A Composer's Corner 543x1x

Rami Bar-Niv is one of Israel’s most acclaimed and sought after pianists. He travels extensively and has become an international citizen, concertizing all over the world. Born in Tel-Aviv, he graduated with honors from the Rubin Academy of Music, and was the recipient of many prizes and scholarships. He won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Competition and was awarded a scholarship to further his studies in the United States. After graduating from Mannes College of Music in New York, where he studied with the renowned Mme. Nadia Reisenberg, he won numerous competitions and embarked on a highly successful concert career. He performs regularly in North, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and of course Israel, where he received the “Best Performer Award” from the Israeli government. He appears on TV and radio, in chamber ensembles, solo recitals, and as soloist with orchestras. He is always received with great enthusiasm. Often sent abroad by the Foreign Ministry to represent Israel in concerts, he has become an ambassador of goodwill for Israel. Rami Bar-Niv made history by being the first, and so far the only, Israeli artist to perform in Egypt following the Begin/Sadat Peace Treaty. Rami’s recordings for CBS and other labels in Israel and abroad have met with praise and popularity. His recordings and videos have also been very successful on the Internet and he has often been at the top of the charts. His compositions are published, recorded and performed all over the world. Rami Bar-Niv offers music of great variety and contrast in style, and is an extremely versatile performer. Rami’s master classes, workshops, and private teaching are loved worldwide and he is constantly invited to teach in five continents. You can see more here: https://rami.ybarniv.com/ And you can see other Composer Corner interviews here: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/

Lisa Swerdlow is an accomplished pianist and composer who lives in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she grew up in a progressive Jewish family. Her mother was an elementary schoolteacher and her father worked in the garment industry. Her childhood home was full of music thanks to her father's piano, accordion and mandolin playing. Lisa studied classical piano from the age of six playing Fur Elise by Beethoven for her first piano recital at seven. She began writing and performing songs on piano and guitar at sixteen and went on to study music theory and composition at Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods. In the 1970’s Lisa performed in coffeehouses on Fairfax Avenue in L.A. and went on to play piano in a rock 'n' roll band in San Francisco. In the 1980's she performed at the West Coast Women's Music Festival and for three years, she toured Northern California with a ten-piece all women salsa band called Las Malandras. Lisa's earliest musical influences range from Laura Nyro and Carole King to Harry Belafonte and Burt Bacharach. Later in life, she was drawn to the piano music of Keith Jarrett, David Lanz, Eddy Palmiery, Antonio Carlos Jobin, Barbara Higbie and Mary Watkins. After an extended hiatus from composing and performing, she returned to the piano and produced her debut album, Equus Rising in 2017. go to Lisa's website here: https://www.lisaswerdlow.com/ See other Composer Corner Interviews here: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/

Bill Lipner aka William Edge, was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. He was surrounded from a young age by the roots sounds of the Deep South. First studying classical piano at the tender age of six and switching to jazz upon entering his teens, his muses included such legendary influences as Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis and Stevie Wonder. After receiving an MBA from Florida State University, he embarked upon a brilliant and successful career in computer technology, but his love of electronic music still remained a dominant force in his life. His ion soon morphed from that of an avocation to lifelong profession, when he began composing the first of a series of works on the computer and creating his own record label, Sounds Blue Music, both of which culminated in the conception of his new trilogy, representing mans journey to the end of the universe and perfectly paralleling Edges own sojourn through life. The lush and transporting sounds created by the American composer WILLIAM EDGE epitomize the beyond-the-curve outer space sub-genre of ambient music. Not simply technicality or performance, but instead the combining of sounds and music to create an extraordinary and individual experience for the listener, this music is also perfect for TV and movie soundtracks as well as advertising commercials. A combination of Smooth Jazz, chilled ambient vibes and relaxing blues grooves is what makes William Edge's music so inviting - take cool atmospheric beats and add sensual Smooth Jazz and you've got the recipe for Bill's music.

