Soana was created in the summer of 2004 - the result of an outstanding complicity between two sisters: Ioana Gandrabur, a career classical guitarist, and Simona Gandrabur, the lead singer-composer-writer of the group.

Simona and Ioana are originally from Romania and have lived in different countries before immigrating to Montreal in 1990. They have been marked by a variety of cultures and traditions. They draw their inspiration from this diversity of roots and influences: from Romanian folklore, the French lyrical songs, Argentine tango, jazz and even classical music.

Their songs are stories on their own. Singing in English, French or Romanian (the closest language to which is Italian) together or individually - always accompanied by rich acoustic guitar sonorities - they tell their stories. Sometimes sad, sometimes playful, their songs are always loaded with emotions - because that's how they are themselves.

The musical journey of the Gandrabur sisters began in Bucharest, Romania, where they were born. They both studied piano and guitar; but it was Oana who first blossomed as a serious musician after she fell in love with the classical guitar at the age of 12. Being blind from birth, music has always been of utmost importance in her life.

Oana, based in Cologne, has established a career in Europe as a concert guitarist (known by her given name, Ioana Gandrabur) after studying with renowned masters and winning competitions in Germany, France, Italy, Cuba, Canada, Greece, Belgium and Spain in a growing list of prizes and accomplishments. Oana speaks 6 languages fluently and gets by in a couple more.

Simona obtained a PhD in Computer Science, then embarked on a career as a research scientist. Currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Montreal, she is published and travels widely to universities as a guest lecturer in her areas of specialty: statistical machine translation and automatic speech recognition. Dr. Simona is fluent in 4 languages.

But it's the music that matters.

They have made music together virtually all of their lives; but after recording sessions in the summer of 2004 with their friend and now producer, Keith Elshaw, they felt driven to embark on a passionate journey together: writing and singing their music; for themselves - and to share.

For Simona this became a very intense experience, like releasing a dormant genie: her imagination, her love for music and words that had been neglected for a long time in a busy family and professional life, revive with vigour. Dormant for all these years, as if waiting for her to mature and accumulate a wealth of experiences, her creativity takes flight. In less than a year she has composed and written the lyrics for more than twenty songs. Having always loved languages, she adapted numerous lyrics from Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian to English and French. Moreover, she takes pleasure in adapting her own songs into different languages.

Ioana, the accomplished musician and classical guitarist, discovers an entirely new universe: "Until recently I have walked on well trodden paths of a classical guitarist. Now I feel like boundaries are dissolving and creative aspects that didn't have a place so far in my musical expression now come to life.

I feel we are embarked on a fascinating journey of musical discovery which comes equally with self-discovery. I think there is a freshness that springs out of this new beginning; and this freshness as well as the incredible fun we have in bringing this project to life will impregnate all of our songs."

They are now recording their first album with their producer, Keith Elshaw, and exceptional musicians: Carmen Piculeata (Jeszce Raz, Cirque du Soleil) - violin and musical arrangements, Nicolas Caloia - acoustic bass, Anes Beglerbegovici - drums and percussions, Georgi Stankov - bass guitar and Ionel Cracea - accordeon.

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