Patti Weiss

Patti grew up in San Francisco. She began studying classical violin at the age of six and bluegrass at thirteen. In high school Patti joined the jazz ensemble and began to give this genre serious study. After high school she studied for a year at Berklee College of Jazz in Boston, and spent the next year traveling from Greece to India overland through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Upon arriving in India she met Joi Shriwastava -- a well-known Indian classical violinist and spent six months living with his family and studying with him.

During this time she met Anna Toso, a Bay-area pianist, and they began to collaborate on the music that would finally appear on Surrounded by Angels. Together, Anna and Patti spent four months performing in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India.

Upon her return to the Bay-area Patti got her BA in South Asian languages from U. C. Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in neuropsychology in June, 1999 from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology.

Recently Patti has guested with the Gipsy Kings on their last three North American tours, as well as performing and composing music for five feature films, including The Truth About Cats and Dogs, written by her best friend, Audrey Wells.

Patti has a small acting role in Audrey's latest film, Guinevere, starring Stephen Rea, which was featured at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

Since 2006, Patti has been working as a consultant completing psychological and neuropsychological assessments at the San Francisco Juvenile Hall.

In addition, she is working with Gilbert Kliman, a well-known forensic psychiatrist, who is an expert in autism and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In 2011, Patti is completing a new album of flamenco/world music, with two of the Gipsy Kings as guest stars. She has been performing with Boris Goldmund, her agent, as a hip-hop violinists. Two of the most recent events were a dinner for Arianna Huffington at SF MOMA, with AOL, to celebrate the sale of the Huffington Post to AOL, and a private party for a group of Trademark Attorneys from the Middle East, at the W Hotel, in a party with a Venetian theme.

In November 2010, Patti started a full time position as the Program Psychologist for the Alta Mira Recovery Center in Sausalito (on the site of the old Alta Mira Hotel). She just consulted with her friend Audrey for a new movie, involving the story of Patti's own Border Terrier, Joey, in his work as a therapy dog at the hospital and Alta Mira.

Patti traveled to Egypt in September 2010, for several weeks, and did a photo shoot by the Pyramids, with her violin, on a camel. Those photos will be posted within the next few weeks.