Diana Gitesha Hernandez, also known as "Gitesha" is a interdisciplinary artist.
A singer, a poet, painter, educator, printmaker, drum student, massage therapist, zen meditator, mother and yoga instructor, she continues to evolve each form with dedication, vision and commitment.
She studied music with the great pianist Barry Harris, drums with Billy Kay and vocal improvisation with Jay Clayton. She has worked and shared the stage with many preeminent artists in the jazz and poetry scene.
Co-founder of the poetic/vocal group, The Artemis Collective, Hernandez participated in the founding of The NuYorican Poetry Cafe, a longstanding and still thriving venue for poetry and music.
Her book is available on Amazon and her poems have appeared in many anthologies. “Raw Lips Melao; A Nuyorican Rhapsody"
Her debut CD, IMBUED features her voice and poetry in an eclectic weave as Miguel Algarin, founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe notes, swirl with passion.
She is a graduate from SUNY (State University of New York), with the double concentration of Jazz Performance and Painting and a Masters in Guidance Counseling from LIU, (Long Island University).
Her art work is shown and collected internationally most recently shown at Taller Boricua in the Bronx, NY.
A new CD and book of poetry, is currently in the works.
"Hernandez embraces words with a clear and pungent urgency that makes these songs swirl with passion." Miguel Algarin, Founder of Nuyorican Poets Care
"[Gitesha's]...improvisations aren't the bebop scat of Anita O'Day fame, but highly lyrical, reminiscent of Miles Davis's trumpet extemporizations and operating in parallel meters that come to rest on "weak" beats a fantastic performance." Ratzo B. Harris - (NewMusicBox.org, 8-2-2013)