STACY KOVACS
Fogo Azul NYC Director & Founder
Stacy Kovacs hails from sunny Buffalo, NY where she grew up playing piano and taking tap dance lessons at age 5 and percussion at age 8. She was in many different musical organizations as a drummer throughout her youth, and eventually learned trombone.
She is responsible for bringing Batala New York, an Afro-Brazilian Samba Reggae drumming project to New York City in 2011. As Founder, Creator, and Artistic Director of Batala New York, being part of a franchise was limiting. So, she started her own group, called Fogo Azul NYC!
Stacy Kovacs hails from sunny Buffalo, NY where she grew up playing piano and taking tap dance lessons at age 5 and percussion at age 8. She was in many different musical organizations as a drummer throughout her youth, and eventually learned trombone.
She is responsible for bringing Batala New York, an Afro-Brazilian Samba Reggae drumming project to New York City in 2011. As Founder, Creator, and Artistic Director of Batala New York, being part of a franchise was limiting. So, she started her own group, called Fogo Azul NYC!
Fogo Azul NYC is the byproduct of Batala New York . In June of 2016, Batala New York had a schism and from those ashes emerged Fogo Azul NYC. As of 2020, Fogo Azul NYC has expanded to become New York City’s most powerful women and gender non-conforming community musical group.
MULTI-TALENTED MUSICIAN
Starting out in concert percussion in 3rd grade, Stacy learned as many percussion instruments as she could. In 10th grade, she switched to trombone because her high school marching band didn’t have any trombone players! Self taught on trombone, she played jazz with Dick Clark’s American bandstand show for high school students, marched up Main Street USA at Disney World, Orlando, FL, and was a participant in the 1993 opening ceremonies of the World University Games.
Stacy then took her trombone to the Spartan Marching Band at Michigan State University where she majored in Marching Band (actually, Physiology), and had opportunities to play at two NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, 3 BCS Bowl Games (including the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii), and countless other events.
Stacy then pursued graduate school and in the process, sadly, put music aside. Fortunately, her medical training brought her to NYC in 2005 where she picked up the trombone again and joined the Big Apple Corps Marching band and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
Missing the drumming she did as a child, she found Philip Galinsky and Samba NY!, Ivo Araujo and Manhattan Samba , and Scott Kettner and Maracatu, NY. These top notch musicians showed her the ways of Brazilian percussion.
Playing at the Honk Festival in Boston in 2009, she first saw Marcus Santos and his own Bloco, aNova Brazil. She was blown away by the polyrhythms and variations of traditional Brazilian Rhythms. In the meantime, she discovered Batala, a global drumming project franchise with many identical bands who play the same rhythms, and in 2011, Stacy founded Batala New York City.
FEATURED IN GOMAG
“We are thrilled to present this year’s 100 Women We Love—an incredibly diverse group of out entertainers, athletes, artists, activists, business leaders and elected officials.”
FEATURED ON THE BRAZILIAN BEAT
Stacy was featured on episode 56 of the well known podcast “The Brazilian Beat” It’s nearly 2 hours long, so grab the popcorn!
Batala New York City quickly exploded onto the NYC music scene
Batala NYC started with a bang, with notable performances such as opening for the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Tour, accompanying Lourde and Disclosure on Saturday Night Live, being the only band chosen for the remake of the Halloween Parade for the 2016 blockbuster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, opening and playing with the singer My Brightest Diamond, and playing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup celebration for Team USA at City Hall in NYC.
Throughout Batala NYC’s 4 year history, they played over 400 shows, parades, events, parties, gala’s, and festivals. Batala NYC was even on the cover of Tom Tom Magazine in their first year of existence! After nearly 5 years of leading Batala New York, and a desire for more artistic liberty and musical challenges, as well as difficulties with the franchise leadership, Stacy dissolved Batala New York City in June 2016 and started her own group, FogoAzul NYC! The group is part of Marcus Santos’s Grooversity education project.
Stacy currently works as a Physician Assistant saving lives in a major NYC hospital and lives with her overly affectionate cats, drives a Vespa, and loves ice cream.
MULTI-TALENTED MUSICIAN
Starting out in concert percussion in 3rd grade, Stacy learned as many percussion instruments as she could. In 10th grade, she switched to trombone because her high school marching band didn’t have any trombone players! Self taught on trombone, she played jazz with Dick Clark’s American bandstand show for high school students, marched up Main Street USA at Disney World, Orlando, FL, and was a participant in the 1993 opening ceremonies of the World University Games.
Stacy then took her trombone to the Spartan Marching Band at Michigan State University where she majored in Marching Band (actually, Physiology), and had opportunities to play at two NCAA Final Four basketball tournaments, 3 BCS Bowl Games (including the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii), and countless other events.
Stacy then pursued graduate school and in the process, sadly, put music aside. Fortunately, her medical training brought her to NYC in 2005 where she picked up the trombone again and joined the Big Apple Corps Marching band and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
Missing the drumming she did as a child, she found Philip Galinsky and Samba NY!, Ivo Araujo and Manhattan Samba , and Scott Kettner and Maracatu, NY. These top notch musicians showed her the ways of Brazilian percussion.
Playing at the Honk Festival in Boston in 2009, she first saw Marcus Santos and his own Bloco, aNova Brazil. She was blown away by the polyrhythms and variations of traditional Brazilian Rhythms. In the meantime, she discovered Batala, a global drumming project franchise with many identical bands who play the same rhythms, and in 2011, Stacy founded Batala New York City.
Batala New York City quickly exploded onto the NYC music scene
Batala NYC started with a bang, with notable performances such as opening for the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Tour, accompanying Lourde and Disclosure on Saturday Night Live, being the only band chosen for the remake of the Halloween Parade for the 2016 blockbuster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, opening and playing with the singer My Brightest Diamond, and playing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup celebration for Team USA at City Hall in NYC.
Throughout Batala NYC’s 4 year history, they played over 400 shows, parades, events, parties, gala’s, and festivals. Batala NYC was even on the cover of Tom Tom Magazine in their first year of existence! After nearly 5 years of leading Batala New York, and a desire for more artistic liberty and musical challenges, as well as difficulties with the franchise leadership, Stacy dissolved Batala New York City in June 2016 and started her own group, FogoAzul NYC! The group is part of Marcus Santos’s Grooversity education project.
Stacy currently works as a Physician Assistant saving lives in a major NYC hospital and lives with her overly affectionate cats, drives a Vespa, and loves ice cream.
