Viktoriia Mykolaivna Leleka (née Korniikova; previously also performed under the surname Anton; born November 10, 1990, Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian singer, composer, songwriter and arranger. She is the founder and vocalist of the folk-jazz project LELÉKA and the creator of the avant-pop project DONBA₴GRL. Her music combines Ukrainian folklore, contemporary jazz, improvisation, electronic sound and original composition.
Full name: Viktoriia Mykolaivna Leleka
Birth name: Viktoriia Mykolaivna Korniikova
Date of birth: November 10, 1990
Place of birth: Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR; now Shakhtarske, Ukraine
Stage projects: LELÉKA, DONBA₴GRL
Occupation: singer, composer, songwriter, arranger
Instruments: vocals, piano, guitar
Main genres: jazz, folk jazz, folk, art pop, electronic music
Years active: since the 2010s
Childhood and first steps in the arts
Viktoriia was born on November 10, 1990, in Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a mining town that was renamed Shakhtarske in 2024. She grew up in a family closely connected with the town’s cultural life. Her father led a dance ensemble for many years and worked at the Shakhtar Palace of Culture, while her mother was involved in theatre and stage lighting. Music, dance and dramatic art therefore surrounded Viktoriia from an early age.
Her first professional choice was acting rather than music. In 2008, she entered the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, where she studied acting in the class of Stanislav Moiseiev. She completed her studies in 2013.
While still a student, Leleka took part in theatre productions and worked at the Kyiv Academic Young Theatre. In 2011, she won the Grand Prix of the Lesia Ukrainka All-Ukrainian Recitation Competition. Her theatrical background later had a noticeable influence on her musical style: in songs and live performances, she places particular emphasis on dramaturgy, intonation and the treatment of text.
Move to Germany and musical education
After several years in the theatre world, Viktoriia decided to pursue music professionally. In the mid-2010s, she moved to Germany and enrolled at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden.
There, Leleka studied jazz vocals, including under singer and educator Céline Rudolph. In 2020, she completed her degree in jazz vocals and then continued her education in composition. In 2022, she graduated with a master’s degree in composition from the same Dresden music university.
Her next field of study was film music. Leleka enrolled at the Konrad Wolf Film University in Babelsberg, where she studied film composition. Her professional training therefore came to encompass several disciplines at once: acting, jazz vocals, composition and music for the screen.
Formation of LELÉKA
In 2016, Viktoriia founded the project LELÉKA in Berlin. The Ukrainian word «лелека» means «stork», an image associated with home, return and movement between countries. Viktoriia later began using Leleka as her professional name as well.
The original line-up featured Viktoriia, pianist Robert Wienröder, double bassist Thomas Kolarczyk and drummer Jakob Hegner. Swedish musician Povel Widestrand later took over the piano role. This quartet shaped the recognizable sound of LELÉKA.
The project is built around Ukrainian folk songs, but the group does not attempt to reproduce them in an ethnographically exact form. Instead, the melodic material becomes the basis for new harmonies, jazz improvisation, chamber arrangements and flexible rhythmic structures. Traditional songs therefore exist within a contemporary compositional framework rather than as stylized folklore.
LELÉKA quickly gained recognition on the German and wider European jazz scene. The group won the Creole Berlin competition and in 2018 received the European Young Artists’ Jazz Award at the International Jazz Week in Burghausen. In 2022, LELÉKA was nominated for the German Jazz Prize in the Group of the Year category.
First recordings: LELÉKA EP and Tuman
In November 2017, the group released its debut mini-album Leléka EP. It featured reinterpretations of Ukrainian folk songs including «Ой там на товчку», «Ішло дівча лучками», «Пливе кача» and other works.
The next release was the mini-album Tuman, issued in 2019. These early recordings already established the group’s approach: Viktoriia’s voice often remains the main carrier of the folk melody, while the instrumental accompaniment is built according to the principles of contemporary chamber jazz.
At the same time, the singer avoids an overtly academic treatment of folklore. Ukrainian melodies may appear almost unaccompanied, move into free improvisation or expand into extended ensemble passages.
Sonce u Serci
LELÉKA’s first full-length album, Sonce u Serci, was released on October 9, 2021. The recording featured Viktoriia Leleka, Povel Widestrand, Thomas Kolarczyk and Jakob Hegner.
The album includes «Karchata», «Sirka Polynj», «Marusyn Tatko», «Polonyna», «Dolyna Shyroka», «Ruzha», «Suchiyj Dub», «Dobra Dolja» and the title track. Most of the material is rooted in Ukrainian song traditions, but its musical form was substantially reworked by the ensemble itself.
Sonce u Serci established the group as an independent jazz project rather than merely a folklore ensemble. It was after this release that LELÉKA received a German Jazz Prize nomination for Group of the Year.
Music for the series «І будуть люди»
At the same time, Viktoriia was working as a composer for film and television. In 2020, LELÉKA recorded music for the Ukrainian historical television series «І будуть люди».
The project included the compositions «Zozulja» and «Zapizno». «Zozulja» is based on Ukrainian folklore material and built around the image of the cuckoo, one of the recurring symbols of traditional song culture.
The series became an important link between Leleka’s theatrical background, her training as a composer and the musical language of LELÉKA. She later continued developing her work in screen music while studying in Babelsberg.
Rizdvo
In November 2023, LELÉKA released its second full-length album, Rizdvo. The record is dedicated to the Ukrainian Christmas music tradition.
Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist Maksym Berezhniuk, a specialist in traditional wind instruments, took part in the recording. Instead of simply reproducing traditional Christmas carols, the musicians once again used them as source material for contemporary jazz composition.
Rizdvo continued the direction established by Sonce u Serci, while sounding more intimate and being more closely tied to a specific layer of seasonal folklore.
DONBA₴GRL
In 2024, Viktoriia opened another direction in her work with the avant-pop project DONBA₴GRL. In contrast with the acoustic, jazz-oriented sound of LELÉKA, the new project brought electronic music, heavy low-frequency sound, processed vocals and more confrontational dramatic structures to the foreground.
The project’s name refers to the singer’s origins in the mining region of eastern Ukraine. Her creative partner on the music became Berlin-based producer Jakohitsdifferent.
The first DONBA₴GRL release was «zbroya», written to a text by Lesia Ukrainka. It is based on the poem «Re» from the cycle Seven Strings. The song deals with an inner struggle against depression and the search for strength to continue living. The Donetsk folklore ensemble «Dyvyna» also took part in the recording.
In 2025, DONBA₴GRL joined the programme of the European showcase festival Eurosonic Noorderslag in the Netherlands. That summer, the project also performed at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival, appearing in the official programme of the Green Futures area.
DONBA₴GRL did not replace LELÉKA. The two projects exist in parallel and allow Viktoriia to work with very different material: Ukrainian folklore and jazz remain at the core of LELÉKA, while DONBA₴GRL focuses on original electronic music and more personal lyrics.
Kolysanky
On January 22, 2025, LELÉKA released its third full-length album, Kolysanky. As the title suggests, the record is devoted entirely to Ukrainian lullabies.
This time, the traditional material was connected not only with musical research but also with the experience of war. The album is dedicated to Ukrainian children whose lives were destroyed by the Russian invasion: those who were killed, wounded, lost their parents or were taken out of Ukraine.
The music remains highly intimate: voice, piano, double bass and drums do not overwhelm the original melodies with complex arrangements. Instead, the musicians leave a great deal of space around the vocals. This is precisely why Kolysanky differs noticeably from the group’s more dynamic earlier recordings.
Eurovision 2026
On February 7, 2026, LELÉKA won Ukraine’s National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song «Ridnym». The track received the maximum score from both the professional jury and the public, earning 10 points from each side.
«Ridnym» was written by Viktoriia Leleka together with Adama Cefalu and Jakob Hegner. The song combines English and Ukrainian. Its central imagery revolves around roots, family, change and the ability to preserve a connection with home even after a long absence.
In May 2026, Viktoriia represented Ukraine at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. In the second semi-final, LELÉKA finished in 6th place and qualified for the final.
In the final on May 16, Ukraine received 221 points: 54 from the national juries and 167 from the public. With this result, LELÉKA finished in 9th place.
For the artist, Eurovision marked a move from a primarily jazz and festival environment to a much broader international audience. At the same time, «Ridnym» retained elements characteristic of LELÉKA: folk intonation, an intimate vocal style and a focus on the idea of belonging to one’s home.
2026 releases
The project remained active after Eurovision. In 2026, the discography expanded with «Anima Mundi», «Zori» and other new recordings, as well as material connected with «Ridnym».
In May 2026, LELÉKA released the retrospective collection 10 Years of Music, marking the project’s tenth anniversary. It served as an interim summary of the period stretching from the group’s first Berlin performances to European festivals and Eurovision.
LELÉKA discography
EPs:
- Leléka EP — 2017
- Tuman — 2019
Studio albums:
- Sonce u Serci — 2021
- Rizdvo — 2023
- Kolysanky — 2025
Other notable releases:
- «І будуть люди» — 2020
- «Нічия» — 2021
- «Znaty» — 2025
- «Ridnym» — 2026
- 10 Years of Music — 2026
The project’s official discography consistently documents two early EPs, three main full-length studio albums, and later singles and retrospective releases.
Musical style
The defining feature of LELÉKA is its treatment of folklore not as museum material, but as a living musical system. A Ukrainian song may preserve its original melody while completely changing its harmonic environment, rhythm and overall form.
Jazz is expressed above all through the freedom of ensemble interaction. Povel Widestrand’s piano, Thomas Kolarczyk’s double bass and Jakob Hegner’s drums do not merely accompany the voice; they constantly interact with the vocal line. The arrangements allow for long pauses, shifts in metre, improvisational passages and abrupt transitions from an almost traditional folk manner to contemporary jazz harmony.
Viktoriia Leleka’s vocals also combine several different schools. Theatrical diction exists alongside jazz technique, while Ukrainian folk intonations are often retained without attempting to adapt them to conventional pop singing.
In DONBA₴GRL, this system changes: the acoustic ensemble gives way to electronic textures, dense bass and sound design. The connection with Ukrainian tradition nevertheless remains, through language, lyrics, the participation of folk performers and characteristic melodic intonations.
Place in contemporary Ukrainian music
Viktoriia Leleka’s creative biography has developed across several fields at once. She began as a professional actress, later received academic training in jazz vocals and composition, worked on music for film, founded an international jazz quartet and created a separate electronic project.
LELÉKA remains the longest-running part of her career. Over ten years, the group has progressed from small Berlin venues and jazz competitions to major European festivals, a German Jazz Prize nomination and representing Ukraine at Eurovision.
Throughout that journey, Ukrainian song tradition has remained at the core of the music. The forms change — from chamber jazz to electronics and competition-oriented pop — but folk melody, the Ukrainian language and the theme of connection with home continue to define Viktoriia Leleka’s artistic language.
