shara worden
{ visit My Brightest Diamond }

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

Shara is on tour in The Decemberists
playing the role of The Queen in The Hazards of Love:

OCTOBER 2, 2009 House of Blues Houston Houston, TX
OCTOBER 3, 2009 Austin City Limits Festival Austin, TX
OCTOBER 4, 2009 Cain's Ballroom Tulsa, OK
OCTOBER 6, 2009 Singletary Center for the Arts Lexington, KY
OCTOBER 7, 2009 Ninth Street Fallfest Columbia, MO
OCTOBER 8, 2009 Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL
OCTOBER 9, 2009 State Theatre Minneapolis, MN
OCTOBER 18, 2009 Treasure Island Festival San Francisco, CA

Shara is performing with Bryce & Aaron Dessner
in The Long Count at BAM in Brooklyn, NY:
OCTOBER 28, 30 & 31

More performances with The Decemberists include:
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 The Forum London, (United Kingdom)
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 The Coronet London, (United Kingdom)
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 Crossing Border Festival The Hague, (Netherlands)

My Brightest Diamond is performing:
DECEMBER 2, 2009 São Luiz Teatro Municipal Lisboa, Portugal

BIOGRAPHY

Grandaughter of an Epiphone-playin-travelin-evangelist, fathered by a National Accordion Champion & mothered by a pianist, Shara Worden was born into a house of diverse musical aesthetics. Minor Spanish tango, Sundee mornin' gospel, classical and jazz were always in the air. Her first song was written at age 3 using the buttons of a toy cash register for "piano keys." By age 8 she was studying piano with her uncle, Donald Ryan, and singing in community musical productions.

Shara graduated from The University of North Texas with a BA in Vocal Performance. After university, she self-released a solo album entitled Word, then moving to Brooklyn, NY recorded two albums (The Orange Album, Quiet B Sides) with her band Awry, a collaboration with guitarist Shane Yarborough. From 2001-2003 Shara studied composition with Australian composer/performer Padma Newsome (The Clogs, The National). During this time she composed music for a musical theater production Women With Voices Ringing (produced by Jaki Brown-Karmen), an off-broadway production of Adam Rapp's play Trueblinka directed by Simon Hammerstein, as well as Hammerstein's production of Jean Paul Sartre Morts sans Sepulture.

In late 2003 Shara assembled her dream cast of characters to create the sound of My Brightest Diamond which included Earl Harvin (drums), Chris Bruce (bass), Zac Rae (keyboards) and string players Rob Moose, Olivier Manchon, Marla Hansen and Maria Jeffers. My Brightest Diamond has released two albums, Bring Me The Workhorse (2006) and A Thousand Shark's Teeth (2008), along with various remixes and singles on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Often a collaborator with other groups, Shara has recorded with David Byrne, The Decemberists, and Sufjan Stevens. In 2009 Shara was a featured soloist with The Decemberists on The Colbert Report and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Her live performances have included appearances with Laurie Anderson, Bon Iver, St. Vincent and most recently in Bryce & Aaron Dessner's "The Long Count". In 2009 Shara moved to Detroit, Michigan to live in a creaky old house and tend bees.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

2009
(yet to be released) My Brightest Diamond - Reading of Poems by Mustafa Ziyalan

2008
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth

2007
My Brightest Diamond - Tear It Down (remix album)

2006
My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse

2003
AwRY - Remix I

2001
AwRY - Quiet B Sides
AwRY - The Orange Album

1998
Shara - Session I. EP

1997
Shara - Word

GUEST APPEARANCES

2010
David Byrne - Here Lies Love
Sarah Kirkland Snider - Penelope Songs
Clogs - Lady Walton's Garden
Stateless - I'm on fire

2009
The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

2006
Jedi Mind Tricks - Razorblade Salvation

2005
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

2004
Onelinedrawing - The Volunteers

2003
Denison Witmer - Are You A Dreamer
Sufjan Stevens - Christmas EP
Bogs Visionary Orchestra

2002
Jon Rodgers - The Sound of Birds

1997
Mingo Fishtrap - Succotash

SPECIAL LIVE PERFORMANCES

2009
featured soloist with The Decemberists on The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Craig Ferguson
with St. Vincent on the David Letterman Show
"The Long Count" at Brooklyn Academy of Music
My Brightest Diamond performing "Feeling Good" at Radio City Music Hall for "Dark Was The Night"

2008
with Laurie Anderson, performing Homeland for the Lincoln Center Festival at The Rose Theater

2007
with Sufjan Stevens' BQE at Brooklyn Academy of Music