Sheri Schifter

Sheri Schifter Banyar is an American singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. She grew up in Silver Spring Maryland, the older of two children, and her parents Carol, an attorney, and Ken, a computer expert at E.P.A. fostered her love of theater. Sheri began studying voice at the age of 14 after being hand-picked from a summer theater program by vocal teacher and artistic director, Richard Hartzell. A natural high soprano, she quickly learned how to use her chest voice and connect through the mix, and shortly thereafter performed in the Cohan Octet, a special ensemble at the National Theater in Washington D.C., which was later named The Young Americans of Washington. She spent the next 3 years performing with the ensemble all over the D.C. metropolitan area, and began her professional career as a singer-dancer and emcee at Six Flags and Petrucci's Dinner Theater at age 17. Sheri got her degree in Musical Theater at Emerson College while performing in local professional theater and then began her foray into voice-over work as well. During her college years, she also had the privilege of studying abroad in Greece, and performing in 5 different shows in 6 weeks, including the worldwide debut of Simple Simon. Shortly before graduation, she landed a European tour of Golden Musicals of Broadway which featured an international cast, and she had some of her favorite leading roles to date, including Christine in Phantom of the Opera and Maria in West Side Story. Four months after returning from Europe, Sheri moved to Tampa, Florida where she performed at Busch Gardens in a Latin show and a Country show. It was there that she met her first husband, Doug Cecil, a talented bassist and guitar player, who was tragically shot in an attempted robbery just 4 months before they had intended to get married. He survived, however pain and P.T.S.D. plagued him for many years and eventually the couple divorced. In Tampa, Sheri met Seth Riggs who had grown up with her then father-in-law, Doug Cecil Sr. Seth introduced her to local vocal coach Mary Walkley, and also invited Sheri to attend the first Speech Level Singing Institute summer workshop in 1998 in Los Angeles. She later signed with several agents and joined Screen Actors Guild in 2001, and began working steadily as an actor in independent films, commercials, stage, and cover bands. Sheri studied acting for 5 years in Tampa, Florida with teacher and casting director Kathryn Laughlin at Performer's Studio Workshop, alongside Ariel Kebbel, Marissa Morgan, Lucius Baston, Bobby Campo, and other successful working actors. Sheri soon began writing lyrics and melodies, and collaborated with Joe Yazbeck and Tony Rockliff on her first 3 song recordings. She later made her first music video "I Won't Let You Break My Heart Again" in 2009 with friends Tony and Kristin Pavelski of Kreative Key Productions. In 2008, Sheri relocated to the Los Angeles area and has worked as a background actor on set with dozens of A-list actors. She married Michael Paul Banyar, a drummer and fitness expert in 2010.