Nova Voce: Other Lives - Alex Maizlish

Other Lives is a continuing series of posts about choir members.  In this edition, we are pleased to feature

Alex Maizlish.

Alex Maizlish - Bass

In the Choir

We are delighted to introduce Alex Maizlish to our Nova Voce family.  Alex sings Bass. He joined the choir a half a year ago. You’ll read later in the piece about his musical journey but when asked how and why he joined Nova Voce, he said he has been singing in various choirs in Germany and Russia since he was six. He had some spare time and wanting to keep that run of choir singing going, he did the thing we are doing more and more these days: he Googled us.

What he found, in addition to the fun and varied repertoire of the Sacred, Secular and Silly concert in March 2025, was, in his words, ‘nice Canadian people’. And while he has not been with us long, he said his best memory so far has been the March 2025 concert, which his son declared was the best performance he had ever attended.

Outside the Choir

Alex is in his mid-forties.  He’s married to Yulia, a photographer and security systems installer. They have one son, Martin.  When we asked about his professional background, the answer was intriguing. Imagine working as a surveyor 600 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle or spending two years recording and performing with the renowned Urals Cossack Choir based in Germany and the Netherlands. You get the idea.

Alex is currently an off-shore surveyor. We use the word ‘currently’ cautiously. In his own words… I love to travel. After graduating from university as a journalist I started to work as a surveyor, just because I could travel more. When, in 2006 I was invited to join the Urals Cossacks Choir in Germany, I did not hesitate a second because they had concerts every day in many European cities and towns - it was life on wheels. I loved it. Then I got invited to work as a topographer on the Yamal Peninsula, 600 kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle. So, I switched back to my career as a surveyor. It took three emigrations (USA, Israel, Canada) to finally settle down here in Nova Scotia.

Musically, Alex talks about his multiple connections to performing … I play piano and guitar, and can write and arrange music. I have spent a lot of time singing in vocal ensembles. One of the videos of a vocal group I sang in got over 146,000 views, more than 4000 likes and over 230 comments. In Canada, I belong to an instrumental trio - Gentle Tides Trio. The group consists of cello, guitar, bass. We perform mostly soft jazz. In Russia I have been in numerous church and secular choirs and rock bands. I have recorded albums of my own music, the first when I was 19, then at 21 and the last one at 31.

We wondered if there were any current goals, musically and otherwise. He replied …. Singing with Nova Voce, of course, but contrary to my never-ending wanderlust to experience other places, gardening is getting more and more exciting with every year. However, on point with his travel bug, Alex said he would love to go to Newfoundland to explore Gros Morne National Park this year.

We always end up our Other Lives feature with a couple of introspective questions.

If we were to ask others who know you, how would they describe you? He replied... He’s obsessed with world's politics, and I wish I had had as lucky a life as him.”

Do you have a motto you live by? Alex claimed he has no mottoes, though admitted he had experimented with some in the past. Forgive us for helping him out a little here. We propose he has already internalized the following, that the world is out there to experience, and Alex is going after it.

Thanks, Alex, for being our featured Nova Voce choir member.