As an Artist Coach, I can help you pinpoint your challenges and help you develop the tools needed to prevail as an artist in any medium!
As a Life Coach, my methodology has produced powerful results for those seeking to address creative, personal or professional challenges, and lifestyle issues such as time management and physical well-being .
As a parent who coaches other parents, I believe that balancing domestic responsibility with vocational goals is a crucial component of our ability to connect to, and be present with our families.
Specialties
Artists, freelancers, parents, creativity and productivity issues, time management
Writer's block, performance anxiety, and career challenges
New mothers seeking to pursue or resume careers
Artist/Life Coach
Rahti Gorfien
Phone: 917-804-9572
Hours: By appointment
What I offer
Individual Coaching sessions are 45 minutes long and are available primarily by phone.
Group Coaching takes place in person in New York City at Brooklyn and Manhattan locations. Each group is geared toward a specialized focus and consists of 4-6 individuals. See the Group Coaching link on the page menu below for more details.
I offer a free initial consultation.
http://www.creativecallingcoaching.com/
Posted Sept 11th, 2007
Hi friends,
As of September 17, I will be working full-time as a pianist and vocal coach. I am not giving up acting. I am quitting my corporate day job to work in a profession that I truly enjoy, which will also allow me more time to audition as an actor. I am looking forward to working with many other talented singing, acting, and musical clients!
For those who might not know, I am a classically trained pianist with varied experience as a vocal coach, musical director, and accompanist both in NYC and regionally. I studied piano performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. I am an excellent sight reader and if you don’t know me come down to Marie’s Crisis Café on Grove Street every Tuesday night where I play starting at 9:30pm and say hello. Resume, bio and references available upon request! Member: AFM Local 802, AEA, SAG and AFTRA.
Here is what I offer:
*vocal coaching - my experience as an actor/singer gives me added perspective when coaching clients both musically and from an acting standpoint.
*accompanist - singers and instrumentalists in all styles (classical, rock, pop) available for rehearsals, recordings, classes, and as a solo pianist for dance classes.
*sheet music transposition - music printed in the keys you need, using Sibelius software.
*sheet music transcription - music lifted from a recording and printed in the keys you need, using Sibelius software.
*music theory lessons - reading music, basic theory, sight-singing for singers and instrumentalists with a desire to improve in this area.
*solo & collaborative pianist - large repertoire to entertain at piano bars, restaurants, weddings and other special occasions (also an organist!). Also available for chamber music.
*solo & collaborative accordionist - large repertoire to entertain at restaurants, weddings and other special occasions as a soloist or as part of an ensemble.
*piano lessons - all levels from child or adult beginner to advanced. Will come to your home or teach in conveniently located Manhattan and Astoria studios.
AND COMING SOON:
www.thepianogal.com
A website where you can download piano accompaniments for rehearsal purposes. Sort of like an iTunes for piano accompaniments. More details to follow at the end of September.
I am building my clientele and would appreciate any referrals. I've reached out to you before and I thank you for the business several of you have thrown my way. In the past, I've had trouble finding time to accommodate all the requests I've received, but I want you to know that as of September 17, my schedule will be wide open and I'll be able to accommodate a lot more of you!
Looking forward to working with you!
Regards,
Franca Vercelloni
917-586-7281
francav78@hotmail.com
ONGOING
Want an improv class without the burden of the up-front multi-week commitment?
Try Carl Kissin's on-going drop-in class on the Upper West side.
Come by any or every Sunday
Time: 3-6 PM
Usual cost: $35 / class
SPECIAL for Captain Purple people - first class FREE if you say, "Captain Purple."
Further discount on future classes negotiable.
