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November 22, 2011
 Kathryn and Rebecca sharing the love! Inspiration, Collaboration, Innovation…. and a really really good time! I just got back from Engage!11 (a luxury wedding summit) which took place at the Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands. This conference is a masterful production by the ladies of Engaging Concepts; Rebecca Grinnals and Kathyrn Arce that everyone looks forward to attending. This year’s featured speakers were Barbara Corcoran, Marcy Blum, Ed Libby, Todd Fiscus, Brian Rafanelli, Sean Low, Jasmine Star, Randy Fenoli, Carley Roney, David Beahm, Darcy Miller, Mindy Weiss, Ceci Johnson, Marley Majcher, Simon T. Bailey, Andy and Brian Marcus, Sylvia Weinstock and Michelle Rago leading a media panel consisting of Shira Savada, Jill Meister, Harmony Walton, Rebecca Crumley and Angela Desveaux.
 Shannon Wilson Page Hiller, Rusty James, Randy Fenoli, Carla David,Barbara Corcoran, and Valerie Romanoff My favorite moments of the Engage! conferences are always connecting with friends and colleagues; old and new, and collecting inspiring new ideas to bring back to my business.
 me and Michelle Rago avoiding the stingrays! There is so much I can say about the value and spirit of this conference, yet these two videos by Elysium Productions tell it all…
Have a look! And again, much thanks and congratulations to Rebecca and Kathryn for another wonderful experience.
Engage!11 Recap Video Day 1
Engage!11 Recap Video Day 2 and 3
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July 7, 2011
THERE IS A NEW WEDDING OFFICIANT ON THE SCENE!
Inspired by the new filings for gay and lesbian marriage licenses in the State of New York, Starlight is proud to recommend All People’s Wedding Officiant Amy Hausman (aka R. Mani) to perform the sacred rites of marriage. Amy is an ordained marriage officiant, a wellness therapist and a Licensed Acupuncturist who is board-certified in Chinese medicine. She is dedicated to helping couples celebrate their enchanted union through custom, non-denominational, all inclusive, interfaith, including LGBT marriage ceremonies inspired by a mystical approach to love and romance.
Amy owns and operates Co-Creative Healing Arts in Manhattan, is a founding partner of Co-Creative Solutions, LLC and is the executive producer of the Many Paths One Medicine conference. She is also the life-partner of Valerie Romanoff, step mom to Joy Whitney Guttenberg and Doug Guttenberg.
 Valerie Romanoff and Amy Hausman We hope you will spread the word to everyone and anyone looking for a conscious, romantic and enchanted approach to wedding ceremonies.
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May 21, 2011
 I recently wrote a “what’s new” post about Starlight Orchestras, and I also wanted to share what’s been going on in the world of my original music. Between Music for Yoga as well as the recent Meditation Music, and developing the concept of Vitamin V; my record company Valrock Music has some interesting projects..
-One of my songs “Rachel’s Knoll” was chosen to be in a feature film called “Sedona Movie” (with Frances Fisher) which aired at the Sedona Film Festival in February. What a thrill to be at the festival and to get another trip to Sedona.
-My album “Healing Music for Massage, Meditation and Transformation” is now being played on Sirius XM Radio, on the Spa channel! Listen to samples at www.valrockmusic.com
 -We are about to release a CD of guided meditations (with music, of course!) to accompany the new book by 92 year old Yoga Master Tao Porchon-Lynch, called Reflections: The Yogic Journey of Life. (Tao appeared with the Dalai Lama last week at the Newark Peace Summit and is currently producing a movie about the birth of Yoga.)
-On that note, Tao has asked me to perform my song “Jai Jaya Ram” in her new movie. We are filming this weekend! Also in the movie will be an 18 minute instrumental piece that I composed specifically for Tao’s Yoga classes, called “Music for Vinyasanas.”
All of the original music will be available for downloading at www.valrockmusic.com
-Just a quick mention of our newest concept VITAMIN V, which infuses a full spectrum of music to enhance the varying phases of our lives. I am excited to share more about that in the coming months. But for now, consider and remember be STILL, get CHILL, and have a THRILL!
