Nastasia Y (formerly known as Stacey Y) is a Ukrainian-born, Canadian world fusion artist – a ‘Slavic soul in a modern world’ – who deftly integrates Eastern European folk music with contemporary jazz arrangements, trippy electronic textures and other influences from around the globe. Jonathan Campbell of Small World Music describes Nastasia’s sound as “Slavic soul rooted in the ancestral sounds of Ukraine and guided by the boundary-busting Toronto scene.”
In 2013, while completing Toronto’s Humber College jazz piano program, Nastasia wrote & released her first English pop/R&B album, titled Set the Water Straight. From there, she began to explore her family’s Ukrainian culture by starting the fusion project DoVira (meaning “trust”), and releasing the ‘Obrys’ EP (over 100,000 views on YouTube) and the ‘DoVira’ album, which WholeNote magazine praised as “world fusion at its best”. Nastasia sings in multiple languages – from Serbian to Arabic –; is a founding member of BLISK (the all-female Eastern European folk group); and is Founder & CEO of StereoFlavour (a live event entertainment company). Also, her voice was featured in the award-winning TV show Orphan Black.
Nastasia’s most recent release is the soulful electronic pop anthem “Bez Vas” (“Without You”), produced by Rob Christian of the Larnell Lewis Band. Written in English and Ukrainian, this resistance song is meant to raise awareness of the war crimes affecting citizens – including Nastasia’s family – a year after the Russian invasion. It speaks of Ukraine without heat, communication & light – and without “them”. Over the past year, Nastasia has volunteered with refugees in Poland, actively fundraised for various organizations, and has continued to speak out about Ukraine’s struggles and history of repression.
Nastasia is currently completing her next solo album, a collaboration with KC Roberts (guitar), Marito Marques (drums), Anh Phung (flute), Dan Minchom (bass), and the JUNO Award-winning producer Justin Gray. This recording is a culmination of all Nastasia’s influences to date – from R&B to jazz – mixing Ukrainian with English and other Slavic languages, and exploring the raw human emotions of love and war.