Theresa Tova

JPlanet Jazz describes Theresa Tova as a "Towering, pan-cultural jazz-cabaret diva ". In one phrase the essence of a career that spans over 25 years is aptly described but remains incomplete. An award winning actor, singer and writer, she is a “classy, jazzy and deliciously sensuous performer”. Some have written about her "sultry voice" and "spontaneous wit", others about the natural way in which she has gone from the Broadway musical stage to Concert and Jazz venues around the world.

                      “Towering pan-cultural jazz-cabaret Diva”                                                               - Planet Jazz

                     “An artist Canadians should celebrate”                                                                  - Toronto Star

Tova’s first CD “Telling Stories” won rave reviews for a unique approach which blends the jazz idiom with Yiddish song, and often alternates between English and Yiddish. Her second CD, Tova Live at the Top O’ the Senator, recorded before a live audience at the Top of the Senator jazz club in Toronto, includes a witty Yiddish rendition of Cole Porter’s Night and Day (Tog un Nakht), as well as an English version of Vos Geven Iz Geven (What Was Is What Was). It concludes with an electrifying performance of Der Saksafon Shpiler by NEA award winner, New York poet Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman. Tova’s third CD , aptly titled “You ask me why…. Tova sings Beyle” was released in August 2006.

                  “Classy, jazzy and deliciously sensuous”                                                              -Wholenote Music Magazine

            “Impressive” & Tova Live CD awarded “seal of approval”                                                        -Jazz FM

                      “A purity of musical emotionalism”                                                                 -RPM

Tova is completely at ease playing to multicultural crowds at intimate and prestigious Jazz clubs in Toronto, Montreal, Paris and Luxembourg. But then she is also at home delighting thousands at Town Hall or Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, in San Francisco as guest vocalist of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, or headlining major festivals such as Toronto’s Ashkenaz or the Amsterdam’s Jewish festival.

“Uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable” -Downtown Jazz“Incandescent sensuality” and “one succumbs to her charms”- L’Express

“Passion and polished precision in a lush alto”- Toronto Star

Tova at her most intimate best is a high octane, emotionally charged performer. From Brel to Sondheim, Berlin to Ellington, Yiddish folk and theatre songs to Yiddish Jazz and new Yiddish gems, Tova has found the perfect fusion.

“Velvety voice that would make the phone book sound good”-Capital Xtra Ottawa“Big brassy effervescent life force and she takes no guff” – Globe and Mail“I could watch this woman perform all night- she’s that good”- CBC Radio “Unlocking her past by breaking new ground”                        - Maclean's

“Pure delight...GRADE: A”   –KlezmerShack