Ever wonder how composers approach writing music? interviewer Andrew Celentano for an interesting discussion with guest Nathan Asher Sherman who is the guitarist of Floral, a math rock band originally from the Bay Area. Nathan Asher Sherman graduated from the Berklee College of Music for Electronic Production and Sound Design and now lives in Los Angeles. His music is high energy and multi-rhythmic. His riffs are vibrant, textured and exhilarating. In our interview, he’ll talk about working on new electronic projects growing up in Palo Alto, listening to math rock for the first time, and finding meaning in life through growth. Andrew Celentano, himself a pianist and composer, interviews talented musicians who compose and often perform their own pieces.

Deborah Offenha is a world renowned pianist and composer with more than thirty years as a professional entertainer and recording artist. She has performed on stage with artists such as Isola Jones, The Four Lads, The Moody Blues, The Diamonds, Frankie Laine, and many more. Deborah has released over a dozen album/CDs worth of originalsolo piano and music orchestrations ranging from movie themes, to soundscapes, love ballads, religious hymns, Christmas music, as well as cover arrangements. Her music has been performed on TV Shows including Madame Secretary, The Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives.

To say that Schmidt is simply a performer with a talent to entertain would be a miscarriage of understatement. Schmidt takes her audiences into her world as easily as the child who discovers the endless universes that exist in a cardboard box. Schmidt weaves her way through her concert in much the same manner as a jester. Interwoven anecdotes, revealing her past and present, bring people to expect a relationship between themselves and memories driven deep with the age of time. The concert is an endless display of self-realization through humor and longing, leaving audience yearning to become an integral part of her world. Having performed on stages across the country, Schmidt has developed the ability to remain fresh. She enjoys her talent to entertain as much as the audience enjoys being entertained. Find out more about her at www.claudiaschmidt.com

Simon Hester was born in Sheffield and studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Geoffrey Pratley and Jean Harvey winning many prizes for his performances both as a soloist and accompanist. His career has covered a wide range of musical worlds, and his versatility is much ired in both classical and jazz repertoire. He gives recitals throughout Great Britain and has appeared at the Bath, Edinburgh and Exeter festivals and has toured throughout the UK and abroad with the highly successful show “All You Ever Wanted to Know about Opera” Simon performs frequently with the violinist Carmine Lauri, and has also worked with the distinguished violinist Maurice Hasson having appeared with him in recitals throughout Europe. You can find out more about him on his website, YouTube, and SoundCloud: https://www.simonhestercomposer.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SimonHesterLonelyPianist https://soundcloud.com/simon-hester-sistermusic

Dan Pallotta hailed from Malden Massachusetts and inherited a love of music from both sides of his family. As a young man, he went to Los Angeles and tried his luck at country music song writing. He impressed Clive Davis and ended up writing a song for Edgar Winter called “Stranger to Love”. But things didn’t work out - and instead he created a non-profit spanning 16 states and employing 400 people, raisings nearly $600 million in 9 years to address AIDS, breast cancer, and suicide. He has given a very popular TED talk on why so many charities are ineffective - and he has a documentary film out now based on his first book “Uncharitable”. He is now in his early 60’s and is returning to music after a 30-year hiatus. Dan has beautiful music videos that we will review that often explore the struggles people face in the world. Please me for an enlightening experience with the multi-talented Dan Pallotta. You can find out more here: https://www.danpallotta.com/

Composer & cellist Barry Phillips has been performing folk, new, classical and Indian classical/crossover music for many years. As a cellist, Barry has toured worldwide with Ravi Shankar's daughter's group - The Anoushka Shankar Project. Venues have included the Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall-London, The Music Academy-Budapest, Sydney Opera House, Bangalore Palace Grounds, London's LSO St. Lukes, CRR Concert Hall-Istanbul, as well as the Royal Concert Hall-Glasgow as soloist (along with four top fiddlers) with the Scottish National Orchestra. Barry has arranged quite a lot of Northern European folk music exploring American and Celtic folk tunes. Barry's CD, "Tråd." is a collection of Scandinavian tunes arranged for cello, nyckelharpa (Olov Johansson) and fiddle. Many of Barry's recordings can be heard in various Ken Burns documentaries. In 2012 Barry received a Grammy as producer/engineer of Ravi Shankar's CD The Living Room Sessions Part 1. You can find out more about Barry here: http://www.barryphillipsmusic.com/

