About Diane
Jazz singer and songwriter Diane Nalini sings and writes songs in four languages (English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish). Born in Montreal to Belgian and Goan parents, her multilingual repertoire draws from her lifelong passion for jazz, French Chanson, Brazilian popular song, and great literature.
“She captures jazz at its most sophisticated and joyous level.”
– Elle Magazine Canada
“I just love Diane Nalini’s voice. This is a sassy, ‘ripe plum in the Italian sun’ kind of voice… She has such sweet and effortless pitch, it’s beautiful.”
– Katie Malloch, CBC radio’s Jazzbeat and Tonic
An accomplished songwriter and composer, Diane has released five critically acclaimed albums, and her original songs have been featured in major Hollywood releases, indie films, television shows, and video games. Performance highlights include singing at gala events for President Bill Clinton and Sir Paul McCartney, opening for Jimmy Webb, and appearing at major international festivals across Canada, the UK, the United States, Malta, and South Africa.
Future Perfect, Diane's latest album, explores the tension between our deepest hopes and fears about love, climate change, and the technology that shapes our lives. Her wide-ranging discography also includes Kiss Me Like That (2009), an album exploring humanity’s fascination with the sky and stars, and Songs of Sweet Fire (2005), featuring Diane's original jazz, bossa nova, and blues settings of William Shakespeare's plays and sonnets—accompanied by a full 20-page booklet with lyrics illustrated with her own original watercolour paintings.
Beyond music, Diane is a true Renaissance woman. She performed and studied classical ballet, jazz and modern dance for over 15 years. She obtained her bachelor’s in honours physics from McGill University and earned her doctorate in applied physics from the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Diane held a faculty position in the physics department of the University of Guelph before moving to Ottawa to serve in the federal Public Service working on international climate and air pollution. She frequently speaks on the intersection of music and physics at events like Google’s SciFooCamp, has given keynote talks at numerous teachers conferences and science fairs across Canada, and chaired panel discussions at events ranging from the Guelph International Jazz Festival Colloquium to the Millennium Scholarship "Think Again" conference on Parliament Hill. Diane featured in the opening episode of the "Science of the Senses" series on CBC's The Nature of Things, where she performed her arrangement of "The Lover And His Lass" at the open and close of the episode.