Riv

Riv (real name Ruvarashe Ngwenya) is an Australian based musician of Zimbabwean descent. Her music revolves around RnB, jazz, pop and hip-hop genres. She is also a songwriter and performer. Her passion for music developed at tender age. At the age of five, she was already showing signs of a great musician. After pursuing her music talent and studying at the Victorian College of Arts Secondary School, she won her first major competition, the Future Leaders Jazz award and performed live at Federation Square as well as the well-known Bennetts lane jazz club.

Riv gained more experience by performing at the State Schools Spectacular shows and which had crowds of up to 10 000. Riv also studied Contemporary Music at the Victorian College of Arts, where she focused on creating more original music and developing an image and sound. She graduated in 2013.

Her professional music career began at the Melbourne jazz venue Bennett’s Lane in 2009 when she was invited to perform at the opening of the International Women’s Jazz Festival. The following year Ruvarashe won the Future Leaders Jazz Award and got to perform in front of thousands of people in Federation Square as part of the Melbourne Jazz Festival. In 2010, she was selected as a solo vocalist to feature in the Shine On: State Schools Spectacular. She also played the role of Shenzi in the celebrated Lion King Musical in Australia. She also performed at the International Women’s Jazz Festival (2009).