Bio

Lydia's first big stage experience was at the age of 4 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. The organizers of a Ukrainian Heritage Festival asked her mother if she would be willing to dance for the festival. Having never taken a dance class of any sort, Lydia agreed. She had seen what the dancers do and felt confident she could put on a good show. She already had plenty of experience dancing for her parents and their friends and they seemed to approve. Even her brother's taunting that the performance was going to broadcast on television (it wasn't) didn't faze her. After a short rehearsal with the orchestra the day of the show, Lydia waited alone backstage. Not knowing when it was her turn to go on, and no one around her seemed to know, in a moment when she felt the stage lights were on too long and they must be waiting for her, she ran onto the stage. The orchestra found their music and started to play. And Lydia started to dance her heart out.

That level of fearlessness has characterized Lydia's performing life. The first time Lydia realized that yes, she really can sing, was open mic night at the Santa Fe Bar in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The house band was playing the blues, Lydia stepped up on stage and made it up as it came along. Some people thought it was a published song and asked her who wrote it. Although that song is lost forever in the moment, it marked a turning point in Lydia’s musical life.

Chorus, band, drama; she had always been involved in the performing arts growing up, and has a special place in her heart for her high school music mentor and drama teacher, Roger Haener, for whom Lydia had the great honor of singing at his wedding many years later. But not until that moment at the Santa Fe, her first ever jam session, did she know without a doubt that music must play an important role in her life. She stayed working in Germany for almost two years, teaching herself guitar and writing songs. Upon returning to the U.S., she went back to her college, this time as a jazz performance major at the State University of New Paltz. In 2001, after three years of intense jazz study under the tutelage of such talents as Teri Roiger, Mark Dziuba and Vinnie Martucci, Lydia graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's in Science.

After college, Lydia started her own jazz quartet and pursued whatever interesting projects came her way. She has sung jazz throughout the Hudson Valley with acclaimed artists such as: Grammy winning Jeremy Mage, Jeff Ciampa, Don Miller, Steve Rubin, Bob Rosen, John Arbo, Steve Raleigh, Mark Bernstein, Brian Melick, the Bernstein Bard Trio, and Chris Macchia, Roger Noyes and Steven Partyka of the Arch Stanton Quartet. Lydia opened the 2017 Hudson Valley Jazz Festival in Warwick, New York.

Video game fans around the word know Lydia as the angelic voice in the Stronghold video game series, including the original Stronghold (2001), Stronghold Crusader (2002), and Stronghold II (2005). Her voice can also be heard on backup vocals for many local bands’ recordings including Sean Lathrop's The Forgotten Door, and the now disbanded Uncle Innocent with which she performed at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY. Lydia also wrote for, performed and recorded with the Hot Diggity Dog Family Radio Show at venues such as Unison Arts Center in New Paltz, NY, at festivals, gatherings and schools throughout the Hudson Valley.

Miss Lydia has also played her hand at teaching, starting fresh out of college at Mountain Laurel Waldorf School as choir director, and later with the Musical Munchkins program.

After a long hiatus from performing due to family issues, Lydia's return to the stage in 2015 has been a whirlwind rehearsals and performances. Lydia is a member of Theatre on the Road, a theater company based in Red Hook, NY, in which she acts and sings in multiple shows throughout the year. In 2016 she became musical director for their annual production of A Christmas Carol, and is taking on more writing and directing responsibilities in 2018. She is the winner of the 2017 Arts at the Chocolate Factory Director's Challenge for her original short play. Lydia has also studied several semesters of Balinese Gamelan at Bard College and has performed in six concerts with Giri Mekar, including the 2015 Drum Boogie in Woodstock, New York.