Marya Zimmet — Singer

I grew up in Greenwich Village, the child of Bohemian, hippie artist parents. I attended a music-rich elementary school, singing in the choir, playing the recorder, and studying finger-style guitar . At home, we listened to Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, the Beatles and the folk and rock bands of the 60s and 70s. After an unconventional adolescence spent mostly up and down the California coast, I returned to my roots and studied jazz singing at City College. Over the years, I sang with jazz trios and with a five-woman traditional folk music group. I drifted away from music to get a doctorate in psychology, become a kitchen designer, start a home organization business, and pet more dogs on the streets of New York than almost anyone. A few years ago, working as a school psychologist, I missed singing! Inspired by a friend who was taking a cabaret workshop, I began exploring this genre. After studying with many of New York’s wonderful teachers and getting my feet wet at open mics and in showcases, I presented my first cabaret show at Don't Tell Mama and the Metropolitan Room in 2011 and 2012. My second show, "Oh, My God-dess!!" was presented in 2013 and 2014. In June 2017 I presented my third show, "Marya Zimmet's Book of Revelations."

I decided to make a CD (my first) at the beginning of 2020. The timing of this project turned out to be - in a way - fortuitous. I started developing the repertoire in January, and by March, the Covid-19 pandemic had shut everything down. That spring, I wandered the empty streets of Lower Manhattan, the air unusually fresh and clean, practicing my tunes. I had way more time to prepare than I'd anticipated! I finally hit the recording studio this past fall with my musical director Tedd Firth and a fabulous band. We continued the recording process during the historic insanity of the presidential election and its aftermath, and wound it up this spring.