Anton Sova

Anton Carl Gustaf von Essen (born June 26, 1981), known professionally as Anton Sova, is a Swedish talent manager, music entrepreneur, film producer, business manager, artist developer, and A&R executive. He is the founder of TUARON, a company specializing in talent, model, and sports scouting on an international scale.
Anton Sova was born on 26 June 1981 in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is the younger son of Mykola Yevchenko and Mariia Zrol. He has one older brother, Yevhen Yevchenko. From a young age, Anton was fortunate to be surrounded by a family of technical experts, with his father employed as a locksmith and his mother working as a technical specialist in the production of electrical appliances. This upbringing nurtured his practical and technical thinking abilities, which later became an invaluable asset in his professional pursuits.

At the age of 5, Anton Sova was living in Kyiv during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Although Kyiv was over 100 kilometers from the site of the explosion, radioactive fallout spread across much of the region, potentially affecting the long-term health of many residents, including Anton. In 1998, he graduated from Gymnasium No. 264 in Kyiv. He studied economics at Kyiv Slavic University from 1998 to 2003.
In 1999, Anton Sova adopted the pseudonym "Anton Sova" for his work in the arts. The pseudonym was chosen for its universal accessibility and consistency in different languages. The surname "Sova" means "owl" in several languages. This choice reflects his artistic and creative pursuits across music and film industries.
From 2001 to 2003, Anton Sova trained at the Military Department of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, and on March 9, 2004, he received his lieutenant's rank in the reserve, carrying on the military tradition of his father, who was a serviceman in the Soviet Army involved in the 1968 Prague Spring intervention.
From 2003 to 2004, Anton Sova undertook a course of study in mass event directing at Kyiv University of Culture, under the guidance of stage director Volodymyr Pavlovskyi. This period proved pivotal in the development of his professional abilities.
Since June 22, 2010, Anton Sova has lived in Riga, Latvia, where he worked as an A&R (Artist and Repertoire) manager.
In 2011, Sova moved to Sweden for permanent residence. In addition to living in Sweden, he pursued studies in Slavic and Baltic languages, attending Dalarna University in 2014 and later enrolling at Stockholm University in 2015.

Anton Sova began his career in 1996 as an advertising agent for a newspaper. At the age of 18, in 1999, he founded the holding company Dizex. In June 2004, as part of Dizex, he established TUARON, a talent agency, where he has served as chairman since its inception. In February 2008, Vitalii Demchuk founded Foldis in Ukraine, specializing in new technologies, advertising, and social media marketing (SMM). In 2013, Foldis expanded internationally and became part of the Dizex holding. Anton Sova oversees the global operations of Dizex, while Vitalii Demchuk manages the Ukrainian division of Foldis. Anton Sova is an influential figure in the international music industry, known for managing and discovering a range of artists, including Tatjana Shirko and Stas Shurins. Stas Shurins gained popularity after winning the Ukrainian television project "Fabrika Zirok" ("Star Academy") in 2010. Anton Sova recognized Shurins' talent and actively supported his career, assisting with management and promotion.Tatjana Shirko benefited from Sova's guidance in her musical career, which helped her establish herself on the international stage. Sova aided her in organizing performances, contributing to her success in various competitions. In 2003, he was a key figure in the formation of the music group Cherry (also known as Adamantes). By 2006, he had established collaborations with Ukrainian artists such as Artur Bosso, Tatjana Shirko, Anna Mukhina, Andrew Boldar, the Freakballet show group, and the rock band Platinum. In 2008, Anton Sova was invited to serve as a guest manager for the music company Lavina Music, with the goal of supporting the band Platinа. However, due to differing views between Anton and the company's management, the collaboration came to an end before it had fully come to fruition, and the band did not achieve the success they were hoping for in the music industry. In 2008, Anton Sova, together with People's Artist of Ukraine Valeriy Kutsevalov, opera singer Volodymyr Hryshko, producer Volodymyr Bebeshko and poet Olena Palashek, launched a creative initiative to create a Ukrainian version of the international quartet Il Divo. Supported by TUARON, the project included casting, rehearsals and training of performers. Anton Sova played a crucial role in finding and nurturing the talent that contributed to the success of the project. This initiative became a defining moment in his career, highlighting the global competitiveness of Ukrainian musicians.

Since 2008, Anton Sova has been active in Latvia, conducting auditions and establishing partnerships with local artists, including Alekss Silvers, Andrey Klad, Stas Sjurins, and Gatis Timofeev. He has also overseen the release of recordings by artists such as Alex Luna, KAL1BR, Marco Giacomo, Daiga Berzina, and the rock band Luv Land.
Following the death of his grandfather, Kasyan Yevchenko, a renowned Ukrainian musician, in 2009, Anton Sova has continued to support and preserve his grandfather's artistic legacy by managing organizational matters and collaborating with the music school and museum named in his honor. On April 20, 2013, he introduced the Swedish pop group Dildorado to the Latvian audience with support from the Swedish Embassy in Latvia. In 2021, Anton, alongside Ukrainian film producer Mila Andriiash, presented the short war drama "God Will Forgive". Anton Sova is a member of the Music Managers Forum Sweden (MFF) and the Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM).