She has the skills of a violin virtuoso and the voice of Regina Spektor, but there was a time when Ada Pasternak thought she would never play music again.
It was 2005, and Pasternak, a classically-trained violinist with a number of competition titles under her belt, was diagnosed with tendonitis. She was only 16.
"At first, I had back pain and then it spread through my upper body, hands, shoulders, neck and back," Pasternak, of Fairfield, recalled. "My doctor said to put my violin in its case and I didn't take it out again."
That was until a few years later when, at the urging of a guidance counselor, she applied to the prestigious Berklee College of Music. She hadn't played music in awhile; she didn't think she could afford the tuition. But when Pasternak performed at her college audition, the sounds of her violin drowned out those concerns. Not only did she wow the admissions team, she was awarded a Presidential Scholarship -- a full ride.
"When I got the letter of acceptance in the mail, I couldn't believe it," she said. "I started playing again."
Now, Pasternak, 24, is doing something she never would have expected: pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter. She celebrates the release her debut EP, "Ada," with a performance at Acoustic Cafe in Bridgeport on Friday, March 15.
Self-produced in a private studio in Brighton Beach, N.Y., the six-song EP is an amalgam of folk, pop and classical music teeming with bright, quirky melodies that trickle from Pasternak's chordal violin picking and delicate piano playing. Her voice is like honey, though she is prone to flourishes of Spektor-esque eccentricity -- abrupt tonal changes, intricate vocal rhythms and even some beatboxing.
But while "Ada" is sonically uplifting, it is far from a joyful affair: memories of broken relationships are littered throughout the EP. Take "Shoulda Seen It Coming," a soulful, chugging pop number that Pasternak wrote about a break up.
"Shoulda seen it coming when I called your name, you pretend to sleep, but you're wide awake, and your eyes are closed, think it's easier that way," she laments.
"I got a good song out of that jerk," Pasternak joked. "That song came from dark place, but it's one of my best songs. After I wrote it, I wasn't sad anymore."
Originally from Moscow, Pasternak moved to the U.S. with her family in 1996. She took violin lessons from her aunt, Darien resident Asya Meshberg, and Albert Markov at the Manhattan School of Music. She won the Greater Bridgeport Symphony's Carlson Horn Competition in 2004.
Although she dabbled in jazz, film scoring and music therapy in college, she found her true passion in pop songcraft. Her initial inspiration came after another break up -- this one from a previous boyfriend.
"I woke up one morning, looked out my dorm room, and sang, `It's a beautiful day, even though my heart is broken.' And I was like, `Wait, is that a song?' " Pasternak recalled of the track "Why I Let You Go." "I never wrote a song before. But the next day, I wrote another one and I couldn't stop after that."
For Pasternak, that's close to unfathomable -- after all, there was a time when she was ready to put away her violin for good. Now, with her instrument in hand, she feels "complete, content."
"I feel like I have a purpose; I'm doing what I should be doing," she said. "I believe that I can make a big difference in music industry. I want to make people happy with my music."
ctpost.com - Scott Gargan