My Brightest Diamond

A classically trained vocalist with a self-taught instrumentalist's spirit, Shara Nova has been releasing music as My Brightest Diamond since 2006. Raised in a family of traveling evangelicals, Nova's childhood was filled with the sounds of her father leading church choirs and her mother playing the organ. During her teenage years, the family settled outside of Detroit, where she was exposed to the eclectic sounds of the early '90s, from Run DMC to Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker. After honing her classical voice skills, Nova moved to New York City, where she formed My Brightest Diamond, and contributed to era-defining albums from the likes of Sufjan Stevens (Illinois), Bryce & Aaron Dessner (Dark Was The Night), David Byrne & Fatboy Slim (Here Lies Love) and more. This spring, Nova originated the role of Barsine in the Tony Award-winning Broadway show Illinoise, based on Stevens’ album. In the time since the last My Brightest Diamond album in 2018, she has written for multiple Grammy-nominated choirs including for The Crossing who performed her compositions for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert, as well as written and performed on Nonesuch’s Grammy-nominated standout The Blue Hour, and created multiple operas, classical and choral works.