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"Donna Deussen has brought a unique detail to The Caroling Company's sound. Her background as a solo artist and musical discipline are traits that not only give the group's style a sparkle, but set an example for other singers striving to be great professionals. She is one of a kind".
Nicola Marcello D'Amico, Producer
Jazz Vocalist DONNA DEUSSEN is a California native, but spent much of her childhood in New England. She began taking piano lessons at age 7, and began taking her love of singing seriously in high school, where she was admitted to the All-New England Choir both her junior and senior years. She attended and graduated magna cum laude in 1989 from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, with a degree in songwriting. After college, she moved to Los Angeles, and began performing, writing, and recording all styles of contemporary music, including pop, R&B, country, rock, folk, and, of course, jazz.
Donna has performed at a wide variety of venues in the Southern California area, including: Spazio Restaurant , Millenium Biltmore Hotel , Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Auditorium , The Palace , The Cinegrill , Lunaria's , The Jazz Bakery , Cal Tech Summer Jazz Series , Monteleone's , Sportsman's Lodge , The Other Side , L.A. Cabaret , The Money Tree , The Gardenia Room , Portofino on Pine , Luna Park , Fox & Hound , and many more. In Arizona, she has performed at the Phoenician Hotel , the Ritz Carlton Hotel , the Four Seasons Hotel , and recently headlined at Johnny's Uptown Supper Club . She was a soloist for the televised live performance of “ Thumbs Up L.A.P.D. ”, and sang at U.C.L.A.‘s Royce Hall for the televised performance of the Easter Seals Telethon .
She also recorded a Glendale Federal Bank radio commercial, and has worked as a session singer at several recording studios in the L.A. area. In April 2003, Donna's long-awaited debut jazz CD, “ High Wire ” was released. It reflects her command of a vast range of styles, from samba to the blues. It showcases some of LA's best musicians: Mark Massey on keyboards, Aldo Bentivegna on drums, Anders Swanson on bass, and Eric Marienthal on saxaphone. “ High Wire ” features all-original arrangements by Donna and Mark Massey, including a “Weather Report” inspired version of “Nature Boy” and a jazz rendition of Joni Mitchell's “River.” The CD has been garnering favorable reviews, and is getting airplay on many jazz radio stations, including KKJZ Long Beach, KCLU Thousand Oaks, KBEM Minneapolis, WAER Syracuse, WICN Worchester MA, SkyJazz Internet Radio, CFRC Radio Ontario Canada, WTJU Charlottesville VA, WPKN Bridgeport CT, and Radio LaGuagua Argentina! “ High Wire ” is available online at www.cdbaby.com/deussen
Donna has performed and recorded with the top studio musicians in L.A., including those who have worked with/toured with Chick Corea, Sarah Vaughan, Poncho Sanchez, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Tierney Sutton, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, Melissa Manchester, Jean-Luc Ponty, the Righteous Brothers, the Coasters, the Platters, The Crystals, The Shirelles, Englebert Humperdinck, and many many more. In addition, Donna is a much-sought after vocal coach. She was on the faculty at the prestigious Performing Arts Center in Van Nuys, CA, for several years. She is still performing in the Southern California area.