Mezzo soprano Yana Mann and composer Julián De La Chica recently announced their latest collaboration, an original composition of the iconic prayer ‘Ave Maria.’ Released worldwide to all major streaming services on October 4, 2021, the piece is an international production from two gifted and versatile artists.
Yana Mann is a Dubai-based singer, songwriter and producer. She studied classical music and opera from a young age in her native Russia, eventually graduating from both the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music and from the Tchaikovsky Academic Music College at the Moscow State Conservatory. Although her background is primarily in Classical music, the singer has worked in multiple genres from Electronic to Heavy Metal. She made her professional recording debut earlier this year with another De La Chica collaboration, the album “11 Poemas De Bar, Op.12.”
Julián De La Chica is an award-winning Colombian composer based in Brooklyn, New York City. His musical influences range from minimalism & post-minimalism to alternative electronic. In recent years Julián has released a series of EPs and albums. His music uses organic and electronic elements to create a unique sound that lives somewhere between Classical and Ambient Electronic music.
The lyrics to ‘Ave Maria’ are actually the ‘Hail Mary’ prayer, sung in Latin. The best known version of the song finds the poem set to music from a Franz Schubert composition titled ‘Ellens dritter Gesang’ (Ellen’s Third Song). Although that piece originally had different lyrics, its pairing with ‘Ave Maria’ has become ubiquitous with the original ‘Ellens dritter Gesang’ lyrics long since forgotten in the public consciousness. Originally composed in 1998, De La Chica’s ‘Ave Maria’ marries the iconic prayer with an entirely new piece of music.
I was tired of playing the same Schubert’s Ave Maria at weddings, and one day, my mother told me: Didn’t you want to be a composer? why don’t you compose an Ave Maria. And so this piece was born.
Julián De La Chica
“De La Chica: Ave Maria ” opens with Yana Mann’s hauntingly beautiful vocal accompanied by a single oboe. Soon, an orchestra of strings, woodwinds and electronic tones floats into the mix. Julián’s arrangement serves as an ambient bed of clouds beneath Yana’s soaring yet mournful vocal. It is a beautiful and transcendent composition and performance.
Watch the captivating “De La Chica: Ave Maria” video below. You can also hear the song on the Deep Indie Chill playlist, or listen on your favorite streaming service. Follow the links below to connect with Yana Mann and Julián De La Chica. Get on their socials and stay in the loop on all of the music to come from these two immensely talented artists.
Connect with Yana Mann & Julián De La Chica
Facebook: Yana Mann | Julián De La Chica
Instagram : Yana Mann | Julián De La Chica
Twitter : Julián De La Chica
