website years_active label article_title background birth_date instrument genre image origin name
http://www.robinspielberg.com/ early 1990s -- present north star music , playmountain music robin spielberg
 non_vocal_instrumentalist 11/20/1962 piano new age robin spielberg.jpg new jersey , united states robin spielberg
robin spielberg

robin spielberg -lrb- born 11/20/1962 -rrb- is an american pianist , composer and author .
raised in the suburban town of maplewood , new jersey , she attended michigan state university and later tisch school of the arts at new york university , graduating from nyu with honors and a bfa in undergraduate drama .
she has released seventeen albums of piano music .
she currently lives in new freedom , pennsylvania .
robin spielberg 's paternal grandfather , rubin spielberg was a flutist who performed with the nbc symphony orchestra under the direction of arturo toscanini and the metropolitan opera .
although they never met , in her memoir she credits him with providing creative inspiration and imparting life lessons through dreams during childhood .
she began formal piano lessons at the age of seven .
she is a founding member of the atlantic theatre company and acted in dozens of plays with the company including `` boys ' life '' and `` the lights '' by howard korder at lincoln center .
she composed music for several atlantic theater company productions including the david mamet adaptation of `` three sisters '' directed by william h. macy and two children 's plays written by david mamet airing on national public radio -lrb- npr -rrb- : `` the poet and the rent '' and `` the revenge of the space pandas '' .
in 1992 , spielberg and barry shulak co-wrote a musical for young audiences entitled `` balloonland '' .
originally produced in vermont by the atlantic theater company , `` balloonland '' later debuted off-broadway on atc 's new york city stage in 1993 .
as of 2015 , spielberg has recorded seventeen albums and appears on over fifty compilations .
her debut album of original piano solos entitled `` heal of the hand '' was recorded independently in 1993 .
the album was picked up by the indie label north star music in 1994 , and became their best-selling cd of the decade .
according to north star president richard waterman , spielberg sold between 160,000 and 200,000 albums during 1995 and 1996 , although soundscan only registered 1,800 sales , with the bulk of sales through specialist outlets .
by 1999 she had reportedly sold 300,000 albums .
spielberg 's original 1994 agreement with north star music was a six-record deal , covering recording and release of two albums per year over the course of three years .
during this period , the following titles were released under the north star label : `` heal of the hand '' -lrb- 1993 -rrb- , `` spirit of the holidays '' -lrb- 1994 -rrb- featuring christmas-themed tracks , `` unchained melodies '' -lrb- 1995 -rrb- , `` in the heart of winter '' -lrb- 1995 -rrb- , `` songs of the spirit '' -lrb- 1996 -rrb- , and `` in the arms of the wind '' -lrb- 1997 -rrb- .
additional titles subsequently released by north star include `` mother '' -lrb- 1999 -rrb- and `` spa piano '' -lrb- 2007 -rrb- .
the former is a collaboration with singers cathie ryan and susan mckeown featuring songs celebrating motherhood .
when north star folded in 2011 , spielberg bought back the masters for her albums released under that label .
beginning in 2000 , spielberg started releasing albums under her own playmountain music label .
titles released under playmountain music are `` beautiful dreamer '' -lrb- 2000 -rrb- , `` dreaming of summer '' -lrb- 2000 -rrb- , `` the christmas collection '' -lrb- 2002 -rrb- , `` american chanukah '' -lrb- 2002 -rrb- , `` with a song in my heart '' -lrb- 2004 -rrb- , `` memories of utopia '' -lrb- 2005 -rrb- , `` a new kind of love '' -lrb- 2008 -rrb- , `` sea to shining sea : a tapestry of american music '' -lrb- 2010 -rrb- , and `` another time , another place '' -lrb- 2015 -rrb- .
in addition to her recording career , spielberg served as an inaugural member of the independent music awards ' judging panel .
spielberg also was added to the steinway artist roster in 1996 .
spielberg tours both nationally and overseas .
performance highlights within the united states include three sold-out performances at the weill recital hall at carnegie hall -lrb- new york city -rrb- .
overseas , she has toured south korea three times appearing at kbs hall , seoul arts center and the lg arts center -lrb- 2010 -rrb- .
spielberg is signed with sony/atv music publishing in asia and her piece `` an improvisation on the canon in d '' is used in the soundtrack of the south korean television drama series `` winter sonata '' .
the importance of music therapy is a recurring theme throughout spielberg 's career .
she is a national celebrity artist spokesperson for the american music therapy association .
as spokesperson , spielberg often conducts seminars and workshops on the transformative power of music in hospitals , schools and community centers while on tour .
she has also performed fundraisers for medical and other charities .
in 2014 , spielberg gave a presentation entitled `` the healing power of music '' at tedxlancaster .
she is author of the memoir `` naked on the bench '' -lrb- 2013 -rrb- , which kirkus called a `` well-paced musical memoir about the value of perseverance '' which avoids sentimentality and balances happy moments with darker content such as being stalked .
spielberg also writes about music therapy in her memoir .