James Cooke, AKA CaptC, is a Massachusetts based singer / songwriter who composes indie rock-pop and flannel country songs. Many of his songs are accompanied with videos and some of the more recent ones take advantage of AI based design technology which gives them an interesting edge. His videos are on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and you can find his songs on Spotify, Pandora, and other platforms. You can find out more about him at https://captcmusic.com/

host Andrew Celentano, a talented New England pianist and composer himself, for an interesting interview with Robert Dale Klein. Klein’s songs and compositions have been performed on radio and TV, in films, musical theater, and on stages across the USA and foreign countries in both hemispheres. They’ve also garnered recognition from Country Music Television (CMT), the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest and the Berklee College of Music. Eight of the ten songs on his album “This Side of the Dirt” have made the Top Five or Top Ten on KC Café Radio in Kansas City. Numerous critically-acclaimed artists have co-written songs with Bob, including Dan Navarro, Phil Madeira, Will Kimbrough, Cindy Morgan, Jennifer Ferguson Smith, Sasha Lazard, Juliana MacDowell, Donna Britton, David Glaser, Chuck McDowell, John Mulder, and Lauren Calve. Bob is a Coordinator of both the Washington, D.C. Metro Area chapter of NSAI and of NSAI’s entire Mid-Atlantic Region. He is a member of the Songwriters Association of Washington, Folk Alliance International, and the Americana Music Association. You can find more information on him here: https://www.robertdaleklein.com/epk

Vivian Fang Liu, Award-winning Pianist, Singer, Songwriter, Grammy voting member and Educator. Ms. Liu holds two master's degrees in Music Education from Teachers College Columbia University and Classical Piano Performance from New York University. Her performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Hammerstein Hall in New York, St. John Smith Hall in London, and Mozart Hall in Vienna. Ms. Liu has been invited to sing the American national anthem multiple times at the Professional baseball MLB and basketball WNBA games at Citi Field Stadium and Barclays Center in New York. She was also invited to perform at Gracie Mansion, the former New York Mayor Bloomberg's residence on the NYCHA Celebration Day. Ms. Liu was invited to Perform as a special guest for many famous singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan in their North American tour concerts. In Composition, Ms. Liu’s original single "Listen to Beethoven" won the Silver Award of Singer-songwriter category at the Global Music Awards in 2018. You can find more on her here: https://www.vivianfangliu.com/

Kathy is a writer, singer and activist who believes that all life is permeated with the sacred. She is ionate about writing music that fosters hope and healing for our world. Kathy is deeply committed to working for non-violence, racial justice and advocating for the protection and healing of our planet, especially through songwriting. She has published music over five decades that is cherished around. “In over 50 years as a composer, it’s been my ion to express beauty, joy, love and celebration, courage, healing and hope through song. I want my music to inspire those who listen to take actions on behalf of peace and justice I want my music to make a difference in people’s lives and in some small way to be a blessing for the world. Sister Kathy has a YouTube channel with over 280 videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCblVX1C12gKAFZZ0VQoEX2A And you can find her music albums online here: FREE FOR THE LISTENING (donations welcome) https://ministryofthearts.org/music-by-album

John Albert Thomas is a solo piano composer and recording artist specializing in trauma-informed piano music. His solo piano music has been described as quiet, meditative and peaceful, soothing the soul. It is a unique blend of Contemporary Classical, Christian, and New Age Piano genres. Inspired by real people, John seeks to recognize their uniqueness and worth through original music, and to express God's matchless love for them in a tangible way. Though not a touring artist, John occasionally s other artists in concert. His family of six live on their country farm in Arlington, Tennessee, just a stone’s throw from Memphis. you can see more about him here: https://johnalbertthomas.com/

Do you enjoy classical compositions? Ever wonder how composers approach writing music? us for an interesting interview with a composer of classical music, Erik Lindgren. Erik’s education includes Tufts University, University of Iowa, and London’s Guildhall School of Music where he had opportunities to study with T.J. Anderson, Alfred Nieman, Donald Jenni, Richard Hervig, Peter Lewis and others. Learn about his musical beginnings to becoming a talented contemporary classical composer with compositions ranging from solo piano pieces to chamber music to orchestral works. Our interviewer is Andrew Celentano, a pianist and composer himself. You can find out more about Erik here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Lindgren

