Shara Nova
The career of Detroit-based musician Shara Nova encompasses composition, singing, and songwriting, crossing genre boundaries. Often performing her own works, she has appeared with major new music ensembles and with progressive rock musicians.
Nova was born Shara Wright in El Dorado, Arkansas, on April 22, 1974. Her parents were traveling Assembly of God evangelists; her father directed choirs and played the accordion, and her mother was an organist. She also had piano lessons from her uncle, Donald Ryan. The family moved frequently, settling in the Detroit area when Nova was in her teens. Nova studied opera at the University of North Texas and lived for a year in Moscow, Russia. Returning to the U.S., Nova lived in New York and continued to study voice. She later moved to Detroit and has continued to be based there. Nova is often known as Shara Worden, her married name from 1997 to 2016; after her divorce, she adopted the surname Nova, meaning "new" in Latin. She performed with and wrote music for the band Awry, making her recording debut in 2001 on that group's self-titled album. She also made several recordings with the group My Brightest Diamond and sang background vocals on a variety of progressive rock and concert music albums. Her solo debut as a classical artist came in 2010 with Ensemble Signal on the album Sarah Kirkland Snider: Penelope.
Nova's career involved both composition and performance and crossed the line between classical and popular music. Works were written for her by various classical and progressive rock composers, including Snider, David Lang, and Bryce Dessner. She has performed as a guest artist with such varied artists as alternative rocker David Byrne, experimental singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson, and gospel group The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. In turn, Nova wrote music for other performers; she contributed to Bryce and Aaron Dessner's multimedia work The Long Count, which has been widely performed. Nova's classical compositions, including an opera, You, Us, We, All, which was performed in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2013. She has written songs, a good deal of theater music, and a duet for organ and viola, From the Invisible to the Visible (2012), among other works. She has released several albums under her own name, including Hymns for Private Use, featuring the Akropolis Reed Quintet, released in 2022 on the Bright Shiny Things label.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Blue Hour
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 12, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Snider: Penelope
Shara Nova, Signal, Brad Lubman
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by New Amsterdam on Oct 26, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Death Speaks
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Cantaloupe Music on Apr 30, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Village Detective: A Song Cycle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Frode Andersen, Shara Nova, David Lang
Film Soundtracks - Released by Cantaloupe Music on Mar 5, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Letters to Distant Cities (Shara Worden)
My Brightest Diamond, Shara Nova, Clare Muldaur Manchon, Rob Moose, Reason, The
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by New Amsterdam on Mar 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hymns for Private Use
Akropolis Reed Quintet, Shara Nova
Classical - Released by Bright Shiny Things on Oct 28, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Caroline Shaw: The Blue Hour: No. 11, Firmament
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 10, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shara Nova: The Blue Hour: No. 36, We are as paper
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 12, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
You Us We All
Shara Nova, Andrew Ondrejcak, B.O.X.
Opera - Released by Blue Sword on Nov 6, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hymns for Private Use: I. Virga Rosa Virginum
Akropolis Reed Quintet, Shara Nova
Classical - Released by Bright Shiny Things on Sep 16, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sarah Kirkland Snider: The Blue Hour: No. 9, Early summer's green plums
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 9, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Angélica Negrón: The Blue Hour: No. 3, A black map
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 8, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Rachel Grimes: The Blue Hour: No. 26, Poppy seed
Classical - Released by New Amsterdam - Nonesuch on Aug 11, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
TRY / Tratar de Transformar
Shara Nova, Gaby Moreno, Cantus Domus
Experimental - Released by 37d03d on Oct 21, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hymns for Private Use: III. Sleep
Akropolis Reed Quintet, Shara Nova
Classical - Released by Bright Shiny Things on Oct 7, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo