Craig A Meyer has traversed all four corners of the entertainment industry, making strong impressions in theatre, film, television and music.

On Broadway, Meyer created the role of Clinton Badger in MGM’s classic Meet Me In St Louis and toured nationally in Cats as Skimbleshanks, The Red Caboose in Starlight Express, and Mike Nulty in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.

Atlanta performances include appearances at the Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre in the critically acclaimed Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris for which he also served as the choreographer. The production was honored with a Suzi Bass Award for Best Musical Production in 2008. Meyer was thrilled to win the Suzi Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical.  Meyer’s creative contribution to the original production of Brel…was recognized with a Suzi nomination for Outstanding Choreography.

Regionally, he has starred in Forever Plaid (Frankie), A Class Act (Lehman Engel), Crazy For You (Bobby Child), 42nd Street (Billy Lawlor), The All Night Strut and the West Coast Premiere of The Thing About Men (Man).

Television and film appearances include guest-starring roles on “Necessary Roughness”, “Will & Grace”, “Good Morning Miami”, “Family Law”, “General Hospital”, and “Fernwood 2nite” as well as working with Alan Menken on Disney’s Aladdin, and with Tim Rice and Elton John on The Lion King. Film credits include Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger, Joyful Noise with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah and Identity Thief with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.

In music, Meyer has toured internationally and recorded with music legends Barry Manilow and Frankie Valli, and has headlined for Princess Cruises around the world.

Throughout Meyer’s busy career, he was repeatedly approached about his striking resemblance to Elton John and his uncanny ability to sound like the rock and roll legend. Meyer was eventually persuaded to expand his repertoire and began impersonating Sir Elton John.

Today, he is considered to be the best Elton John tribute artist in the market whose strong vocals, striking resemblance and amazing talent on the piano has audiences everywhere remembering when rock was young.

This spectacular musical journey celebrates the decades of chart topping hits by Sir Elton John, including: “Benny and the Jets”, “Philadelphia Freedom”, “Crocodile Rock,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Candle in the Wind.”

A celebration of the character, costumes and charisma of the famed pianist and singer, Meyer’s fully produced show has captivated audiences throughout the United States and abroad.

Susie Benchasil Seiter is a prolific conductor and orchestrator for film, television, video games, and live concerts. She recently completed a 120 city worldwide orchestra tour as conductor and music director for multiple Grammy-winning Evanescence and Billboard Music Award winner and YouTube sensation, Lindsey Stirling.

Seiter is perhaps best known for orchestrating and conducting the remarkably successful orchestral concert tours The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses and Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions. Combined, these tours have been performed more than 300 times by some of the world’s most respected orchestras. In 2015 alone, she conducted over 60 orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic at London’s Apollo Hammersmith, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Madison Square Garden, the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, and the Sydney Symphony at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Seiter excels in leading popular symphonic film concerts such as Frozen Live, Pixar in Concert and Mary Poppins Live. In 2015 she conducted and hosted the Orlando Philharmonic’s inaugural season at the Dr. Phillips Center Walt Disney Amphitheater with Pixar in Concert.

Parallel to her active concert career, Susie Seiter has worked alongside her husband, composer Chad Seiter, conducting and orchestrating his music to many AAA video game titles that include some of history’s most popular, enduring franchises: Star Trek: The Video Game and LEGO Jurassic World. She recently finished orchestrating and conducting his score to Microsoft Studios’ major game release, ReCore. This ambitious endeavor, recorded at the late George Martin’s AIR Studios in Lyndhurst Hall, featured the London Philharmonia, full chorus, a large rock ensemble, and comprehensive electronics. She also completed the orchestration for the symphonic film premiere of Little Mermaid Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Susie also likes to boast that she conducted the recording to Zombieland 2 at Capitol Studios nine days after giving birth.

Also a frequent collaborator with GRAMMY-nominated composer Austin Wintory, Seiter orchestrated The Banner Saga series as well as his BAFTA nominated score, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, which was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

Susie Seiter was on the orchestration team for Universal Pictures’ film Minions and Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak and The Book of Life. She was also the lead orchestrator on the upcoming Sony Pictures feature film Patient Zero and the fifth installation of Underworld for composer Michael Wandmacher, which signified their 25th collaboration together over the course of 12 years.

Susie Seiter believes that orchestral music should be shared and celebrated by all generations, and she takes great pride in her contributions as a conductor and orchestrator. Originally from Baltimore, Seiter now calls Los Angeles home, where she lives with Chad and their sons Samuel and William.

