2007 Billboard Songwriting Contest Honorable Mention

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CALENDAR

At the age of 5, Robert Ellis taught himself to improvise by staring at the piano keys for an hour. Then he began to play, and he's been improvising ever since. At age seven he began his classical piano training. In college, he studied classical and jazz performance, composition, and orchestration at the University of Washington. His inclination away from traditional "correctness" led him always to play beyond the written notes of classical music into uncharted territory. Through his hands familiar themes take on new color and vitality longed for by audiences who, while they love classical music, want more than simply repetition of the exact same music they've been hearing for years. With one foot in the classical world and one in the jazz world, Robert spent years accompanying ballet and modern dance companies, choirs, vocal teachers, playing clubs and concerts, writing songs, ensemble pieces and seven symphonies. For the last seven years he has been performing, as a trio leader, solo pianist, pianist/vocalist entertainer on cruise ships. He feels this a somewhat limited venue for sharing the breadth and height of his musical gifts, and so he has embarked on a series of improvisational concerts and producing his music for CDs. Highlights of his career include appearances on the TV shows "Boston Today" and the "Seattle Morning Show;" also the Cine Bar and Grill of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. ©2003