Music Program
Mireya Velazquez Richardson
Mireya Velazquez Richardson is Center of Awakening's Music Director. Her religious background runs deep, having been raised a minister's daughter in the Church of the Nazarene. She has been a student of metaphysics since 1978 and discovered Religious Science after finding a used copy of The Science of the Mind in 1985. She has been practicing it ever since.
Mireya started singing as a young child in her father's church and was trained in three-part harmonic singing early on. Her music background has been quite extensive, performing in many varied productions in as many different venues. She is fluent in several dialects of Spanish and translates, teaches, and sings with pure soul in her native tongue.
Mireya selects all the music used at Center of Awakening and has shown amazing talent at creating unique arrangements of all the music used for our programs. She also brings incredible guest artists, which she arranges through her many music connections. And she is a song writer, specializing in "New Thought Gospel" style.
If you are interested in being a guest artist at Center of Awakening or for more information on our musical program, send an email to Mireya at MusicDirector@CenterOfAwakening.org.
Marcy Baruch
Marcy Baruch is a singer/songwriter who has found incredible community and musical expression through her work with Center of Awakening. A touring musician with two CDs to her credit, Marcy’s music has been acclaimed nationally from L.A. to North Carolina. A writer of songs since the age of 13, Marcy studied voice, piano and guitar through many formative years all the while holding her writing close to the chest. Three Music History classes shy of completing her BA in Music, she decided to pursue a degree in another passion: religion.
While adult-pop songs may be what concert goers and listeners of her CDs know her for most, Marcy has found a deep joy in the creation of the songs that have come to be since her coming aboard at Center of Awakening. "It just feels like an incredible gift to be able to contribute musically in this community."
When not offering music with the other wonderful musicians at COA, Marcy teaches voice with the intention of empowering her students to unravel into their own strength and beauty and to allow their voices to be resonators of those things. To contact Marcy, please visit her website at www.marcybaruch.com.
Dale Backus
Dale Backus is a Mechanical Engineer by trade but his passion is music. He is a freelance pianist/keyboardist who competes internationally as an amateur pianist and has received many awards, including 4th place Jury Award and 2nd place Audience Award at the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Paris, France.
Dale started attending the Center of Awakening in April 2004, where they found out about his musical talent. Mireya approached him about joining the Center of Awakening band and the rest is history. He is behind the keyboard almost every Sunday and even does a bit of backup vocals. Outside of church, he also performs with our own 2004 Colorado Songwriter of the Year, Marcy Baruch. Dale has several degrees including a BA in Music from Wake Forest, a Masters in Music from University of Michigan and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman.
Paul Noveshansky
Paul Noveshansky lived and assimilated into the Thai culture back in the late 1960s. After incorporating the Eastern philosophy into his own belief system, he termed his newfound spirituality as "Noveshanskyism." In 1992 he was introduced to Religious Science and realized a definition to his own beliefs.
His musical background is quite diverse. As a vocalist he has performed in dinner theater and amateur theater, such as the Festival Playhouse. He also was a front man and lead vocalist in a 60s/70s rock and roll band, performing in some of the most questionable cabarets scattered around Colorado. Trained in piano and clarinet, he never really found the passion needed to continue with those instruments.
About three years ago Paul discovered his real passion for hand percussion. After taking an introduction to drumming class, he continued growth by being coached by some of the best in the local music scene. Paul took training to be certified as a drum circle facilitator and now conducts community drum circles for Center of Awakening and others.
Allen Ward
Allen Ward is guitarist and vocalist at Center of Awakening. His vision is to create a great movement of sound that moves the soul. He has been playing and singing passionately for the past six years. For Allen, performing music is "both a cherished joy and a surrender to Spirit. Music truly is a way of manifesting. Every time I play or sing, I become better at it. Spirit has decided it, and, thus, it is so."
He is a veteran flight attendant with United Airlines and a spokesman for The Association of Flight Attendants AFL-CIO. Allen is also an Associate with Primerica Financial Services (a division of CitiGroup) and a local voice-over artist.