Sylvia Tosun

From the fearless abandon of the world-class dance floor to the strict discipline required to study voice at Juilliard, Sylvia Tosun is an enigma of the millennial pop pantheon. The singer/songwriter has scored success as a hitmaker, record label proprietor, live performer and interpreter of more than a half-dozen languages—as well as fashionista and dedicated volunteer of global causes. Foremost, she has dominated club music charts in North America and Europe, including 2008’s “Underlying Feeling” and “5 Reasons,” featuring Loverush UK, in 2009. At 15, Tosun began her journey as one of the youngest sopranos ever accepted at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York, performing with the New York Grand Opera Co., and platinum ensemble the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; while volunteering and touring with the United Service Organization. Here, she developed acumen for world music, singing national anthems for USO dignitaries. This led to 2002’s 10-track “Anthem: Vol. 1,” which featured native songs from the likes of Israel, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and the U.K. The project drew attention from producers of the 2005 Great Wall Concert, who invited Tosun to perform in Beijing, China, alongside Alicia Keys and Cyndi Lauper. Tosun’s full-length album “Jump In” followed later that year, produced by Miklos Malek and mixed by Grammy Award winner Tom Lord-Alge. Tracks from the set were featured in Showtime’s “The L Word,” ABC’s “Beautiful People” and the WB’s “Dawson’s Creek”—as comparisons began percolating to such luminaries as Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel and Sting, referring to Tosun as a “renaissance woman.” Next came live stage extravaganza “The Venus Concert,” based on the Roman and Grecian mythology of the goddess of love. Shot in HD/5.1 surround-sound, the production aired in April 2007 on MTV’s MHD Channel, marking the network’s first alliance with an independent artist. By 2008, already having scored a handful of club hits, “Underlying Feeling” catapulted to No. 6 on Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and No. 13 on Hot Dance Airplay; No. 1 on the DMC World Charts; and No. 2 on the U.K.’s Music Week Club Chart, stemming an ongoing studio partnership with producer/writer/DJ and Speakerbox member Anton Bass. Photographer Mike Ruiz lensed a music video that showcases couture hand-crafted by The Blonds (Madonna, Beyonce, Katy Perry). 2009’s “5 Reasons” with Loverush UK (comprising producers Kinky Roland and Mark Loverush), offering an ancient lyrical incantation from Tosun, again has reached the summit on the DMC World, Music Week and Billboard charts. Indie label Sea To Sun Recordings, which was founded by Tosun, also serves as a launching pad for other song-based electronica acts, including Speakerbox, Loverush UK, Hybrid Heights, DJ Sted-E, Freedom Williams, and Molly Bancroft. Over the past decade, her evolution across multiple genres has returned kudos 10-fold, including a Songwriters Hall of Fame/BMI Excellence in Songwriting Award, Talent in Motion Magazine’s Best Singer/Solo Artist, USA Songwriting Contest awards in five categories and two-time recipient of the USO’s Ambassador to Goodwill Award. Coming up later this year, Tosun will make her major motion picture debut as a musical performer in “My Father’s Will,” starring Victor Alfieri and Ione Skye