NeidFyre: Music etc

Melissa (Mel) Gryphon Ginsberg-Stevens was born a musical child. She began singing before she could speak, and picked up the violin when she was eight. Surrounded by music, she focused on the classical side of things, but was also drawn to Celtic, Russian, and Jewish folk music. She began singing in Hebrew and Yiddish when she was nine, and started private violin lessons around that same time. She has been playing the violin ever since.

Mel graduated Ithaca College in 1992 with degrees in English, Music and Russian language. In 1995 she began performing in local community orchestras in the Central NY area. In 2002 she began performing as a solo artist, NeidFyre.

As NeidFyre, Mel focuses on Celtic and European folk music, but she has never lost her love for Classical music. She began teaching classical violin to elementary and junior high school students when she was a senior in high school and taught on and off for 10 years. Now that she's settled into the Ithaca area she's back to teaching.

Mel believes that a strong base in classical training makes for a stronger violinist. "If you can read music, you can play anything." is one of her philosophies.