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Riva Nyri Prècil
Born	Riva Nyri Prècil (1989-03-28) March 28, 1989 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Singer • Songwriter • Author
Years active	2015–present

Riva Nyri Prècil

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Riva Nyri Precil (born March 28, 1989) is a Haitian singer, songwriter, and author. She grew up in Haiti where she was exposed to and studied under many of the great masters of Haiti's cultural and artistic scene. She returned to the United States as a teenager and attended LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts. After graduating from LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts, Riva received her BA in Music Therapy from the Loyola University of New Orleans in 2011 and continued on to complete her one-year residency in New York at Beth Israel Hospital.

In 2013, Riva became the founder & CEO of a bespoke jewelry company, “Love, Nyri.” Also in 2014, by winning a Haitian short story competition hosted by Educa Vision, she became the author of a Haitian Creole children's book set in Jacmel, "Anaëlle Ak Lasirèn," published in 2015. Riva completed several teaching artist programs with Haiti Cultural Exchange teaching Haitian dance, traditional song, visual arts, and storytelling to elementary students and senior citizens. Her debut solo album in Creole, "Perle De Culture," is a fusion of traditional Haitian songs, soul, African tones, and jazz elements and was released in March 2015. She is a prominent performer and has performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Carifesta XII hosted in Haiti, and the Haitian Flag Day Celebration at Brooklyn's Borough Hall. She was a panelist and performer at the Women's Empowerment Luncheon hosted by the Haitian American Student Association at Syracuse University in February 2016. Riva's work embodies the beauty she sees in her heritage through her singing, dancing, jewelry designs and writing. Currently, Riva performs in New York City alongside her band Bohio Music.

Early Life and Education

Riva Nyri Précil was born in Brooklyn on March 28th, 1989. Her mother, Michelle Karshan, is an American with a Russian-Irish descent and ran a radio station in the 80’s called “Sak pase” and her father, Privat Précil, is a Haitian who worked in America as a journalist and lawyer. Riva and her family moved to Haiti from America when Riva was five years old as her mother got a job in Haiti. Her mother worked for the Haitian government specifically on foreign press liaising, using her foreign heritage as an advantage to manage the foreign press who visited Haiti.

During her years in Haiti, Riva was in a theatre troupe, Ateliee Edoision, and took various dancing —with Viviane Gauthier and Artcho Danse— sculpting, painting, and singing classes, which will later develop her as a wholesome artist who is talented in several aspects of art. Riva learned her sculpting and painting skills from a famous Haitian artist, Jean-Claude "Tiga" Garoute. In her early teens, Riva already started to teach art classes to young children who were in her neighborhood. She was musically influenced by her mom as she listened to exotic and various genres of music from all over the world starting from jazz and soul, to Indian and Arabic music. As her family was very open-minded to experience, she visited lots of Haitian Vodou ceremonies, learning both the beautiful and eerie parts of the Vodou culture. When Riva was fifteen she had to leave Haiti and return to New York because of the dangerous condition of Haiti due to the government Coup d'état.

Riva moved back to New York in 2004, and entered LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts as a sophomore where she majored in vocal performance. She soon graduated in 2007 and continued her education at Loyola University of New Orleans. She received her BA in Music Therapy from Loyola University of New Orleans in 2011 then completed her one-year residency in New York at Beth Israel Hospital. During her time in Loyola University, she became skillful in playing guitar and piano and continued singing. When the 2010 Haiti earthquake happened, Riva and few other Haitian students, who were less than ten people, organized a giant fundraiser to support people back in Haiti.

Hope For Haiti

“Hope For Haiti” was a fundraising campaign organized for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. “Hope For Haiti” was organized by Haitian students at Loyola University in New Orleans, which included Riva. The fundraiser started on February of 2010, a month after the Haiti earthquake. The fundraiser mainly supported Saint Trinity — a music school in Haiti that collapsed during the earthquake. “Hope for Haiti” raised money in several ways. Students organized various events, which included dance class, music concerts, and drama. The money raised from the tickets and the classes directly went towards the donation. Also, by selling Haitian art pieces and accepting donations, students raised a lot of money which enabled them to send a plane carrying several instruments and donated goods to Haiti. Riva was deeply involved in this project as she personally organized a lot of the events, taught dance classes, and performed in various events hosted to raise money for Haiti, including the benefit concert “Ayiti Cheri” held in Roussel Hall at Loyola University.

Career

Singer

After Riva graduated Loyola University Riva came back to New York. In 2014, Riva realized the lack of Haitian Creole contents in the world and felt a “sense of duty to dedicate herself to keep the Haitian art alive and conserve it for her ancestors and for her country.” This led her to start working on her first album “Perle De Culture.” By meeting her present fiance in the end of 2013, Monvelyno Alexis, who also is a prominent musician, Riva worked with him to create an album independently. The songs were mainly traditional Haitian music with a modern twist. The songs were newly arranged in a jazz style by her fiance, Alexis. Riva worked during the daytime and recorded songs at night at a studio in Brooklyn called “Kamoken Studio.” Interestingly, the studio was owned by Chico Boyer, who was a pioneer of Haitian roots music. He even personally participated in a few songs on the album as a bass player. In 2015, the album was completed and released through CD Baby which allowed Riva to officially launch herself and put her music out to the public.

Ever since her album was released, she is constantly gigging around the world to promote Haitian culture and its beauty. She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival —alongside Emeline Michel —Carifesta XII hosted in Haiti, the Haitian Flag Day Celebration at Brooklyn's Borough Hall, and various other ceremonies. Recently, she has been working with a label, “Strictly Rhythm” to musically expand her horizon and work in different styles of music such as Afro House and dance music.

Author

Her career as an author also started in 2014. Her interest in writing Haitian books initially started from translating children’s books in Haitian Creole from a non-profit organization “Li Li Li” — program organized by Riva and her mother to translate various children’s book in Haitian Creole and to train people to read the books to children in Haiti after the collapse of a lot of schools in Haiti (2011 - 2012). In 2014, Riva decided to write a children’s book about mermaids and their world underwater, which was set in Jacmel. She submitted her work to a Haitian short story competition hosted by Educa Vision, and by winning the competition her book, “Anaëlle Ak Lasirèn,” was published in 2015.

Styles and Influences

Ever since she was young, she was influenced by various genres of music originating from all parts of the world. However, she was primarily influenced by Haitian music, and jazz, which allowed her to grow up to be the musician she is now. Riva’s unique style of music and vocals came through as she successfully merged jazz and Haitian music. Her muses, who influenced her ever since she was young, are Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn. She actually performed Billie Holiday’s and Ella Fitzgerald's pieces for her audition to enter LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts.

Other Ventures

After Riva graduated from Loyola University, she introduced “Love, Nyri,” a modern handmade jewelry line, in 2012. The design of the jewelry is very much inspired by a traditional Haitian jewelry style. Nowadays, most of her products are custom order. The materials used range from brass, gold, silver, crystals, to various gems. The combination of her ideal material choice and her exclusive ability to merge traditional Haitian style brings a very delicate and unique feeling to her jewelry.

As Riva has been taking dance classes since she was young and has taught several dance classes for the 2010 Haiti earthquake fundraiser, she continues to teach traditional Haitian dance in New York City. Her current dance class “tout se pa” which means “no wrong steps” covers traditional Haitian dances such as Yanvalou, Congo, Nago, Ibo, Mayi, Rabonday, and Banda. Her dance class is targeted towards Haitians in New York City who never had a chance to experience their own culture. By teaching traditional Haitian dance to students, Riva spreads the beauty and importance of connecting with their Haitian heritage.