These and lots of other new projects are in the works, and I look forward to sharing more as they unfold.
Click here for more recent news about Starlight Orchestras.
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April 15, 2011
 We perform in a lot of venues, work with the industry’s best professionals- from designers & florists, to event planners, photographers, caterers, and more. Our clients want to know where we’ve been performing and who we like to work with, so they can assemble their own A-Team of “Special Professionals.” We are always eager to share the best moments from our recent events. With that in mind, I am starting a new series called “STARLIGHT’S PICKS,” where we will post our favs of the industry professionals we have recently worked with.
Here is our first entry encompassing January-March 2011 (This post written by valerie Romanoff)
Fav Venues we have performed in- Metropolitan Club in NYC, Capitale in NYC, & Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Fav Musical Selections we have played for wedding ceremonies- “The Swan”, “Helplessly Hoping”, & “Love Theme” (from Cinema Paradiso.) performed by the Starlight String Ensemble
Fav Choices for First Dances- My favorite by far this year was “As” (by Stevie Wonder). Runners up were “As Time Goes By” and “Come Fly with Me” (Micheal Buble’s version.)
Amazing Designers- Ed Libby transformed a Wall Street area building into a dazzling party space, and Melissa Paul and Brian Kapra of Evantine Designs beautified the ballroom at the Westin Hotel Philadelphia,
Most Interesting Requests- “Smooth Criminal” for wedding processional (??), an original song for a bride and groom who were personal friends (called “Laura and Adam: Traveling down The Road”), and a “Do-Not-Play” list which was almost the size of my repertoire!
and my own pic, my Top 3 Industry Conversations were with:
Sean Low-who gave me a ton of great ideas that I am just starting to understand,
Amy Zaroff- who booked Starlight to for two events out in her part of the country! Can’t wait to see you in Minneapolis!
and Simon T. Bailey who not only gave me great advice, but posted an article of mine on his blog! Hugs and thanks!
Special thanks to Arthur Backal and the State of the Art team, who brought us into one of the most incredible events this city has seen.
It was a great run with a lot of fun events and wonderful connections made. Looking forward to our next bunch of events!
March 21, 2011
I have come to love social media networking. I appreciate its value in helping me (as well as my brand) get and stay connected. I love the forum for sharing ideas and information and I appreciate being visible and accessible to many people. I love how quick and available everything is. But I must admit to sometimes being overwhelmed with my many different accounts, pages, and identities. I suppose that this reflects the reality that I do indeed have a multitude of aspects to my identity, and the social networking options merely highlight this. Sometimes I wonder if I have too many “entities” and if it is confusing.
* I am a person, Valerie Romanoff, with a network of family and friends.
* I am known as both an artist (musician, guitarist, composer) as well as an owner of a company and business woman.
* I run my company Starlight Orchestras, a live music production company, which features my performance ensemble The Starlight Experience, as well as all the Starlight Orchestras run by our other bandleaders .
* I co-own a company called Co-Creative Solutions which handles corporate productions and conferences.
* I have a music publishing company called Valrock Music.
* I released a Relaxation Music CD called “Healing Music for Massage, Meditation and Transformation,” and through this have become known on Facebook as “Healing Music CD.”
I have coined a term “Vitamin V” to be my “alter-ego” and to brand my entire catalogue of musical endeavors, and how the vast spectrum of musical styles can underscore and transform an entire array of emotions and human processes. Through this “transformational music,” my hope is that Vitamin V becomes an immediate “go to” option when looking for something uplifting and relevant on our personal journeys.
With all that said… I have 3 facebook accounts, 3 facebook fan pages, 4 websites, 1 blog (which has become my main website), 2 twitter accounts, 1 LinkedIn account. What am I missing? Who am I? Valerie Romanoff, Valrock Music, Starlight Orchestras, Starlight Experience, Healing Music CD, Vitamin V? Of course I am all of these. And while sometimes they might feel opposite, they are all different aspects of a pretty complex and varied system that I suppose I am now beginning to integrate. While it takes time to manage these different accounts, I realize that it is necessary to address all of the different “audiences”, and to brand each of my endeavors properly.
Here are a few tips that I found to help me stay organized.
