Roberta Schultz has spent most of her life performing in music ensembles, the most recent one being Raison D'Etre, a vocal group of three women who sing intricate three-part arrangements of traditional folk, swing, Shaker, and original songs. Included since 2000 in the Kentucky Arts Council's "Performing Arts on Tour Directory," this trio sings at many venues throughout the midwest and southeast including Hoover Auditorium, Lakeside, OH, Concerts at Lakeside, Guntersville, AL, Cincinnati Music Hall, Tall Stacks Art, Music and Heritage Festival, Java5 in Mobile, AL, The Singletary Center for the Arts, Richmond Area Arts Council's Stained Glass Series, and KET's "Mixed Media" and "In Performance at the Governor's Mansion." Described by critics as “stirringly divine” and “some of the best three-part harmony singing you are ever likely to hear,” Raison D’Etre has five recordings on their Detremental Records label and one concert DVD produced by Mudbrick Media.
From 1999-2006 Schultz coordinated a concert series for the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, KY. The series, entitled "The Coffee Cup Concert Series" was designed to bring a neighborhood of culture to Northern Kentuckians while showcasing the diverse music genres that reflect the evolving heritage of Northern Kentucky. Schultz booked local, regional, and national acts for the series along with handling press releases, committee work, and hosting duties. The series featured such headliners as folk/ comedy diva, Christine Lavin and Grammy winner, Native American flute player and singer songwriter, Bill Miller.
As a performer, teacher, and songwriter, Schultz believes strongly in the power of community. This energy led her to make Native hand drums at the Carnegie Art Center's Drum workshop under the leadership of activist, Dennis Banks. During the five-year run of that workshop, she guided students and adults in the craft of Native drum making and singing while learning for herself the value of patience, collaboration, and tradition. That community arts experience spiraled Schultz toward developing a high school humanities course entitled "Celebrating the Creative Spirit" in which students created art, studied cultures, and wrote about their experiences in an anthology. She and fellow teacher, Karen Martin, presented their course concept and resulting student work at The National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Chicago in the fall of 1996 and again at Kentucky Council of Teachers of Language Arts in Louisville, February 1997. She is currently on two arts in education rosters: The Arts Academy Follow-up Roster(a cooperation between the Kentucky Arts Council and The Kentucky Center) and The Kentucky Arts Council's Arts in Education Roster.
Past Residencies:
- Elements of Music/PD for Frakes Elementary School
- Early American Song Styles/PD for Middle Fork Elementary School
- Image Songs: Writing Songs About Visual Art
(TIP Project with Doug Groneck at Walton Verona High School)
- Songs from Literature, Songs about Literature/PD for Sandy Hook Elementary
- Song Writing as Creative Response to Literature
(TIP Project with Karen Martin at Dixie Heights High School)
- Harmonies Through the Ages (TIP Project at Our Lady of the Mountains School preschool-8th grade. We learned elements of music through performance, song writing, and the major periods of Western music tradition.)
Professional Development Presentations:
- Medieval Music: the Folk Ballad, KAAE Conference, Louisville, KY (2006)
- Two Genres: Medieval Music(chant and folk ballad) Design Your Own PD, Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Leadership Center, Jabez, KY (2006,2007)
- Integrating Music into Your Curriculum with the Arts Toolkit(Gregorian Chant lesson) Our Lady of the Mountains School, Paintsville, KY (2008)
Seven of Schultz's songs appear on Raison D'Etre recordings "Better Medicine" and "Queen Anne's Lace." Four more Schultz tunes are on Raison D'Etre's 2005 CD, HEARTS CONTENT, released in October, 2005. "Broken Radio" received the Judge's Choice Award at MOVA Songwriting Competition in Lake Guntersville, AL, 2005. "Be True" received an Honor Award from the 2006 Great American Song Contest and is included on the first-ever compilation CD from Southern Arts Federation, 2006.
Schultz was a 2006 Artist Enrichment Grant recipient for song writing from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. With grant funds she attended songwriting retreats and again entered the MOVA Songwriting Festival 2007 where “This Kind of Rain” was a finalist in the Folk/Bluegrass category, finishing with 3rd Place Honors.
In 2007, Schultz contributed her lesson on Gregorian Chant to the KET ArtsToolkit for Music as well as two idea cards on chant singing in several styles and song writing inspired by Renaissance master, John Dowland.
A Sample 5-day Residency in “Song Writing as Response to Literature”
April 24--Medieval Folk Ballads. Visiting song writer and former AP teacher, Mrs. Schultz introduced this literary and musical genre from the Middle Ages by performing examples and discussing characteristics of the form. Students practiced the form by writing some group stanzas "ripped from the headlines."
April 25--Students did some pre-writing to review favorite literary characters, important themes, and pivotal scenes in this year's reading. They reviewed ballad characteristics and then wrote a five stanza ballad.
April 26--We shared several ballads via overhead and gave them the Gilligan's Island test. Students listened to some downloaded SIBLs from the Artists for Literacy site to identify literary devices that are particularly effective when used in songs.
Students wrote a verse to Roberta Schultz's "Braver Self" verse pattern.
April 27--Students worked on discovering poetry and song in their own prose with the "Christmas Memory" writing exercise.
April 28--Open mic! Student and teacher performances, coffee house style. Igor even brought in a lovely "mix tape" he created especially for the occasion.