Contact Carl Kissin at kamikissie@aol.com
For more info: http://www.carlkissin.com/lessons.html
Carl Kissin performed nearly 4000 shows with the off-Broadway improv comedy show Chicago City Limits. He was their head writer and director of their touring company. Carl has also studied longform improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Posted April 26th, 2005. HEALTHCARE INFO:
Through a serendipitous meeting between Laura Colby,
director of Elsie Management, and Dr. Edward Fishkin
of Woodhull Hospital, we have learned about a health
care opportunity that may be of great service to
artists. DTW, The Field, Dance NYC and Laura Colby of
Elsie Management are working together to spread the
word about this exciting news.
Woodhull Hospital is part of the Health and Hospitals
Corporation of New York City, the public hospital
system. As such, it has a mandate to serve all New
Yorkers. While the public hospital system may have a
reputation that might make you think twice before
visiting one of its sites, our experience of touring
the Woodhull Hospital facility was quite eye opening.
We found Woodhull Hospital to be largely newly
renovated, friendly, accessible, and comprehensive in
its services. In addition, the hospital has a number
of satellite clinics in the Brooklyn area that can
serve individuals in community locations as well.
The great news is related to the cost of services.
âHHC Options,â available to uninsured individuals, is
a financial assistance program that reduces the
patient bill to a very affordable level. What you are
billed varies according to salary guidelines, but in
general covers people who make very little to those
who make up to $37,240 for individuals (and even
higher for married couples or people with dependents).
The price range for an office visit is from $15 to
$60. Prescriptions filled at the hospital cost $10
each and wonât exceed $40 even if you need more than
four prescriptions. Even better news is that
outpatient psychotherapy and dentistry are offered on
the same per visit price (except with dentistry
cosmetics and dental prosthetics are billed at actual
cost). Last, should you need a hospital stay, the
costs are capped as well so that a hospital inpatient
stay, even one lasting several weeks, would be a
fraction of what you might imagine; for example the
cost is capped at $150 for the entire visit for an
individual, depending on income level and dependents
in the household.
Woodhull, located at the border between the
Williamsburg and Bushwich sections of Brooklyn, is
easily accessed by subway. It is one of the 11
hospitals that form the public hospital system in New
York City. These hospitals are located in all five
boroughs; in Manhattan they include Bellevue,
Metropolitan (on the Upper East Side) and Harlem
Hospital. We plan to learn more about these other
hospitals and to conduct more site visits so that we
can report to you how these hospitals stack up. We
will provide you with updated information as we learn
more, and may even have a âtown meetingâ so that the
artist community can meet administrators from these
hospitals. In the meantime, should you have medical,
dental, or mental health needs (such as smoking
cessation) that are not being served right now due to
lack of funds, please consider checking out Woodhull
Hospital as a possible place to receive care.
A few notes: you must be a resident of one of the five
boroughs of New York City, and be able to prove this
via a utility bill or the like (hospital staff will
work with you on this should you not have bills in
your name). You will need to provide proof of income
(such as a weekly pay stub â" annual income tax returns
not accepted unless completed in the preceding three
months). However, should you not have other proof, or
if your income tends to ebb and flow depending on your
paid work, you can make a written declaration of your
income â" a good option for those working as
independent contractors. The hospital will also work
with you to find other insurance options (e.g.,
Medicaid, Family Health Plus, Pre-Natal Care
Assistance Program, and Child Health Plus) should HHC
Options not be the right program for you. Last, the
hospital will work with your insurance carrier if you
already have one.
Please feel free to contact any of us should you have
additional questions about our experiences at Woodhull
Hospital. If you would like to schedule an appointment
for medical, dental, or mental health care, call
Woodhull Hospital Contimuum Care Appointment Center
(CCAC) at (718) 388-5889 to speak with a patient
representative to get the process started.
DEALS ON HEALTH CARE from Backstage.com 8/05 by Simi Horwitz
Consider the barter program that has just been launched at Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital and will soon be available at public hospitals citywide. For every hour they spend performing for hospital patients, singers, dancers, and actors can earn 40 credits, each one worth about $1. Those credits can then be used towards medical care. Based on a sliding scale, a medical visit can cost anywhere from $15 to $60. For example, if an actor with 160 credits (from four hours of performing at the hospital) wants a checkup that costs $20, he can pay for it with 20 credits and he'll still have 140 credits left for future medical needs. If a performer doesn't have enough credits to cover the cost of a medical service, he'll have to pay the difference. For more information, call (877) 244-5600.
