Biography
Urban Symphony was an Estonian music group. In autumn 2007, Sandra Nurmsalu participated in the singing talent show 2 takti ette, organized biennially by Eesti Televisioon and broadcast nationwide. During one week of the contest, contestants were tasked with forming their own bands and producing a performance. Nurmsalu, who had studied violin for two years at the Georg Ots Music School and previously arranged Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” for a string ensemble, decided to form a string-based band. She recruited Mann Helstein on viola, Johanna Mängel on cello, a female contrabass player, and a male keyboardist from her former school.
The newly formed band re-arranged the song “Hungry” by Kosheen, resulting in a well-received televised and recorded performance. After the talent show ended, Nurmsalu, Helstein, and Mängel decided to continue their collaboration. They brought in new cello player Mari Möldre and began working with music producer Sven Lõhmus. Their first completed track was “Rändajad”, which they entered into Eesti Laul, Estonia’s selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The song earned them a 6th place finish in the Eurovision final. For this project, Marilin Kongo and Mirjam Mesak joined the group as backing vocalists. They also performed in other songs such as “Päikese poole”, “Skorpion”, and “Crying in the Rain”.
In 2010, Urban Symphony announced their disbandment. The decision came as Sandra Nurmsalu wished to prioritize motherhood, while the other members chose to continue their studies and pursue other interests.
Sandra Nurmsalu participated in Eesti Laul twice more. In 2014 her song “Kui tuuled pööprduvad” reached a 5th place, while “Soovide puu” was 8th in 2019.
