KAREN BENEDETTO, Songwriter (ASCAP, MAC, NAPM, NYSMS, PMA*), is both resident and native of Rockland County, with a home also in New York City. Grateful for the opportunity to create in both the quiet of the Hudson Valley and the high energy of Manhattan, Karen writes in a variety of musical styles, from pop ballads, country, folk, and crossover, to cabaret, inspirational/gospel, and specialty material. Through the years various “day jobs” have helped support her musical journey, including middle management positions in corporate America in the supply chain of companies as diverse as NY Blood Center, Northfield Cheese, Volvo, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, as well as in an academic setting with Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, an arm of Columbia U. Karen has also managed several record stores in the NY and NJ areas. Her debut Songwriter CD, ‘Right From the Start…the Songs of Karen Benedetto’©, is a “various artists” collection of 17 songs, with all words and music by Karen. An array of talented musicians and arrangers in NYC collaborated in the performances on the album to produce deeply feeling and fully rounded treatments of each original song. Featuring prominent and sensitive voices from the Broadway, cabaret, and concert stages as well as two selections performed by the writer, herself, the CD represents a cross-section of the Benedetto song catalog. The title selection from the album, “Right From the Start”©, is included on vocalist Marieann Meringolo’s CD, ‘Imagine…If We Only Have Love’©, an LML Music label release. Included as a bonus track on Karen’s CD is her ‘hip-hop’ number, “Sister Thing”©, written for Girl Scouts of the USA, and is a cut on the organization’s 90th Anniversary release, ‘Sisters Hand in Hand’©, available through GirlScouts.org website. “The Call”©, Karen’s timeless, healing, and international response to ‘9/11’, was first performed at the United Nations, and continues to receive a great deal of live exposure as well as both radio and TV airplay in the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area and across the country. This anthem of peace was featured at commemorative events on Westchester TV channel 12; WFAS 103.9 FM Radio in greater White Plains; WUFT-FM and WJUF-FM in Central Florida and the Nature Coast; KFLH 95.5 FM in Chama, New Mexico; and, at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in NYC, at various interfaith worship and prayer services and live events in Binghamton, NY, and White Plains, NY, as well as in Brooklyn borough-wide events. In addition, Anthony Santelmo Jr included his sensitive rendition of “The Call”© in his 5-week cabaret run at Judy’s/Chelsea, NYC, and Marieann Meringolo included it in her cabaret performances at The Duplex, NYC. It was also part of an ASCAP Songwriter’s Showcase in New York. This song has proven its international appeal by performances in both Amsterdam and Roderwolde, Holland, the Netherlands, by Frans Bloem; on Radio FEDRA in Serbia and Montenegro; and in Slovenia. In Ireland, where it also had radio airplay, it was performed live by Scott Coulter at the Grand Finals of the 2003 Tipperary International Song of Peace Festival to both audience and songwriter peer acclaim. In this competition, “The Call”© was recognized as a Finalist from a field of more than 200 peace song submissions from songwriters the world over. “One”©, a powerful anthem of peace and oneness of Spirit, has recently been recorded by the elite singing group of Unity of New York, Spiritus, for their latest cd "We Are One", performed at churches and spiritual centers and on New York cabaret and concert stages. It was a Finalist in the 2004 Tipperary International Song of Peace Contest, and was performed live in Ireland at the Grand Finals by cabaret and concert artist, Pamela Palmieri. This song has been performed at events at the United Nations and continues to be heard spreading its vision of peace in a variety of venues worldwide. “One”© is a selection in ‘Holy Now’©, a songbook compiled by the International Association of Unity churches. Seasonal Sampler “A Holiday Sampler”©, a mini-CD of songs of the season, was released by In the Flow Music in late 2005. The collection includes “I’m Giving Love This Christmas”© (formerly titled "The Perfect Gift"), a unique, new pop holiday ballad, which had its public performance debut at the United Nations. It was presented at an ASCAP Songwriter’s Showcase in NYC (to “show stopping” ovation!), and has received airplay on the Joey Reynolds Show (WOR 710 AM); ‘Everything Old is New Again’ with David Kenney (WBAI 99.5 FM); ‘Across the Prairie’ with Cathy DeWitt (NPR Station WUFT-FM, Gainesville, FL); ‘Living Healthy, Living Well’ with Denise Richardson (WNYE 91.5 FM); and other radio stations across the country, as well as at the NY Sheet Music Society, at Unity Church of New York, and various other spiritual centers and public and private holiday events in the NYC area. Included also is the very moving holiday piece, “A Chanukah Prayer”©. Following in the sampler is “Time and Truth”©, performed by the songwriter, with “Happy New Year”© concluding this collection of Karen’s seasonal selections. “I’m Giving Love This Christmas”© (formerly titled "The Perfect Gift") is also included in a holiday compilation CD, entitled ‘Holiday Heart’© produced by and for St. Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center, of West Orange, NJ, a Hospice Foundation of America site, released Fall 2005. Honors In addition to recognition of “One”© and “The Call”© in Tipperary, songwriting competition results have yielded Finalist status for “Walking in the Light”© “in both the 2003 Unisong International Song Contest and the 2003 UK Songwriting Contest. “One”© and “I’m Giving Love This Christmas” (“The Perfect Gift”)© in their respective categories of the 2004 UK Songwriting Contest, “The Perfect Gift”©, an Honor Award in both the 2003 Great American Song Contest and in the Paramount Group’s 2004 Nashville International Christmas Song Contest. “Holding On”©, an Honorable Mention in the category Journey of Self-Discovery of the 2005 International Narrative Song Competition; Honorable Mention of “One”© in the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest in its gospel/inspirational category, and an Honor Award for “Southern Rains”© (a response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) in the acoustic/folk category of the 2005 Great American Song Contest. Publishing “Happy New Year To You”© is published by Justin Wilde, Songcastle Music (ASCAP), Mission Viejo, CA. Local Artist Performances Selections from the Karen Benedetto song catalog have been part of various events around the NYC area. In addition to the above-mentioned cabaret and concert artists and venues, K.B. songs have been included in programs at NY Sheet Music Society (NYSMS) in its ‘New Songwriters Series’, at which Nancy McGraw sang “Yesterdays”©, Julie Reyburn performed “Swing”©, and “The Call”©, which featured Scott Coulter reprising his performance as it was done in Ireland. ‘Timeless Divas’, a revue co-produced by Sandi Durell and Shari Upbin, included Georga Osborne performing “California”©. In his cabaret performance, Kevin Scott Hall debuted “True To Yourself”©. Janine Alondres included “Here’s To the Lady”© in her shows. In his inimitable characterization of Carol Channing, Richard Skipper debuted “Swing”©, Karen’s clever and affectionate tribute to understudies everywhere. He included it in the run of his revue, ‘Carol’s Cabaret Cavalcade’, at the Triad, NYC, as well making it a part of his show, ‘An Evening With Carol Channing starring Richard Skipper’, at Rockland Center for the Arts, at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, NYC, and at venues in Washington, DC. Jonathan Frank performed “Swing”© in his cabaret run at the Duplex, NYC. Sue Matsuki debuted “Time and Truth”© in her late 2005 show series “10 Years in the Making”. “Bartimaeus’ Song”©, performed by Anthony Santelmo Jr and Scott Benedict with Karen accompanying on guitar, was commissioned by Chelsea Community Church, NYC, for its 10th anniversary production of “Walk the Via Dolorosa” where it debuted on Palm Sunday 2006. A return visit to NY Sheet Music Society’s ‘New Songwriter’s Series’ in late-Spring 2006 features Marcus Simeone performing “You’re There”© and Sue Matsuki with “Time and Truth”©. It is an honor to know that Anthony Santelmo Jr and Pamela Palmieri have each committed themselves to including Karen Benedetto material in all of their cabaret shows and concert appearances. The dates and the events continue… * * * The KarenBenedettoSongs.com website showcases Karen’s songwriting talents in many musical genres—pop, country, folk, crossover, * * * The CD, “Right From the Start…the Songs of Karen Benedetto”©, is available from CDBaby.com, Tower.com, and Cabaret Scenes.com, as well as from Karen’s website, www.KarenBenedettoSongs.com.
The selections you may sample on this site and enjoy on the CDs are performed by a wide variety of stellar talent from the New York City and world stages of cabaret, concert and Broadway. The process of producing the song samples for the website with so many wonderfully talented people has been an amazing and wonder-filled journey. (See THE SINGERS link.) Matching the singers with the songs has been a great personal and professional pleasure. I am grateful for not only their awesome talents but also for the generous Spirit each one has so lovingly given to this project! My goal for the music continues to be sharing it with the world by any and every possible path… Enjoy! To Contact the Songwriter: E-Mail ___________________________
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Karen Benedetto Songs
Phone & Fax: (845) 268-3170