ROSE POLENZANI

The youngest of four children, Rose Polenzani was born into a Midwestern family that valued music above all things. The prize of the household was an ornate baby grand piano...it was no mistake that the children grew up to have music as a major part of their lives (Rose's brother Matthew sings with the Metropolitan Opera). In 1995, Rose left school so she could concentrate on songwriting, immersing herself for two years in the Chicago open-mic scene and a hand -me-down four-track machine. She was a local girl until 1997.

Her first tour took her to the Northeast in November of 1997. Within and winning a slot in the 1998 summer Lilith Fair. Balanced on the brink of 60's folk literacy and modern adult alternative, Rose has been able to straddle the largely streamlined music scene, opening for acts such as David Gray, Kristin Hersh, and Vic Chestnutt, as natural in a rock club as a coffeehouse. Despite her attention to lyrics, it's her voice that captures an audience and brings them to a hush, as the Minneapolis City Pages put forth: "[Rose's] ever-shifty and never precious vocal presence must have been long cultivated to arrive in public so fully formed."