GINAI, a Black Pearl of the Pacific

A three times Hawaiian Music Awards winner and the winner of three Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for “Endless Christmas, 2014, Hot Club of Hulaville, “Django Would Go”, 2009, also Hula Joe & The Hutjumpers, 2000, Ginai has proven to win your heart with her charismatic, hypnotic voice and welcoming stage presence. When you hear her voice and see her perform, you can’t help but be captivated. She is an exciting and riveting internationally acclaimed singer/ songwriter who has worked many years to become one of the worlds most accomplished performers with over ten CD releases to her name here and abroad! (See her discography below)

Her performance career is still in high gear, paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, and Chuck Mangione, with appearances at the Blue Note Waikiki, and as herself at the former Blue Note clubs in Fukuoka and Nagoya, Japan. A longtime Whitney Houston impersonator on international road shows for Legends in Concert, Ginai can sometimes be found filling in over at the Rock-A-Hula Showroom in Waikiki. She is often asked to do fundraisers for March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, Alzheimer’s Association, and more. With a voice well suited for the stage, Ginai proved her mojo with the part of Michelle Robinson in the 20th anniversary performance of Dreamgirls in the legendary Fox Theater, Atlanta in 2002.

Her website www.ginai.com is constantly updating her calendar and her blog talks about her many musical escapades. On Facebook, she is active and kind, and on Instagram as Dginai, she is engaging and fun! She also performs regularly with the Mike Lewis Big Band, filling her YouTube channel with lots of fun. You can subscribe @ginaimusic. Ginai can be found mentoring young bands, vocalists, and performers, sharing in the spirit of aloha wherever she goes.

At home in Hawaii, Ginai enjoys time with her husband Ted, a rock vocalist himself along with their three children. She is a Lion’s Club member, and actively volunteers for Make ‘Em Smile, visiting hospitals (Shriners, Kapiolani Cancer Center) and rehab centers to bring them musical cheer. She is an avid surfer with a first place trophy in the longboard division of the Gold’s Gym Surf Meet, held in Waikiki. Her favorite wave is Makaha Surfing Beach, crystal blue ocean in her beloved home turf of the Waianae Coastline. Ginai enjoys her four dogs Brownie, Django, Pepper, and Dobby. Her two cats are named Juma and Mowmow, with horses too, Shadow, Dakota, and Keka.

DISCOGRAPHY
2017 – Swanky at Abbey Road, Patrick Von Wiegandt featuring Ginai
2016 – Swanky, appearing with Patrick Von Wiegandt
2015 – Mr. Swanky, appearing with Patrick Von Wiegandt
2014 – Endless Christmas, on Black Hawaiian Music
2009 – Django Would Go, Hot Club of Hulaville, producer, singer, songwriter
2008 – Midnight Smooth, listed as Ginar (court battle ongoing)
2007 – Come Together, a collection of Beatles classics, with Pierre Grill
2006 – Jazz Island, her first solo CD, Black Hawaiian Music
2000 – Hula Joe & The Hutjumpers, Hawaiian swing, Black & Tan Records
1995 – 2005 as Genai, Japan, for Video Arts Music

Lori grew up in Houston, Texas and began singing at the age of 5. She nurtured her love for music by singing in church and school choirs, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Belmont University as a music major. During her second year at Belmont, she was offered a recording contract and began recording professionally and also touring as a back-up singer for Gospel artist, Michael W. Smith. Lori also worked as a session singer in Nashville, lending her voice to numerous artists’ albums.

Later on,  Lori became a one half of the pop duo “Wilshire” and the band moved to Los Angeles. Wilshire’s unique sound quickly caught on, landing them a record deal with Columbia Records and Warner-Chappell Publishing. The duo wrote their hit single, “Special,” which climbed the Billboard Top 20 chart. They toured with artists like Train and Seal, as well as performing live on Late Night, The Sharon Osbourne Show, the Wayne Brady Show, and Pepsi Smash.

Today, Lori continues to write, record, and perform. She has written and recorded songs for CBS and other Networks, as well as films. Her voice can be heard on national commercials for brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Claritin.

