The Los Angeles homeless opera singer who gained fame overnight for her singing in a subway station has landed a performance job, and a GoFundMe page for her has raised nearly $30,000 in just 24 hours.
Emily Zamourka, 52, has received an outpouring of support and recognition after an LAPD officer took video of her singing and her hard story of emigrating from Russia to LA, busking with her violin, and ending up in the streets was revealed.
But things are looking up for the musician thanks to the viral video and she has been invited to perform at the grand opening of Little Italy in San Pedro this weekend.
Council member Joe Buscaino’s office is paying for her time, transportation, and hotel room for the gig. His office is also working to find Zamourka long-term housing.
Emily Zamourka, 52, became a viral sensation after a police officer captured her singing at a Los Angeles subway station in Koreatown. She has been invited to perform at the grand opening of Little Italy in San Pedro this weekend
A GoFundMe page was set up for her on Monday and has nearly raised $30,000 to help her find housing and purchase a new violin
Zamourka gushed that the outpour of recognition and support has been a ‘miracle’
A GoFundMe page was also set up for her on Monday to help her pay for her bills and find a home.
The page, created by local man Michael Trujillo who saw her story on the news, has already raised over $29,000 in just 24 hours.
‘My name is Michael Trujillo who was watching the news and saw the segment and felt inspired to help. I have been in contact with ABC news so that every dollar will be used to help Emily get housing and back on her feet. The plan is to use the money to work with the United Way and LA Homeless Services Authority to ensure she gets any other services she may need in her transition,’ the fundraising page says.
Trujillo said it’s the first time he’s set up such a fundraising page but he ensured ‘every dollar is used appropriately.’
Zamourka says she’s overwhelmed by the overnight fame and outpour of support, calling the sudden turn of events ‘a miracle’.
She says was forced onto the streets two years ago when her $10,000 violin that she played on the streets for money was destroyed by a vandal. This image shows the moment after her violin was destroyed and Zamourka cries over her prized instrument
The talented musician, who moved to the US from Russia 24 years ago, ended up on the streets after she suffered serious health problems and had to pay for her medical bills
Ms Zamourka, who taught lessons in piano and violin, was forced to take up numerous jobs while busking on the streets just to make ends meet
Zamourka moved from Russia to the US 24 years ago and ended up on the streets when she suffered serious health problems and had to pay for her medical bills.
The artist, who taught lessons in piano and violin, was forced to take up numerous jobs while busking to make ends meet.
Zamourka’s revealed that her life derailed two years ago when a vandal destroyed her violin, and with it her means of making money.
‘It was my treasure, and it was my income, too. It was everything,’ Zamourka said to ABC, adding the violin was worth $10,000.
She was performing on the street when a man grabbed the violin and ran off with it. Bystanders who were watching Zamourka play the instrument outside Clifton’s restaurant in downtown LA said they ran after the culprit. But he then threw the violin on the ground, destroying her prized instrument.
‘All of a sudden I just hear her scream and I look up, and that’s when I pick up my phone and a guy that had been watching her, he just grabbed her violin and ran down the street and these two young men ran after him,’ Whitney Smith, a friend and fan of Zamourka, said.
‘And I was standing there with her, saying “Don’t worry about it, they’re going to get him.” Well, they did catch up to him, but the guy threw the violin down violently, which broke it,’ she added.
The down and out musician – who is not classically trained in singing – has been homeless ever since but sings in the subway because ‘it sounds so great’
‘That’s when I became homeless. When I could not actually pay any of my bills and could not pay anymore of my rent,’ Zamourka said to NBC.
After the incident she played with an electric violin for some time, but then fractured her wrist when someone pushed her on the bus, and she hasn’t touched the instrument since.
‘This was a very horrible, bad thing to do and that’s the cause of me being where I’m at now,’ Zamourka said.
The down and out musician was then evicted from her house and has been homeless ever since.
She now sleeps rough, using cardboard as a mattress in a parking lot.
But the singer has dreams of taking her talents to the stage.
Without an instrument, Ms Zamourka began performing for commuters in the subway because ‘it sounds so great’.
‘I am sleeping actually on the cardboard right now, in the parking lot,’ she said. ‘I am sleeping where I can sleep… I have people that feel sorry for me, but I don’t want to be a burden to anybody.’
She says that she’s been offered several free violins but declined those offers saying she wants to play a violin as special as the one that was destroyed.
Some friends said Ms Zamourka was classically trained in Russia but others have since called that into doubt.
She was captured by an LAPD officer at on the Purple Line’s Normandie/Wilshire Metro stop in Koreatown who posted her song on Twitter.
And since the clip was uploaded, many people on social media have claimed to have seen Ms Zamourka’s stunning performance.
‘I’ve seen her for years on the Metro,’ one Twitter user wrote. ‘I heard her once singing Ave Maria and thought it was a radio at first. Everyone has a story…this woman does too. I don’t know why she’s been homeless all these years, but she’s a human being… that’s all that matters.’
Another user said: ‘Me and my wife know her. Her name is Emily and she plays the violin as well as she sings.’