Play Action International speaks to Sofia Shkidchenko, a 16-year old girl who, despite fleeing the war in Ukraine, won’t stop singing and pursing her dreams
Sofia, from Kyiv started singing from a young age. She has spent over 10 years mastering her vocal skills in different genres. From pop to jazz, rock and even yodelling, not only do her vocal skills transcend genres, Sofia sings in no less than 6 languages!
Sofia has already accomplished a lot through her singing, from appearing on Ukraine’s Got Talent in 2017 to The Voice Kids in the same year, Junior Eurovision three times and she was meant to take part in America’s Got Talent in 2020, but COVID-19 prevented her from doing so.
Sadly, America’s Got Talent isn’t the only achievement that Sofia has missed out on. Sofia had plans to go to America to study and has received a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music’s Summer Programme and an offer to attend the Los Angeles School of Music. Sofia’s dreams of attending this exciting opportunity were shattered when the war in Ukraine broke out several months ago and Sofia and her Mother had to flee to escape the violence.
Since her family’s income opportunities were lost when they fled Ukraine at the start of the conflict, Sofia is now fundraising to support her living costs so that she can undertake her scholarship as planned. You can support her fundraising efforts here.
Play Action is delighted to welcome Sofia as our new Ambassador for our work on Giving Refugees A Voice – more to come on this soon!
