WESTFIELD – Singer, songwriter and pianist Isabel Marcheselli brims with gratitude for the support she has received from several grant initiatives that will assist her in releasing a new album.
“I am humbled and honored by this show of support from all of these institutions – especially during an incredibly challenging time for the music industry of which I am a part,” said Marcheselli. “Their support will help me to continue to bring new music and insights to my audience.”
As a musician impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcheselli has been issued grants totaling more than $3,500 from the Music Teachers National Association, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, the New England Musicians Relief Fund, and, most recently, the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Isabel Marcheselli of Westfield is grateful for the grants she has received which will allow her to release her first album in more than a decade. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
After learning about each grant, Marcheselli said the acknowledgment was “so heartening.”
“I feel blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community of musicians and music teachers around the world,” she said, adding, “It’s full of smart and caring people who genuinely want to help each other, and that has been all the more evident during this pandemic which has hit the world of music really hard.”
Marcheselli noted that the pandemic has brought musicians and musical supporters together – “to look out for each other.”
“I couldn’t be more grateful and humbled and inspired by them, and I definitely want my listeners and students to benefit from all the support that I have received all the more,” she said.
On her website, Marcheselli recently recorded a video and wrote a blog post titled “My COVID-19 Year in Musical Review.”
“I do happen to personally know a friend, someone relatively young, who died in a matter of days of COVID-19 and it really shook me up,” she said. “This time of isolation has prompted a sort of musical life review. Life is precious and so are people.”
Marcheselli added she has always believed “it’s important to make the most of time with what has been given to us on what the American poet A. R. Ammons called, ‘this dot in space.’ One of my songs about to be recorded, ‘Wander,’ has a cosmic feel and I hope that my music helps people to relax and be uplifted and inspired during these challenging times.”
Originally from New York, Marcheselli is currently based in Westfield and is the owner of the Marcheselli Music Studio in the downtown area, offering online lessons to beginner and intermediate level students. She also has a wedding music service – Marcheselli Wedding Music.
“I did not plan to establish a music studio here, but it came out of a natural progression from finally having a place of my own with my hubby after room-mating for years in Manhattan,” said Marcheselli. “When I first visited Westfield, I got a musical vibe from this town.”
Marcheselli said one of her first impressions was noticing a music store.
“I remember, among other things, that Westfield has a music store and finding that to be awesome, since music stores are such a dying breed in New York City,” she said. “Over the years, Westfield has welcomed me with open arms as a musician and piano teacher and I am truly grateful for that.”
Marcheselli said she had to reinvent herself and branch out performing music once she settled in the area. Her “British musical influences” include Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Level 42, Sting, and Coldplay, among “many others.”
“The audience here is very different from the one I had known,” she said. “Nevertheless, it has been a rewarding journey bringing out more of the traditional and classical musician in me that was always there.”
Marcheselli, a certified piano teacher, has played music professionally in a wide range of contexts.
“I have collaborated with choirs, church services, weddings, musicals, and much more,” she said.
Marcheselli holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, and studied music at Cornell and Mannes School of Music, and as a second degree music major at Hunter College.
Marcheselli said the grants will allow her to continue making her own music and bringing a second album of original music to her listeners.
“My band’s first album – Isabel and The Whispers – was pretty sparse in that it reproduced music that was basically like the live music that Isabel and The Whispers was playing in the clubs,” she said. “However, I plan to have more motion, production and orchestration going on in my next album.”
Marcheselli said with the current conditions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she is hopeful to start recording “sometime this summer.” Band members include drummer Alec Menge, guitarist Octavio Padron, and bass guitarist Scott Gleason.
“This album will be keeping my bandmates and I hard at work, possibly into 2022,” she said.
For more information on Marcheselli or to listen to her music, visit https://www.isabelmarcheselli.com
