those who challenge my theories on love I say this, love is also rebuke and corrects. For example, a friend who is close to the cliffs edge and about to fall should grab the friend about to fall off the cliff. As they do this, they are seemingly aggressive and confound the friend who was unaware they could fall. Many people will stand too close to the abyss of losing faith in their dreams. Aside from being the person at the top of the cliff and not the ambulance at the bottom, we can each build a fence for each other that helps us not lose faith in our dreams. We can help each other aspire while also being practical. This proves very difficult and few have the energy. And therein lies another practical consideration, life is also about the balance of energy and the fact that there is not quite enough. Strangely, the more we give the universe, the more we get back. Hence my understanding that love is giving and the more love we give the more we will get back.

I will be frank as always and admit that I am fallible, i never purport to be anything else. So with these hands I write not as a trained writer, but as a learned thinker. With my heart I play the piano with hands that were not taught how. With out ever having the love of a father, I try to become the best one I can, and although for years I did not love myself well enough, now I can enough to share the real me with another and go on to help her love the real beauty of her inner self.

In closing, we do not get to choose how other people think, but we can get to choose how we think and how we respond to others, I choose to accept that it is good to laugh at myself on occasion and I am prepared to do this with the whole nation. I no longer concern myself with what people think of me, I am concerned with crossing the river and taking as many "frogs" with me as I possibly can.

Yulia, our families, my son and I are getting along just swimmingly. What else matters?

So we are well, happy and we always appreciate the beautiful comments and encouragement from the wonderful people from all over the world that share their love of these understandings.

Our love to you
Glyn (and the sleeping Beauty Yulia)

Source: OS Myspace 13 Jan 08

Digital Music Chart www.amplifier.co.nz

Hi Guys

Thanks to everyone for supporting YULIA

PLEASE HELP US MOVE UP THE NZ DIGITAL CHARTS Smile

YULIA's tune:

LOVE SIEGE

Can you please visit

http://www.amplifier.co.nz/track/34803/love_seige.html

Listening to the tune helps the tune move up the charts from number 13 position (where it sits today after plays over the weekend) to number one position Smile

we think we can hit number one on POP by end of day and number one on www.amplifier.co.nz with your support.

You can buy the tune for NZ $1.99 which is .65 pence or US$1

Do make sure to tell all your friends and send to all your myspace and facebook friends!

THANKS EVER SO MUCH!

GLYN's tunes:

RAIN CLOUD & THE SUNSHINE - number one (adult contemporary)
FATHERS VOICE - number 5 (adult contemporary)
I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU - number 13 (adult contemporary)

Not sure if I mentioned but three of my tunes have charted at

http://www.amplifier.co.nz/genre/7445/adultcontemporary.html

Glyn

Source:OS Myspace 13 Jan 08

Exclusive Celebrity Wedding - you could be invited!

INVITATION

Yulia very much appreciates the wonderful people that contributed to her career and would like to extend an invitation for submissions to attend her wedding.

If you consider yourself a friend, special fan or you are a celebrity or someone who has performed with Yulia and you would like to attend this unique celebrity wedding, then Yulia welcomes you to email her management at:

oikosmusic@mac.com

Yulia hopes that many of the artists and personalities she has performed with will attend despite the very short notice. There has been a very enthusiastic response so be sure to email Yulia quickly with only 21 days remaining! Please understand that Yulia is extending this invitation as an act of grace to allow those who would like to be included the opportunity, and not for media attention (she has that already!)

As 2008 is "heating up" for Yulia, she decided to have her wedding in between performances, song writing and recording projects and is eager to marry her special man and formally recognise the relationship with her soul mate and manager.

Yulia has told us she plans to invite;
- Sir Howard Morrison
- Bic Runga
- Dame Malvina Major
- Elizabeth Marvelly
- Nadine
- Dave Smart
- Dave Dobbyn
- Haylee Westenra
- Will Martin
- Michael Barrymore
- Gray Bartlett
- James Reid (The Feelers)

Plus many more!

Given the short time frame she's hot on the phone inviting people directly from all over the world, making sure there are no excuses for non attendance!

