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Elika Mahony (born 1970) is a vocalist, composer, pianist and artist. She was born in the United States, raised in Kenya and her parents are from Iran. Her main instrument is the piano, but she also plays the guitar. She released her first CD, Melodies of the Nightingale, in 1997 at the age of 27, and since then has gone on to release six studio albums and several singles. She has also been featured on several compilation albums.

Personal Life
Elika Mahony was born in Oakland, California on the 30th of November, 1970. She moved to Kenya at the age of five, where she went to the International School of Kenya and lived there for the rest of her child and teen lives. She started studying classical piano at the age of five, and left Kenya at the age of 18 to major in interdisciplinary studies at UC Berkley, where she started to compose her own music. It was at this time that she started setting the Baha'i writings to music. Currently, Elika Mahony lives in Beijing, China, with her husband, Tarrant Mahony, and two children, Taraz and Amelia Mahony.

Music
Elika Mahony released her debut album, Melodies of the Nightingale, in 1997. It was created in collaboration with two other musicians, Michelle Brown and Fiona Doomun-Rouhani. This album was the start of her musical career, and since then she has released five studio albums, and has featured on another four. She has also released one EP and three singles. Four years later, she released her second album, Melodies of the Nightingale for the Family, which was a follow up to her first CD, Melodies of the Nightingale. Produced by Paul Meredith, Melodies of the Nightingale for the Family focused on prayers and meditations from the Baha'i writings on the theme of family, parents, children and youth. For six and a half years, Elika Mahony didn't release any new music, until Fire and Gold came out on January 1st of 2008, which was produced by Jarome Matthew. Fire and Gold blended eastern and western music, and included songs in English, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese. The theme of this album was tests and difficulties and included a wide variety of instruments, such as the Persian nay flute, the Celtic harp, the santour, flutes, cellos, the Chinese erhu and the Spanish guitar. Exactly one year later, Elika Mahony released her new album, Birds of Love, along with a Birds of Love Book and CD Gift Set. This album was focused on the theme of marriage, with quotes from several different sources, including the Baha'i writings, The Bible, French author Hentri Matisse as well as an Apache wedding blessing. In the Birds of Love CD Gift Set, a special book was included, which has quotations and Chinese paintings on each page. On April 15, 2011, Elika Mahony released her first EP, Edge of Forever, which had four songs. Edge of Forever was her first album to have original lyrics. The song Eternal Beloved was released in the EP, but was also released as a single on the same day. On January 1, 2012, Elika Mahony released her first instrumental album, Glimmerings. Glimmerings was a quick success, as it placed on John P. Olsen's list of 10 Best New Age Albums of 2012, as well as ranking third on the Zone Music Reporter top 100 radio airplay chart for December, 2012. Glimmerings was also nominated for the "2012 Album of the Year" in the new age category and "2012 Instrumental Piano Album of the Year”. In May, 2012, Elika Mahony released her second single, Amame, which was in both Spanish and English. Amame also featured Ali Youssefi on the guitar and as vocals. Two days after Amame was released, The Photograph, which was a song and music video which featured Elika Mahony as a vocalist was released. On September 16, 2012, Elika Mahony released her third single, Heavenly Wings, which was composed for her son's 15th birthday, and is available for free download.

Discography

 * Melodies of the Nightingale (1997)
 * Melodies of the Nightingale for the Family (2001)
 * Fire And Gold (2008)
 * Birds of Love (2009)
 * Birds of Love Book and CD Gift Set (2009)
 * Edge of Forever (2011)
 * Eternal Beloved (2011)
 * Glimmerings (2012)
 * Amame (2012)
 * The Photograph (2012)
 * Heavenly Wings (2012)