Karina Pasian

Karina Pasian (born July 18, 1991) is a Grammy Nominated recording artist and pianist.
Karina Pasian was born in New York City, of Dominican and Armenian descent. Her first language was Russian, and she can sing in six other languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, and French. She first began taking piano lessons at the age of three from her babysitter, and began classical piano training while in kindergarten. She began working with a vocal coach at the age of eight, and attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City alongside Taylor Momsen and Mark Indelicato.
In 2003, Pasian met Quincy Jones, who invited her and her family to his home in Bel Air, California. Soon after this, Pasian performed and won on Star Search. She also performed at Quincy Jones' We Are The Future concert in Rome. On June 22, 2007, Pasian performed at the White House for President George W. Bush, in celebration of Black Music Month, making her the first person of Dominican descent to perform there.
Pasian became the subject of a bidding war, when she was thirteen, between three major record labels: Def Jam, Interscope, and Bad Boy Records. She chose Def Jam in 2006
Pasian's first album First Love was released August 19, 2008. The first single was "16 @ War", released in June 2008. The album was nominated for an American Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary R&B album.
A new 6 track EP, Trips To Venus, was released digitally worldwide on December 12, 2011. Her piano version of "The Christmas Song" is also currently available Digitally Worldwide.
Pasian collaborated with Skye Townsend on her single, "Go Fish" in 2012. During the summer a music video was shot and directed by Robert Townsend in Los Angeles, California.[citation needed]