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Maya Nova

vocalist, educator, composer

About Me

”Open, her debut recording, sees Nova wrapping her vocal chords around a selection of mostly standards, extracting the most out of familiar tunes with her surprising vocal range and uninhibited improvisations.

~ Ian Patterson's review of “Open”at allaboutjazz.com

Maya Nova is a soulful jazz vocalist born in Bulgaria, spent a good part of her performing career in Singapore and currently living in NYC.

Bulgaria

After earning her BA Degree from the Popular Music Department of National Music Academy in Bulgaria, she pursued the live music stage with several leading jazz and funk groups. Appearances at Sofia Jazz Fall Festival with her Jazz Quartet and the popular TV program “Todor Kolev's Night Show” with National Music Academy Big Band followed shortly. Nova was also a finalist at two Voice Competitions for young talents: “Golden Orpheus” and “Star Moments”, where she performed with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band. In 1998, Nova moved on to tour Europe: Denmark, Norway, England, Cypress and in 2002 she moved to Singapore.

Singapore

Making the vibrant island her second home for 10 years, she established herself as one of the sought after jazz vocalists, appearing at concerts, festivals, clubs and events not only in Singapore but also in Malaysia, India, China, South Korea and combining it with the position of an adjunct voice teacher at the Contemporary Music Performance Department of LaSalle College of The Arts. In 2009, Nova was a semi-finals of the famed Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition at the 43rd Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. 2010 saw the release of her debut album “OPEN” with a concert at the Late Nite Show series at Esplanade Recital Hall, Singapore. In 2011 she performed with her jazz quartet at Bansko International Jazz Festival (Bulgaria) and Nisville Jazz Festival (Serbia) in collaboration with the renowned US saxophonist Rick Margitza.

NYC

In 2012 Maya Nova moved to New York to pursue a Master Degree at the Jazz Vocal Performance Program at Queens College, where she successfully graduated in May 2014. Since 2013 Nova has lead her quartet which feature: John Di Martino (piano), Peter Slavov (bass), Alexandre Kautz (drums). Some of the jazz venues she has appeared in NYC are: Zinc Bar, The Kitano, Whynot Jazz Room, Zeb’s, Café Vivaldi, Chez Lucianne, Somethin’ Jazz Club, Club Macanudo, Flatiron Room, Tomi Jazz etc. Her second album entitled “Days” and including her original compositions was recorded with her NY quartet in March and is scheduled for release in July 2015 in NYC and Singapore.