Music has always been the foundation of my life. My childhood was shaped by 90s R&B fills the rooms of my house, lyrics are scribbled in notebooks and pulled out again, dresses drag across the choir podiums and one song always stuck in my head. My parents’ love story blossomed in their middle school choir. I always felt the most like myself when singing, and whenever I felt lost or was going through a hard time, music was there to ground me.
When I arrived at Ithaca College, I joined the a cappella Community. At first it was exciting to be part of this small, close–Group of friends knitting. But I soon realized that something was missing; the stability and joy I found in singing had disappeared. I had to take the time to figure out why this was happening and, more importantly, how I could get my drive back.
Then I joined the Amani Gospel Singer. At that time it was Return to campus after a short absence. Amani leads through GOspel Music and Serviceit as the only predominantly BIPOC singing organization at the college. There I was introduced to many others great student organizations, like Musicians of Color Association (MOCA) and Black Artists United (BAU)and I realized what I had been missing. Community. In my previous group, I always felt like I was watching from the outside. Being the only person of color there was incredibly isolating. No one could really understand my experiences or my perspectives, and I felt like I had to adapt to fit in. At Amani, everything changed. I was now part of a community that understood the importance of our shared experiences.
I am now the againstIce PResidents of Amani. TThis has been incredibly rewarding, but I don’t want it to be one of the only opportunities for singers of color to perform. It’s important that there are multiple opportunities for BIPOC musicians to be authentically themselves. The desire to fill this need at Ithaca College led me to start my own a cappella group Nuvo (New Voices) next to Vaishali Learner. Vaishali and I both missed singing a capPella, but we didn’t want to relive our past experiences. So we put together a fantastic team — Anushka Sharma And Ella Padilla as Music Director, Jaimie Kae-Smith as Secretary and Choreographer, Khushi Pandey as Social Media Director — and Nuvo was born.
People often ask about the name. Nuvo is short for New Voices, the middle school Vasiahli and I was there. We want to be fresh new voices in the a cappella community.
Nuvo focuses on creating an inclusive space for BIPOC artists and allies to sing, and focuses exclusively on music by musicians of color, just as there is a capPella groups dedicated to female voices or gender inclusivity. It is a complement, not an alternative to a community that works to learn, grow and to continue your education. This community was supports our mission incredibly.
Nuvo hopes to create radical and positive change, foster incredibly important conversations, and become an organization that can support musicians of color for years to come.
