Nova's uncle Donald Ryan, a classical and jazz pianist and arranger, taught her piano lessons as a child.

[4] After college, she lived in Moscow, Russia, for a year where she studied Russian and wrote songs, producing a self-released, limited edition EP, Session I.

In 2006, she released the album "Bring Me The Workhorse" on Asthmatic Kitty Records under the moniker My Brightest Diamond and was nominated for Female Artist of the Year in the PLUG Independent Music Awards.

The My Brightest Diamond albums "A Thousand Shark's Teeth" (2008), "All Things Will Unwind" (2011), and "This Is My Hand" (2014) were also released on Asthmatic Kitty Records.

She performed vocals on Sufjan Stevens' 2010 album The Age of Adz, notably taking the lead during a section of "Impossible Soul".

In January 2012 Nova performed the premiere of the song cycle Death Speaks by David Lang with pianist Nico Muhly, violinist Owen Pallett and guitarist Bryce Dessner.

In 2015, Nova provided vocals for Sarah Kirkland Snider's Unremembered,[7] and debuted her opera (co-written with Andrew Ondrejcak), You Us We All, in the United States.