ViVA

As a third generation, well travelled, 54 year old Canadian city girl, I ‘m ashamed to say that I have never experienced the grandeur and majesty of my own Canadian landscape.

I felt it was about time to try a new adventure when an opportunity came to help with my daughter’s video/photo shoot with the group NARIA at the end of June 2011.

The first location was the La Cloche Mountains of the Killarney Provincial Park. Our trek began with several hours of driving —many stops at our beloved Timmies—and 2 hours of hiking the La Cloche Trail with our group of 12, all the while carrying generators, camera equipment, food and water, plus costumes and makeup.

Needless to say, the heavy forest was packed full of the June black flies, vigilante mosquitoes and a very cute and curious baby black bear. Not wanting to meet Mama bear, we moved quickly up the steep trail and my stamina was tested with all the rock climbing.

We reached the summit and as you can see in the photograph this rock was the best place for filming “The Witch” video.

My grandiose moment occurred while sitting on at the top of that mountain at dusk, watching the sunset and the incredible NARIA quartet .

The breathtaking scenery and the ruggedness of the landscape truly represented the spirit of our country and the girls wanted to express their appreciation with their version of OH CANADA, suitably attired in red flowing dresses.

I will never forget my trip down the mountain in the approaching darkness, the meadow full of thousands of fireflies and sounds of the forest. My adventures are not over yet but I can truly say that the best adventure was in my own backyard.

- Macleans

It's been a whirlwind year for the opera pop group Naria.
A full schedule of performances and the October release of their debut album, Opera Pop Supernova, have been enough to keep the group — comprised of Mississauga residents Katya Tchoubar and Annaliese Jelilian, Toronto's Anna Bateman and Michelle Danese of Woobridge — more than busy.
Tchoubar, a professional opera singer, chalks the group's success up to chemistry. They knew they had it when they formed in the fall of 2010.
The group has a unique sound that fuses the elements of classic operas and different genres like dance, techno and pop.
"Sometimes we take excerpts of well-known operas and mix it within our own music," said Danese. "Our sound is a mix of different sounds, a more worldly sound."
Tchoubar entertained the idea of creating a band that blends pop and opera music for a while, and was finally inspired to follow her dream after listening to the Canadian Tenors.
Tchoubar asked former students Jelilian and Danese, to audition. A friend recommended Bateman as the group's fourth member. When they gathered at Tchoubar's home studio to record a holiday song last December, everything fell into place.
Over the last year they've released singles, an album, and they even filmed a video for their song, Witch. They've appeared at trade shows and local events including the Mississauga Arts Council's annual Artbeats gala. Recently, they delivered a Christmas performance at the Glen Gould Studio in Toronto.
In the new year, they'll be featured on the 15th volume of a compilation CD put together by TEA (the Toronto Experimental Artists). TEA is geared towards the growth, discovery and recognition of emerging and developing songwriting and performing talent.
TEA South CEO Clay Phillip says he chose the group's song, Ambitious, and placed it in the number one spot for obvious reasons.
"I am certain that these girls will see big things as they get known and spread the word," he said in an email to The News about the compilation CD that features 20 Canadian artists. It will be released on Jan. 3. For more information, visit teasouth.com.
Meanwhile, Naria will be performing in Cancun, Mexico from Jan. 19-24. They learned recently they'll be one of three featured performers at the MIDEM (Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale) trade fair in Cannes, France. Since 1967, the fair as been bringing together musicians, business people, cultural policy makers and journalists from many countries. It provides a forum for discussion of business, politics and legal issues while showcasing new artists, musical trends and music-related products.
The group members are thrilled about what's in store for them in the new year. They're also proud of their accomplishments to date.
"We have been fortunate and people have helped us along the way," said Tchoubar. "It's not just us. Along the way we have met and collaborated with a lot of creative people.
For more information, visit www.nariagroup.com.
jle@mississauga.net



- Mississauga News

INTRODUCING NARIA
and their debut CD
NARIA Opera Pop Supernova

Created in the Fall of 2010, with professional opera singer Katya Tchoubar at the helm, it didn’t take long for 1 to become 4 with the addition of fellow opera talents Anna Bateman and Michelle Danese with the group rounded out by pop sensation Annaliese Jelilian – thus NARIA was born.

One short year later their anniversary is marked with the launch and release of their debut album, NARIA Opera Pop Supernova, at Culture Days TAKE 2 Mississauga Celebration Square Saturday October 1st , with a 3 PM Main Stage performance.

NARIA Opera Pop Supernova consists of 8 tracks primarily written by Katya Tchoubar. It will be difficult not to be swept away by “Addio” inspired by “La Traviata”, Verdi. “The Moon” inspired by “Clair de Lune,” Debussy is only one example of NARIA’s effortless ability to achieve perfect harmony, while “The Witch” combines sass, class and is the featured current video for the debut album.

