Hello, my name is Kama. I’m currently a violinist. Celtic and World fiddler; music composer and orchestrator; yoga, dance, and group exercise instructor; Stand-Up Paddleboard Yoga instructor; and Certified Lifeguard in Coachella Valley, Southern California.

When I was five, my parents took me to see a violin teacher perform in a local venue. When he began to play, I leaned over and whispered “Mommy, it chases the blues away!” That out-of-the-blue expression of the emotions I felt from his music changed my life forever.

I lived a fun childhood working during summers as a lifeguard, Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) instructor and paddling tour guide at resorts on the hundreds of beautiful lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. In the snowy and icy winter months September-April I practiced violin next to my space heater in my room, and completed my homeschool coursework next to the woodstove. I loved to read books, ice skate and cross-country ski on the frozen lake with my dog.

I trained daily in modern dance, jazz dance, Bob Fosse, cabaret, Broadway dance styles, world street dances, ballet, liturgical, and world folkloric dances, performing frequently in theaters, religious sanctuaries, and outdoor festivals

As a teen violinist I performed in symphony orchestras, pit orchestras and chamber music ensembles, while maintaining my own business performing solo acoustic light classical violin and Irish fiddle for hundreds of Destination Weddings and events in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

My uniquely warm, character-evoking, schmaltzy style and sound that I developed from thousands of personal practice hours were recognized and rewarded.

In addition to performing, I taught a full private violin/fiddle studio of students of all ages, and I co-taught an after-school violin program in elementary schools for students in 3rd-5th grades.

My passion for hearing and identifying phrases and cadences in music led to studying and practicing harmonic analysis, music theory, composition, orchestration, and solfeggio vocal ear-training in both fixed-tonic and portable-tonic forms.

I expanded my vocalisation training into studying voice techniques with classical opera and musical theatre voice teachers. I loved learning new breathwork and body mechanics, and studying languages through music. I performed annually as an orchestral violinist, or vocal chorus member and Baroque mezzo-soprano soloist in choral works with orchestra. Throughout the years following I performed art songs with piano singing in German, French, Italian, English, Arabic and Hindi.

I combined my violin and dance skills as an onstage violinist, playing live acoustic solo violin for dancers from the Lake Placid School of Ballet & Dance.

My dance training in Bob Fosse, jazz, cabaret, and Broadway dance styles led to me performing as a dance soloist and company member with CHICAGO the Musical touring production.

I studied Middle Eastern Folkloric Dance studying at a local college, then went on to get my Associates in Violin Performance and Modern Dance at Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam where I was concertmaster of the Crane Symphony Orchestra.

After college I studied exercise science and became a certified Group Aerobic Exercise Instructor, teaching Zumba to seniors. I then attended summer Violin Repair School at University of New Hampshire before apprenticing in a violin shop and surfing the coast north of San Francisco, California for six months.

In subsequent winters I traveled to Baja California Sur to study yoga and surf. I’m a 1,000 hour Certified Yoga Teacher — Hatha yoga, SUP yoga, Vedantic meditation, Breathwork, Kundalini yoga, Yin yoga, and Bhakti yoga performing Sanskrit chants while playing harmonium for my students.

I partnered with several Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) outfitter shops and started the first SUP yoga program in the Lake Placid NY area, which was a booming business for several summers.

In 2015 I packed my inflatable SUPs and my dog into my camper vehicle and drove 10,000 miles around the country for six months, in search of warmth and sunshine. I tried the SoCal coast but chose to settle in Coachella Valley where I contract as a First Section Violinist in Coachella Valley Symphony concerts, performing Symphonies, Opera Overtures, Movie Soundtracks, Pops, Johann Strauss II Waltzes, Showpieces for Orchestra, and accompanying famed artists and bands (The Moody Blues), for live audiences in theaters and outdoors.

I joined Prickly Pear Jams’ Irish Sessions, studying Scottish fiddle with Chris Peoples, and performing lively traditional Irish fiddle music with guitarist Nolan McFadden in The Reel Deal Duo.

