NESSA
Celebrates ireland
Sunday, March 14 @ 4:15 PM EST
This concert is generously sponsored by the Ann Arbor Arbor Community Foundation.
Combining whimsy with serious musicianship, Nessa can put audiences into a trance or up on their feet dancing. Nessa is classified as World Music/Celtic-inspired, yet this genre definition limits the experience. A Nessa show or album will take you on a wild journey. The music is fusion in the truest sense. It is what you get when you put highly trained classical, jazz, folk, Emmy winners, Grammy winners and world musicians in the same ensemble.
Featuring heart and spirit music that appeals to nearly everyone, listeners can expect the dreamy quality of Loreena McKennit, the drive of traditional groups like Solas, and the innovation of Pentangle. Nessa has been compared to Loreena McKennitt, Brian Eno, and Enya. Kelly and her band bring charm and delight to listeners of all ages.
Learn more about Nessa at nessamusic.com.
Kelly McDermott has traveled the U.S., Canada and Europe as performer,
teacher and student. She has a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance and music therapy from Michigan State University. She also has a Master of Music and Professional Studies degree in flute performance from Temple University in Philadelphia. Ms. McDermott participated in the Aspen Festival in Colorado, Teton Festival in Wyoming, Sarasota Florida Chamber festival, AIMs orchestra in Graz, Austria and others.
She studied with William Bennett in England and made frequent trips to Ontario for teacher training in the Suzuki Flute Method. After her training she remained in Philadelphia for many years working as a chamber and orchestral musician around the east coast.
Her professional work included performing with the Harrisburg Symphony, Haddonfield Symphony and more. Since returning to her native Michigan a few years ago she has worked regularly with The Flint Symphony, Bijou Orchestra, and Michigan Opera Theatre.
Her influential teaching style garnered her an opportunity to teach Suzuki Flute in Berlin, Germany (with workshops in Pfullingen). More recently her musical journey has taken a turn. She found her voice as a lead singer, and is now the leader of “Nessa,” where she sings and plays piano as well as flute. She also finds great joy in composing and researching and arranging old ballads from Europe and the U.K.
Rob Crozier is a multi-instrumentalist performing throughout South East Michigan. Rob holds a BFA for Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation in Double Bass from the University of Michigan. His teachers include Robert Hurst, Diana Gannett, David Friesen and Rufus Reid. Mr. Crozier’s twenty year musical career has included sharing bills with rock groups like Blues Traveler and Credence Clearwater Revisted, and jazz greats like Perry Robinson and Tony Malaby.
Rob is the leader of “The Rob Crozier Ensemble” where he composes, plays jazz bass, didjeridoo and ethnic percussion. This ensemble tours the midwest as a featured artist in various festivals in support of his second CD, “Ocean Blue”.
In addition to upright bass, Rob is sought after in Michigan as an electric bassist and plays with ensembles with styles such as Americana, folk, rock, pop, cajun, African and Celtic. He also performs regularly a “solo act” where he sings, plays guitarist, and harmonica. Mr. Crozier also actively performs and records with many exotic instruments such as didjeridoo, mbira, ethnic hand drums, For many years he was the curator of the live radio show, “Music is Freedom” on WCBN 88.3FM (U of Michigan radio) where his groups performed long, uninterrupted sets of improvised music.
Rob is a main component of Nessa, where he helps Kelly arrange the ballads of the U.K.
Peter Kopera is a pianist, composer and educator committed to musical excellence in Metro-Detroit for the past 25 years. His journey began in his hometown of Buffalo, NY where he discovered a love of music. Peter’s classical training continued at the Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY and the Birmingham Conservatoire, England including jazz studies with Dr. Billy Taylor at the University of Massachusetts and composition studies with Anthony Iannaccone at Eastern Michigan University. Peter holds a Masters Degree in Music Education from the University of Michigan and currently enjoys a 25-year career in public education.
Peter has released a jazz trio CD “Syndrome” (2001), composed a film soundtrack to “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” (2003), and collaborated with composer Ray Vipond in recording “Theme & Variations for Trumpet No. 1 in Bb minor”. As leader of the five-piece “Peter Kopera Group”, this ensemble works to realize unique compositions and arrangements from many genres.
With an enduring passion for learning and creativity, Peter remains active as a leader and sideman throughout Metro-Detroit and can be found providing keyboard work for all manner of diverse musical projects.
Mike List is a globalized percussionist based out of Metro Detroit playing both western and non-western instruments from around the globe. Mike has performed in a variety of musical settings including rock, jazz, classical, contemporary art music, and world music fusion ensembles. He currently works with the percussion group ‘Rela,’ Celtic fusion group ‘Nessa,’ world jazz group ‘Inscribe,’ and is a regular performer with Rick Robinson’s CutTime Simfonica and the Classical Revolution Detroit series.
He has also worked with Mediterranean fusion ensemble ‘Wisaal’ and the marimba/world percussion duet, ‘To Hit.’ Mike holds a Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from Central Michigan University and has also studied tabla, mbira, and Arabic percussion. Along with performing, Mike teaches privately, accompanies modern dance, and teaches courses on the ‘History of Rock and Roll’ and ‘World Music.’ He can also make you a mean cup of coffee.
