Ada Pasternak, Rayhan Pasternak & Igor Pasternak - Sweet Dreams (2018)

Moscow-born violin virtuoso releases her debut studio album Sweet Dreams, in tribute to her parents who escaped persecution by moving to the U.S. along with many other Jews.

Ada Pasternak is that rare artist who lives and breathes music while expressing her singular life experiences through unforgettable art. Born in Moscow to musician parents, Ada came to the U.S. with her family at the age of six to escape persecution along with many other Jews. Early on in her life in the U.S., Ada became consumed with classical music training; she developed into a virtuoso violinist, winning competitions as a pre-teen soloist and appearing as a featured soloist with symphony orchestras. Bringing her back to her roots and an homage to her musical family, Ada releases her debut full-length studio album, Sweet Dreams, featuring her immensely gifted parents Igor and Rayhan on Little Village Foundation.

Produced by respected rock veteran Tony Braunagel, Sweet Dreams is a snapshot of her early childhood and the fascinating history of Jews living in decades past in Russia. The album commences with the composition “7:40,” which refers to the train to freedom for Jews in Russia during World War II. Sweet Dreams also features “Dark Eyes,” a Gypsy romance song with lyrics by Ukranian poet Yevgen Hrebinka; “Girl’s Choir” is from Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, and “I Met You” is a 19th century Russian love song with words by poet Fyodor Tyutchev. The album’s title track is a short Tchaikovsky piano piece that was one of the first pieces Ada learned as a child. She adds original lyrics to the song on Sweet Dreams.

Sweet Dreams reveals Ada to be a strikingly intimate and evocative violinist and singer-songwriter. Though her burgeoning classical career brought her for preparatory study at the Manhattan School of Music, it was ultimately sidelined for two years by severe tendonitis. She regained her playing ability in time to enroll in Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she was awarded the school's highest honor, a Presidential Scholarship, and had a chance to record with Wyclef Jean.

Attending Berklee helped to expand Ada's musical horizons. She developed a new method of accompanying her voice on violin, which she put to use when she began applying her passion to writing and singing her own emotion-charged songs. She continued to expand her repertoire of original material, channeling often painful experiences into vivid, insightful music.

Following a stint in New York City after Berklee, Ada relocated to Los Angeles to further her artistic pursuits; shortly after arriving, Ada was featured in a pair of popular Postmodern Jukebox videos. Now settled in L.A., she's enjoying being part of a creative community and performing her songs for new audiences. One of those songs, “Perfectly Imperfect,” racked up half a million streams on various digital platforms, setting the stage for Sweet Dreams.

Ada Pasternak’s personal and musical journey is reflected throughout Sweet Dreams. Her dream, she says, "is to help and inspire people through love and the universal language of music."