#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. An employee of one of the Nornickel divisions moved to the North from the Bryansk region more than 20 years ago. Over the years of his life in Norilsk, Mikhail wrote more than 100 songs, most of which are dedicated to Norilsk and northern nature.
And the passion for music began from childhood. First, our hero independently mastered musical notation and began to play the guitar. Then Mikhail started writing poems.
“I have no musical education. I am self-taught, but as it turned out, I have musical genes. My mother used to write poetry too, and my father played the saxophone”, Mikhail shared.
In the first days of his stay in Norilsk, the young man could not imagine that he would soon fall in love with winter landscapes, the northern lights, and industrial architecture so much that he would start writing songs about his life here.
“I flew to the city in the fall. As every visitor, at first I did not like the city. First impressions: everything is rusty, gray. And over the years, when I lived here, I got acquainted with the northern culture, our wonderful, unique nature, I fell in love with life in the Arctic”, Mikhail said.
Before the pandemic, Mikhail Podolyak gave five solo concerts a year. Norilsk citizens came with pleasure to listen to their beloved chansonnier who sang about life in the North. The author-performer also organized charity concerts for the poor, large families and repressed citizens.
At the Stars Corporation Nornickel competition Mikhail Podolyak annually performs with something interesting. For example, in 2020, in a difficult covid year, the musician prepared a video clip for his song Happy New Year!
Mikhail Podolyak dedicates his works to the theme of defending the Fatherland. In his repertoire there is a song called It Was Not In Vain, addressed to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. One more military song is Forward Again. It is dedicated to the Norilsk people who died in Afghanistan.
In addition to music, our hero is fond of photography. This winter, he witnessed a beautiful natural phenomenon – light pillars, and also captured an unusual lunar halo. It is quite possible, says Mikhail Podolyak, that in the next Stars Corporation contest he will not only perform his songs, but also show mesmerizing shots.
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Text: Ekaterina Elkanova, Photo: personal archive of Mikhail Podolyak
