Aura has one of the most brilliant, expressive and improvisational voices of our time. Her interpretations of the masterful writings of the Jazz classics and original material reflect a new freshness in vocal artistry. As a singing phenomenon, her career encompasses every possible direction, from Pop to Folklore and from Classical to Jazz, which includes concerts, television shows promotional jingles and recordings.
Aura Urziceanu (aka Aura Rully, Aura Borealis) was born in 1946 in Bucharest in a family of musicians. She started studying the violin with her father when she was 5 and singing when she was 16 years old. In 1969, after being awarded the second prize at the National Festival in Mamaia, she left for a long tour in Canada and USA, where she appeared on stage together with Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. She met here the canadian jazz drummer Ron Rully and married him.
Back in the old Continent for a short time, she represented Romania at the International Festival of Knokke, Belgium, in 1971. She won the "European Cup" with the Romanian team and, together with the European team, the long wished-for "World Cup", in a strong contest with the USA team. She was also awarded the Press prize for the best interpreter of the Festival and, as unprecedented event in the 13 years of existence of this competition, she received mark 10 from all the members of the jury.
In 1972 she made her first appearance at the famous New York (Newport) Festival, together with Duke Ellington. She has toured in the USSR, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Poland, Bulgaria, Brazil, Portugal, Japan and Australia. She has still toured with Quincy Jones, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Dizzy Gillespie, Ahmad Djamal, Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Hank Jones, Art Hampton, Joe Pass. Aura still performs and is at ease as well with jazz as with classical music and folklore.
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