Tara Heft  - Vocals and Percussion

Personal Background:

Tara Heft is an artist in the truest sense of the word… She loves anything creative. Singing, dancing, acting, painting, cooking, sewing, and composing are just a few of the things she enjoys. Born & raised in Ottawa, Tara hopes one day to lose the “day job”, (teaching Music & Art) and become a full time, self-sustaining artist.

Musical Background:

Tara Heft first took an interest in music at age 6 when she began singing with her Church choir. Since then, she has come a long way, having completed a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, as well as a Bachelor of Education specializing in Music and Visual Arts instruction. She is currently a full time music teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board, devoting all her spare time to her own musical pursuits: singing, song-writing and performing locally, as a solo artist, as well as with several Ottawa area bands and musical theatre groups including The FunKtion (of course!), The Soul Review Board, Ottawa Little Theatre, Le Theatre Lyrique de Hull, and Orpheus Musical Theatre Society.

Musical Influences:

Although Tara is a classically trained singer, she is influenced by many different genres, her true love being the soulful songs of the Motown, R&B and Funk music, which form the backbone of The FunKtion’s sound. Some artists who have influenced and inspired Tara along the way include; Lenny Kravitz, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Annie Lennox, Marvin Gaye, Eva Cassidy, Ray Charles and Holly Cole. Tara’s first album of original material will be completed in December 2005.

The FunKtion:

For Tara, the opportunity to be a part of The FunKtion was a truly exciting prospect! “It is a difficult feat to put together such a large band with elaborate vocal harmonies, a solid horn section and a tight rhythm section and make it work… If you can make it happen, the sound is so rich & powerful, that it is guaranteed to be an amazing experience both for the musicians as well as the audience! You can’t help but surrender to the groove.”