Jupiter Star Songs

Basic Information

 Name: Sabrina Zirakzadeh

Alias: Jupiter Star

Birthday: January 26, 1985

Current Location: Denver, Colorado

School: University of Colorado Denver, Class of 2008

Instruments Played: Voice, Flute, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano

About Jupiter Star

I was born in the middle of a snowstorm in Fort Collins, Colorado, on January 26th, my grandparents' wedding anniversary. I have one older half-brother and a younger brother, my paternal grandparents immigrated here from Iran and Guatemala while my maternal grandmother is half Blackfoot and my maternal grandfather was an Air Force chaplain, and my parents are still happily married to this day. Both sides of my family are heavily involved in education, with most members as far as five generations back going into public or university education and the others either becoming religious figures or going into politics to push for education reform, so I've kind of broken tradition going into music as a career. Thankfully, artistic talent also runs in my family and I am very, very lucky to have a family that supports my decision and has helped me to get this far the way that they have.

I began singing when I was still a little girl and gave my first performance at age two when I stood on a restaurant table and sang along with "Hello, Dolly!" during dinner one night. I didn't know that I wanted to be a singer then, but just before I turned six, my mother's good friend Beth Nielson Chapmen came to visit and perform at a Christmas party and I decided that I wanted to be a professional singer-songwriter just like her. From that moment on, I have been training to get to where I am today, and it has been a journey well spent!

 When I was nine years old, I starred as the narrator in a school production, I performed in the school talent show at ages ten and eleven, and when I was eleven I also began to play the flute and joined the school band. I dropped out of Girl Scouts in sixth grade to join up with the Boulder Youth Chorale, a prestigious, audition-only group that performed very high level music in a variety of languages, travelled the world to compete, and sang during the Colorado Ballet's yearly performance of "The Nutcracker," and I was one of the primary soloists for three years until I went to high school. I performed and solo'd with the Monarch High School choirs for four years, three of which were spent in the top ensemble, and played second and third flute in the marching band and top Wind Ensemble until my senior year as well. I sang several supporting roles and performed with the choruses of three school musicals, acted in major roles in two additional plays, and directed a scene in a collection of Dr. Seuss stories produced on the stage. My freshman and sophomore summers were spent as a voice major at Interlochen Arts Camp in Traverse City, Michigan, where I sang biweekly concerts with the choirs and performed in an operetta per summer as well as making many lifelong friends. My junior and senior years of high school I was accepted as a first soprano to the Colorado All-State Choir, the only one in my class to be accepted both years and only the second at my school to do so as well. After graduation I spent two years at the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota studying classical voice and performing in stage shows and choirs there, but after a bit I realized that I enjoyed musical theater and writing and singing my own songs more than opera, and so I transferred back to Colorado and began attending the University of Colorado Denver in 2006, where I have been every since.

 In addition to writing and recording songs, I perform with the UCD 9th Avenue Singers a capella group and the UCD Pop/Rock Ensemble as one of the singers, and I also perform with my fellow classmates on their recitals and recordings whenever I can help. My younger brother, who plays the drums, and I are in a ska band and are also currently forming a Japanese cover band as a side project for fun. I currently teach at the American Music School in Lakewood as a private voice, guitar, piano, and flute instructor, and will be starting an internship with KOA Records this summer. I also enjoy movies, especially classic films and dark comedies, am a huge fan of Japanese anime and music, have a blue belt in karate, and write quite a lot of fiction in my spare time. Most of my writing and comics can be found under the "Hobbies" section of this site, if anyone is curious...for the most part, anything original that I might want to publish someday is locked to all but certain people, but all of my fanfiction, comics, and most of my original fiction is available if you're curious!

So far, "Jupiter Star" is the only album I have successfully recorded, but I expect the follow-up, "Starflares," to be ready by February of next year!