ZORA
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ZORA
November 17, 2023 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
$15 โ $18Englert Presents: Track Zero
ZORA
with Sarahann Kolder & YXNG RASKAL
Live @ The James Theater
Live @ The James Theater
Track Zero is The Englert’s new concert series that presents burgeoning, diverse, and boundary-pushing artists in Iowa City. Let us be your mixtape to the new and excitingโoff the track list! Follow us on Instagram atย @trackzeroic.
Show Description
Zora is a 24 year old artist, producer, singer, and rapper. She has been writing music sinceย the age of 14, taking inspiration after Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Prince, Kendrickย Lamar, SOPHIE, Stevie Wonder, and so many others. Zoraโs sound can be described asย Alternative Pop. She writes, produces, and records all of her own stuff, using instruments such asย the piano, the ES2 synth, and electric guitar to bring her ideas to life.
Originally, she began as a classically trained pianist, from ages 6 to 10, taking after herย family history of classical pianists. She was set in pursuing that as a career before becomingย involved in opera and musical theater at LACHSA at age 13. It was here that she began toย discover her love for performing. She could not get enough of the stage lights, choreography,ย charisma, and charm that it took to put on such spectacular shows.
At age 14, she started to go to parties with her dad and help him during his dj sets,ย suggesting songs for him to play as the night went on. In doing so, Zora found her love for hipย hop and pop music. Artistโs like Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, and Janet Jackson wouldย mold her into the pop artist that she is today. She collected all of the records along with her dadย and found a new love for popular music.
After getting rejected from the vocal jazz program at her school, Zora was put into aย music technology class, which she initially despised. Little did she know this class would be aย blessing in disguise. Zora began studying choreography of artists such as Britney Spears, Janetย Jackson, and Beyonce, and started creating original songs that she could choreograph to. Zoraย started messing around with synthesizers, vocoders, and Logic Pro X, and began to fall in loveย with the music software. By age 15, she had released her first EP, titled โScene Oneโ, inspired byย the works of Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott. Later that year, she released her debut mixtape โCityย Lightsโ at the age of 16.
At age 17, Zora moved on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston for three years,ย and released her second mixtape โMillennialโ at age 18. Here, she was able to merge her love ofย singing, producing, and dancing, and began putting on one hour shows at the Berklee Cafeteria.ย At age 20, Zora headlined her first festival โMeet the Groundโ Festival, and received her firstย ever write up from the Berklee Press.
At age 21, Zora moved on from Berklee and relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, whereย she began crafting her official debut album, โZ1โ. It was during this time that she began to learnย how to play the electric guitar, so she could be like Prince. She learned to play guitar as sheย crafted this album, working alongside her cousin to help her out with some of the songs. At ageย 22, โZ1โ was officially released and received critical acclaim, being Zoraโs biggest launch yet.
Zoraโs main mission within music is to spread awareness, positivity, and freedom ofย expression. It is her main belief that people are only truly happy when theyโre able to be exactlyย who they are, at all times. Zora implements these messages in her lyricism and hopes to be ableย to impact the lives of others in a positive way, no matter how widespread.