Ironically, Venezuelan artist Nella – the 2019 Latin Grammy winner for Best New Artist – grew up singing American pop music.
“I grew up listening to all the divas — Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, you name it, all of them,” Nella told NPR.
“I would lock myself in the room from like 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. and just sing.”
All that practice paid off when she was accepted to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where her talent caught the eye of faculty member and producer Javier Limón. “To be original, to be different, to be someone special - that’s what Nella had, and that’s what she is now,” he told NPR.
Since then, she released her first album, “Voy,” and is wowing crowds with her striking voice in venues such as the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, where she will perform Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. “Blending folk influences from her Venezuelan roots with timeless coplas and flamenco of southern Spain, she shares her distinctive, irresistible gift in every performance,” notes the Kravis website.
Her website bio adds: “Her music is a meeting place for her country’s folklore roots, the influence of her contemporaries, and the music of the Andalusian region. Above all, she is a handful of songs that she sings with her bare soul.”
For more information, call 561-833-8300 or visit kravis.org.