Musician In Residence Coleen Dieker Feb 10-12, 2023

Temple is proud to welcome back musician Coleen Dieker! You may have heard Coleen when she played for the food festival and this time, she’ll be showcasing not only her spectacular violin mastery but her proficiency on guitar and piano. A multi-instrumentalist and passionate music maker, we are thrilled to welcome Coleen back to Temple!

Funded by a grant from Jewish El Paso, Coleen will be spending a weekend with our congregation. Join us Friday for a special Oneg Shabbat and then services featuring Coleen. Then, on Saturday, Coleen will be leading our Soul Shabbat followed by a brunch sponsored, in part, by Sisterhood.

You can hear some of Coleen’s music on her website or watch these delightful videos she shared with us.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O5SCFwRravYSKJi3K37YxOdjKMK3QEvP/view

A student of music since she was a preschooler, Dieker performs at a high level on a wide variety of instruments: piano, guitar, flute, ukulele and especially the violin. She is also an accomplished composer and arranger, a gift she has employed in various roles, including as a music director in the non-secular world.

Coleen attended Boston's Berklee College of Music for two years, an experience that inspired her to pursue music as a passion and a profession but bound to no single genre or style. She has since flourished as a go-to artist in Kansas City and beyond. Her current projects include Ensemble Iberica, which explores the traditional music of Spain and Portugal, and Flannigan's Right Hook, a high-energy rock/country/bluegrass/Celtic music ensemble. She also writes, records and tours with acclaimed Jewish singer/songwriter Rabbi Josh Warshawsky.

No matter the endeavor, Dieker contributes more than just her music virtuosity. She also delivers a passion, enthusiasm, and that sense of adventure that her peers admire and respect. Clint Ashlock, artistic director of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, once said of Dieker: “She is not afraid to assert her personality, which is difficult to do consistently when you play in such a wide variety of musical settings like she does. She’s really one of the most brilliant individual musicians in our scene.”

Coleen is now based in Los Angeles but continues to travel the globe offering a variety of musical gifts: soulful song-leading with the guitar, entertaining on electric violin, and elevating music live and in the studio with her dynamic fiddling.