Nello Novela is a musician, composer, sound designer, performer, dancer and actor, currently based in Zurich. He became familiar with (traditional African) music and dance from an early age on. Playing guitar, percussion and Balafons in ceremonies allowed him to dive deep into the art of sounds and bring it into vocal and body rhythms.

As a solo artist and as part of a band, dance or theater group, he already made an impressive musical journey, which allowed him to play in renown venues in Europe and beyond (Africa, Asia, South America).  

In 2005 Nello Novela took guitar and vocal curses at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music and Dance (Codarts) to develop his musical knowledge. At the same time with his family band NecoNovellas he conducted several workshops for different music subjects in department of classic music, jazz, pop,dance and world music.

In Rotterdam he joined is family band NecoNovellas band and they quickly became part of the world/jazz scene in the Netherlands. Together they recorded two albums and played in several famous concert venues and festivals like the North Sea Jazz Festival, le Trianon, Mundial Festival, Mexico Ollinkan Festival, Kosice Jazz Festival, Sofia World Music Festival, and many more. Besides playing the electric guitar and backing vocals he was also involved in composing and booking.  

In 2008 Nello Novela went solo and began to build up his own mixed style of sound in electric and acoustic music and body rhythms. Influenced through worldwide traditional and western music. He formed his band Nello Novela and since then he is performing in several constellations solo or band.

Especially as a solo artist Nello creates his own compositions, not only with his voice and guitar, he also uses different other instruments and body talks to create sounds from nature. During his whole career as a musician, he is co-working with other professionals in the fields of music, dance and filmmaking and is giving workshops in music and movement to all kinds of groups and generations.  

In Switzerland, since 2015, Nello has been working in different theater and dance projects as a sound designer, actor and performer.

With the dance company “Cie Zeitsprung” (CH) Nello performed 2016 at the Beijing International Dance Festival. The following year they went for an Asian tour, where they performed in known theaters and ran a series of workshops in several primary schools and universities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Shangai, Beijing, Cheng du,Sichuan Sanxi, and the Philippines. With this he took a huge part in fostering cultural exchanges in Asia through music and dance; an extraordinary melting pot of theatrical music, body rhythms and spontaneous improvisation.  

In Switzerland he played and performed already at Locarno Film Festival, Moods, and many more. He was co-working with several theater and dance companies at Gessnerallee (Zurich), Tanzhaus, Dampfzentrale Bern, Theater Basel, Roxy (Basel) or Maxim Theater (Zurich) and more. He was also acting in a short film production. 2024 he will be present at Swiss dance days for the project Solidarity (Spring Production).