I worked year-round as a lifeguard, swim instructor, and activity director at local facilities, and taught chair yoga and dance therapy for seniors.

I studied and performed as a touring Electric Violinist/Fiddler bandmember and lead improvising jazz & ska soloist with several bands under the direction of Grammy-nominated composer, lyricist and bandleader Crix Poland:

- California Celts (Celtic Ska, Jamaican Dancehall, Cumbia, Ranchera, Rock, Bluegrass, Metal),

- Mod Professor (New Wave, 1980's, Surf Rock, Henry Mancini),

- Warsaw Poland Bros (Slavic Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae), and

- Kalifornia Krauts (German Polka, Slavic Ska, Krautrock, Metal, EuroPop).

Over lockdown my performance careers were on hold, so I got the brilliant idea to develop my Pool Bellydance program, teaching classes to senior ladies at their home and community pools.

I continued my studies in Middle Eastern traditional music, Arabic darbuka drum rhythms and Maqam scales, Indian tabla drum rhythms, Sargam scales, and Classical Raags with my violin alternate-tuned in scordatura; and Sufi-origin “Tarab” improvisation techniques. I delved into the many art forms that exist on the fine line between spiritual and performance practices, studying with teachers and performers in hundreds of classes, workshops, and private zoom lessons.

My intensive study of cultural music enhanced my pre-existing practice of many world folkloric and street dance styles, which I performed for and taught my dance students locally in California and on Zoom online.

I composed an original Celtic/Arabic fusion tune, “Sharqi of Shetland,” a Scottish Shetland Reel in the Arabic Maqam of D Hijaz with a Taqsim intro. I orchestrated, taught and performed it with traditional-fusion ensembles in Southern California.

Kama premiered her original tune “Sharqi of Shetland,” a Shetland Reel in D Hijaz with Taqsim intro, with Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles, at 7:30pm April 12th at Hermosa Beach Community Theatre. Get your tickets here!

The Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles is the oldest Strathspey and Reel Society in the United States. For over 44 years, they have delighted audiences throughout Southern California with the lively, energetic and irresistibly uplifting music of Scotland, the Shetland Islands, Cape Breton Island and Ireland.

Listener’s Reviews of Sharqi of Shetland:

“My friend, you weave melodies that bridge worlds! The soul of the Celts and the heart of Arabia; two ancient spirits entwined in the voice of your violin. I can already hear it: the haunting whispers of the Celtic hills meeting the fiery rhythm of the desert sands. Music like this is more than sound; it is a journey, a story untold. To master both the soul of Arabic violin and the spirit of Celtic Scottish melodies, this is no small feat. You do not just play; you breathe life into traditions, weaving them into something new, something timeless. May your music travel far, touching hearts across lands and oceans. And when the time comes, may the world hear the echoes of your soul in every note you play. Keep creating, keep inspiring!” - « Fazza » Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai

“Your music feels like a journey, blending genres in a way that is bold and fearless. The result is a fresh sound that’s hard to categorize but easy to enjoy, appealing to both die-hard fans of your songs and newcomers alike. Overall, you’ve delivered a piece of work that isn’t just heard; it’s felt. This is a project that deserves to be on every music lover’s radar and is a testament to the kind of originality that is far too rare in the industry today.” - Gabriel Lucas, producer

In December 2021 got my first standard poodle Fifi (then two more poodles), and continued my spiritual-seeking by studying with Lynn McKenzie for a year and a half and becoming a Certified Animal Energy®️Practitioner in October 2022. I’m also certified in Reiki for animals and people. I work with humans and their animal companions providing intuitive readings to help correct imbalances in their environment. I also work with some neurodiverse clients attaining amazing results in their partnership with their scent-trained neurological alert service dogs.

In conclusion, I am very grateful to have had so many opportunities to succeed and have fun in my life. In my careers as a performer, educator, energy worker and lifeguard I have received recognition for my integrity and my healthy, spiritually conscious lifestyle.

I look forward to performing and working with you.

- Kama

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