Hailing from Roanoke Virginia, Micah Wilshire began playing in his family’s band by the age of 3. Under his father’s eye, Micah then focused on playing and crafting his knowledge of a variety of instruments throughout his childhood. Once finishing high school, Micah relocated to Nashville with the intent of becoming a session guitarist and singer.

In under two years, Micah became a first call session vocalist and guitarist appearing on countless recordings and jingles leading him to be featured on multiple Gold and Platinum albums.

While in Nashville, and as a member of the band “Wilshire”, Micah again relocated to Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Records and Warner-Chappell Publishing. Wilshire then went on to have their hit single “Special” shoot up the U.S. Top 20 Billboard chart leading to tours with Seal (nationally and internationally) and Train. During that time “Wilshire” performed on Late Night, the Sharon Osbourne Show, the Wayne Brady Show, and Pepsi Smash.

Recently, Micah has taken the position of VP of TV/Film for Young Guns Publishing where he is focused on songwriting and production.

Exciting things ahead as Young Guns Publishing is now partnered with the incredibly innovative, world-renowned Kobalt Music Publishing.

Symphony & Opera

Shem made his professional opera debut in Germany with the Döbeln-Freiberg Mittelsächsisches Theatre as Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca. His operatic repertoire includes Parsifal, Siegmund, Florestan, Peter Grimes, and Canio. He is a regular tenor soloist with the Atlanta Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Philly Pops, and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted several pops concerts with The Columbus Symphony, The Oklahoma Symphony, The Dallas Symphony, The Little Rock Symphony, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and The Boston Pops Orchestra.

Rock & Pop

Shem von Schroeck has been entertaining audiences since he was 3 years old. A veteran of the stage and recording studio, he has performed in all 50 United States and 55 countries around the world as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and music director in a diverse range of genres. Currently the bassist and principal backing vocalist for the legendary band  TOTO, Shem has additionally toured and recorded with several international and Grammy Award-winning artists, including Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, David Foster, Christopher Cross, Richard Marx, Don Felder (The Eagles), Al Stewart, Patti Austin, Stephen Stills, Tom Jones, Loggins & Messina, Gary Wright, Spooky Tooth, and many others.

Scarlett Strallen has starred in productions on Broadway, London’s West End, and is a frequent soloist on the concert stage. She is currently starring on Broadway as Gwendolyn in Travesties and has appeared in the title role of Mary Poppins, a role she also played in the West End and as Sibella Hallward in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

Additional theater credits include Mabel in Pirates of Penzance at Barrington Stage Company, Lady Macduff in Macbeth at the Armory in New York, Cunegonde in Candide at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Cassie in A Chorus Line at The London Palladium, Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain at Chichester Festival Theatre and The Palace Theatre London (Olivier Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Amalia in She Loves Me at the Chocolate Factory, and Clara in Passion at Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this, she played Marian in The Music Man at Chichester Festival Theatre and at the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Anne Page in Merry Wives of Windsor. Her performance of Josephine at Regents Park Open Air Theatre in HMS Pinafore won her an Olivier nomination. Other productions at Regents Park include Cymbeline and Twelfth Night, Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), and original casts of Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward), The Witches of Eastwick (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) and Peggy Sue Got Married (Shaftesbury). In 2014, Scarlett received the ‘Whatsonstage’ awards for best actress in a musical for A Chorus Line at the London Palladium and Candide at the Menier.

A frequent soloist with orchestras around the world, Scarlett made her German debut at the Philharmonie in Berlin with the John Wilson Orchestra in “A Celebration of the MGM Film Musicals”. Recent concerts include “Disney on Broadway” at the Royal Albert Hall, “I Love Musicals” arena tour of Sweden with Peter Joback, “Cole Porter in Hollywood” UK tour with the John Wilson Orchestra, a broadcast on Sky television from the Royal Albert Hall in London and “Bernstein Stage and Screen” at the BBC Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra which was broadcast on BBC television.

Scarlett has recorded with Simon Keenleyside “Something’s Gotta Give” for Chandos conducted by David Charles Abel. Film and television credits include Beyond The Sea, the title role in the BBC production of Mary Poppins celebrating HM Queen Elizabeth’s 80th birthday.