The Actors' Fund of America is a terrific source of informationthrough its website and its many workshopsfor uninsured performers seeking health care. Go to the Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center at www.actorsfund.org or call (800) 798-8447.
The Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic, sponsored by the Actors' Fund, offers free health careboth primary and specialtyto uninsured or underinsured entertainment industry professionals who can document their recent earnings. For more information or to make an appointment, call the clinic (located at 475 West 57th St.) at (212) 489-1939.
The Kathryn & Gilbert Miller Health Care Institute for Performing Artists provides general and specialty care for performers and those in related professions, such as writers, directors, and coaches. Among the services offered are internal medicine, podiatry, and orthopedic surgery. The institute (located at 172 Amsterdam Ave., at West 68th Street, Suite 2F) also has an on-site voice laboratory and a physical therapy gym, complete with barres and sprung dance floors. There is no flat fee and charges are based on a sliding scale. For more information, go to www.millerinstitute.org or call (212) 496-4700.
The Harkness Center for Dance, which is part of the Hospital for Joint Diseases, offers a range of medical services, including a sports physical-therapy center and a dance injury clinic staffed by orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists whose specialty is dance medicine. Harkness also now offers dancers a free, one-hour, one-on-one injury-prevention assessment program with a dance therapist. The center (located at 301 East 17th St.) accepts most insurance carriers, and uninsured dancers receive a discount. For more information, call (212) 598-6000.
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) also serves the uninsured. HHC runs New York City's public health care system in all five boroughs, including 11 acute-care hospitals, six diagnostic and treatment centers, and more than 100 community health clinics. Fees are on a sliding scale based on income. To find an HHC hospital or clinic, go to www.nyc.gov/hhc.
WATCH YOUR MEMORIES COME TO LIFE ON A BEAUTIFUL DVD!
Want to turn your photos and videos into something creative and beautiful, but don’t have the time or software?
We'll take your selected digital or hard copy photos along with footage from your VHS, VHS-C, or mini-dv tapes, and customize your project with music, titles, transitions and chapters. Makes a great gift for a birthday; anniversary; bar/bat mitzvah; tribute, and more!
RIGHTRIDES - A FREE CAR SERVICE THAT SHUTTLES WOMEN
> HOME FROM BARS AND
> PARTIES LAUNCHES JUNE 3RD IN NYC
RightRides, is a free car service that shuttles
> women home from bars and
> parties on Saturday night from Midnight-3AM Sunday
> starting Saturday June
> 3rd in NYC.
Picking up and dropping off riders in the following
> areas:
> Brooklyn:
> Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick,
> Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Fort
> Greene, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Windsor
> Terrace, Gowanus, Boerum Hill,
> Downtown areas, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and
> Red Hook.
Manhattan: East Village, Lower East Side, and
> Chinatown
Queens: Long Island City
> The nonprofit was created because of a perceived
> increase in late night
> attacks on women, cars are donated by Zipcar. The
> Dispatch number to call
> is (718) 964-7781 - they only turn on the phones
> from Midnight - 3AM
> Saturdays.
Posted Aug 13th, 2006.
HEALTHCARE
http://www.dancenyc.org/topics.asp?file=news
If you are working in the performance, writing or visual field (as a practitioner, technician or administrator) you have access to healthcare at an amazingly affordable (sliding scale 15-60 per visit, prescriptions 10) rate through this program started by Dance/NYC. There is also the opportunity to exchange performance in the hospital for 'healthcare credits' which you can redeem for FREE healthcare. They've got you covered from dental through acupuncture, it is worth checking out!
