ANASTASIA ENCARNACION
Anastasia would throw her musical tops against the wall until they broke, bang on the piano endlessly and run to the living room when she heard the top of the stereo open, shouting, “March with Mitch Miller”, “March with Mitch Miller!” Her parents, valuing what sanity they had left, rushed their four-year-old to the nearest piano teacher who pronounced her to have perfect pitch, therefore the out of tune smashed toys. Anastasia started composing folk tunes (in the vein of Irish ballads) for the piano 10 years later. One day, while in junior high school, she followed a ‘lovely sound in the hallway’ to a choir singing acapella. Smitten with a new love, she asked the director, “How do I join?” Piano ballads became vocal and piano ballads, and the choir brought jazz. Her high school jazz choir accolades included winning top honors at the 1976 Reno Jazz Festival. Anastasia has had the tremendous fortune to sing, play, and create many types of music before and after attaining a university degree in vocal performance. They include jazz, classical, big band, pop, folk, experimental, and new age—among others. Her musical career has mostly centered around premiering new works for adults and children, works either not heard in the United States or those newly created by Bay Area composers, hence her involvement RELATIVITY—The Musical.