VALERIE EDWARDS

I come from a long line of composers, conductors, cantors and orchestral musicians. My father, Sherman Edwards, was a big-band jazz pianist and composer of many rock-and-roll hits including "See You in September", "Wonderful, Wonderful" and "Broken-Hearted Melody". He wrote the music and original book for the Tony-award-winning Broadway musical "1776", which was first produced in 1969. My grandmother, Rae Rosenblatt Edwards, was a talented pianist who accompanied silent movies and worked as a 'song plugger' in New York's Tin Pan Alley. My third cousins twice removed, Moshe, David, Simcha and Jacob Koussevitzky, were world-renowned cantors. My second cousin three-times removed was Serge Koussevitsky, famed conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Frank Martin, my great-grand-uncle, was a well known Swiss composer.

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I started piano lessons when I was six. My first band instrument was the flutofone. I took up the oboe at ten. In 1975, I graduated from Boston University's School of Fine and Applied Arts (now the College of Fine Arts- School of Music) with a Bachelor's degree in Music. 

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​​During the 1990s I sang with several choruses, including the Zamir Chorale, a renowned group that performed works from the Jewish musical repertoire, including the beautiful "Chatzi Kaddish" by composer Jack Gottlieb for chorus and piano. I also sang with the Boston Community Choir, a Gospel group whose performances included Boston First Night and Gospel Night at the Boston Pops.

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I retired from the music business in 1994, and now I play percussion for fun. I enjoy all kinds of rhythm instruments, including tambourines, washboards, djembes, hand drums, shakers, cowbells, triangles, chimes, rattles, bells and gongs. I especially enjoy jamming with other musicians in community music-making settings such as bluegrass festivals and drum circles. Singalongs are another favorite of mine, especially around Christmas and New Year's Eve. I have many wonderful memories of accompanying friends and neighbors on the piano while they sang carols, folksongs and oldies. I seem to have a knack for composing funny song lyrics, a talent that comes in very handy when I collaborate on Purim spiels.

 

​My taste in music is diverse and eclectic, because I like just about any kind of music that stirs my soul. Listen to my Soul Transformation Playlist here.

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