Vanya Green Assuied is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist specializing in the intersection between music and healing. Her music builds upon a long-standing Mediterranean tradition of meeting of East and West. She composes contemporary folk music as well as reinterprets sacred Jewish texts for diverse audiences. She is passionate about dissolving the distinction between artist and audience, creating accessible songs that allow for audience participation and engagement.
Vanya is also a licensed psychotherapist with a Masters Degree in Music Therapy from NYU. She has received recognition for her musicianship and scholarship, including a Fulbright fellowship for Sephardic music to Israel, Collaborative Project Grant from the Institute for Creativity of AJU, Bruce Geller Memorial Prize, Susan Eliakim Siman grant for Sephardic Studies to Turkey and Greece and a scholarship for flamenco singing to the Fundacion de Flamenco, in Seville, Spain.
Vanya’s family come from South Africa, where her parents and grandparents were active in the anti-apartheid movement. She is dedicated to ‘tikkun olam’ (repairing the world) and building bridges through the arts. She collaborates with artists from diverse faith and cultural backgrounds and is the co-leader of the Los Angeles Chapter of Daughters of Abraham, an interfaith women’s book group.