On Thursday, August 24, at 6:00pm, singer-songwriter Katie Ann will embark upon her 6th annual music recital to benefit Music is Art (MiA). The project is a continuation of Katie Ann’s efforts to teach her class how to boldly go through life, by perfecting their skills as singers and musicians, while performing in various capacities. This latest effort has culminated with a release of a class CD, which is available at the event, to be held at Ashker’s (1002 Elmwood), for a monetary donation of any kind.
The release of the CD is part of an ongoing summer project that Katie Ann is working on with her students. The two objectives of the class is to A) teach the students confidence, and B) allow them to give back to the community. So far, the students have performed at Canalside at a Future Sounds of Buffalo event, hosted by local music legend Eric “Critt” Crittenden. The class also made a trip to GCR Audio to meet up with studio owner Robby Takac from the GooGoo Dolls and founder of Music is Art. Takac provided the class studio time to record the CD, which will be released this Thursday at Ashker’s.
None of this would ever have happened without the superb guidance from one special music teacher who understands what it takes to get her students motivated and prepared for life. Katie Ann, who specializes in piano and voice lessons, will be performing a variety of shows in Buffalo this fall – she released her 5th album “Driven” this summer. At the same time, her true gift and passion is passing along the invaluable life lessons to her students.
“I give so much of the credit for my success to my husband Jeff Grossi aka MC ZiLL,” says Katie Ann. “He is my rock and helps me balance all of the busy yet beautiful opportunities we have been blessed with.” MC ZiLL is also a music talent within the family – he’s a math teacher (Buffalo Public School System) who writes positive, socially conscious hip-hop music. Now here’s a family that knows how to give back to young people.
If you can’t make it to Ashker’s this Thursday, be sure to catch Katie Ann and her class at the 2017 Music is Art festival, being held at Buffalo RiverWorks on Saturday, September 9.
Lead image: Robby Takac takes a knee with the class for a photo op