Greetings XCI #2 - Wayland Academy

Her most recently completed album,
paths X, is available in the states via
iTunes or Amazon and has charted in
the top ten on many Internet charts.
She is currently producing three
projects: a poetry compilation, Kite
Tailor, with Las Vegas artist MJ
Hummingway; a performance of
French composer Michael Legrand’s
works entitled Le Grand Love; and an
original album scheduled for release in
early 2010, Moon in Capricorn. The
latter is a collaboration with the
Italian film composer and arranger,
Fabrizio Pigliucci. In addition, she is
working on an orchestral production
called Ladies of Swing, which she will
be performing for two thousand people
in August 2009.
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Greetings: If you don’t mind tracing
your path a little bit, I understand you
were born in Germany, moved to
Wisconsin when you were six, and
then moved on to Minnesota and big
things beyond. What brought you back
to Germany?
KJ: I was born in St. Louis, Missouri,
and then went to Berlin with my
family. We moved back to Wisconsin
when I was in first grade. It is true that
after studying at Wayland, and then at
the University of Minnesota, I
returned to Europe. I always smile at
the question what brings us
somewhere? Every young person I
know dreams of traveling. Many
Americans dream of studying in
Europe, and many Europeans dream of
studying in the states. I made my
dream a reality and traveled the world
and moved back to Europe. I knew
someone in Berlin, so it was the logical
choice. Otherwise, I would have
happily gone to London, Paris, or
Rome. Now I call this wonderful city
of Berlin my home.
Greetings: You wear a lot of hats:
performer, coach, writer, and radio
host. Which of these is most fulfilling?
Or are they all fulfilling in different
ways?
KJ: I do wear many hats and enjoy
exploring the many facets of my
personality. If you look closely, there is
one red thread connecting it all. I have
been given a vision which I live in
utter totality — it is that of the human
voice and the role it plays in our
development as humans and the world
we live in. If you really look at the
vastness of my work — it is concentric
circles and in the middle is the human
voice. This human voice has the ability
to heal and make our world a more
peaceful place to live.
In the middle is me as a
singer/songwriter. I write and listen
and in owning my own truths and
working on myself I am changed.
Slowly polishing my rough edges, I
look at the light and shadow; I relax in
the now and pull out threads and
ribbons of memory from the past. This
involves many hours of deep reflection,
meditation, and discipline. The next
ring/circle is to take the impulses, the
colors, the words and put them onto
paper and record them and then put
them out onto stage. This is a very
empowering and very fragile process
for all artists, yet this is our calling. We
bring spirit to earth, create works of
art that inspire, knowing that at some
point we/it/all will return back to
spirit. It is a circle. Sometimes we ask
ourselves... what is the point? Why
work so hard when we know we are
all passing? That is the point. It is a
process, and the more you are able to
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