Nancy Stearns has been a regular on the New York City cabaret circuit since 2001.  Nancy first “found” cabaret as a student at Helen Baldassare’s Cabaret Performance Workshop, for which Nancy later served as Administrator.

When Nancy began performing, she had a long background as a public interest lawyer.  But once she started to sing, she didn’t stop.  From 2001 - 2014, Nancy performed a new show each year at Don’t Tell Mama or the Metropolitan Room in New York City with her music director, Gregory Toroian, and directed by Helen Baldassare.  After a four-year hiatus, with Women’s Lives, she returns to cabaret, previously at Don’t Tell Mama and now at The Duplex.

 Nancy loves the intimacy of cabaret and the way the art of cabaret enables the singer to “speak” to her audience.  Rob Lester, of TalkinBroadway.com has described Nancy’s singing this way: “Sometimes it doesn't take the biggest voice to make a big impact. Nancy Stearns, though quite musical, is rather a minimalist as a singer. Crisp and clear, she sings the notes lightly but doesn't sustain them; however, she sustains interest with her thoughtful renditions. Focusing on the words, she serves them by having a presentation that is direct and persuasive.”

Gregg Culling has said: “Stearns possesses a soft, soothing voice that is very easy on the ear, and it's obvious from the start that she knows her way around a lyric. She chooses songs based on what they say to her, in hopes that they may also impress the listener. She has spent most of her life, after growing up in the 1940s and 50s, as a lawyer, using her skills working for women's rights, the anti-war movement, the environment, and such. So, obviously, she meticulously chooses words carefully, and never fails to articulate them.”

 After performing for several years, Nancy felt frustrated by the fact that when each new show was over, the music she wanted to share was “gone”, so she turned to the recording studio.  Nancy has now recorded seven of her shows with Gregory Toroian and David Finck: The Words of Women (2006), Sing Me A Song With Social Significance … Or Not (2006), With Rhyme, But For No Particular Reason(2007), This Moment (2008), Yip Harburg: With Humor and Hope (2009), Weather or Not (2011), and A Wish (2012).  Her CDs are available at CDBABY.com and can be heard on Pandora, Spotify, iTunes and other on-line cites.