SongVault Artist Profile

Sharmila Guha is a multifaceted vocalist able to easily move through a variety of musical styles. She frequently performs as a soloist and ensemble member in both jazz and classical settings, is a private voice instructor, works as a studio singer, and is a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Sharmila began her music studies at a very young age, starting piano lessons at age six and singing lessons at age eleven. She was a music student at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and continued on to study classical voice at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she discovered her passion for jazz. After college, she was accepted into the “Jazz in July” program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and worked with the legendary jazz singer Sheila Jordan. Since then, she has been a featured performer at a number of jazz festivals in Southern California (including the Inaugural Filipino-American Jazz Festival and the Inaugural Asian-American Jazz Festival, both held in Los Angeles).

Sharmila has extensive experience singing in many languages, including: Latin, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Bengali, and Swedish. In 2008, she released her debut solo jazz album, “If Music Be the Food of Love,” featuring guitarist Larry Koonse, and bassist Kevin Axt. Although she does enjoy singing "the standards," the album showcases her affinity for exploring songs that stray from the usual jazz repertoire, like the title track by Baroque composer Henry Purcell, a song by the alternative rock band The Cure, and a Bengali folk song. Her most recent project involves jazz reinterpretations of Bengali songs by Mohiner Ghoraguli, an influential 70's rock band from Kolkata, India.

Sharmila is a member of AGMA, SAG, AFTRA, and ASCAP.