Loading too slow? Click here to watch Naria’s video “The Witch”!

These 4 brilliant voices whose vocal prowess and original choreographed compositions features opera, pop, techno and world music with classical high notes while exhibiting their intimate personal style is produced by Dima Graziani who has recorded, mixed, edited and produced over 80 released CDs . Hollywood based and multi award winning Haim Mazar performed arrangement magic; his high profile projects include performances and TV appearances with artists such as Christopher Guest, Gloria Estefan, Jeffery Osborn and U2’s The Edge.

“NARIA Opera Pop Supernova is vocally fresh with depth - Performed by a quartet of exceptionally talented young women from a wide variety of ethnic and musical backgrounds - They combine and offer a vibrant, energetic sound with a modern twist to its classical roots”

Roxolana Roslak
Juno Award Winning artist
Royal Conservatory of Music former head of vocal department

“NARIA is visually spellbinding - Musically: Harmonious & Innovative… A definite one of a kind!”

Paul Milner
Multiple Award Winning Producer

“NARIA brings a new and exciting way of fusing operatic themes with pop - These four beautiful and highly talented ladies know how to blend their excellent individual voices to achieve perfect harmony…. Their stage presence is vivacious, sexy and elegant…they will delight many audiences”

Eraine Schwing Braun
Royal Conservatory of Music Glenn Gould School – Voice Faculty
University of Toronto – Faculty of Music – Lied Instructor
Canadian Opera Company – Language coach

In addition to the launch of NARIA Opera Pop Supernova, audiences can experience NARIA live on stages in Mississauga, Toronto and Vancouver as feature performers in various festivals, trade shows, and galas. NARIA will complete the 2011 season with their original Christmas Concert at CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio. Visit www.nariagroup.com for full details. - Mississauga Life

By Adam Martin-Robbins
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Oct 05, 2011 - 4:05 PM
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CD release sets Naria singers a-flight

Katya Tchoubar was out for a drive last August when she popped in the Canadian Tenors’ debut CD. After listening to the first track, she was inspired to pursue an idea she’d been mulling over for quite some time.
That idea was to form a pop/opera crossover group.
“Something all of a sudden just clicked and I said, ‘I can do better. I will do better,’” said the 43-year-old professional opera singer. “I texted my friend and said, ‘I think I’m going to go with a group.’”
Within a couple of days, Ms Tchoubar was arranging auditions in hopes of finding performers who would be interested in the project.
One of the people she reached out to was Woodbridge’s Michelle Danese.
They met at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where Ms Tchoubar, a native of Ukraine, taught Ms Danese Russian diction.
“At first, I was sort of worried because of training in classical singing my whole life and then being asked to be part of a crossover classical/pop group ... I was like, ‘OK, can I even do this?’” Ms Danese, a 27-year-old soprano, said. “But it’s been amazing to explore a different genre of music, to mix the genres. It challenged me as a musician and I think it’s made me stronger.”
Ms Tchoubar also contacted another former student, 20-year-old Annaliese Jelilian, a pop singer who she’d taught for many years.
Anna Bateman, another classically trained soprano recommended to Ms Tchoubar by a friend, also auditioned for the group.
The four met for the first time in December when they came together to record a Christmas song.
“We didn’t even know each other, but we all hit it off right away,” Ms Danese said.
That recording session confirmed for Ms Tchoubar that they had something special.
“All of a sudden, when I heard the girls singing in the microphone, ... I thought ‘Oh my God, it’s really cool,’” she said.
This isn’t the first time Ms Tchoubar has launched a group.
Back in her native Ukraine, she put together a pop/folk outfit that toured all over Europe.
“It was from that experience, I realized how lucky I am to find these girls,” Ms Tchoubar said. “I remember from Kiev to find a girl who could actually sing, dance and looked good was really difficult. ... I ended up compromising. Two were strong in dancing with a bit of singing and three of us were singers with a bit of dancing.”
This time around she didn’t compromise, assembling a group of women with powerful voices, nimble feet and striking looks. And after the first recording things began to snowball.
They recorded the album’s first single, Addio, a short time later.
Then, in February, they performed live for the first time in the iStars competition, with Zack Werner of Canadian Idol, and pulled off a second-place finish.
The group continued recording tracks after that and filmed a video for the song, The Witch, over four days in June.
Determined to capture the song’s essence, they trekked into Awenda and Killarney provincial parks to shoot footage. They even hiked for hours to the top of the white quartzite cliffs that overlook the sapphire blue lakes of Killarney.
“If we decided to go on a low budget, to a lake here, it would have been OK, but we wouldn’t have got the same raw, witch, nature feeling,” Ms Tchoubar said. “So the decision was absolutely right.”
Last week, less than a year after the group was formed, Naria released its debut album, Opera Pop Supernova.
The eight-track CD features an eclectic blend of styles and sounds.
“It’s a huge mix,” Ms Bateman said. “We’ve got some (Hungarian) folk on there. We’ve got Addio, which is a hard driving rock beat with the classical, really operatic vocals over top. We’ve got Ambitious, which is super, super pop with the opera at the beginning.”
The album is also a reflection of their musical tastes, added Ms Tchoubar.
“We do listen to rap, we do listen to pop, we do listen to classical. We get inspired by all kinds of music,” she said.
Discussing the group’s journey so far, Ms Tchoubar turned philosophical.
“If you think that life is a river and we all have a destiny. ... What happens to a lot of people is they take one step and they just go with it. ... Other people say, ‘I’m going to go against the current to get to the second level and invest my time, invest my money.’ It’s a bit of a struggle but you get to a higher level and you go a bit faster,” she said. “In a certain period of time, you get to that level of the stream that goes really fast and when you hit your ultimate trajectory things become easy.
“All of a sudden that’s what happened. We got the right cast. People started to come in and offer stuff. People wanted to be on board. It was not a particular struggle.”
They did, however, struggle to come up with a suitable name for the group.
Friends and family were enlisted to help the group find a compelling moniker that had meaning but none of the suggestions captured what they were looking for.
Eventually, Ms Tchoubar changed tack and hit on a name that really struck a chord. “I said, ‘Enough coming from the meaning. Let’s just talk about something that sounds good because we tried the meaning and it just didn’t work,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘What sounds good from terms in music? Aria. Everybody knows what an aria is. Of course, when I Googled aria there was a gazillion (hits). So I tried adding different letters in front and hit on Naria.”
When she searched for it on Google, Ms Tchoubar discovered Naria, in Celtic mythology, is the goddess of wealth, well-being and luck.
“I was like, ‘Ok, that’s meant to be,’” she said.
Naria already has a handful of gigs lined up in Mississauga, Toronto and Vancouver to promote the new album. But, ultimately, the group is hoping to book some tours overseas.
“Our goal is to become international because the music is that way, the appeal is international. Classical music or pop music, is appreciated all over the world,” Ms Tchoubar said. “Yes, we’re in Canada and, yes, we would like to perform here and get known here, but we also want to travel the world.”
- Vaughan Citizen

