Marika Hughes is a cellist, singer, songwriter and native New Yorker from a musical family; her grandfather was the cellist Emanuel Feuermann. Marika holds dual degrees in Political Science and Cello Performance from Barnard College and the Juilliard School, respectively. She has been a storyteller on The Moth Radio Hour. Marika has worked with Whitney Houston, Lou Reed, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Adele, D’Angelo, Idina Menzel, Taylor Mac, Nels Cline, William Kentridge, The Uptown String Quartet and Henry Threadgill among many others. Marika has self-released three albums: The Simplest Thing (2011), Afterlife Music Radio (2011) and New York Nostalgia (2016). She was a member of  heralded Bay Area based bands 2 Foot Yard and Charming Hostess. She has been the cellist chair holder in the show Hadestown since its Broadway opening in 2019. Marika is the founder and director of Looking Glass Arts, an artist-led creative residency program and recording space in Upstate New York; offering artist residencies on the non-profit's 15 acre property in their 100 year-old barn. Looking Glass Arts prioritizes artists of the Global Majority; democratizing access to the space, time and natural beauty critical to artistic growth.