more about Deb Adler...
Since her first “public appearance” at age two, Deb Adler has entertained and
delighted diverse audiences as a singer, songwriter, and actress.
She first learned to sing, almost before she could talk, by imitating the records of Kate
Smith, Harry Belafonte, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Burl Ives that her mother played constantly while
working around the house. She began writing and "performing" puppet shows and poetry as early as age 7.
Deb’s formal training includes solo and choral voice, clarinet, classical and popular
guitar, and music theory. Singing publicly before she was ten years old, Deb
performed the songs of Stephen Foster with Detroit folk artist and radio personality Earl Gormaine at the historic Greenfield
Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Shortly after she began studying guitar with Gormaine, she was writing her own songs.
While plans for a career in veterinary medicine kept her busy with math and sciences, Deb's
musical training continued through participation in a variety of extra-curricular musical groups, including 2 years as a featured
soloist and accompanist on 6- and 12-string guitar and banjo with a folk group styled after the New Christy Minstrels; 3 years
in Madrigals; top-rated performances with Women’s Glee and Women’s Ensemble groups at district and state festivals; and 8 years in concert and marching bands.
Deb was a student at Michigan State University from 1968 through 1971. She, like many of her peers, was
impacted by the 1970 shootings at Kent State Univerisity. Veterinary medicine gave way to liberal arts, anthropology
and African cultures and language. She lived and worked in Kenya in the summer of 1975. “I
learned first-hand about working together to overcome differences in order to define and work toward common goals. And I saw
music provide a common language through which to communicate feelings and foster an understanding. Upon returning I began
to search for ways to integrate those experiences into my performing.”
She was a Graduate Fellow of the M.F.A. Actors program at Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland, after completing her B.F.A. in Theater Arts at Wayne State University in Detroit, where she also performed
classical and contemporary choral works as a member of the WSU Choral Union. Accepted by audition into the WSU Symphonic
Choir, she performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Carnegie Hall in New York, and the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Deb taught young
girls swimming and boating safety at summer resident camps in Michigan and Ohio for ten years in affiliation with the Girl
Scouts of America and the American Red Cross . Some years later, she served as
a Co-Director for a Youth Outreach Theater Project called “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” as part of a Domestic Violence Prevention Program in Cleveland.
Well-known to theatre audiences in both Detroit and Cleveland for her work on the Bonstelle,
Hilberry Studio, Hilberry Classic, and Eldred Hall stages, she appeared professionally at the Attic Theatre in Detroit’s
Greektown, and with the distinguished Actor’s Company in Cleveland. At the same time, Deb was developing a regional reputation as a singer-sonwriter
appearing at coffeehouses, concerts, festivals, and special events such as International Women’s Day, Take Back the
Night, International Year of Disabled Persons, End Violence Against Women, and Gay Rights.
In 1983 she released "D.J. Adler - Here & Now" a collection
of 12 original songs through her own production company. It sold in specialty bookstores in the Midwest and East and was caaried
by Ladyslipper Catalog. In October 2005 Deb released "Songbyrd", a CD collection of 9 original songs through Silverstream
Music Inc.
In addition, Deb has over 26 years experience working with
people in recovery from addictions and co-addiction; she has authored articles and essays and is currently working
on her first book.
She has been with the Center For Human Development, a non-profit organization dedicated to personal, professional and spiritual growth, as
an organizer and program facilitator since 1986. She is also resident staff at Friendship Village International - a retreat and conference center in southeastern Ohio, which she helped to build
along with volunteers from all over the country and world.
Deb does consulting in advertising and promotions through
her own company, Silverstream Corporation in greater Columbus and is currently working on a 2-CD set to be released later
in the year through Silverstream Music Inc. She's available for concerts, workshops and speaking engagements. (see Bookings)
"Today
more than ever, we need to heal the sense of separation
that exists
within ourselves and amongst ourselves. Music has a tremendous power to heal, to affirm our choices and lifestyles, to bring
us together and unite us as a common people. Music is a bridge. I have seen it
melt away the artificial barriers of dialects and nationalities, of color and cultural differences. It is the universal language of the heart."
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