OLD WORLD.
NEW GROOVE.
Give innovative jazz musicians the freedom to bring mystical Jewish melodies to life in a new way every time they play, and what do you get?
DONIEL BERRY is the leader, creative director, and pianist of Kesser Project
Musically raised in the LA scene, Doniel began performing often at prestigious venues like the Jazz Bakery while still in high school. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Music Theory and Composition and several awards in music before taking a personal spiritual quest into Jewish mysticism that led him to studies in Israel and eventually to a role as a youth rabbi.
Along the way Doniel was transformed by a new world of music—meditative wordless melodies composed by Jews primarily in Eastern Europe.
After a decade of different musical projects spanning across the US, Doniel has settled in Las Vegas and created Kesser Project as a space to hold the magic and wonder in that traditional music and share it in brand new ways.
He sees Kesser as unique because it combines a faithfulness to the spirit of this tradition with a light-hearted openness to fun and adventure, with an improvisational center that results in something familiar yet new every time you hear it.
WORLD-CLASS MUSICIANS
With well over a century of combined professional performance experience, Kesser Project's members are true creatives and artists, each bringing a unique twist to the traditional Jewish tunes the group plays – and plays with.
MICHAEL BOGART
Trumpet + Euphonium
Michael "Iron Mike" Bogart has a storied history as lead trumpet / trombonist in the world-renowned Tower of Power band, a career in the US Navy band, and the honor of being an official Yamaha artist. After meeting Doniel Berry, Kesser Project has joined his own musical endeavors in the next stage of his career.
VALERI GLAVA
Violin
Coming to Kesser Project all the way from Moldova and with experience in the DFW Symphony, a variety of esteemed teaching positions, and most recently the resident violinist at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Valeri combines virtuosic classical violin and fiddle-style sound into his playing.
SHEA MARSHALL
Clarinet + Saxophone
A talented multi-instrumentalist with multiple decades of experience in accompaniment and session recording and a discography list that's miles long, Shea has recently moved from Phoenix to Las Vegas. He brings a new twist to the classic woodwind sound of traditional Jewish music.
©2024 Kesser Project
