Shara Nova (previously Worden) is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers

Sarah Kirkland Snider Sarah Kirkland Snider (born October 8, 1973) is an American composer. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral, song cycle, choral, and ballet works. Biography Snider was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. Despite a no ...

, David Lang, Steve Mackey and Bryce Dessner have composed pieces for Nova's voice. She has recorded as a guest vocalist with

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

, The Decemberists,

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stateless as well as extensive collaborations with visual artists

Matthew Ritchie Matthew Ritchie (born 1964) is a British artist who currently lives and works in New York City. He attended the Camberwell School of Art from 1983 to 1986. He describes himself as "classically trained" but also points to a minimalist influence. ...

and

Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...

. She was formerly the frontwoman of AwRY. On March 3, 2016, Shara legally changed her last name from Worden to Nova after divorcing her ex-husband, to whom she had been married most of her adult life.

Life

Nova was born in

El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado, founded by Matthew Rainey, is a city in, and the county seat of, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 18,884. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...

. Her father was an accordion player and choir director and her mother was an organist for their

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

church. Nova's uncle Donald Ryan, a classical and jazz pianist and arranger, taught her piano lessons as a child. Nova's family moved to many different states when she was a child, including significant time in

Sapulpa, Oklahoma Sapulpa is a city in Creek County, Oklahoma, Creek and Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 cens ...

, and Ypsilanti, Michigan. Nova graduated from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...

with a BA in vocal performance. After college, she lived in Moscow, Russia, for a year where she studied Russian and wrote songs, producing a self-released, limited edition EP, ''Session I''. She moved to New York City, where she continued to study

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

with Josephine Mongiardo. In 2009 Nova moved to Detroit, Michigan. She married in 1997 and divorced in 2016, legally changing her name from Worden (her ex-husband's surname) to Nova. With her ex-husband she has one child, Constantine Jamesson Worden, born in 2010.

Career

In 2001, Nova self-released two albums in collaboration with guitarist Shane Yarbrough under the moniker Awry, ''The Orange Album'' and ''Quiet B Sides''. A short tour followed the release of the albums, after which the band dissolved. In 2002 and 2003, Nova wrote music for

Adam Rapp Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play '' Red Light Winter'' was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006. Early life Rapp was born in Chicago to Mary Lee (née Baird; di ...

's play ''Trueblinka'' (directed by Simon Hammerstein) and subsequently for Hammerstein's production of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

's ''Men Without Shadows'' (''Morts sans sépulture''). She began studying composition with Padma Newsome during this time. Then in 2004 she began touring in Sufjan Stevens' band to support his album "Michigan". In 2006, she released the album "Bring Me The Workhorse" o
Asthmatic Kitty Records
under the moniker My Brightest Diamond and was nominated for Female Artist of the Year in the PLUG Independent Music Awards. The My Brightest Diamond albums "A Thousand Shark's Teeth" (2008), "All Things Will Unwind" (2011), and "This Is My Hand" (2014) were also released on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Nova became a Kresge performing arts fellow in 2012.

Collaborations

She made a guest appearance on the Jedi Mind Tricks album '' Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell'' in 2006 and on the Vinnie Paz album ''Season of the Assassin'' in 2010. In 2008 Nova sang as a background vocalist for

during five performances at The Rose Theater for the show ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

''. She performed guest vocals on "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" and "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" from the 2009 album by The Decemberists, '' The Hazards of Love'', singing vocals for the part of "The Queen". She also performed with The Decemberists on their "A Short Fazed Hovel Tour" along with

Becky Stark Becky Stark is an American artist, singer, songwriter and entertainer from Los Angeles, California. She is the voice of the band Lavender Diamond. Music Stark participated in the new folk movement and the LA underground punk/noise scene. She ha ...

from Lavender Diamond. She performed vocals on Sufjan Stevens' album ''

The Age of Adz ''The Age of Adz'' ( ) is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, released on October 12, 2010 by Asthmatic Kitty. It was Stevens' first song-based full-length album in five years, since the release of ''Illinois'' in ...

'', notably taking the lead during a section of "Impossible Soul". Nova performed in and wrote the song "Nine" for Bryce and Aaron Dessner's multi-media performance ''The Long Count'' with texts and images by

. ''The Long Count'' was performed at the

Krannert Center The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is an educational and performing arts complex located at 500 South Goodwin Avenue in Urbana, Illinois and on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Herman C. Krannert, an industrial ...

(2009), BAM (2009), the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archit ...

(2012) and the Barbican Centre (2012). In January 2012 Nova performed the premiere of the song cycle ''Death Speaks'' by David Lang with pianist

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

, violinist Owen Pallett and guitarist Bryce Dessner. In 2015, Nova provided vocals for Sarah Kirkland Snider's

Unremembered ''Unremembered'' is an album composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider which "sets poetry by New-York-based poet/writer Nathaniel Bellows, recalling strange and beautiful happenings experienced during a childhood in rural Massachusetts." It features ...

, and debuted her opera (co-written with Andrew Ondrejcak), ''You Us We All,'' in the United States.

Compositions

* ''Letters from Charles'': fo
yMusic
Performed at the 92nd Street Y in Tribeca. Performed March 2010. * ''A Paper, A Pen, A Note to a Friend'': for yMusic. Released on ''Beautiful Mechanical'' ( New Amsterdam Records 2011). * ''A Whistle, A Tune, A Macaroon'': for yMusic. Released on ''Beautiful Mechanical'' (New Amsterdam Records 2011). * ''Skin and Bones'': for yMusic * ''From the Invisible to the Visible'': for organist James McVinnie and violist Nadia Sirota commissioned by MusicNOW festival in March 2012. Released on the album ''Baroque'' (Bedroom Community 2013) * ''The Pyramid Songs'' : 3 songs fo
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
first performed by the choir at Crossing Borders Festival at BAM in New York, May 2012. * ''Kings of Macedonia'': music for brass quartet, drums and choir fo
Andrew Ondrejcak
s play ''Kings of Macedonia''. She also performed in the play as the character The Whore in May 2012 at The Kitchen. * ''Phase 1 & III'': music for marching band. Performed by The Detroit Party Marching Band (2013) for the opening ceremonies of Art X. Funded by The Kresge Foundation. * ''The Pleiades'': 5 songs for the Young New Yorkers' Chorus. Commissioned 2013. * ''YOU, US, WE, ALL'': Nova composed the music for a baroque opera designed and directed by Andrew Ondrejcak; performed in Antwerp, Belgium, May 2013.

Discography

Solo albums

Collaborations and guest appearances

Credited as Shara Worden

=Significant album contributions

=Individual songs

With AwRY

With My Brightest Diamond

Collaborations and compilation contributions

References

External links

Thelmagazine.comAsthmatickitty.comPacificlectic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nova, Shara American women composers 21st-century American composers American women pianists Living people University of North Texas College of Music alumni 1974 births People from Ypsilanti, Michigan Singers from Michigan 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Michigan 20th-century American women singers My Brightest Diamond members 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American pianists 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers