Masha Kirilenko was born in Riga, Russia and is the daughter of the famous CSKA and Russian National Team basketball player Andrey Lopatova. As a child she was interested in alot of different activities including sports and music and her mother enrolled her in lots of different lessons after school so she could expand her knowledge and find out what she loved. She was very fond of tennis and still plays to this day. Masha loves learning and excelled in her academic studies as well.
After highschool, Masha graduated from college in Russia and moved to London and entered the College of St. Martin. She was exposed to film production while on a beach with friends. There was a film crew that was asking for directions and because Masha could speak English, she helped them find out where they needed to go and eventually ended up helping them on their project. This is what led her to become interested in film and media. While in London she interned and then eventually hosted her own television show which was very popular. Her time at the studio where she worked gave her very indepth knowledge of how film, radio and television shows are made and produced. The extensive knowledge she gained there helped her in her next job as managing the famous boy band group in Russia. She was their Band Manager and handled all of the bookings and appearances, she toured with them and handled their day-to-day affairs.
After leaving London she returned to Moscow where she worked in the banking industry for a few months with her father. This was not what she was happy doing and so she decided after a few months to leave the banking industry and start her own Sports Marketing Firm. One of her first clients was Nike, who had just signed their first Russian Athlete to endorse, Andrei Kirilenko. After meeting Andrei, she knew there was something special about him. It wasn't until a year later that they met up again and started dating. They were married in 2001 and had their first son in 2002 and in 2007 she gave birth to their second son. During this time, she also realized that she still had a passion for music and used her knowledge and connections from her time managing the band to record and distribute her own album, which included a number one hit during the summer of 2001 in Russia.
Andrei was drafted to play in the NBA with the Utah Jazz and they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2001. Andrei is currently in his 8th season with the Utah Jazz. Masha and Andrei started a charitable organization after moving to Salt Lake City to help underpriveleged kids both locally and in Russia. Both of them love children so this is very important to them. The money they have raised has helped supply much needed items such as diapers and baby formula to understaffed and underfunded orphanages in Russia. They have also completely rebuilt portions of the orphanage that were deteriorating and could not provide the children with an adequate and safe environment.
Masha had decided to not return to music after having her children, but quickly changed her mind when she realized that she could devote time to a project that she loves and do it solely for charity. This reason alone is the only thing that got Masha back in the recording studio. She is currently hard at work recording her new album, this time to be released in English, and is donating 100% of the profits to charity. She will have her music available to buy as an entire album or online so everyone can contribute, no matter how large or how small, and know that 100% of their purchase will go directly to charity.
Check back often for updates on Masha Kirilenko's new CD!!