Renee Alper

Renee Alper is a singer/songwriter who has been filking for as long as she can remember. In fact, her father wrote parodies about drycleaners and tennis for conventions, and her mother's parents wrote parodies for their diet club. So, one could say she has a genetic predisposition for filking on both sides of the family.

She has produced several tapes, including Wheelchair in High Gear, Four On the Floor, and Thoracic Park. Along with her partner, Ray Phoenix (rayphoenix@hotmail.com), she performs around Cincinnati in their folk duo, A Little R&R. They are currently working on a joint CD, tentatively titled Time of the Phoenix.

Renee is proud to have won or placed in the OVFF Songwriting Contest a record twelve times (in 15 years), with such memorable favorites as Reed Turner: Novel Hero, Deer John Letter, If I Were a Rich Fan, and Tear It Down.

Renee founded The American Hobbit Association, an international Tolkien group, in 1977. She virtually single-handedly ran all aspects of the club for twelve years, from newsletter editing/publishing to meeting planning to marketing to... well, you get the idea. Renee is pleased to be the Dramaturg for Ovation Theatre Company's three year series of original play adaptations of The Lord of the Rings by Blake Bowden (www.cincinnatiovation.org).

Other interests include acting, directing, and public speaking; Renee has also written a play about a disability support group, called Roll Model. She continues to host Filkaholics Anonymous at her home in Mason (contact her at alittlernr@hotmail.com for details). She can be seen zooming around conventions with her canine sidekick, Star -- keep up if you can!