Of course there won't be much time for RSVP so it's first in best dressed to one of the most intriguing weddings in NZ's music history.

For Yulia it is all about having an incredible experience at her wedding and sharing it with people she loves and cares about. She is a very caring, sharing and open person and has invited some of the public into her life just as if they were family. Her grandmother was given up to an orphanage and Yulia has come from a very humble existence in Russia. So imagine for a moment that the fairy tale has come true for this Princess Bride. She has found her Shrek, her fairytale romance and wants to share that happiness. Don't judge her, join her in celebrating this most joyful time in her life.

Source: OS Myspace 17 Jan 08

valentina · Joined: Oct 12, 2007 Posts: 27

There was also a lovely article in this week's Woman's Weekly about Yulia and Glyn. Very Happy

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xcept · Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:44 am Post subject:

January messages about 10 Feb wedding

Fans Invited to Wedding

OVER 250 FANS have submitted to attend the wedding and Yulia confirms she will prioritise fan attendance over celebrities.

SECRET SINGER REVEALED: Kiwi singer "Nadine" who has just signed to EMI Worldwide, will debut at Yulia's wedding singing the song "I LOVE YOU" which is her first single and was written by Glyn MacLean.

Nadine is also to be Yulia's bridesmaid and in possibly a NZ first will sing and debut at the reception.

Source:OS

Wedding Singers “NADINE”

Yulia will perform at least one song at the wedding in her stunning hand-made ROZA COLE “Princess” Wedding Dress. Yulia will be deliciously embellished with jewelry courtesy of TVNZ’s “Dancing with the Stars” jeweler “CLARA JEWELRY”

Wedding singer NADINE will perform her debut single “I LOVE YOU” (written by songwriter / composer Glyn MacLean) as Yulia walks down the isle.

Nadine, will sing the song “I LOVE YOU” as a wedding gift to Yulia and Glyn. The bride and groom to be have been commissioned by Nadine’s manager to write the title track to a new album being released later in 2008.

Yulia, who also plans to tour with Nadine overseas in months to come, invited Nadine to attend her as a bridesmaid. Nadine will sing half a dozen songs (plus encores!) at the exclusive reception wearing a hand made dress by Roza Cole and will look resplendent in wedding jewelry hand made for the occasion. Nadine gets to keep the jewelry as a memento of the occasion.

Source: OS

Their gift register CLICK HERE

xcept · Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:20 am Post subject:

xcept · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject:

A Marriage of Talents - 4 March 08

Hi All!

Glyn and I had agreed that when I have downtime from my POPERA CLASSICAL CROSSOVER career we'll be touring and performing together as, you guessed it, "The MacLeaNZ".

My MAIN FOCUS will be the same old YULIA everyone knows and loves, but this gives us a little bit of flavor on the side. Audiences who like blues, country, jazz, rock and pop will enjoy the easy listening and occasionally uptempo sound of...

The MacLeaNZ

www.myspace.com/themacleanz

Have a read on the main profile for all the gossip, suffice to say that it's going to be a lot of fun writing and performing songs together with the view to inspiring audiences.

YULIA

Source: OS

xcept · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:01 am Post subject:

What’s in a name? 4 March 08

What's in a name?

In RUSSIA my name was Yulia Beredenko.

Russian translators changed my name to Julia Beredenko on entry to NZ.

Two years after I came to NZ I was very proud to take the name Yulia Townsend because I dearly loved and wanted to honor my Kiwi dad, Bill Townsend and wanted my real name YULIA back. (No disrespect to anyone with the name JULIA) Smile

Then in Feb 2008 I married my husband to become a MacLean.
(That's pronounced MAC LANE)

It was only after much discussion that we agreed to combine and share the values of the MacLean clan "VIRTUE MINE HONOUR" in our shared name as Mr & Mrs MacLean.

So taking on a new name can have great personal value and meaning.
A name can also communicate togetherness, union and love.

So when people use the new surname they are in fact
honoring and respecting my union with my husband.

When they use the correct name for my career,
they honor my career.

However, despite advising the NZ media directly in a very recent press release, they still get it wrong and will call me what they want. Some people might say, "I don't care what you call me, so long as you call me!" I say, a lady should be addressed by the name and title that honors her and that she wants.

