Roia Rafieyan

Singer-song writer and music therapist Roia Rafieyan's peaceful voice and music will change your world turning it from gray to color. Her rich strong voice, melodies, thoughtful lyrics, acoustic guitar, and piano will make you smile, make you cry, make you think, and make you care. Her DTC Records release ?Songs From Behind Locked Doors? is a mix of deep, soulful, angry, fun, and light songs. Her songs range from delightful Joni Mitchell style folk-pop of the song ?Think In Colors? to angry cries about institutionalization in the title song.

Her hope is that is we will work together to build supportive communities where all people are included and labeled only by their names. As a therapist and a singer she teaches that music is a beautiful way for a person to deal with the hard stuff in the world. Taking her message to the stage, Roia has appeared in clubs from Vermont to Georgia and performs regularly in clubs in the Philly New Jersey Area.

Roia spent most of her childhood in Iran begging her parents for a piano. When that didn't work, she asked for a guitar instead. Her parents finally gave in and helped her buy her first guitar at the age of twelve. Moving to the United States and Roia studied guitar with several classical guitar students from the Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford. She went on the study Music Therapy program at Temple University. Her focus at the time was on classical guitar; however, she loved to sing and play the songs of Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. During college she wrote several piano-based songs. As a music therapist she has worked with people who have developmental disabilities and autism who have been institutionalized, many of whom have experienced various forms of trauma. Turning to music as an emotional outlet, she returned to song-writing. In the mid ? 90's she took her music to the stage appearing at open mic shows around New Jersey and was encouraged by responsive audiences. One audience member, Michael Kianka, of DTC Records, produced and released her first CD, ?Songs From Behind Locked Doors? in 1999. Roia is currently working on a second CD. Roia has played her songs in venues from Vermont to Georgia, and she has had the pleasure of providing back-up vocals and piano on her friend Arlon Bennett's CD ?I Am? (2003) and "Fountain of Dreams." Some of her songs were also included in the independent film by Donna Dudick, "The Mommy Track.? Roia has published several scholarly papers on the practice of music therapy and is speaker at music therapy conferences. In addition to her work as a music therapist, supporting folks with autism, Roia and a group of dedicated friends run the Common Grounds Coffeehouse, a monthly venue in Clinton, New Jersey. The focus of the coffeehouse is building an inclusive community through music and art by and for all people.