Thank you for visiting my web site! My name is Nora Kaminski, and I'm an acoustic singer-songwriter from the western suburbs of Rochester, NY. I grew up with a passion for music, as I always listened to my father, Tom, play his accordion, guitar, or piano, and sing to my brother and sister and I when we couldn't fall asleep. I took up the violin around the age of 5 and I've kept up with it ever since.

I studied at the Hochstein School of Music from when I had first started the violin. I later joined the various levels of orchestras through the school, and eventually gained enough experience to participate in the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra, in which I was able to travel with to France in 2004, and Germany and the Czech Republic in 2006. In this orchestra I gained the skills of quick sight reading and good musicianship. I also worked on a couple of alternative violin styles other than classical, such as blues, fiddle, and klezmer. I started voice at Hochstein in January 2004.

When I was 15, I met a musician named Matt Cross, who invited me to participate in an open mic night at Daily Perks Coffee House. My Dad and I quickly became Coffee House stars because of our infamous performance of "Baba O'Riley" by the Who. A few months later I became Matt's handy-dandy violinist and even started singing back-up for him. In December 2004, I decided to take up guitar so I could write my own songs. After playing my heart out everywhere and to everyone I could, I gained a lot of technique and style. I started playing my own shows at Coffee Houses all around Rochester and around the suburbs of Rochester around the summer of 2005.

I'm highly influenced by the people around me. Most of my songs are observational pieces about how the world never works for people the way they want it to. I also joined a couple bands, one with Matt Cross called the Creatures of Habit, and another as a fiddler and back-up singer for a very fun country band from Rochester called Teagan and the Tweeds.

My influences include Feist, Andrew Bird, Madeleine Peyroux, the Beatles, and various local artists around Rochester and Fredonia, NY. My friends and the music scenes of Western NY have a very large influence on how I sound and what I write about. I'm known for having a very different taste in music from most of my friends and fellow students. I like unique music that incorporates a variety of musical styles and interesting rhythms.

I'm now a Music Marketing and Promotion student at SUNY Fredonia. I plan to graduate in 2010 with my Bachelor's degree in Music Business. In the future [after college] I hope to keep music as my favorite hobby while working for musicians in the music industry.

I plan on starting to work on a new album in the summer of 2009. I'm excited and I hope you are too! I'll keep you updated here at my website or on my myspace, www.myspace.com/norakaminski.


I released my first ever Album on 1 April 2006. It is entitled "My Time to Shine". Please buy my CD and show your support for my hobby and passion.