MarÃa NahÃma (artistic name for MarÃa del Carmen OdrÃa-Jiménez) was born in Lima, Peru as the inevitable convergence of the talents of her mother, Carmita Jiménez, a famous Puerto Rican songstress who toured Central and South America in the 60's and her father, David OdrÃa, a renowned Peruvian producer and radio & TV host.
A precocious artist, at the young age of six, MarÃa commenced her career by performing as a “guest artist†in her mom’s concerts and television presentations in Puerto Rico and abroad.
She initiated formal vocal lessons at fourteen and started writing “openingsâ€, directing her mom’s backup singers, and translating songs from English and Italian into Spanish for other well known artists.
In 1987, MarÃa graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages with a minor in Drama from University of Puerto Rico. As a professional actress, MarÃa has performed Shakespeare ("The Taming of the Shrew"), popular-folk pieces ("Esperando la Guagua"), musicals ("West Side Story", "Little Shop of Horrors", "The Fantastiks") as well as done guest appareances on TV sit-coms, all of which have given her artistic prominence and garnered positive critical reviews.
During those early years, MarÃa became familiar with television and radio production while collaborating with an important international advertising agency. She enjoyed copywriting but decided to follow her mother’s advice: to learn more about behind-the-scene production. And so she went on to explore editing, the creative use of footage, development of advertising campaigns for press, radio and TV, work team coordination, and, the best part, putting to work fellow actors and working in voiceovers and jingles.
After finishing a Master's in Italian Language from Middlebury College in Vermont, MarÃa moved to Florence, Italy. It took her long to realize how hard it would be to deal with the disadavantages of anonymity and restarting a musical career from zero. She began competing successfully in local song festivals winning many prizes while searching for her next opportunity. She was hired as background vocalist on various albums and then became the lead singer of a couple of music bands (from pop and r&b to Italian popular music) as well as one of the main soloists of The Jubilee Shouters, a renowned Tuscan Godspell- Jazz -Blues ensemble.
At the end of the 90's Maria had already registered two disco music singles, three CD's of cover versions of Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston and two World Music CD's ("Celtics", "Maya, Inca, Azteca" including lyrics). At the same time Maria reencountered talented composer Goffredo Orlandi, a long lost friend who asked her to write the Spanish lyrics for the upcoming album of latin artist Mario Ortiz (Sony Music). The song "Bésame" was selected as the musical theme of the Spanish film " "Alas Rotas" " (released in 2002).
In the beginning of 2000 MarÃa started working with Beppe Dati , one of the most prolific and renowned composers of the Italian panorama and wrote some English songs for the beautiful voice of Polish artist Gosia Andrzejewicz . It became an interesting artistic challenge to co-write and learn the "Italian way" of writing lyrics. MarÃa still collaborates in translating and singing in both English and Spanish, Dati's songs for local benefits.
From 2000 to 2003 MarÃa worked with less frequency in music, as she had to travel to Puerto Rico a lot in order to visit her mom who was heroically waging a battle with cancer. Carmita passed away leaving an incredible artistic legacy to her beloved Island. A geographical sector near her hometown and an important theater are named after her.
In 2004 MarÃa called Goffredo Orlandi (a fresh 1st winner from Sanremo Song Festival) to work on the artistic production of the album
"Tu Fan" for the famous Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Wilkins . Nine of the thirteen songs of the album are of her inspiration including the romantic duet "Cuando quieras tú" in which she sings with the latin divo. The album was acclaimed as the third best of 2005 in Puerto Rico, well above many others of the prominent latin music industry. In the meantime, Gosia Andrzejewicz, already a star in Poland, asked Maria to write in English her smashing hit "Slowa" ("Words") which won her a gold record in her country. Legendary Italian producer Alessandro Colombini, chose "Tanto, Tanto Amor" (Orlandi-OdrÃa) as the new single of Silvia Mezzanotte , former lead voice of the Italian historical music band Mattia Bazaar. The song was recorded in Spanish and Italian and was also included in Silvia's new album " "Il Viaggio" .
At the end of 2006 Maria signed with Dati, "Io e Lei" for Lighea and in November, Wilkins' new album
"Disco de Oro", included Maria's touching song "Te extraño" - "I Miss You" already present in "Tu Fan" and second single of "Disco de Oro". Although the lyrics purposely seem a classical love song, it doesn't take long to discover the inspiring description of the emptiness felt when someone loved leaves forever. MarÃa dedicated this song to her special mother.
2007 will begin with five new songs for international artists. Two compositions will be for famous Spanish singer Bea Bronchal 's new album; two others ("Sabe a tÃ" (Orlandi- Buffat -OdrÃa) entitles the recording and "Sueños para vivir" (Orlandi-OdrÃa) will be comprised in the long-awaited production of young latin idols MDO for Universal, and another song will be recorded by MarÃa NahÃma, as a "special guest" of the upcoming album of Latin Grammy-nominees Negroni's Trio with a very intimate-jazzy song written by her.
Maria is frequently in recording studio registering background vocals, jingles and new songs, as well as developing musical ideas and projects. Her acting and musical experience as well as her warm soulful voice makes of her a very versatile interpreter.
Maria Nahima is a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and SIAE (Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori)
SI TE INTERESA LEER MI BIOGRAFIA EN ESPAÑOL, O TENER ACCESO A NUEVAS CANCIONES INEDITAS, ENVIAME UN MENSAJE!
SE VUOI LEGGERE IL MIIO CURRICULUM IN ITALIANO OPPURE RICEVERE LE MIE CANZONI INEDITE, INVIAMI UN MESSAGGIO!
