Biography

Ganna Gryniva is a singer and composer from Berlin. She emigrated from Ukraine to Germany with her parents in 2002. Today, Ganna is considered “one of the most impressive singers and musicians on the European jazz and world music scene” (Ö1 radio, Austria). The last album HOME by her ethno-jazz quintet was released in November 2022 on BERTHOLD records and was celebrated by the music press as “Album of the Year” (DLF Kultur radio, DE) and “Jazz Highlight of the Year” (Bayerischer Rundfunk radio, DE). Her solo debut album KUPALA was released by BERTHOLD records in October 2023 and also received much praise from the music press: “These are sounds of enchanting beauty”, BR-Klassik radio (DE); “Everyone can only be excited about her highly virtuoso and at the same time down-to-earth and accessible music”, JAZZTHETIK Magazine (DE); “One of the best albums of the year with a conscious desire to get rid of all words for the sake of the ineffable.” Varianty Magazine (UA).

Ganna unfolds her various cultural roots in her music combining Ukrainian folklore with jazz, improvised and experimental music. Inspired by folklore research travels to various regions of Ukraine, Ganna is actively committed to spreading the cultural heritage of Ukraine internationally. 

The album KUPALA was completed in collaboration with the Swiss drummer Julian Sartorius, the Ukrainian poet Tanja Maljartschuk and the London producer Tomáš Kašpar. In 2020, Ganna collaborated with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Louis Cole, Michael League, Pedro Martins and Daniel Santiago on the Heartcore Records label project by Kurt Rosenwinkel and Michaela Bóková “Heartcore for Ukraine”. In August 2020, Double Moon Records and JazzThing Next Generalion released the GANNA Ensemble’s debut album “Dykyi Lys” (“Wild Fox” from Ukrainian), which received great acclaim from the international music press.

Recent highlights include performances at the Bucht der Träumer, JAZZ BEZ Festival Lviv (UA), XJAZZ Festival in Berlin, Stockholm Women’s International Jazz Festival (SE), Nefertiti Jazz Club Gothenburg (SE), Jazz in Park Festival Cluj-Napoca (RO), Green Hours Festival Bucharest (RO), Jazzopen Festival in Stuttgart, Rudolstadt Festival, Ingolstädter Jazztage, Volksbühne Berlin, Schauspiel Hannover, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Voicingers Festival in Paris (FR) and Riga (LV).

In 2019, Ganna completed her jazz studies at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar, where she studied with Michael Schiefel, Jeff Cascaro and Frank Möbus. Ganna also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Leipzig. Ganna regularly tours Germany, Sweden, France, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, South Africa and other countries with her own bands, as a sidewoman and as a teacher for jazz and improvised voice.