Growing up in a family of musicians, music was Raina’s first language. Whether playing improvisation games on a long car ride or singing made up stories while her dad played the piano, these formative familial experiences of music making continue to be the basis of her process. Raina began to write songs at an early age as a way to make space for her own voice. These songs eventually developed into a real habit, leading her to apply to college as a songwriter, the beginnings of what would continue to be a positive obsession. Raina studied at Bard College, graduating in 2016 with a major in Music. She focused on Jazz composition and performance. She studied Jazz piano and Classical voice. She dug into free improvisation – bringing her childhood games into instrumental ensembles. She studied poetry – negotiating between meaning and sonic playfulness. For her Senior Thesis, she composed two hours of music for a wide array of instruments and voices. After graduating, Raina attended the Johnny Mercer Songwriters project in 2017 where she wrote songs that would later be on her debut album If They’re Mine released in Spring 2021. Over the past 6 years, Raina has had concerts of her original music at venues in New York City such as Brooklyn Bowl, SOB’s, Public Records, to name a few, with ensembles ranging from trio to octet. She has toured the East Coast multiple times, did a solo run in Europe in 2022, and is set for a 2-week tour in the West Coast in November 2022. Digging into the free Jazz scene in NYC, Raina has had the honor of playing with composer and bass player William Parker, performing with him at venues such as The Kitchen, Roulette, Town Hall, and at Sons D’Hiver Festival in Paris. She recorded an album of Parker’s music as part of his box set Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World that was released in January 2021. Collaboratively, Raina is a part of Emergence Collective which is made up of four music-artists; Kate Douglas, Matthew Marsh, Sylver Wallace, and herself. Here they lean into the glory of multiple voices. Emergence Collective was in Residence at the Ancram Opera House in 2021 where they developed their docu-musical ‘Perennials’. They are currently finishing an album of this music set for release in Spring 2023. In addition to her performance and compositional work, Raina teaches private lessons in piano, voice, composition, and improvisation to people ages 5-40. She also teaches music to groups via programs facilitated by Art for Arts and Town Hall.