Rapper Ethan Cohen, aka Emoney, posted his first single on his YouTube channel (Emoney Music) in 2010 titled "Emoney- People Are Crazy." In 2017 he starred in the sixth season of the reality show ARE YOU THE ONE (AYTO) on MTV. He has been releasing a variety of rap music and videos all this time and often writes his own music as well. Ethan is from Sonoma, CA. He has worked behind the scenes on notable TV shows, and has acted in a few shorts. But he is most known for his work in the underground hip hop world. He has accumulated over 1 million views on his YouTube page. He is an all-around entertainer, and markets himself as an internet personality as well as a rapper. He recently started a YouTube series called "Emoney is Chill." One thing's for sure, Emoney isn't stopping any time soon. You can find him on YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, SoundCloud, and all the music channels. See his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@EmoneyMusic

Gary declared to his parents when he was six that he would be a pianist when he grew up. Incredibly, the dream came through and he has been writing, recording, and performing now for more than 30 years. His journey started in classical piano. But as time went on, he found himself evolving deeper into the meditative side of music and striving to provide a much-needed musical oasis for our times. When he composes, he tries to reach for something on the "other side" and bring his listeners to a place of calm and regeneration. In 2016, Gary was awarded an instrumental album of the year award from One World Radio. He has performed in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Europe and has performed at both Carnegie Hall and the Grand Old Opry. You can find wonderful videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@GarySchmidtPianist And more information at: https://www.garyschmidtmusic.com/

Jacob “NTHNL” Rudin is a classically trained composer and pianist turned multi-flutist, producer and sound-healing practitioner. Having created electronic and acoustic music in a wide variety of contexts since 2012, Jacob works in both the healing and contemporary music worlds, drawing on a rich sonic practice that involves experimental sound design, field recording, and virtuosic performances on a wide range of instruments. He frequently holds meditative sound baths in the greater NYC area. You can find more on Instagram and https://www.nthnlsound.com/ Here is an overseas review: The American producer serves us a sumptuous instrument work that reminds us of Floating Points, Anenon and Nils Petter Molvaer for the approach at Ambient meditative qualities. Organic arrangements, with its recording of the surrounding sounds, juxtaposed with the Nippon -inspired flute and electronic sounds are moving away from the sempiternal New Age music with grace. You can find more interviews like this at: www.AComposersCorner.com

Philip Wesley, is an award-winning and best-selling solo piano artist. His compositions, which have featured prominently in radio, TV, and film, resonate with listeners worldwide and are easily accessible on platforms such as Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon. Wesley has achieved impressive chart-topping success, including reaching #1 on iTunes and multiple Billboard charts. He started out as a guitar player and then gravitated to the piano when it was required in his musical training. Philip entered the world of Music Therapy and his album "Dark Night of the Soul" has touched the hearts of many deeply, helped them deal with tough times and depression. You will see some of that evidenced in this interview. For more information, visit his website: www.philipwesley.com You will find over 30 complete songs on the website. In addition, he has a blog with wonderful insight into the musical chords he uses and the composer's thoughts behind the construction of some of his pieces.

Didi Stewart is an associate professor in the Voice Department at Berklee College of Music. A two-time winner of the Boston Music Award for best female vocalist, Stewart has been a longtime fixture on the Boston music scene. Her first original rock band, Didi Stewart and the Amplifiers, recorded the album Begin Here for Kirshner/Epic Records in 1983. Her second band, Girls' Night Out, was one of the top-grossing acts in New England and was named best unsigned band by Musician magazine in 1986. Throughout the 1990s, Stewart was known her ongoing series of songwriter tributes, celebrating such composers as Laura Nyro, Carole King, Randy Newman, Jacques Brel, Rodgers & Hart, and Cole Porter. The critically acclaimed An Evening of Burt Bacharach and Hal David won a Boston Magazine award for best club performance. A prolific composer for film and television, Stewart's songs have been featured on Melrose Place, One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless, Touched by an Angel, Dark Skies, Any Day Now, The Twilight Zone, and The Beast. Her most recent album, the country-pop excursion Harmonyville, was released in 2006. We will be covering a wide range of her music including some very topical political satire. You can find out more about Didi here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063706440404