Ivan Rubenstein-Gillis Ivan Rubenstein-Gillis

Born in New York City, Ivan grew up in small-town New Jersey and upstate New York. He played piano by ear as a child and began putting together lyrics and chord patterns when he was nine. Ivan taught himself guitar a few years later and became consumed with writing songs in high school. Since then he has written hundreds of songs and instrumental pieces, composed scores for dance and theater, recorded a number of CDs and played with great musicians in many styles. But his first love remains the folk-rock singer-songwriter tradition.
 
Ivan has performed at venues all around the northeast since the mid-1990s: concerts, recitals, festivals, dance, comedy and theatrical events, city parks, bars, hotels, cafes, bed & breakfasts, restaurants, fundraisers, rallies, protests, parades, bar and bat mitzvahs, summer camps, schools, churches, synagogues, radio stations, train stations, weddings and parties.
 
In addition to his folk-rock wanderings, Ivan has played in several “world music” ensembles (with trombone great Roswell Rudd, Fode Sissoko and others), and has accompanied a wide range of performers on guitar, piano, drums, bass, mandolin and vocals. He has also taught numerous classes in rock, folk and blues history and performance, as well as guitar and songwriting lessons to dozens of students of all ages and levels.

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