The Rough Edges of Life

“Music smoothes the rough edges of life,” says Robin Spielberg in a recent interview.  “It speaks to us when words fail, and expresses our deepest emotions”.   Ms. Spielberg discovered her passion for music as a young girl and began formal piano lessons at the age of seven. By the time she turned ten, Robin had composed more than fifty songs. Growing up within miles of New York City, Spielberg often frequented the Broadway theater district with her family.

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   Her love for the American Musical flourished and she began arranging popular  American songs from theater and film alongside her classical training.  With interests        in both  theater and music,  Spielberg earned a BFA in drama from New York University.   A founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company, she acted in over 60 off – broadway plays and radio dramas, and composed the scores to several others while building a career as one of the premiere piano room performers in New York City.    Robin’s Artist Page  🙂

It was in these piano rooms in the late 80’s and early 90’s that Spielberg first introduced her original piano solos. Audiences returned time and time again to hear Robin’s unique arrangements and original music. In 1993, at the urging of her listeners, Robin recorded her debut, Heal of the Hand.   This album earned rave reviews and was picked up by the North Star music label the following year,   becoming their best selling album for both 1994 and 1995.

 Ms. Spielberg began her concert career in 1996. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in        a sold – out performance at the Weill Recital Hall in 1997 and has performed there twice since.  Other memorable performances include a guest spot on the PBS television special, The Soul of Christmas: A Celtic Music Celebration with Thomas Moore; live performances on CBS Saturday Morning,  Good Morning Arizona, Life Time Live,  CBS New Orleans,  a private concert  for the factory workers  at  the  Steinway & Sons historic piano factory in New York,  and a month-long concert tour through rural Montana with Steinway in tow.

Her music has been heard by over 53 million listeners on Pandora Radio (the world’s largest internet radio station) and has been featured in live performances on “CBS Saturday Morning”, “ABC News” and “Lifetime Live” and “The Great American Ballroom Challenge” on PBS.  A prolific composer,  Spielberg has 17 recordings  to  her credit  and appears on over 40 compilations around the world. Her discography includes albums of original piano solos, her arrangements of American standards,  original pieces for piano/ ensemble, recordings for the holidays, a CD of Americana melodies, and a CD of lullabies.

Robin’s newest recording is “Another Time, Another Place” which was named by MainlyPiano.com as one of the best piano releases of 2015. It was nominated for a        ZMR Award (given by radio), and the Whisperings Solo Piano music award.  Her          sheet music is popular throughout the world. Robin has released two CDs in Korea          and is on several compilations on Asian labels. She has toured South Korea making concert appearances at the renowned Seoul Arts Center , LG Arts Center and KBS         Hall. She recorded a special concert for Airiang TV, which aired throughout Asia.

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Robin’s memoir, “Naked on the Bench: My Adventures in Pianoland,” won a Gold Medal in the Reader’s Favorite International Book Award contest.  In it,  the artist demystifies the life of a touring artist with humor, poignancy and a dose of harsh reality. Praised as a  “must read”  for anyone going into the arts by the Kirkus Review, Robin narrates the audiobook version with finesse and with  (iTunes/audible.com).  Robin’s music has been heard on the History Channel and in several documentaries. Her music has served as the soundtrack for both the 2013 and 2014 Lantos Human Rights Prize videos (awarded to Hilary Clinton and Shimon Peres).

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 In the field of dance, ballroom waltzes were choreographed to her pieces, Walk with Me and A Song for Jennie on PBS’ Great American Ballroom Challenge. University ballroom teams, including The BYU Dance Team, have toured with her work, and international ballroom  competitions have utilized her music for the compulsory waltz portion of competitions.

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 Robin Spielberg is a Celebrity Spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association.  Robin Spielberg’s interest in music and healing grew when she witnessed first-hand,   the positive effect music had on her own baby daughter (born prematurely) during her four-month stay in the neo-natal intensive care unit. A CD entitled Beautiful Dreamer was the musical result of this experience, a recording of lullabies and songs for the parent & child on solo piano. Ms. Spielberg’s work with music and wellness has been documented in The New York Times and in segments on LifeTime Live and ABC News.

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 For my daughter, Valerie, She is going to kindergarten against all odds –  She was born four months premature, and is a surviving twin. They were born too early and were too little – I was only 23 weeks pregnant. I had a great pregnancy except it was too short, and no one knows exactly what went wrong. Valerie had to stay in intensive care for four months, which was very hard on her, and hard on us. It was a very emotional, crazy kind of time. No one could visit her, no one could touch her – her eyes weren’t even open yet; they were fused shut. She was on a respirator for six weeks and had heart surgery. It was a roller coaster ride.

