User:Betongmandarin/Stephanie Winters

New York-based cellist Stephanie Winters has recorded and toured the United States and the world as a musical pioneer, bringing the strength and richness of her instrument to different musical forms, styles and settings. Consistently pushing the limits of her classical training, Stephanie has performed and recorded with Richie Havens, Enya, Michael Jones, Dar Williams, Corrine Bailey Rae, Anne Murray, Paula Cole, The O'Jays and many others.

Training and Education
Beginning her cello studies in the fourth grade in the Levittown, New York, public school music program Stephanie went on to graduate from the Juilliard School, Pre-College Division. She holds a B.F.A in cello performance from Purchase College (State University of New York) and an M.A. in Music Education from Columbia University. Stephanie has taught cello performance at the New School (1987-93) and privately.

Performance and Recording
For more than fifteen years, Stephanie played an average of a hundred performances a year in the United States and around the world. From 1991-99, she formed one half of the innovative "modern-jazz-inflected-new-acoustic-pop folk" duo The Nudes, touring nationwide and gaining extensive coverage, including in Billboard magazine, which wrote: 'Discerning modern rock, college, and contemporary jazz programmers should find time for this nifty new release by unique alternative-folk duo... The offbeat "Tango In Love," as well as "It Takes Two" and "Make Up Your Mind," are ringing/rhythmic ballads that don't recall anything else on the airwaves.' The Nudes released three CD albums: The Nudes (1993), Velvet Sofa (1996) ('Winters does most of the shading on cello, contributing woody tones that give the music additional resonance and character' Washington Post), and Boomerang (1998), and licensed recordings to an HBO series.

Dar Williams' 'sturdy guitar work was gorgeously complemented by Stephanie Winters's strong, wet cello lines' when the two worked together (1997-1999). Stephanie featured in national tours playing duo and band shows, and was recorded on Live at the World Café Volume 7 (1998) and Mainstage Live: The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (1999).

From 2004 to 2008, Stephanie toured year-round with folk legend Richie Havens in North America, Europe and Australasia as a trio member, and performed at major events including the Cannes Film Festival, Monte Carlo Sporting Festival (Monaco), Chiasso Festate (Switzerland), Solidays (France) and Womad Festival (Australia, New Zealand). During this period she featured on the CDs Grace of the Sun (2004) and Nobody Left to Crown (2008).

Stephanie has performed live on NPR (U.S.), BBC (U.K.), CBC (Canada), Radio France, Radio Switzerland. Her television appearances include Saturday Night Live (New York) Regis and Kelly (New York), Good Morning America, Cannes Film Festival (Cannes), and One Shot Not (Paris).

She has also played most major New York City venues, including: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Theater at Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, B. B. King Blues Club, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park SummerStage, Barbès, Rockwood Music Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Joe’s Pub, Irving Plaza, Open Center and the Omega Institute.

Stephanie has co-directed a short film with Marie LeClaire titled Cello (2009) about a day in her life as a cellist.

Through the Storm, CD Album
Stephanie's solo debut, Through the Storm (Expanded Version), re-released in 2009, captures her signature style of elegance and heartfelt expression that has created the ineffable connection between her music and her audiences for years. There are two versions of the CD Through the Storm. The original 2004 CD had 11 tracks, while latest one from 2009 is a re-release and has the original tracks plus two new ones, making a total of 13 tracks. The new ones are "Mercy Street" by Peter Gabriel and "Mangolia" by Richie Havens.

Stephanie writes of the CD: In recording “Through the Storm” (Expanded Version), I was inspired to capture the expressivity of the human voice with the cello. The songs are arranged for cello only, sometimes as a solo voice, sometimes for cello quartet and on several cuts, for cello orchestra. I play all the parts myself. My producer Alan Williams and I utilized pop recording techniques by multi-tracking without a conductor and often without a click track (metronome). People tell me that the cello is their favorite instrument. Because of this, I wanted to explore the tonal colors, resonance and beauty of the cello as a way of expressing something larger and more beautiful than just one woman playing the cello.

Frank Goodman has said 'Ignoring the boundaries between folk, classical, and jazz, weaving them together into something you want to wrap yourself in. . . . [Through The Storm] has the ability to capture a huge audience.'

Consultancy and facilitation
Stephanie now draws on the insights into group dynamics, communication and creativity which she gained over the course of her musical career to create programs that help others enhance their leadership, decision making and communication skills. As a group facilitator, consultant and key-note speaker, Stephanie integrates musical performance into workshops and presentations in settings that range from the corporate conference to the kindergarten classroom. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Creative Education Foundation are among the institutions with which she is working.

Website sources
http://stephaniewinters.com

http://cdbaby.com/all/stephaniewinters

http://www.ambusharts.com/issue2/stephanie_winters

http://www.cincygroove.com/?q=node/196

http://www.puremusic.com/stephanie1.html