CHORDS
As a child, I walked 3 miles round trip to synagogue every shabbat with my father, a rabbi. I struggled to keep up. But I remember the curve of his hand. The service, the community and the power of prayer. The nusach (tunes) of the davening (prayers).
I was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household in 1970s Denver with whatever culture my Mom could find. It might not have been New York, but we heard Billy Joel live. Beethoven at the symphony. 613 Torah Avenue on the record player.
MELODIES
At 14, a friend showed me a chord on the piano. And right then, I realized I was a songwriter. No one saw it coming. I’d failed at the flute, given up on the piano and I couldn’t carry a tune. I didn’t know how to read or write music.
Did I feel like an outsider? Absolutely. But I kept going. Because this inner calling wouldn’t go away.
So I I recorded after midnight for half price. I bought a guitar. I sang at Starbucks. I tried to start a band. Family and friends showed up. Not many others came, but I didn’t care. My songs became an expression of my life and my connection to the divine.
Then, at the New England Conservatory of Music, I stumbled upon Jewish music. I discovered that my own cultural lineage, the very thing I’d been avoiding, was such a treasure.
So I kept singing and performing. Through marriage, bike rides and motherhood. And then--after a pregnancy loss, my heart was broken open. Everything changed. I took stock of my life from the inside out. I realized I didn’t have all the time in the world. I left my job and devoted myself to making music. I recorded a music video every month for four years. It became my life’s work, my contribution to humanity. The sheer joy of creating nourished me like nothing else. I began coaching other creatives on how to bring their artistic visions into the world.
THE WHOLE SONG
These days, I love biking, composting and letting my three kids stay up too late. We often hit the 100-book limit at the library. We live with two parakeets and a guinea pig named Oreo. One of our favorite family moments was singing Total Eclipse of the Heart on the way to see the actual eclipse. Current project: Moving our family to Israel.
I am also Harvard educated. I’ve received multiple honors for my music and my leadership across the years, including the Planetree Music Video Award and an invitation to Hanukkah party at the White House in 2014.
But none of that means more to me than songwriting, singing and coaching others to find their courage. Music is all I wanted to do when I was 16 and it’s all I want to do now. Because art--mine and yours--heals us like nothing else.
What heals you? What would break your heart wide open? The more you risk showing who you are, the more we can love you.
With love and courage,
In 2016, I was seeking a more realized sound. Singing solo sometimes felt like a sketch rather than a whole composition. I was yearning for a more complete sound. A deeper experience. And I knew that with a band would come more possibility and collaboration. I also knew it had to be the right players.
Fortunately, I found them.
David Ross has strong musical roots and began piano lessons at age six. His credentials include four years of classical percussion, a year of classical voice, and a bachelor’s degree in musical composition from the University of California as well as a Certificate of Songwriting from UCLA. David writes and performs his own music, which has been played across the world, and has arranged, directed, accompanied or performed in over 100 musical productions and ensembles at myriad organizations for participants age 3-93. He also runs his own piano studio for kids and adults, melding positivity, creativity, technology along with his love of music into a distinctive learning experience. David is a big Boston Celtics fan and believes “to truly inspire is to live”. If he could claim any musical piece as his own it would be “Symphony No. 9” by Beethoven.
Andreas hails from Switzerland and started with the traditional Basel drum when he was nine. He developed his individual sound through studies at New York’s Drummers’ Collective, pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and receiving a master’s in music education at the Zurich Conservatory. Andreas also studied the cajón at the Taller Flamenco in Seville. He’s performed across the US and Europe, and has studied under renowned teachers such as Joe Hunt, Jamey Haddad, Ian Froman and Marcello Pellitieri. Andreas is inspired by silence, passionate about the Ambri-Piotta hockey club (clearly my favorite) and would, if he could, claim Sting’s “Fields of Gold”, as his own. n
Physical Therapist, LPT
Starting with piano lessons at 5, Ben cut his teeth on Scott Joplin’s ragtime piano songs (thanks to the popularity of the movie “The Sting”) before also taking up guitar and bass in high school. In addition to a hopeless case of musical instrument acquisition syndrome, this training allows him rare opportunities like being guitar sideman for jazz violin virtuoso Andy Stein when he comes to Colorado; or playing accordion in the DCPA's production of Indecent, These days, Ben plays harpsichord and lutes for Semplice Baroque, electric bass and tuba for Hal Aqua and the Lost Tribe, and accordion for his own klezmer band, the Klez Dispensers. By day he’s an appellate lawyer. Ben can think of no greater artistic genius than Stephen Sondheim. "A Little Night Music" is still his favorite.
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