Conductor (abbreviated credits)

Evanescence Synthesis Live Blu-ray DVD Release
Lindsey Stirling – Summer Tour 2018 with Orchestra (North America)
Fornite United Recording, Los Angeles
Evanescence Synthesis Live Tour 2017-2018 (North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Russia)
Pokémon Symphonic Evolutions Tour (North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, South America)
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Tour (North American, United Kingdom, South America)

Mary Poppins Live Kansas City Symphony
ReCore (Microsoft) Air Studios, London
League of Legends
Frozen Live
Lego Jurassic World Slovak Radio Hall, Slovakia
Star Trek Slovak Radio Hall, Slovakia
Pixar in Concert Various cities
Resident Evil 7 Capitol Studios, Los Angeles
Need for Speed Sony, Los Angeles
Voice from the Stone Air Studios, London
Aliens: Colonial Marines Ocean Way, Nashville
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Skywalker Sound, Marin County
Piranha 3-D Prague TV studio, Prague
Marvel’s: The Punisher: War Zone Bastyr Church, Seattle
Never Back Down Bastyr Church, Seattle

Gary Mauer was seen on Broadway as the Phantom in the Hal Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera, a role he previously performed on the National tour. Previously he starred in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera, performing the romantic leading role of Raoul. In addition, Mr. Mauer performed in the Broadway production of Les Miserables in the role of Enjolras, the revolutionary leader, a role he also performed with the National Tour in the US and Singapore. In addition, he performed the leading role of Gaylord Ravenal in the National Tour of Show Boat, opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard. Mr. Mauer was also a featured soloist in the world tour of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” with Michael Crawford, bringing him to Japan, Australia, England, Scotland and culminating back in the US, where he performed for two weeks at the famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Regionally, his numerous credits include Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, Anthony in Sweeney Todd, Tony in West Side Story, Whizzer in March of the  Falsettos and Danny in Baby.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, Mr. Mauer has performed with symphony orchestras all over the world including the Brazil Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), Hong Kong Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Utah Symphony and Opera, Buffalo Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, San Diego Symphony, among many others. Mr. Mauer has performed numerous times with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and toured with Mr. Nero in Spain. Gary was the guest soloist in many concerts with the late Marvin Hamlisch. He is the tenor soloist in the popular BRAVO Broadway!

Heralded as “superb” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, violinist/violist Alex Granger enjoys a wide variety of performance opportunities from solo recital appearances to studio recordings, and performances with some of Los Angeles’ most exciting ensembles. An experienced performer of music by living composers, Alex has premiered over 50 works in the past 5 years as a soloist, concertmaster, and chamber musician, working directly with some of the world’s foremost composers.

Recent festival appearances include the Breckenridge Music Festival, the Eastern Sierra Summer Festival, the Carlsbad Music Festival, and a world premiere of Lucas Floyd’s Violin Concerto at the Hot Air Festival in San Francisco. Alex is a faculty member of Porterville Strings, a founding member of the Ubuntu String Quartet, and a graduate of the Biola Conservatory of Music and USC’s Thornton School of Music where he studied with Henry Gronnier, Bing Wang, and Midori Goto.

Alex joined the Long Beach Symphony viola section in 2019 and resides in Huntington Beach with his wife, Chiai, and their sweet little dog, Ella.

Composer and violist Jonah Sirota is a new breed of multi-talented musician. Equally at home writing concert music, scoring soundtracks for TV, film, and videogames, and performing on the concert stage and in recording sessions, Jonah creates and recreates vivid music for a wide variety of audiences.  His debut solo recording STRONG SAD, a 2018 National Sawdust Tracks release, features premiere recordings of new elegies for the viola by Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Arthur Joseph McCaffrey, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Robert Sirota, Kurt Knecht, and Jonah himself.  His orchestral work Grounded was recently performed by major youth orchestras in New York and Massachusetts, and his soundtrack to the Public Television documentary Return of the American Bison was nominated for a 2019 Heartland Emmy Award.

Jonah was the violist of the recently-disbanded Chiara String Quartet for all of its 18 years. With the Chiara Quartet, he toured internationally, recorded seven albums and played in numerous major venues worldwide. The Chiara Quartet performed much of the string quartet repertoire from memory (‘By Heart”), including the complete string quartets of Béla Bartók, a recording of which was released in 2016 on Azica Records. The group was honored with a Grammy nomination (2011, Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Jefferson Friedman’s 3rd String Quartet on the New Amsterdam label), the ASCAP/CMA Adventurous Programming Award, the Guarneri Quartet Award, top prizes at the Paolo Borciani Competition and the Astral Artistic Services Audition, and a Gold Medal at the Fischoff Competition. Their albums have been featured on N.P.R., and in “Best of the Year” lists from the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. In the 2015-2016 season, the group was in residence at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, a venue to which the group returned for their farewell New York concert in May of 2018. As a concert violist, Jonah performs with pianist Molly Morkoski, with organist Kurt Knecht as the improv duo Mondegreen, and as a member of the revived California String Quartet.  He is sought after as a Hollywood session player and regularly plays with major orchestras, including the Long Beach Symphony, where he serves as Assistant Principal viola.