Smile

My public (stage) name is:

YULIA (that's like JULIA but with a Y)

There is nothing at the end of this, it's just "YULIA".

I no longer use the name YULIA TOWNSEND on stage or in any professional way
and from now want media to refer to my professional name as YULIA.

I was very proud to have my father (Bill's) name but now that I am married
I am very happy to have my husbands name. As much as I love my
husband, we both agreed that in my career we'd keep it to "YULIA".
I love my KIWI father very dearly and he, like all fathers,
understands the honor in taking a new name.

I would be very grateful if media (and others) could observe a little bit of etiquette
and use only "YULIA" for any public references.

I mean would you call STING, STING TOWNSEND?
Nope, you'd just call him STING wouldn't you!

Would you call SEAL, SEAL MACLEAN?
Nope, you'd just call him SEAL.

Smile

You'd think that'd be pretty easy for people to remember!

My private (personal) name is:

YULIA MACLEAN

Love to you all
YULIA

Source: OS

xcept · Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:38 pm Post subject:

What is - April 08 - Official myspace blog

UPDATE
It is important for you to know that YULIA makes her own choices. Few people give themselves "permission" to be and do whatever it is that their heart desires. From the outset, YULIA has been courageous enough to make her own decisions.

We all know that YULIA is an extraordinary individual, but we probably were not aware just how extraordinary she actually is. We know that she chose a new husband for her mother, then immigrated to NZ. She overcame not just the RUSSIAN to ENGLISH language barrier but in fact now sings fluently in six languages; MAORI, RUSSIAN, ENGLISH, ITALIAN, GERMAN and FRENCH. (She speaks ENGLISH, RUSSIAN and FRENCH fluently and has studied linguistics papers at university).

YULIA asked to be released from her contract with SONY-BMG NZ and at some point she will have much more to say about that, when she is ready. However, for now, YULIA plans to "come back" artistically, completely as herself.

We are working on a gift package due for release in Nov/Dec 2008 and this includes working to a deadline to have an inspirational book manuscript and to conclude negotiations with publishers by end of May 2008. We're well on the way and due to complete the manuscript on time. The book is not so much a "biography", (although biographical material will feature in the book), but rather it is a book YULIA is writing aimed at inspiring people. Although I know YULIA very well, even I am astounded by some of the insights in the drafts I've already read.

Along with this manuscript, YULIA aims to release her new (third) album and a DVD which includes footage of her singing THE PRAYER at our wedding. Anyone who was there at the wedding will tell you, that no better version of THE PRAYER has been sung by anyone, such was the power of YULIA's very emotional delivery. Footage of NADINE singing my song "I LOVE YOU", which is just being released as a CD single this month, will also be available on New Zealand's C4 music channel tonight at 8:30pm.

YULIA no longer seeks to be just a beautiful singer, she hopes to truly inspire people. We can therefore expect a combination of both an ever improving voice along with song choices that further establish YULIA's reputation as one of the best female vocalists of her generation.

It's important to understand who and what we are dealing with here. YULIA has suffered from TMJ, a condition of the jaw, for some time now. Each day she has managed both exercises that decrease the effects of the condition (pain) while she sings, and also to work to improve her vocal performances. To this effect YULIA has been implementing special exercises and techniques taught by Emily Mair of the NZ School of Music. She is thoroughly self disciplined and has the work ethic of an olympic athlete.

YULIA's performance of her own songs at the THREE DIVA's concert with Sharon Elizabeth and Elizabeth Marvelly was splendid. Her tone is becoming both clearer and warmer, thus ever more beautiful. Notwithstanding that she has in fact improved so much that AUDIO TECHNICA, one of the world's leading MICROPHONE manufacturers is now seeking to have YULIA endorse their microphone's for them. (AUDIO TECHNICA are the brand of Microphone used at the Oscar's in Hollywood.) We are currently testing various wireless models. Audiences will love the difference the highest quality microphone's on the market make to her tone and clarity. We're also exploring endorsement deals with other manufacturers for keyboards and back line equipment.

