Influenced by U2, The Police, and The Clash, Neutral Ground is a breakout alternative rock band that you don't want to miss. Led by singer - and English major at GS - Anatole, and backed by drummer Danny, bassist Will and guitarist Josh, Neutral Ground delivers an eclectic, electric, and energetic show. Check them out on ReverbNation or MySpace, and hear what's getting the band noticed! Accomplishments so far include filming for MTV Asia and semifinal winners at the Emergenza contest.

Katherine Edwards is currently a senior at GS, graduating in May. Prior to joining GS in 2008, she attended the Manhattan School of Music to study classical singing. Past performance venues include Tuscia Opera Festival (Italy), New Jersey Opera Theatre, Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute, and the national radio show From the Top.  Katherine now studies economics and serves as President of the General Studies Student Council. After finishing her degree, Katherine will join the compensation consulting firm Farient Advisors in New York City.

Klaartje was brought up with music by her mother Mattie, who organized concerts, taught music classes, and ran a children's choir in the town of Sint-Oedenrode in the Netherlands. At age 14 Klaartje started to compose her own songs on the piano, later got stuck playing on digital pianos for a while, but then finally found her love, the Wurlitzer Electronic piano, which she found on Ebay in 2006 and has since then lovingly restored and upgraded with a stereo tube amp. At Columbia University, Klaartje will graduate in the Fall of 2010, with an independent major in Interdisciplinary Science and Sustainable Development. She is interested in making the world a better place by serving as a "bridge" person between those who develop technology and those who need it.

Lori Colón began studying dance at the age of 3 and formally trained in Ballet, Flamenco, and Modern Dance at Ballet Hispanico. She is also a graduate of the renowned NYC High School of Performing Arts. Miss Colón began dancing Salsa in 2000, and has since performed professionally as a principle dancer – nationally and internationally – with Carlos Konig, The Rhythm Divas, Areytos, and Dulce Bembe, of which she was a founding member and choreographer. This is her first semester at GS.

Louis Tirado, a GS alum and currently a student at SIPA, is a hard working NY Mambo Dancer and Instructor. He began dancing Salsa in 1996, and soon after became a principle dancer with The Addie-Tude Dance Company, Carlos Konig Dancers, and Areytos. He has traveled around the world as a performer, instructor, and choreographer, and has graced the stages of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Dominican Republic, New York, and Los Angeles. Mr. Tirado's instructional video, Salsa Made Simple, has been purchased by Salsa lovers around the globe.

Tamriko is originally from Siberia, Russia. A lifelong performer, starting as a child on the stage, she is a versatile singer/guitarist/songwriter. Prior to GS, Tamriko earned a BA in Economics at The Krasnoyarsk State Economic And Trade University. Prior performance credits include Tamriko’s own local  television show in her hometown Divnogorsk and also throughout Siberia. Now having moved to the United States as a refugee, Tamriko still writes short stories for her local newspaper about her life in America. Tamriko was granted asylum the U.S. in 2009 and composed the song “I love you, USA” as a dedication to express her gratitude.

Tracy Sagalow practices the art of pyrography, or, wood burning. Her background in film encourages her to tell stories and create themes in her visual art. Each piece is hand drawn. The drawing is then burned onto pine panels and enhanced with acrylic paints. Tracy enjoys sharing her vision of the world and its beauty by painting with fire.  Tracy has shown in many group shows in Los Angeles, CA and has had one solo show, Storybook Stories, featuring fifteen pieces of which four are represented at the General Studies Talent Show.  Having always been inspired by the complexity of fairy tales she could not resist interpreting her favorites for this series.  Tracy has won numerous awards for her art work and was a finalist in the 2005 student Academy Awards. She hopes you enjoy engaging in her work as much as she enjoyed creating it.    

The Straw Hat Band came together in early 2010 when Yoav Guttman (GS '10) and Joey Spitz (GS '11) decided to make their late-night jam sessions into a performing musical act. Following Guttman's solo performance at the 2009 Jerusalem Film Festival, he and Spitz united to bring a fuller sound to original songs. They debuted early this semester and have had several appearances, working to find the right mix of musicians with their musical vision. Collaborating and writing original songs, the group draws its influences from the country bluegrass sounds of Guttman's North Carolina home and California rock sounds of Spitz's home. The band hopes to continue performing after graduation and expand its repertoire, bringing in new instruments and musicians for an ever-changing American Folk Rock sound.

It has been said that even though The Velvet Underground & Nico was not a commercial success, anybody who ever listened to the album was inspired to start a band. Then one day, Jimmy and Filaree met in the GS Lounge. He found out that she sang and played bass. She found out he played guitar. They united for the love of The Velvet Underground & Nico and decided to start a band. Later, they picked up Shira on the way. Then, Shira and Jimmy with Filaree was born.

Yiling is interested in literature, journalism, folklore, history, social policy, and environment protection. But her true passion is creative writing. In China, two of her novels were published. In fall 2009, she arrived in New York City, hoping one day to write great stories in English. On her artistic side, she has enjoyed dancing since she was a child and has performed often in her hometown. Of course, she loves playing piano. She has been playing piano for over seven years and has won several awards in China.

