Artist Information
Biography
Vanya Green is a singer and multi-instrumentalist whose music builds upon a long-standing tradition in the Mediterranean of meeting of East and West. Her voice fuses folk and soul with the subtle ornamentations found in Middle Eastern and Flamenco music.
She has recently been nominated for best female vocalist by the 2008 Hollywood Music Awards as well as been recognized as one of the top ten artists in The International World of Music Awards.
Growing up in a home surrounded by music from South African jazz to Bach, Vanya began to perform from an early age. Her journey into breaking boundaries in musical styles began at La Fundacion de Flamenco, in Seville, Spain where she was awarded a vocal scholarship. In her audition, she took the accompanist’s guitar and played John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” She then began an exchange with renowned flamenco singer Calixto Sanchez in which she would teach him jazz vocal technique, while he in turn, taught her to sing like a real flamenca.
Soon after, she was discovered by the owner of a flamenco tablao and she began to study Sephardic music in Ladino in a subterranean library of old books and records, just below the old Juderia, or Jewish ghetto. She then was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for voice in Israel where she continued to perform and research the beautiful and haunting melodies of Middle Eastern music.
Here in Los Angeles, she has been collaborating with top recording artists, including oud master Naser Musa. Through it all, she has continued to write her own music, which serves as a journal of her experiences. She is back in the studio again working on some more tunes. Please join her in this journey and take a listen.
Instrumentation
Vanya - vocals, guitar
Naser Musa - oud
Satnam Ramgotra - tabla, percussion
Miles Jay - bass
Paul Livingstone - sitar, guitar, fretless guitar
Robert Fernandez - cajon, bongo, conga, maracas
Discography
Press
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Vanya and Naser a Big Hit at The Levatine Cultural Center
[+ Show ]
"The standing room only event (with numerous folks sitting quietly on the floor at times) ended on a...
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Flamenco and Sephardic singing
"Vanya has a sensibility that transports us" - Calixto Sanchez, renowned flamenco singer
Setlist
Watercolor Love
Shem Sheli (My Name)
Winding Road
Tears on the Snow
Respira Conmigo
By Your Side
Majo y Majo
Las Tres Clavinas (Minnus Minnus)
Nani Nani
Adio Kerida
