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Piano CD!! Bettie Ross - pianist - composer A Magical Time of Year This is what Bettie had to say about her inspiration for writing this music. “The end of fall and the beginning of winter are filled with beautiful landscapes of the changing weather: the leafless trees, rain, snow, fog, mists and ice…There are family gatherings—visits with friends—reflections on life and looking ahead to the new year just starting. These things create a Magical Time of Year for me.” This is Bettie's first recording for Alternative Classical Records. Ten out of the 12 pieces on this CD are brilliant, unique, solo piano; on two pieces she is accompanied by guitar only. Sample this original and distinctive work and you will understand why one of the most noted pianists alive today called Bettie a “great composer”. The work breathes with the life and expression of the Magical Time of Year.

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL BETTIE ROSS MYSPACE MUSIC WEBSITE ....................

I've been a Pianist and/or Keyboardist for these projects: Meat Loaf's new "Bat Out of Hell III" (I play pipe organ ..s on the new CD; see photos)(yep, I still play rock, even on a pipe organ!); Melissa Manchester for a national tour & TV (playing piano & electric piano); the Bellamy Brothers, a national tour during their hit "Let Your Love Flow" (I played piano & Mellotron) & I was the first woman conductor (for the Bellamy's) for the Tokyo Music Festival on TV to 10 million viewers; and in early 2006 Mark Isham called me to play piano for him for a live gig in LA. And in June 2006, I played piano on Deedee O'Malley's live 24-cut CD!

I'VE BEEN PIPE ORGANIST for President Ronald Reagan's Memorial Service at his personal Presbyterian church, and also for Eva Gabor's Memorial Mass at her Catholic church. I grew up playing in churches, and still do at times. Currently I am the choral conductor for Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, Calif., working with singer-songwriter (and Grammy winner) cantor Doug Cotler.

AS A COMPOSER, I wrote the music for Nancy Cartwright's (voice of Bart Simpson) one-woman show, "In Search of Fellini", and I also composed the music for the play by Shirley Kaplan, "Neon, a Vaudeville of Obsessions". I've done a couple film shorts, and lots of other instrumental writing for all sorts of projects.

Since 1996, I've been a member of the storytelling & music group, CELESTIAL NAVIGATIONS. We've performed many concerts since that time, me playing synthesizer along with Geoff Levin behind Geoffrey Lewis' narration. For three of Celestial Nav's recent CDs, I've co-written music for Road Train Chapter IV, The Connection Chapter V, and The Space Racer Chapter VI. We're currently working on a new CD.

AS A SONGWRITER, I've written many songs for various original LA rock bands I've been a member of, usually playing Hammond B3 organ (working with Brie Howard, Patti Quatro, Elmira Collins, Raven Kane, Phyllis St. James (Yvonne Williams), Peggy Foster, Wendy Hass (lots of lady players, starting back-in-the-day after Fanny), and gents like Ted Meyer, and Glen Ballard (we had the band Rockola together back in the early 80's w/Brie Howard & Marc Singer).

Recently I've been writing songs with Pamela Falcon. Check out Pamela's MySpace page (click on her picture below in my Top Friends - and check out "Best Kept Secret")!

Over the past 11 years while raising two awesome daughters with my husband Frank, I'VE DONE LOTS OF MUSIC PREPARATION (preparing the sheet music for recording sessions & live gigs) working with arranger-composer-conductor David Campbell mainly, for many films such as "Dream Girls", "North Country", "Rent", "Trust the Man", "City of Angels", "Coyote Ugly", "Hope Floats", "Pearl Harbor", "The Cradle Will Rock", "The Prime Gig" and "Sum of all Fear"; and on TV for "American Idol" and "Good Morning America".

And I have also done MUSIC PREP FOR A TON OF ARTISTS such as Aaliyah, Aerosmith, Alanis Morissette, Anatasci, Art Garfunkel, Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Bacilos, BB King, Beck, Billy Joel, Brooks & Dunn, Celine Dion, Charlotte Church, Chicago, Chick Corea (for his recent Piano Concerto No. 2, "The Continents"), Chimene Badi, Coldplay, Daniel Bedingfield, Desmond Child, Dixie Chicks, Duran Duran, Enrique Iglesias, Eric Clapton, Faith Hill, Fantasia, A Fine Frenzy, Five For Fighting, Foo Fighters, Goo Goo Dolls (yep, worked on "Iris"), Good Charlotte, Green Day, Hall & Oates, Hana Pestle, Heart, Jaguares, Jewel, Jon Bon Jovi, Josh Groban, Journey, Juanes, Julio Iglesias, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, LeAnn Rimes, Linda Ronstadt, Lindsay Lohan, Linkin Park, Lisa Marie Presley, Live, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Mars Volta, Martina McBride, Meat Loaf, Montgomery Gentry, My Chemical Romance, Natasha Bedingfield, Neil Diamond, Nelly Furtado, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Rascal Flatts, Reba MacIntyre, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Shakira, Sheryl Crow (her "Wildflower" album plus the tour), Staind, Styx, Tim McGraw, Trading Yesterday, Train, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Will Smith, Willie Nelson (for his Sep 06 concert with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl), Wilson Phillips, The Used, Yousour N'Dour, Yumi, and last but NOT least, Frank Zappa. And if you think this is a huge list, this is only a partial list, but it's getting long enough!

ABOUT MY OWN MUSIC: I'm a composer. I'm a composer/pianist. I'm a composer/multi-keyboardist. I write what inspires me. My music crosses genres. Sometimes it's a very romantic piano piece, like "Romance" or an in-your-face progressive (or sci fi) rock piece like "The Metal Wars" or a choral piece, or a song for a band or for singers, or a jazz-tinged piece or a pop instrumental piece. So, what do I call it? ALTERNATIVE CLASSICAL. Yep, ALTERNATIVE CLASSICAL, a NEW MUSIC GENRE. It's not new age, it's not classical, it's not jazz, it's not pop, and it's not always instrumental. ALTERNATIVE CLASSICAL is music that is VERY contemporary, about life, music that is very influenced by life and other genres. That's what I write: ALTERNATIVE CLASSICAL!