Harpeth Rising Biographies
Harpeth Rising is something new. Their sound, comprised of violin, banjo, cello and drums is both recognizable and undefinable. Jordana Greenberg (violin, vocals,) and Rebecca Reed-Lunn (banjo, vocals,) started the band as just a duo under the name Sisters Grimm, busking their way across the United States in the summer of 2007. They then spent a year on Maui, performing, writing songs and developing their sound. Within their short stay in Hawaii, they were featured in Maui Times, Maui News, Maui Weekly, and gave numerous live performances on Mana’o Radio. They returned to the Mainland in 2008, moving to Nashville, TN. It was their great fortune that two of their friends and fellow musicians from Indiana University moved to Memphis around the same time. Ruthie Valente Burgess (cello) and Chris Burgess (hand drums) became permanent members of the band, creating the group that would become Harpeth Rising.
The quartet now tours regularly, with performances booked throughout the US and UK, drawing audiences in with music that is somehow timeless and still utterly unique. Their self-titled debut album is a collection of passionate, intricately arranged original songs. They are crying for change, questioning the past, and tracking down the revolution, via delicate harmonies and blazing instrumentals.
A native of Ontario, Canada, Jordana Greenberg began her violin studies at the age of 8 at Indiana University. She has performed as a soloist in the United States, Canada, France, Japan, and throughout South and Central America. Following her solo performance at 17 years of age with the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra music critic Peter Jacobi wrote: “…what excitement she brought to the hall…what feats of magic she already managed to shape as she moved through all the intricacies of the piece, seemingly unfazed by the challenges…” Through her classical training combined with a childhood surrounded by bluegrass musicians in rural Indiana, Jordana has developed a truly unique "crossover" style of playing and songwriting. She has performed in Carnegie Recital Hall, played a concert as a special guest of Ziggy Marley at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, and has soloed with numerous orchestras. In addition to her solo performances and touring with Harpeth Rising, she currently teaches at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, where she lives with her fiancé David and their menagerie of five hounddogs and three cats.
Rebecca Reed-Lunn was born in Davis, California and grew up listening to Beethoven, Mahler, and Bob Dylan. She began taking piano lessons and composing classical music at the age of six, and studied several instruments before deciding to pursue the viola at Indiana University Bloomington. The summer after finishing her degree, Jordana invited Rebecca to attend a bluegrass festival in her hometown of Paoli, Indiana. Rebecca bought a banjo a week later, and began teaching herself traditional clawhammer style (by watching youtube) while in graduate school. The following year, as Jordana and Rebecca went on a cross country roadtrip and moved to Hawaii, Rebecca discovered her own style of banjo playing by infusing clawhammer style with other strumming techniques such as those used on ukulele and spanish guitar. She continues to reinvent her banjo playing and songwriting, while also teaching violin and viola lessons, at her home in Nashville, TN.
Ruth Burgess, a native of San Antonio, TX, has been the principal cellist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since September 2008. Prior to moving to Memphis, she was a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, during which time she completed a Masters of Music at New England Conservatory in Boston under the instruction of Natasha Brofsky. Her undergraduate years were spent at Indiana University, where she studied under Janos Starker. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, including studying and performing for a year in Freiburg, Germany, where she studied with Adriana Contino.
Chris Burgess was born and raised in Louisville, KY. He earned his Bachelors of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Anthony Cirone and Gerry Carlyss. At Indiana Chris discovered his interest in ethnic music and instruments from around the world, which he incorporates in the style of Harpeth Rising. He then continued on to The Boston Conservatory for his Masters of Music, studying with Keith Aleo, Nancy Zeltsman, David Herbert and John Grimes. While in Boston, Chris was a founding member of the Davis Foundation Peace Project Grant winner MuizikoMonda ensemble, which educated young people about cultural tolerance through common traits in music. Chris now lives in Memphis with his wife Ruth, and in addition to writing and performing with Harpeth Rising is a freelance percussionist and the Director of Education at Memphis Drum Shop.