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One day we’d hear that the baby did well, and the next day it was, “Say your final words    to her – she’s dying.” That happened many times. Life is so incredibly fragile at that stage. I could hold her in the palm of my hand – she only weighed a pound at birth. We visited with her and kind of held a vigil there at the hospital. There wasn’t much we could do except pray and hope. She had to go into an incubator because she was so small.

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She was wrapped in Saran Wrap because her skin was so delicate it would fall apart. She was the size of a Beanie Baby. At the hospital, they encouraged us to communicate with her – to sing, to talk with her, to try to bond. At that early age, babies can handle very little stimulation, and there are a lot of stimuli in a hospital. They can’t help it! The lights have to be on, and machines are beeping and making noises, and this is distressing to babies.

Very early on, I brought in my music, and the nurses noticed that when the music was playing near Valerie at a very soft volume, her vital signs improved. It helped the babies around her, too. It wasn’t a fluke, because it went on for four months, and it was very consistent and very clear. As a musician and as a mommy, I knew that music makes you feel better. Over the years, I have received hundreds of beautiful letters from people saying my music has helped them get through difficult times.

This was different, though, and the reason it was different is that this was a baby who wasn’t even quite a baby yet – she was more of a fetus. Her heart and lungs were still developing and her eyes were shut – how could there be this response? What is going on physically in the human body when it listens to music that is pleasing or not pleasing? I became very fascinated with that because it wasn’t subjective anymore. It wasn’t like someone saying “I like jazz. It makes me feel groovy.” It’s as clean as it gets as far as case study goes.

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I started poking around on the Internet, finding articles on music and healing, and doctors and other people who knew what was going on would point out articles on music therapy for me to read. I started going to the Journal of American Medicine website and reading all these different studies on music and its effects on the physical body. This is about heart rates slowing, oxygen saturation levels in the blood, measurement of endorphin levels – things like that.

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In my searches, I stumbled across the American Music Therapy Association website (www.musictherapy.org), which is full of information. I wrote to them, and we started a conversation about what was going on with Valerie. That was about five years ago. Two years ago, we had a meeting in Washington. They were looking for a spokesperson who would advocate on their behalf without any promise of personal gain in their career – someone who has lived through this. I really wanted to bring attention to what the organization does, and to enlighten people.

My job as their spokesperson is to let young people know that there are careers in music therapy – I speak to a lot of college and high school students. It’s a rapidly growing field, and it’s where a love for healing and medicine and a love for music meet. If I had known about it when I was in college, I probably would have majored in it. Most people don’t even know music therapy exists, so I’m trying to change that. I also go to hospitals, community centers, and schools, and do workshops.

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I talk about my experiences with Valerie and do a mini-performance, and then a Certified Music Therapist talks about the training, what the day-to-day work is like, and the different applications for music therapy – working with the elderly, Alzheimer’s patients, young babies, children with autism, people having chemo, working in hospitals. Eventually, the music therapist will be accepted as part of the healing team. I think where it is now is where acupuncture was a decade ago. People thought it was too new and weird, and now insurance is covering it. Same thing with chiropractic medicine.

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That’s what’s happening in music therapy. Some of the insurance companies are starting to cover it, and the reason they are doing so is that they cannot ignore the evidence. If you have a music therapist in the hospital, the patient needs less pain medication and gets discharged earlier – this translates into dollars saved. Hospitals cannot ignore the facts, even if they do still think it’s voodoo! Music therapists are working alongside physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, oncologists, and whatever is needed – they are part of the team.

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It’s a very powerful thing. I’m really enjoying my relationship with AMTA, and look forward to their national conference in Minneapolis in November, where I’ll be their headliner/entertainer. More importantly, Larry, Valerie, and I will be sitting on a panel and speaking as a group for pediatrics and young babies.

I’ll get to meet my idol, Dr. Jane Stanley, who has devoted her 30+ year medical career      to studying the effects of music in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Her popular 2013 TEDx TALK on music & wellness (now on youtube on the TEDx channel) has led to lectures and workshops throughout the U.S. in hospitals, schools, community centers,  nursing care facilities and performing arts centers.  Visits have included The Mayo Clinic, Eastern Tennessee State University Dept of Public Health, Fergus Fall Arts Center,  satin Joseph College School of Nursing in CT, Castleton State College in VT, The Kerr Cultural Center in AZ  and  The PA Psychological Association. Robin donates $1 from the sale of each Beautiful Dreamer CD to music therapy research.

Spielberg graduated with high honors and a BFA from New York University and is an Adjunct Professor at Millersville University in the music department. She is a founding   member of the Tony-award winning Atlantic Theater Company.  She currently resides       in rural Pennsylvania with her husband/business partner, and their teenaged daughter. Photos, interviews, reviews, a listening room. Video clips of performances and current touring itinerary can be found on the artist’s web site at    www.robinspielberg.com.       Robin Spielberg is represented on tour by Kosson Talent. (www.kossontalent.com).