Marta Topferova

BIOGRAPHY
Marta started singing at age eight in her native Prague, Czech Republic with the Mládí choir. Upon moving to the US in 1987, she continued her vocal and music studies with The Seattle Girls' Choir. At an early age, she sang in many languages as well as a wide range of works by renowned composers. But Marta's first encounter with Latin American music goes back to when she was six years old, she remembers her favorite album being Inti-Illimani's songs from the Andes. Her parents, both actors, had gotten the record from a Chilean friend that had come to live in Czechoslovakia in the 1970's. Then around age fifteen, when she started developing as a soloist, exploring her own style and direction as a singer, she was again completely drawn to music from Spain, Cuba and South America. Continuing in her musical calling, she first majored in music and dance at Bard College from 1992 to 1993. Afterwards, she moved to Moron de la Frontera, Spain, to study privately and further develop as a musician. She took up playing the guitar, hand percussion and now most recently, her favorite accompanying instrument, the four-string cuatro.
After spending two years in Spain and back in the Czech Republic, she settled in New York City in 1996 and since then has been actively composing, arranging and performing her original songs as well as collaborating with other groups including Lucia Pulido and Fiesta De Tambores among others. Her love and dedication to Latin American music as well as the folklore of Czechoslovakia, makes her a unique artist who sings in and is fluent in both Czech and Spanish.
Marta has performed in many venues in New York City including Joe's Pub, The Blue Note, SOB’s, The United Nations and across the United States in venues such as Scullers in Boston, The Philadelphia Museum Of Art, Jazz Alley in Seattle and The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. She's participated in festivals such as The World Music Festival in Chicago, Tanglewood Jazz Festival and internationally at The Brighton Festival, London Jazz Festival, Vienna Jazz Festival, The New Morning in Paris, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Bim Huis in Amsterdam, Birdland in Vienna, Notorious Jazz Club in Buenos Aires, Centro Cultural De La Villa in Madrid and many other venues in Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. She has also been featured on many television and radio programs in the US including BBC's "The World" and NPR's "Around Noon", in Spain (TV/Radio 3), Colombia (Radio W), Mexico (Fiestas Patrias), Argentina (Radio Palermo), France (ARTE TV) and the Czech Republic (Radio Proglas, Nova & Prima TV).
"Marta Topferova is a Czech singer whose heart is in Latin American music. She dips into styles from across the Caribbean and South America - Cuban son, Venezuelan joropo, Puerto Rican bomba - plays the cuatro and sings with an elegant longing in her voice.''
- New York Times
"a leading light in the nueva cancion movement of today"
-BBC