Almaz was born in Kazan, Russia.
Participant of the Russian version of American Idol.
Loves certain animals and hates certain people.
Thinks that classical opera is the crown jewel of music.

You only live once. But if you live right, once is enough!
A life of clichés, shattered in a blast. He lies in a pool of blood, deciding not to let go.
Next time he'll do it better. Next time he'll be alright.
Explosions turn to beats, last words into lyrics.
Three years in the battle for sanity, in the asylum of his living room, bottle by bottle, pack by pack, she goes, the dead visits.
It is not his secret, it is for the world to know.
Indeed life is beautiful, it is the living part that sucks.
Armed with his guitar and heart-stabbing lyrics, he embarks to regain his place. His fingers that refused to engage for so long, now strum a quiet, dark melody. His shattered voice lingers, and scratches the souls of listeners. Yet he inspires not to let go, not to give up, not to stand by while avalanches take over.
There is still a light at the end of tunnel that surrounds us. There is still a star shining in the darkest of nights.
A life of clichés, shattered in a blast. Yet he holds on to them closely. He will not let them go, he will not let them go, as he's letting go.

Kelly Kellam is a national recording artist who picked up his first guitar at the young age of 10, wrote his first song at age 13 and has been performing ever since. However, It wasn't until Kelly nearly died 6 years ago in a motorcycle accident that he decided to pursue his dream in music.

 

Kambi Gathesha is a first-year student at Columbia’s School of General Studies. He intends to focus on African history while at Columbia and pursue a PhD upon graduation. He feels lucky to be a part of the first annual GSSC talent show!

Joshua Lopez grew up in southern New York State and began playing guitar at age 16. He performed in local bands in the Putnam County, NY area for several years and began performing as a solo act in 2001. Joshua was also a founding member of the Danbury, CT based group The Make-Believes which later evolved into Twilight Music. In 2006 Joshua began working for pop/rock band Wheatus. After touring for a year, he left the music industry and enrolled in the City University of New York, later transferring to the School of General Studies at Columbia University. His major influences include John Lennon, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service), and Jimmy Page.

Allison Scola is a professional musician, songwriter, and singer who performs regularly in the New York metropolitan area as a solo artist and as a member of TiPiace Italian American Performers and Daughters of Cybele world music ensemble lead by Alessandra Belloni. Allison’s latest recording project, A Braver Kind, is a collection of original songs that weave hues of her Italian heritage and fascination with Mediterranean folk culture together with personal accounts of her experience as a modern American artist. Produced by Janie Barnett and featuring her band Allison Scola Project, A Braver Kind has received many accolades and was called “…pop with something more,” by MuzikReviews.com. Her song “My Naked Heart” won an honorable mention in the Billboard Magazine World Song Contest and a number of the album’s tracks are part of the soundtrack for the film The Likes of Us produced by 700 Shades of Grey.

 

Allison earned a Bachelor of Arts with majors in music and theater arts from University of Rochester. She studied clarinet, voice, and composition at Eastman School of Music and trained as an actor at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute and Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College. 

 

In addition to her active performing career, Allison is a communications professional who specializes in higher education marketing. For five years she served as Director of Admissions at Mannes College of Music in New York City, and currently she is the Associate Director of Communications at Columbia University School of General Studies.

Scott Halvorson is the Dean of Students at General Studies and is also the Director of the Program for Academic Leadership and Service (PALS) and the Associate Director of the Global Scholars Program. Besides being a full-time advisor to GS undergraduates, Dean Halvorson co-teaches the University Studies course every semester and has been an instructor for the University Writing Program. He has previously taught screenwriting in the School of the Arts, holds three master's degrees—from Columbia, Harvard, and Rutgers, respectively—and received his undergraduate degree from Jamestown College. He considers the GS Talent Show to be his "comeback," having last performed with his old high school rock band Close Call in 1979.

From his beginnings in the late '70s in mid-Michigan with Chaos, that seminal and underappreciated proto-punk band, to his stints in equally unknown cover bands in Wilmington, DE. and San Diego, Skip Bailey just likes to rock. While very satisfied with his day job as a financial aid administrator over the last 20-plus years, 13 at GS, Skip welcomed the chance to get a band together for the GSSC Spring Talent Showcase. Skip and his wife, a biology professor, have a 17-year-old son who not only is following the family rhythm legacy but drums faster and louder than the old man these days. Skip would like to add that he can neither confirm nor deny that he is the only living ex-drummer from Spinal Tap.

Jessica Sarles-Dinsick has been with the GS Admissions staff since April of 2008, first as a front desk receptionist, and now as the Operations Coordinator, helping future GS students get their applications from start to finish as quickly as possible. When she’s not busy coordinating the operations, she performs traditional Brazilian music around the NYC area with her band, Gringa, and is thrilled to be celebrating her second anniversary at GS as a member of The Administrators!

Matt Dinsick is neither an administrator nor a bassist, but is a student of the bass-drums relationship and is pleased to sit on "the other side" for a change. Matt earned his BM from Virginia Commonwealth University in Classical Percussion performance, and his MM from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, SUNY in Jazz Drumset, and leads his own jazz trio, the Matt Dinsick Machine.