Diane Taraz Silver Dagger CD

Born in 1957 in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, Diane taught herself guitar during long winter evenings, her feet perched against a wood-burning stove. She wrote her first songs in high school, and began working her way through \"100 English Folk Songs,\" a classic collection of ballads. She was captivated by the beauty and power of the melodies, and the way the words provide a glimpse into the past.Diane moved to the Boston area to earn a degree in elementary education, then a graduate degree in communications. She honed her stagecraft at folk venues in the Boston area, and her first cassette of six original songs received much local radio airplay. She supported herself as a free-lance editor.In the late 1980s Diane studied with 12-string guitar master Tracy Moore and polished her vocal skills at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. She continued writing and created some striking songs on the lap dulcimer that make the most of that instrument’s quirky charm. Diane also fell for the quirky charm of her husband, John, whom she married in 1991.In 1993 BCN Records released Diane’s first full-length recording, \"Shoes That Fit Like Sand.\" It includes one of her most popular songs, “Raisin Pie,” based on her French-Canadian mother’s memories of her family dancing around the kitchen in the 1930s. Johnny Cunningham added his exquisite fiddle-playing to the recording.Also in 1993 Diane joined the Gloucester Hornpipe & Clog Society, a band with a 30-year history of performing traditional and original music on fiddle, flute, guitar, accordion, banjo, and the age-old delights of spoons, bones, and Irish drum. In 1995 the Wizmak label released their CD \"Airs From Who Knows Where,\" which featured some of Diane’s originals. In 2008 the band released its CD entitled \"Liberty!\" with more Diane Taraz compositions.In 1994 Diane and John welcomed Laura Cecilia to the world. During her pregnancy Diane recorded four songs for a BCN Records compilation CD, \"The Songs of Jack Hardy.\" That year her performing took her to South Carolina for a concert arranged by a devoted fan.In 1996 BCN Records released Diane’s second solo CD, \"Gathered Safely In,\" and in 1997 Diane created \"Toddler Songs,\" a CD that reflects her decade of leading sing-alongs for babies and toddlers. This very popular recording features her updated version of “I’m a Little Teapot” entitled “I’m a Little Microwave.” In 2003 Diane released \"Beat of the Heart,\" a wide-ranging exploration of Diane’s French heritage and love of songs that tell stories.Diane has sung choral music for decades in various groups and in her church choir. She was commissioned by the group In Choro Novo to arrange her song “Silver the Moon” for SATB chorus, and it premiered in December 2006 at a concert at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. She has now arranged several of her songs for choirs, and has written songs for the UUlations, an all-women a cappella group.Diane is also a member of Vox Lucens, a 12-voice group that performs a cappella music from the Renaissance.