LOS ANGELES, CA. (Top40 Charts/ San Gabriel Music) - Have strings, will travel�and rock! Since hopping over to L.A. after getting her Master's in composition from Arizona
State in 2002, violin virtuoso Anna Stafford been the go-to girl for everyone who needs an extra cool kick to their classical music.
As a solo act or working with the string quartet she launched soon after getting to town, she's enjoyed a crazy whirlwind of non-stop multi-genre gigs: performing at the recent Emmy Awards Party; the Governor's Ball after The Oscars; the JC Penney Jam and the Grammy Awards; playing on TV behind pop superstars LeAnn Rimes, Andrea Bocelli, 3 Doors Down, Mary J. Blige and Kelly Clarkson ('The Tonight Show,' 'The Early Show,' 'Good Morning America'); performing in Europe and the Middle East�including a recent tour of churches in Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest; and playing onstage with Thrice, 30 Seconds To Mars, Jack's Mannequin, MASS Ensemble and the legendary Steve & Eydie. She's also done arrangements for the documentary 'Alexander The Great' and the short film 'Well Sooted.'
But what Stafford really wants to do is rock�which she does with abandon on her explosive, critically acclaimed solo debut CD String Music, which features eleven eclectic originals (with intriguing, sometimes off the wall titles like 'Crushed Berries,' 'Green Walls' and 'Chromosomes') composed and arranged by Stafford and produced by her and her cellist husband John Krovoza at their Stringvision Studios in Pasadena.
A classically trained musician who recorded a symphonic work for the Tacoma Youth Symphony but also loved Pearl Jam, Metallica and Live, the Gig Harbor, Washington native's goal was to create a hybrid style that was idiomatic to a string quartet but in keeping with the theme of classical/rock crossover.
While maintaining a constant work flow of gigs playing other people's music, Stafford is slowly but surely finding opportunities to play the songs from String Music�and her next project, which she says will be slightly more 'serious' in tone�in live settings. Her quartet did a show for Ferrari a few months ago in Pebble Beach, and she's working with instrument manufacturer Yamaha�one of her endorsers, along with Pirastro and Schertler�on a series of concerts for educators featuring String Music and the latest Yamaha four and five string models.
