The career of Detroit-based musician Shara Nova encompasses composition, singing, and songwriting, crossing genre boundaries. Often performing her own works, she has appeared with major new music ensembles and with progressive rock musicians. Nova performed with and wrote music for the band Awry, making her recording debut in 2001 on that group's self-titled album. She also made several recordings with the group My Brightest Diamond and sang background vocals on a variety of progressive rock and concert music albums. Her solo debut as a classical artist came in 2010 with Ensemble Signal on the album Sarah Kirkland Snider: Penelope. Nova has released several albums under her own name, including Hymns for Private Use, featuring the Akropolis Reed Quintet, released in 2022.