One of Broadway’s biggest personalities, Debbie Gravitte has found herself in demand from the Broadway Stage to the concert stage and beyond. She won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, along with a Drama Desk Award Nomination and New York Showstopper Award. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They’re Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in: Perfectly Frank (Drama Desk Nomination), Blues In The Night, Ain’t Broadway Grand, Zorba, Chicago, and Les Miserables. Debbie has appeared in the Encore’s series productions of The Boys From Syracuse, Tenderloin, and Carnival at New York’s City Center.

Debbie has performed her nightclub act worldwide, from New York’s Rainbow and Stars, 54 Below, to London’s Pizza on the Park, and back home again to Atlantic City, where she’s had the honor of performing with Jay Leno, Harry Anderson, and the legendary George Burns. A favorite with Symphony audiences, she has sung with over 100 Orchestras around the world. She has toured with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, appeared with Lang Lang and the Chinese Philharmonic in Beijing, along with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, National Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), The New York Pops with the legendary Skitch Henderson, Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Utah Symphony and Opera, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and San Diego Symphony.

Overseas, Debbie has sung with the London, Aalborg, and Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, Stockholm Philharmonic, the Gotesborg and Jerusalem Symphonies, Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra Massimo del Palermo, and Symphonica of Brazil.

On television, Debbie co-starred on the CBS series Trial and Error, was seen on NBC’s Pursuit of Happiness, and has starred in several specials for PBS, including Live from the Kennedy Center, The Boston Pops Celebrate Bernstein, Podgers and Hart for Great Performances, and Ira Gershwin’s 100th Birthday Celebration.

Debbie has 4 solo CD’s to her credit, including her latest release: Big Band Broadway, along with Defying Gravity, The MGM Album, and Part of Your World: The Music of Alan Menken. Her other recordings include Calamity Jane, Unsung Sondheim, Lucky Stiff, Miss Spectacular, Louisiana Purchase, A Broadway Christmas, as well as Mack and Mable in Concert: Live from the Drury Lane Theatre among others. Debbie has sung with the New York City Ballet in Peter Martin’s “Thou Swell” at Lincoln Center, appeared with Bette Midler in the Universal Feature, Isn’t She Great?, and can be heard as one of the voices in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Debbie is the proud mother of three beautiful children.

For more info, please visit www.debbiegravitte.com or buy music at www.debbietunes.com

Leading man Hugh Panaro has made his mark as both the title character and his rival Raoul in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera. Panaro has also played dual roles in Les Miserables on Broadway (Marius) and in Philadelphia (Jean Valjean). His Broadway credits include the title role in Lestat and Buddy in Side Show, plus the title role in the American premiere of Martin Guerre and Ravenal in a London revival of Show Boat.

Sonny Black, Jimmy Cargill, and Tony Apiclla celebrate the era of martinis, tuxedos and the American standard. These three performers bring their infectious charisma and natural camaraderie to the stage for what will be a night made for Vegas! Taking their cue from the legends of generations past, this trio captures the essence of an era gone by while showing that they’re anything but out of style.

Born in Queens, New York, Lucia was immersed in the arts by the age of three, diligently practicing dance, piano, and violin. It didn’t take long for Lucia to discover her passion and greatest talent was the violin, which quickly became her main focus. After moving to Hawaii at the age of five, she continued to refine her skills on the violin with teachers Kathryn Lucktenberg and Sheryl Shohet, and just a year later at the age of six, Lucia made her debut as a soloist with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Soon after, she began frequently appearing on local television shows and concertizing throughout the Islands.

At age eleven, Lucia was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School of Music’s Pre-College Division.  She studied with the renowned violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay, and also took lessons with Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, and Won-Bin Yim. Within a year, playing against some of the world’s most gifted prodigies, she won the Pre-College Concerto Competition and settled into a routine that would combine instruction with concert appearances at the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, and other prominent international venues. She spent her summers at the Aspen Music Festival, regularly performing with the orchestra, and won the Violin Concerto Competition in 2000, resulting in a performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra.