Video of the interview with NARIA group. - Rogers TV

Eleventh House Performing Arts presents The Sound of the Arts at the John Paul II Polish-Canadian Cultural Centre on April 28.
The concert features internationally-known jazz diva and Mississauga resident, Liberty Silver, and Naria, a group that combines a unique blend of pop and classical singing.
It’s been 25 years since the Juno Awards put Silver on the map. She won the inaugural award for Best R&B/Soul recording (Lost Somewhere Inside Your Love with Otis Gayle) as well as Best Reggae/Calypso recording (Heaven Must Have Sent You). Silver would go on to excel on the United States talent show, Star Search, record at least two more albums and garner several more Juno nominations. Last December, she wrote and co-produced her new album, Groove Symphony, engineered in her City Centre home studio.
Naria – opera singers Katya Tchoubar, Anna Bateman and Michelle Danese, plus pop singer Annaliese Jelilian – was created last year with the idea of performing classical vocals with the more intimate, personal style of pop. It was recently nominated for a MARTY award in the emerging performing arts group category.
The evening also features multicultural dances, a fashion show and two raffles with major prizes.
Half of the proceeds from the raffles will go to support programs involving youth and the arts.
Tickets, which include a cocktail buffet and door prizes, cost $35 for singles and $50 for couples. Tickets can be bought at Impressionable Gifts (74 Lakeshore Rd. E.), Ladybug Harbour (189 Lakeshore Rd. E.) and Nicey’s Food Mart (325 Central Pkwy. W.).
Show runs from 6:30-10 p.m.
The venue is located at 4300 Cawthra Rd.
Formed last year as a platform for the performing arts in Mississauga, Eleventh House produced three plays in 2010: The Professional, A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester and Robinson Crusoe, a co-production with the Living Arts Centre.
Artistic director Terry Pasieka says Mississauga needs to become the prime entertainment destination of Mississaugans.
“Only by having a vibrant performing arts scene in Mississauga can we truly develop our future stars in Mississauga. We at least have to give them an opportunity to develop here, instead of them leaving to develop elsewhere,” he said.
- Mississauga news