1. Link my blog posts to the corresponding facebook and twitter accounts. This way the relevant information reaches the people most interested.
2. Make use of the “categories” on my blog, and label the posts accordingly. Having multiple businesses and interest groups, yet just one blog, I can keep all of my writings together, yet separated by the various categories.
3. Post “interest-related” information where it will be best received. I am mindful of who is reading what, and I post accordingly; for example I might share a “inspirational” quote on the “Healing Music” FB page, and list new ideas for wedding ceremony music on my “Starlight Orchestras” page.
Social networking tools and my use of them shift and grow as I explore and develop. I am grateful for how these tools help me reveal who I am to myself and others. If you have multiple facebook, twitter account and websites, I would love to hear how you manage these. Please comment below!
March 16, 2011
In Preston Bailey’s Blog this morning, he spoke about how to maintain a good balance between work and life. Being intensely passionate about our work, we do need to find ways to create that balance. Here is the comment I posted on his wonderful article.
“I find that with a hectic event and office schedule, there are times during the year that I am busier than others. I love working intensely on a project, and then enjoying some “down time” when it is over, which usually involves a day or two for resting, reading, cooking, gardening and conjuring up some new ideas for future projects. (Oops, supposed to be resting!) Sometimes we go from event to event and don’t have much time for a break, and in those cases I treat myself to a little vacation at the end of the run. My favorite place to go to unwind and recharge is Sedona, Arizona where there are many wonderful things to do for mind, body and spirit. This is a big part of what helps me to not only keep going, but to infuse all future endeavors with new vitality and creativity.
I find that with a hectic event and office schedule, there are times during the year that I am busier than others. I love working intensely on a project, and then enjoying some “down time” when it is over, which usually involves a day or two for resting, reading, cooking, gardening and conjuring up some new ideas for future projects. Oops, supposed to be resting! Sometimes we go from event to event and don’t have much time for a break, and in those cases I treat myself to a little vacation at the end of the run. My favorite place to go to unwind and recharge is Sedona, Arizona where there are many wonderful things to do for mind, body and spirit. This is a big part of what helps me to not only keep going, but to infuse all future endeavors with new vitality and creativity.
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February 14, 2011
I go to Sedona every few months to recharge and rejuve; to bring forth new ideas and to set the energy in motion to manifest to my dreams. Each trip winds up having its own theme and its own set of “expansive events” and I take advantage of the wonderful healing-arts practioners that that the community has to offer.
I traveled to Sedona last week after having performed in Dallas for Superbowl XLVI, and was ready to bask in glow of the red rocks, restock my Healing Music CD to the local spas and stores, and get tickets to next week’s Sedona Film Festival where one of my original songs will be featured in a movie (more on that later). The first day I had an incredible massage at the Mii Amo Spa (part of the Enchantment Resort) and then dinner with friends. The second morning I went to “Breakfast with Hafiz,” a morning meditation with Sufi poetry and sound healing instruments. It was an incredible gathering of people from around the world, and was hosted by Annette Kearl, renowned music therapist and Gabrielle Young, visionary artist and mystic. The morning kicked off a most illuminating week of spirited encounters and magical happenings, and continued to inspire my personal journey.
Valentine’s Day was on my mind as I floated through my time in Sedona. Making sure I would be coming home in time for the “love holiday” I wanted to bring something special to share with my loved ones. I found my answer when I ran into Gabrielle later that day walking through the aisles of the local health food store, New Frontiers. Her cart was chocked full of organic, live ingredients to make raw chocolate. Wow, what an idea! She invited me to come over the next day to taste her creation, which I did. Each piece of organic dark chocolate was rolled in fresh coconut flakes, and was packed full of ground seeds, nuts, maca, goji berries, and other “superfoods.” What a treat! So healthy and full of power and energy. She gave me her basic recipe- and yesterday back at home I had the best time experimenting with all the ingredients. My daughter Joy and I had so much fun making chocolate in different shapes, and we posted photos along with our recipe. Today, on Valentine’s Day, we are sharing our creations with our sweethearts and our friends.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!
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January 31, 2011
There is so much happening these days in the world of Starlight Orchestras, Valrock Music, and Vitamin V that I wanted to publish a quick “what’s new.”