Jonah is also known as a pedagogue. He coaches chamber music at the Colburn School, and gives viola and composition masterclasses and residencies across the country. His “practice self-audit” has been used by many viola students to facilitate the self-evolution their own improvement and creativity in the practice room, while his Practice Tune-Up for professional and adult amateur violists has given many the chance to reconnect with their own inner passion on the instrument. Mr. Sirota has taught at the Juilliard School, at Harvard University, and at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music (where he helped build a world-class chamber music program), as well as at Greenwood Music Camp. He resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Photo credit: Walker Pickering

Internationally renowned harpist Ina Zdorovetchi has established a reputation as one of the leading musicians of her generation, noted for her compelling interpretations and unique tone. Hailed as “the harp whisperer” as well as “monster player”, she has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops, West Deutsche Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Haifa Symphony, Portland Symphony (Maine), Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, National Philharmonic of Moldova, Seattle Chamber Orchestra and was featured in the American Harp Society National Conference Gala concert.

A sought-after recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Rockport Music Festival, World Harp Congress, has recorded for Sony, Naxos, Albany Records, BMOP/Sound, and was presented in live broadcasts on WGBH Radio Boston, Israel Broadcasting Authority, WDR Koln (Germany) and Moldova National TV. Additional highlights include giving the European premiere of John Williams’ Harp Concerto On Willows and Birches, World premieres of Thomas Oboe Lee’s Haro Concerto …bisbigliando… (dedicated to her), Osvaldo Golijov’s Ayre and performing a solo recital for an event hosted by John Kerry, 68th Secretary of State of the United States, in front of a crowd of the world’s preeminent leaders.

As the recipient of numerous awards, Ina Zdorovetchi is the top prize winner of the 17th International Harp Contest in Israel, second prize winner at Cite des Arts Harp Competition in Paris and has been honored with the Henry Cabot Award for Special Commitment of Talent by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Alien with Extraordinary Abilities in the Arts title by the United States government and Outstanding Music Faculty of the Year by the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

She holds several harp performance degrees from the New England Conservatory, Boston University, Boston Conservatory and Bucharest University of Music (Romania) and received her early training in her native Republic of Moldova, double-majoring in harp and piano performance at the Ciprian Porumbescu Music School.

Ms. Zdorovetchi resides in Boston, MA, playing as principal harpist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Portland Symphony and Boston Lyric Opera and teaching as the Associate Professor of Harp at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

Founded in 1988 by former director Mark Barville, and led since September 2003 by Eliza Rubenstein. The LBCCO is now in its 31^st season with Mr. Matthew Martinez as the Interim Artistic Director. An important fixture of the Long Beach arts scene, the Chorale has performed many of the great works of Western classical music and has appeared at the legendary Carnegie Hall; Aquarium of the Pacific; Long Beach Museum of Art, Rancho Los Alamitos; and Carpenter Performing Arts Center, as well as having performed with the Long Beach Opera. The Chorale’s musical repertoire is globally inspired – embodying the middle ages to contemporary influences.

The LBCCO is Long Beach’s only all-volunteer community masterworks chorus; all LBCCO members are volunteers motivated by their love of singing. Our motto “Great Music, Up Close” reflects our commitment to presenting masterworks in a welcoming setting and at an accessible price. We pride ourselves on working within the Long Beach community to offer all music lovers the opportunity to experience live classical music.

Performances in our 19-20 season include:

Candlelight Carols, with organ – December 14 and 15, at Grace First Presbyterian Church
Fauré Requiem, with chamber orchestra – March 28 and 29, at Grace First Presbyterian Church
LBC at the AOP – June 7, at Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach

Contacts: Dean Hanley, President, 310.377.6840, [email protected] or Matthew Martinez, Interim Artistic Director, at [email protected]

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

David Riccobono is the Principal Percussionist of the Long Beach Symphony. He has performed as a percussionist and timpanist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, and Pasadena Symphony. David has spent his summers as a fellow with the Round Top Festival Institute (2018) and Tanglewood Music Center (2019). In June of 2019, he won 2^nd place in the Modern Snare Drum Competition in Cleveland, OH.

A native of Huntington Beach, CA, David began his studies at the age of 8.  He has most recently completed a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California. Leading up to his graduate studies, David received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of California, Los Angeles. David is currently studying with Jim Babor and Joe Pereira of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and had previously studied with Raynor Carroll and Theresa Dimond.