Ron Levy ... 

 

... performs regularly at venues across the Southland. 

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• Join the Newsletter to stay informed of upcoming performances:

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• Ron performs Saturdays with Synerjazz at St. Mark's Presbyterian...

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• and most Sundays with the  Center Band at CSL-NM...

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• He also occasionally performs with his jazz-pop-classical fusion Sebastian Bop (also sometimes known simply as  The Ron Levy Trio )

• Ron is in high demand as accompanist for jazz vocalists including Andrea Miller, Sharon Marie Cline, Melanie Jackson, Jennifer Hart,

Ron has been fortunate to back up superstar songwriter  Paul Williams on several occasions...

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Some of Ron's Best Friends are bass players, including Benjamin May, Ernie Nunez, David Enos, Dave Stone, Jim de Julio to name just a few...

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Ron Levy is the definition of a busy musician. You will find him – if you can catch him – playing gigs, writing music, producing recordings, teaching classes and private lessons, or just sitting in his easy chair, dreaming up his next big creative project.

Ron has shared the stage with Paul Williams, Barbara Morrison, Ellis Hall and many other musical luminaries.
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He leads his own Southern California-based jazz trio Sebastian Bop, and performs regularly  with diverse ensembles including Synerjazz, the Blue Delilahs and Dizchords.
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"And Ron as usual was amazing!"

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Currently Band Leader for the jazz-themed "Saturdays at 5" which meets regularly at St. Mark Presbyterian church in Newport Beach, Ron also leads the Center Band at the Center For Spiritual Living Newport-Mesa in Irvine, California. Both are versatile and fearless groups of seasoned musicians able to play in any style, at any time.

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Ron is a seasoned veteran of the hotel/restaurant school of piano playing. He cut his teeth during a ten-year engagement as keyboardist for the Ritz-Carlton Band from 1997-2007, followed by steady engagements at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Coast, Parker's Lighthouse in Long Beach, Manhattan Steak and Seafood in Orange, The Cannery in Newport Beach, and the beautiful (and tall) Hotel La Jolla.

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Some words about Nina and Taubman and Amherst and Edna "he's a good student"

Nina saved my life. Had to stop playing for pain ... a friend mentioned Dorothy Taubman .. I called her in New York ... " are you crazy!?" " If a friend told you to run out into a busy street would you ..." LOL So true!

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 Now I can play the piano all day long, no problems ...

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Ron has performed freelance in many "casual" situations, under leaders including Judy Chamberlain, ....

 

He has performed at venues as diverse as UCLA’s Royce Hall, the Blue Note in Las Vegas and the Kaustinen folk music festival in Finland. He toured with the ISOMATA Dance Department to Mexico City, and in 2012 held the keyboard chair at Teatro Zinzanni for its touring Costa Mesa production.

 

Mr. Levy has produced recordings for songwriters Henri Laborde and Elizabeth Saulson, as well as his own self-produced CD "Haiku: Music and Meditation" with Mara Pennell. He collaborated with singer/songwriter Terra Taylor Knudson on the CD “Raw Terrain: Songs of Love and Longing”.

 

The Orange County Register described Mr. Levy’s orchestral work as “sweet … lilting … memorable” (“Modigliani’s Arm”). His music has been performed by the International Chamber Orchestra, the Irvine Valley College Symphony Orchestra and the Orange Coast College Symphony.

 

In 2006 Mr. Levy was awarded a Creative Connections Grant from Meet the Composer (now called New Music America) for “Six Pieces for Woodwind Quintet”. He has also received the ASCAPLUS award annually since 2005.

 

Ron's musical collaboration with musician/engineer and former Brand X band member Franz Pusch has resulted in two CD's under the name Be Calm. "Conversations #1" and "Conversations #2" explore, each in a different way, the healing effects of music generated through a meditative consciousness.

 

Mr. Levy received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music Composition from UCLA, where he taught musicianship, aural skills and counterpoint, and received many departmental honors. His piano teachers include Edward Auer and Nina Scolnik. He also attended the Dorothy Taubman seminars in Amherst for two consecutive Summers. His composition teachers were Elaine Barkin, Henri Lazarof, Paul Reale and Edith Smith.

 

While at UCLA Levy received the "Henry Mancini Scholarship for the Composition of Music for Motion Pictures and Television" – and was pleased to meet Mr. Mancini – who referred to Ron as "my student" – during the scoring session for the Blake Edwards comedy "Blind Date".

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