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Judy Lewis was born, Judy Levine, in Milwaukee, Wis. on February 19th, 1958. She began classical piano studies at age 7 and by age 9 it was clear to all, including herself, that she would be a formidable musical entity in the future. As she put prize after prize under her belt she began to create a name for herself in the Classical world. At age 15 she won the Wisconsin Young Artists Competition, at age 16 the Wisconsin All Stars Competition, and at age 17 the Outstanding Music & Youth Award which included a performance with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Judy continued her studies after high school at the illustrious Columbia University in New York, but her stay there lasted only 2 years. During her first year of college Judy became active in the campus’s Jewish community and enthrawled by the spiritual side of Jewish teachings. Little by little music was replaced by God as Judy was drawn into the tightly closed world of religiousity. After 2 years in university Judy moved to Jerusalem to study religion fulltime. Two years later she married a rabbinical student and left music forever…or so everyone thought.

For 10 years Judy remained a part of the most fervently religious sect in Israel. She had 4 children and worked odd jobs to make money for her family. But, somewhere in year 10 she became restless. Thoughts of her previous life, her former self, and her one life’s dream began to haunt her. In 1995, Judy ended her marriage, left the religious community for good and set out on her own, now a single mother of 4, to salvage her dreams.

With no degree and no job experience, Judy began to take in private piano students and worked to complete her university degree through correspondence study. A year later she landed a job as music teacher at a local primary school and enrolled in the Rubin Academy of Music to get a second degree and teaching certification in Music Education, which she received 2 years later.

Having settled the issues of supporting her family, Judy turned to the difficult task of reclaiming her standing as a professional musician. For 3 years Judy played Classical music, but with little passion, until one day she heard her first Jazz concert given by a visiting pianist from L.A. In seconds she realized that this was the voice she had been looking for. The dream was reborn. The rest is a self composed fairy tale in the making…

Judy’s classical training as well as her passion for progressive Rock music, have continually informed her personal vision of Jazz and have led to a refreshing new stylistic conception. With major influences stretching from Dream Theater to the Peter Erskine Trio, her own brand of what she likes to call “acoustic fusion”, has gleaned praise from Jazzers and Rockers alike. John Fordham of the Guardian, upon hearing her band in concert at the world famous Pizza Express Jazz Club in London, called the music “a rare phenomenon” and singled Judy out as “no clone of anybody else”.

Today, Judy Lewis has 4 albums of original Jazz music out on the international market, distributed worldwide and reviewed by the worlds leading Jazz and Music Journals. She is managing director of her own record label, Visionary Insomniac Records and regularly tours Europe and Israel, in addition to being a pioneer of Jazz education in Israel. She is scheduled to release her fifth album in March 2006 and after only 6 short years in the Jazz world, her fans stretch from Los Angeles to London, from Barcelona to Tokyo