At seventeen, Lucia left Juilliard to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with celebrated international violinist Pinchas Zukerman. It was during this time that Lucia began to develop a growing interest in non-classical music. She started moonlighting with local jazz and rock bands in New York clubs, and by the following year, she had accepted an offer to tour with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra as a featured violinist and concertmaster.

Since then, Lucia’s profile has continued to soar. She’s been a featured soloist in two of Josh Groban’s world tours, toured extensively with Chris Botti and was featured in his Live From Boston PBS special (from which the duet they performed together, “Emmanuel” has received over 7 million YouTube views), and was featured in Barbra Streisand’s 2013 international tour. She also released two solo albums, Music From A Farther Room and Interlude. But 2009 saw Lucia broadening her career even further when she was cast in the starring role of “Annie” in HBO’s critically acclaimed series, Treme, created by David Simon and Eric Overmeyer, which ran for four seasons and won a Peabody Award as well as a Primetime Emmy Award.

Currently, Lucia has just finished her first PBS concert special which has been airing throughout the US in 2018. This PBS event is an eclectic journey through her many musical influences – from classical to jazz to traditional fiddle music and Americana – all bound together by her trademark emotional vulnerability and technical wizardry.

Being touted as one of the next great American Verdi baritones, Opera News describes Mark Walters as “a force to be reckoned with.” He is lauded for his performances throughout the United States as Scarpia in Tosca, Germont in La traviata, and Pizarro in Fidelio. For his performance in La forza del destino, The Chicago Sun Times commended his “vocal fury.”  Walters is now foraying into richer, more dramatic roles including Die fliegende Holländer, Jochanaan in Salome, Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen, the title role of Sweeney Todd, and Iago in Otello. This February, Walters takes on another premiere as Duke in Anton Coppola’s Lady Swanwhite with Opera Tampa.

Last season, Walters sang the role of Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West with Virginia Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Bob Jones University, the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Spokane Symphony and Don Pizarro in Fidelio with Boston Baroque.

Recent engagements include a company début as Scarpia in Tosca with Minnesota Opera and a return for their world première of The Shining as Mark Torrance; the title role of Rigoletto with Florida Grand Opera and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra; the title role inDon Giovanni and Peter in Hänsel und Gretel with Seattle Opera; Germont in La traviata with Arizona Opera, Florentine Opera, and Finger Lakes Opera; Don Pizarro in Fidelio with Kentucky Opera and Opera Omaha; Marcello in La bohème with Florida Grand Opera and Opera Coeur d’Alene; Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera Carolina; Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Opera Tampa; Valentin in Faust and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Arizona Opera; a production of Peter Grimes with Canadian Opera Company; Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West with Mobile Opera; his début with the Spoleto Festival USA in John Adams’ El Niño; début with Opera Santa Barbara in the title role in Don Giovanni which he subsequently performed in concert with the Kalamazoo Symphony; Scarpia in Tosca with Sarasota Opera and Opera Tampa; and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Florentine Opera.

Career highlights include the world première of Rappahannock County by American composer Ricky Ian Gordon recorded on the Naxos label.  His European début as Germont in La traviata with Den Nye Opera, Norway and his Asian début as Don Giovanni in Osaka, Japan.  He also portrayed the Reverend Olin Blitch in a special 50th-anniversary production of Susannah, personally overseen by Carlisle Floyd.

Walters’ oratorio work includes his Carnegie Hall début in Orff’s Carmina Burana and Fauré’s Requiem conducted by John Rutter; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tallahassee Symphony, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Augustana College, Springfield Symphony, Traverse City Symphony, and the Lima Symphony; Verdi’s Requiem with the Mississippi Symphony and Spokane Symphony; Cantata Memoria with DCINY at Carnegie Hall; Verdi’s Requiem with Spokane Symphony; Vaughn Williams Serenade with Springfield Symphony; the Brahms Requiem with Arizona Music Festival; and Händel’s Messiah with the Mississippi Symphony, Augustana College, and the Händel Oratorio Society. As a featured soloist, Mr. Walters has sung in the Milnes Voice Gala Honors James Morris, in the Baritones on the Bayou with Opera Louisiane, as Elijah with the Pensacola Choral Society, and in a Gala concert for the Canterbury Festival, UK.