Still quite young, Ieva comes from our sister church in Talsi, Latvia. She and friend Anda came in the summer of 2005 to join us for a few weeks to learn about worship leadership and develop skills to take back to their church in Latvia. Our choir has traveled to Talsi before to minister to the people of Talsi Baptist Church, so there is a very close connection between our churches.
 
The last time our choir was there, Ieva was just a young child in the youth group. Since then she has grown and worked her skills in vocal music and guitar and brought that to our worship team during their stay, even sharing songs she has written. She now leads a lot of the music ministry at Talsi Baptist Church and is beginning a life adventure through music and evangelism. She recently finished a ministry school in Perth, Australia and will be headed back to Latvia.
 
www.myspace.com/IevaJoy
www.myspace.com/fusionlv
 
 

Avalon came to participate in worship with us at the end of August 2008 and then provide an evening concert. This four-voice ensemble has been a significant influence in Christian music over the past twelve years. To date, the quartet has sold more than three million albums, charted 20 No. 1 singles, and won an American Music Award plus numerous Dove Awards such as the 1999 Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year for "Testify to Love." It was a great blessing to have them join us in worship and in concert.
 
 
 
 
 
 

It is a blessing to have a long-time member of our church community, Norma Fay, bringing her friends together to play classic Irish (Celtic) music. With the gain in popularity of Celtic music from recent popular artists and events like the movie Titanic, Charlotte Church, Josh Groban, Ceili Rain, Riverdance, and Lord of the Dance it is such a joy to use this same genre of music in our worship services. These artists come from different backgrounds but unite behind fiddle, melodeon, tin whistle, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, flute and bodhran to celebrate Celtic music together. They frequently play at the Cheshire Cat here in the Denver area. They will also be seen this summer at the Renaissance festival.
 
www.mondragonmusic.com
 
 

Elina, Nikita and Ruslan are from the Denver area. Their family came here from Russia back in 1997. Their parents encouraged their musical development, and now as teens Nikita and Ruslan have shared their talent through their band Everfound. Ruslan has written a number of songs, and they have blessed us here at Bear Valley with several of these songs.
 
Elina, at only eight years old shared an opening song with us in June. Even at a young age it is obvious that she looks up to her brothers and has also taken on the same passion for music and singing.
 
Everfound started as a worship band playing in youth camps and leading worship at their church (in two languges, Russian and English). The band is currently working on a EP album filled with original tracks written by Ruslan and the bands lead singer Nikita.
 
www.myspace.com/everfound
www.purevolume.com/everfound
www.myspace.com/nikitaonline
Ruslan's MySpace
 
 

A native of Denver, Colorado, Dave Villano has been an accomplished musician, playing professionally since 1990. He plays a variety of instruments proficiently, focusing on guitar, violin and the Irish Whistle. In 2000 he returned from a year-and-a-half-long, nation-wide tour with Christian recording artists Shaded Red, where they shared the stage with such bands as DC Talk, Newsboys, Switchfoot and Delirious. Dave has also recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since his return, Dave has continued to record his music, which includes four instrumental CD's. He also co-wrote the song "Bonded", on Michael Tait's (of DC Talk) CD, Empty. Lately, Dave has become a member of Dave Beegle's acoustic band along with sharing his instrumental music at a variety of churches in Colorado. Dave's purpose is to glorify God and reach people from all walks of life through his music.
 
www.myspace.com/davevillano
www.davevillano.com
 
 

In lat July John Waller, formerly of the band "According to John" joined us to share an evening of worship music. After disbanding with "According to John" John and his family moved to the southeast Denver area and led worship at Southlink Church. It was there that his song "The Blessing" was born, as well as a number of others.
 
One special feature of this night was that he had some of his former worship team as his backup band. He even had his wife doing background vocals.
 
 

Brad has joined us on several occasions, blessing our worship with his instrumental worship using a number of woodwind instruments. He plays all forms of the saxophone, flute and clarinet and has been a joy to collaborate with on special numbers.
 
 

Elizabeth went to college in Minnesota with our own Ryan Durfee. Elizabeth Hunnicutt is one of the most recognized up and coming Christian artists in the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene. She recently was awarded 4 GMA Academy Awards including the Grand Prize Song of 2006 for "Alright." Her career has been quietly gaining momentum over the past few years as she has been sought after to perform in various settings for a wide variety of audiences. Elizabeths talent as a musician and worship leader is coupled beautifully with her gift of crafting a song in her unique blend of piano-driven acoustic-pop-rock. Her ability to touch a broad range of people with her music has succeeded in developing an extensive fan-base as well as attracting attention from people inside the music industry. She can regularly be seen performing at churches, colleges, coffeehouses, retreats, and conferences. In late 2003, Elizabeth released her self-titled debut album, and September 2005 saw the release of her highly-anticipated second project, Finding Me Here. In addition to her busy performance schedule, Elizabeth also serves as Associate Worship Pastor at Eagle Brook Church. With the passion of an artist and a worship leader, all of the opportunities and recognition that Elizabeth has received allow her to live out what is on her heart: to encourage others with sincerity and honesty and to convey her desire for intimacy with her Creator, to love and be loved by Him.
 
www.myspace.com/elizabethhunnicutt
www.elizabethhunnicutt.com
 
 

The Tiss family has shared in music ministry here at Bear Valley from youngest to oldest. They are from our sister church in Talsi, Latvia. Marta and Peteris are in a worship band Fusion with Ieva Grinfelde. It was quite a wonder to hear the entire family singing and playing together.
 
www.myspace.com/fusionlv
www.myspace.com/peterislv
Marta's MySpace
 
 

Daniel Sesay was born and grew up in Sierra Leone, Africa. Sierra Leone is a country ravaged by wars, so he has a passion and a desire to see hope and healing brought to his native land. He is a graduate of Colorado Christian University. While there he was in a jazz band with our own Ryan Durfee. He has joined our worship team on several occasions with vocals and bass guitar, even doing a couple benefit concerts to send supplies to Sierra Leone.
 

Jaime joined us in late 2004 as a guest student from Holland. He was here in the US to learn more about leading worship and ministering to young people. He brought a uniqueness to our worship by sharing songs in Dutch, including songs he had written himself.