Violinist Melissa Reiner Endorses Barcus-Berry 3110 Violin Piezo Pickup!

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 21, 2008 – Barcus-Berry, a manufacturer of transducer/preamp systems and acoustic-electric violins, is happy to announce violinist Melissa Reiner as the newest endorser of the Barcus-Berry 3110 Clamp-On Bridge Violin Piezo Pickup with Preamp. The 3110 clamps easily to the violin bridge and offers wide-band frequency response, excellent string balance, and feedback rejection for clear, true reproduction of the violin’s natural sound.

After proudly declaring support and sponsorship of Barcus-Berry, Melissa Reiner stated, “The magnificent clarity of the Barcus-Berry 3110 pickup allows the pure tone of my violin to resonate over a 15-piece rock band and throughout an entire stadium!"

Melissa Reiner brings her unique musical sensibilities and prodigious talent to a wide variety of professional endeavors. Classically-trained since the age of three, she began intensive studies at the Aspen Music Festival during the summers of 1989-1991at the Juilliard School. During the academic year she attended boarding school in Marin County, CA, in order to study with Isador Tinkleman of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and to serve as the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, with whom she toured Europe in 1992. Melissa then moved to Baltimore to attend the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she received a Bachelor of Music degree and studied with Shirley Givens, Violaine Melancon and Earl Carlyss (founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet). She toured and performed extensively while a student, including performances with the Cleveland Orchestra and in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the former Soviet Republic.

After pursuing additional graduate studies at the Peabody Institute and a stint in Paris, Melissa decided to move to Los Angeles, which seemed to be the perfect city in which to explore her curiosity about her art outside the confines of the classical music world. She has been lucky enough to expand upon her fantastic training in a vast number of multi-genre professional projects and continues to employ her additional skills, such as improvising and arranging. Melissa has performed at the Grammy Awards, on The Tonight Show, on Mad TV, on Canada's Much Music, on the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, and on MTV numerous times, including the Janet Jackson Icon Awards. She was the featured violinist for several videos with David Lee Roth, and can be heard on numerous albums and videos, including those of Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Sara Bareilles, and Dishwalla. She can also be heard imitating the sounds of a teenager's practice session in the feature film Pretty Persuasion, for which she also served as Violin Consultant.

In addition to her exciting foray into the world of popular music, Melissa continues to play in numerous symphony orchestras, both in the studio (commercial jingles and film/tv scores) and in concert halls around the world. She has toured Taiwan with the Hollywood Pops Orchestra and is a member of the New West Symphony, which has enabled her to tour with Andrea Bocelli and perform with such notables as Pinchas Zukerman and Christopher O'Riley. She has toured Japan twice with the Percy Faith Orchestra and returns for a third tour of Japan in May/June 2008. She performed in Great Britain in 2005 with the band "Kane" and is the lead violinist on the summer 2008 tour with the sensational young stars, The Jonas Brothers.

Melissa was featured in the "Departures" exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in a film about a string quartet performance, and has given many recitals as a soloist and chamber musician. Her distinctive abilities brought her to the attention of the Los Angeles Times and she was the subject of a cover article in the Sunday Calendar section in July 2005. Melissa's first solo album of classical music, entitled "Great Love Constant Thought", was released in August 2008 and is currently available on itunes.

To find out more about Melissa Reiner, visit her websites: www.melissareiner.com or www.myspace.com/melissareiner

Barcus-Berry products are exclusively distributed by Musicorp and include pickups and preamps for pianos, violins and guitars in addition to the Chromatic-AE™ and Vibrato-AE™ Series Acoustic-Electric Violins. For more information or to order Barcus-Berry products, please visit http://www.barcusberry.com.