1. We are off to Dallas to perform at the opening Superbowl Party given by Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys) for all the NFL Owners and friends and families. We are so excited to present “The Starlight Experience” at Arlington Stadium, with our incredible lineup of amazing performers and our varied and exciting repertoire. If I had to briefly describe this ensemble, I would say “Earth, Wind and Fire meets Beyonce meets Black Eyed Peas meets the the Supremes.” With a little Aerosmith thrown in. Something like that.
2. We are currently producing a 30 piece orchestra to accompany a surprise artist at a private event next month in Manhattan. This is an exciting project as it stretches the boundaries of what are known for, and adds another level of variety to the music we perform.
3. Starlight bandleaders Sarah Scott and Rebecca Blake are singing and doing individual touring dates with headliners Chromeo and Gary Sinese, respectively. This is another level of the variety we have all been enjoying, and we are very proud of our bandleaders.
4. As “Valerie Romanoff and the Vitamin V Band,” I am about to release a new original song called “Lets Choose Love” which you can sneak preview at http://www.studiolivesedona.com/artists/find-an-artist/valerie-romanoff/
5. Another of my original songs “Rachel’s Knoll” has been chosen to be in a feature film entitled “Sedona The Motion Picture.” The movie will preview at the Sedona Film festival next month. I will update information as I receive it.
6. I am putting finishing touches on a wonderful new project; music to accompany a book of poetry and guided meditations written by my dear friend, 92 year old Yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch called Reflections: The Yogic Journey of Life. In addition to scoring music for her words, I have included an 18 minute instrumental piece of music designed specifically to accompany Yoga asanas. I will be uploading this music to the Valrock Music website next week. My friend Tom Rossi is in the studio right now mastering the tracks, while I work on uploading new music to our various websites.
7. Our video editors are in their studios working with recent footage from events that our Starlight Orchestras have performed at. Hopefully we will soon have new clips that show off the hot new material we are offering.
8. Starlight has always enjoyed a reputation of presenting top notch live entertainment, and we stay at the top of our game by continuing to evolve, expand and introduce new ideas. There is always something new at Starlight, and this is a time of year where we develop talent and fresh concepts for our upcoming event season.
It is funny to me how some people have a misconception that Starlight is too hot, too energetic, too contemporary, too big. Other people have an opposite misconception that Starlight is too conservative, old school. And in there lies the truth. We are all of that, and we customize based on the party and the vision of our clients.
9. Lastly, Starlight was scheduled to perform at B.B. Kings for a blow-out “Starlight Experience Dance Party” this coming March, but due to our upcoming travel event schedule, we will be postponing this gig for a date to be determined.
So far this year of 2011 has a ton of energy; and there are many projects and new associations to dig into!
Thank for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment, let me know what you might want to hear us blog about.
December 31, 2010
I always marvel at how perception shifts, depending on the direction that we are looking. In retrospect everything seems to make sense. While we are going through the daily challenges in our lives, we often cannot see the perfect solutions that life has in store, and instead we see the obstacles that we must navigate through. At the other end, we look back and understand how one step led to the next, creating the mosaic that becomes our incredible lives. Sometimes it is fun to think of the people I am closest with, and remember back to a time when I barely knew them. It is exiting to look around at all of the budding possibilities and not know which one might become our next profound project. Life is mysterious and exciting, and I am learning to keep my focus on all of the positive and amazing things that can happen. I am so grateful for the incredible experiences this year brought and for all the wonderful people I have met and reconnected with. It is with optimism, gratitude and eager anticipation that I close out 2010 and wish everyone a Happy New Year!
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December 22, 2010
Here is today’s quote from Abraham and The Law of Attraction. I find this information so inspiring, and I refer to it daily on my journey through life.
“It is natural that by knowing what you do not want, you are able to clarify what you do want; and there is nothing wrong with identifying a problem before beginning to look for a solution. But many people, over time, become problem oriented rather than solution oriented, and in their examination and explanation of the problem, they continue the perpetuation of the problem. That which is like unto itself, is drawn—so tell the story you want to live and you will eventually live it.”
— Abraham
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