Video 1: Cory and Leah create an album in three hours.

Cory Pesaturo and violinist/vocalist Leah Zeger felt they could create an albums worth of music in a 3 hour recording session. They recorded 8 Songs in 8 Genres in 3 Hours with ZERO Rehearsal. The video above includes snippets (many comedic) of how it came together; rehearsals were nothing but a few sentences, talking form and key, and even tune choices, were nothing but simple discussions. They achieved their goal.Cory thanks Stevie Blackie for his incredible studio work! Recorded in LA in 2020.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, violinist and vocalist Leah Zeger comes from a family of professional symphony musicians. Having played the violin since the age of six, she has won numerous awards and soloed with orchestras in and around Texas. At 15 she made her solo debut playing the first movement of the Wiieniawski Violin Concerto with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra. At 19 years old, while still in college, Zeger won a tenured position in the first violin section of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest member on staff. 

While in the Austin Symphony, Zeger played with soloists including Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowitz, Yo Yo Ma, Elvis Costello, and bands such as Pink Martini,  The 4 Tops, the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, and Charlie Daniels, with whom she was selected to duel on the tune Devil Went Down to Georgia.  Zeger’s recent recording credits include collaborations with Michael Jackson’s former musical director, Michael Bearden, Bear McCreary, composer of “Battlestar Galactica” and “The Walking Dead”, Kenny Loggins, and string arrangements/recording for Billy Ray Cyrus’ latest album. Most recently, Leah became a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performed with Miley Cyrus on her live unplugged show, recorded and produced her second album, “Pour Moi”, produced and starred in her first major music video “The Man I Love”, and toured with five-time Grammy-winner, Cee Lo Green as his solo violinist. 

Cory Pesaturo is known as both a visionary and a rebel within the main United States accordion world, but his main contribution, is his forward thinking of how the accordion should be used, played, and presented in the modern music world.

Cory is an accordion player, who also plays the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. He began playing at the age of nine, and in 2002, became one of the youngest persons to win the National Accordion Championship. He most recently won the 2011 Primus Ikaalinen World Championship and was the first ever American contestant.

Pesaturo won the Coupe Mondiale World Digital Accordion Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, and became the first American to win a World Accordion Championship since Peter Soave 25 years earlier. In June 2009, he won the Leavenworth International Championship, and International Jazz Championship. Pesaturo performed in 5 different continents during 2009; some countries included Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Tunisia and Japan. Cory is one of only four accordionists in history to win a World Championship on both acoustic and electronic accordion, and is the only person to also win a world championship in jazz.

Cory Pesaturo plays a modern electric accordions. This particular accordion has a full vinyl skin, and midi-sequenced LED’s in the grill connected to the keys in a symmetric pattern. He was accepted on the accordion at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA where he studied Contemporary Improvisation and a variety of music styles, including Italian and French folk music, Bulgarian and Jewish music, Classical music and Jazz. He became the second person to major in and graduate as an accordionist at the New England Conservatory.

For further information: cory.pesaturo@gmail.com