Musical Background
(21 January 2011) My first instrument was the accordion and I started when I was 7. I continued with that instrument until age 13 when I was enrolled in a school where they had a Glee Club and the music director said I should study voice. So I enrolled in the Conservatory of Music where they had a special program for students who had not yet graduated High School, saving credits earned towards a Bachelor's Degree.
While I was studying voice, I had trouble finding accompanists to study my music. Since I had learned to read music, I "taught myself" to play the piano and the organ, (I used to sneak into the school's chapel to practice in my spare time), and from there I took the next step to playing and singing at the same time.
At 15 a Lutheran church nearby bought an organ but they had no organist. I was their organist for 15 years. I also did weddings, funerals and religious services in general for all other denominations. I also played for school graduations. At the same time I played the piano for several university choirs.
After that I worked for 10 years as organist of a Union church, and now I'm the rehearsal pianist for a local choir called Coro Sinfónico and, since they mostly produce Baroque music, I play the harpsichord in their ad hoc orchestra. I prefer singing with an accompanist.
I came to play a Yamaha PSR-S900 keyboard because I inherited an old Casio from my father and began orchestrating and recording songs. However, I live right next to the ocean and the humidity affected the keyboard and I had to buy a new one. I chose the Yamaha PSR-S900 because it had the recording capabilities and seemed light enough to schlepp to gigs (not so!). The thing I like best about this keyboard (before the Casio I owned a DW-8000 Korg synthesizer) is that I can record voice and accompaniment directly into a flash drive which is the next best thing to buying time at a recording studio!
End of story!
Diana Villafañe