At the recent THREE DIVA's concert in Tauranga, New Zealand, YULIA sang "THOSE WERE THE DAYS AGAIN", accapella and, would you believe, in RUSSIAN. The audience rose to it's feet, stomping, clapping and joyously laughing while singing in English to YULIA's RUSSIAN. It was one of the proudest moments I've enjoyed recently, bringing cultures together, and celebrating our differences as "enriching-diversity". The audience loved her then as much as I do. YULIA also invited a fan from the audience to sit with her while she let down her hair, throwing hair pins into the crowd and draping her dress around the neck of the fan while singing HABANERA. I loved it! In fact it was my idea. We did the same thing at the very conservative Christchurch Town Hall last year and the concept was a hit with YULIA's very conservative audience. Everyone knows the YULIA is nice, now they know she has got some spice! Something I recognised when I knew that I loved YULIA is that I would in fact need to support YULIA to be shared with the world and not contained to myself. So it is both as her husband and manager that I delight in sharing YULIA's beautiful voice, not for pride or arrogance, but for the inspiration of people, to bring healing and happiness to all.

Some of the management in the NZ music industry are not sure whether YULIA and I are naive, just plain stupid or bone fide geniuses. We'll let the fans decide. My tune "RAIN CLOUD AND THE SUNSHINE" sits at number 12 on the digital chart at www.amplifier.co.nz The truth is that we're focussed on creating great works of art that consistently inspire people, whether that's LIVE, recorded, on TV in film or otherwise. We think that to be a GREAT artist one has to be able to make people feel something, so we need to be able to explore and understand our own feelings in order to communicate them. We don't have day jobs folks, we are committed 100% of each and every day to creating inspirational performances and we delight in your smiles.

YULIA is also on a path to become a communicator of another kind. She is becoming ever more popular as a motivational speaker, appealing to all ages. Recently speaking at a ROTORUA High School, YULIA captured the interest of a group of teenagers, all seeking inspiration for their lives. We had some of them up on the stage with us and in just a handful of minutes I had them singing and performing with us on a song that I composed right there and then. That song has now become a jingle for the top 40 radio station CLASSIC HITS ROTORUA and is now officially used by CLASSIC HITS ROTORUA breakfast team in the promotion of their show.

New Zealand used to be all about innovation and number eight fence wire, but it seems that lately that some have misplaced that spirit. Sir Edmund Hillary did something some might suggest is very brave but also potentially stupid. He climbed Everest because he wanted to "...knock the bugger off...", so why shouldn't we all aspire to climb to heights in our lives where we better love and serve each other? We each has a challenge to overcome and it needn't be as difficult as an Everest. We should however understand that what Sir Ed has shown us is that no matter how seemingly insurmountable the challenge, with the right approach we can overcome it. So as committed "Kiwi's, YULIA and I choose to celebrate each ascent any New Zealander makes. To this effect we recently joined KEA, an organisation that celebrates the achievements of KIWI's abroad. We take great joy and pride when we read about the achievements of others. New Zealand has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world. As a person that has had much to do with the media, I suggest what the public already knows; that many in the media elect to sensationalise and to accentuate the negative. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise the effect that constant bad news must have on some young lives. It's nice however to see when media acts responsibly and adheres to a triple bottom line. When media accentuates the positive it builds community and embellishes daily life.

Inspiration abounds and it is all around us.

As I write this update, YULIA is nestled in bed with a home made SOYA milk vanilla coffee, just add a little honey. She is thinking back to her childhood in RUSSIA, about what it took to overcome all of the myriad challenges and her equally triumphant break through. She is contemplating her great empathy for her fans, her audience and humanity and how she can best communicate "inspiration" to them.

There is so much more that we've been up to but so little more that I should say, suffice to say that when things are quiet with us, they are in fact the noisiest. It is then that we are hard at work and focussed on producing not just works orientated to commercially viability, but rather, works that are orientated to inspiring and moving each and ever one of you. When we have moved YULIA's harshest critics to tears, then we have achieved something.

My warmest regards to you all
Glyn MacLean

YULIA's manager / husband and Soul Mate.

valentina · Joined: Oct 12, 2007 Posts: 27