Artists

Born in Buffalo, NY, Mike Jones is a young pianist playing timeless jazz. He has made a mission of carring on the tradition of two handed solo piano jazz with a new twist. Mike's music encompasses styles ranging from James P. Johnson and Fats Waller through Art Tatum and up to Dave MdKenna and Oscar Peterson.

For the past ten years, Mike has been performing at the finest jazz clubs in the Northeast, including Zinno, and Toast in New York, and Scullers and the Regatta Bar in Boston. Mike also appeared daily on the Nancy Merrill Show, a live television show on the CBS affiliate WHDH Channel 7 in Boston. Since 1993, Mike has been a Chiaroscuro (Hank O'Neal's legendary jazz label) recording artist. His first release, "Oh! Look At Me Now!" went on to become the label's best selling title by a new artist. His follow-up,"Runnin' Wild" was released in 1997 to critical acclaim.

Mikhail Pletnev entered the Central School of Music at the age of 13 and was awarded the first prize at the　International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978. A gifted pianist, Pletnev has also achieved success as a conductor and is an active performer as Artistic Director of the Russian National Orchestra. Today, Pletnev is widely considered one of the finest contemporary pianists of his generation.

Pletnev commented;

“A hobby pilot does not need the same machine as an acrobatic pilot. Acrobatic pilots require a machine that is at their complete command and allows them to perform any maneuver at any time. I need that same kind of piano because I am not a hobby pianist.”

Moye Chen’s artistic connection with Shigeru Kawai pianos may trace back to 2006, however he became a Kawai Artist in 2017.

Praised by The Cincinnati Enquirer as performing Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto with “combined bravura and artistry”, and by Frequent Business Traveler as “majestic and lyrical” for his recital at Carnegie Hall in 2015, Moye Chen has performed extensively as a concert pianist in America, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Highlights of his past seasons include the performances in venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, the Mariinsky Theater, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Benaroya Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Petit Palau Hall, Shanghai Grand Theater, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Deia International Music Festival, DoCha Chamber Music Festival, Brussels Piano Festival and Tongyeong International Music Festival; he has featured as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, and more. He has collaborated with internationally celebrated conductors and performers such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Andrew Davis, William Eddins, Benjamin Northey, Nicholas Milton, Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici, Ryan Haskins, Hamish McKeich, Stefan Milenkovich, Tasmin Little, Kathron Sturrock and Hung-Kuan Chen.

A Universal’s recording artist, Moye released his album Four Worlds on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2018. It has been described by The Daily Telegraph as an album which “leaves one with the feeling that here is a remarkable talent and the prospect of hearing him perform some of the more substantial works in the repertoire is an exciting one.” The Australian later added for his rendition of Rachmaninov’s sonata: “Could the composer-pianist himself have achieved any better?” Some of Moye’s other recordings have been collected in the album Encore! on the ABC Classics label.

He is the winner of competitions such as the world-renowned Sydney International Piano Competition, Cincinnati World Piano Competition, International Piano Competition “Spanish Composers”, among others. He was awarded the 2017 Center for Musical Excellence (CME) International Performing Arts Grant, the 2015 Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship and the 2014 Feltsman Piano Foundation Scholarship.

Moye studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano; his Artist Diploma and Doctor of Musical Arts degree were conferred respectively by Oberlin Conservatory of Music and University of Illinois. His principal teachers include Hung-Kuan Chen, Angela Cheng, Robert Hamilton, William Heiles and Xiaosheng Zhao. Other teachers include Tema Blackstone, Alvin Chow and Cheung-Yu Mo.

“When the West End production of 'Wicked' opened in 2006, I realised that the demanding nature of the Keys 1 part would require a top quality keyboard. I tried out various instruments to see which felt closest to a real piano, the only one that satisfied me was the Kawai MP4. Since then I have also played MP5, MP8 and I'm currently using an MP10.

All the Kawai MP keyboards I've used in the show have been 100% reliable and have maintained their consistency of touch.” Pete Whinnett, 1st Keyboards, ‘Wicked’

Pete took his first piano lessons at the age of 6 and then studied at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester from the age of 9.

Doctor Gradus, the art-rock/jazz/impressionist quartet, is Pete’s current creative project. Doctor Gradus re-imagine the music of the French impressionists, requiring Pete to run the dynamic gauntlet from an intimate chamber accompaniment to improvising over an uncompromising rock power trio via be-bop runs and syncopated unison accents. The band’s debut album was release in January 2015 on the Musea Paralelle label.

Pete is also the principal keyboardist in the Laurence Olivier Award winning West End show Wicked where he uses a Kawai MP10 exclusively; the advanced pianistic writing demanding a natural feeling hammer action but with all the versatility, connectivity (and space saving!) that only a stage piano can provide.

As a live and studio session player he has worked with a wide range of artists from Mary Coughlan to David Foster and he toured the world extensively as pianist / keyboard player for the original production of Riverdance.

As one of the nation's freshest faces to emerge as a pop/instrumental crossover, Phil continues his rigorous tour schedule performing across the globe: from the Royal Imperial Palace in Vienna, to the US Open Tennis Tournament in New York, and most recently headlining for two nights in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay's executive "The Lounge" during their recent UFC Championship event. Phil also recently joined his friends and fellow artists "The Canadian Tenors" (as seen on Oprah and Dr. Phil) on their recent tour stop in Minneapolis.

Phil's recordings, available in stores and on iTunes, include four full-length albums (Opening Act, Twelve Songs of Christmas, Tunes with a Twist, and Love Themes from the Silver Screen), his new pop-country single The Magic of Christmas Eve, the benefit single for the 35W Bridge Collapse and American Red Cross Final Ride Home, as well as several commercial jingles. Phil continues providing original scores for a variety of projects, which in the past have included the Fox television series "Blueprint for Green", as well as the feature length film score for the PBS documentary "Footsteps – a Journey in Faith.

While growing up, Rae Ann Perez, had a great love of all styles of music, but especially for jazz. At an early age she was influenced by her parents records of Xaviar Cugat, Stan Getz, Walter Wanderly with Astrud Gilberto, Big Band greats and standard artists like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Then, her tastes in music expanded to include various world styles and performers such as Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Anita O’Day, Randy Crawford, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Chick Corea.

Some of Rae Ann’s first professional accomplishments include studio recordings for Neil Diamond, performing with Barry Smith of the Platters, and Sister Rose Cornelius of Brothers Cornelius and Sister Rose. Rae Ann is also a prolific songwriter, vocalist, pianist and arranger utilizing her originals as well as writing new arrangements of familiar tunes.

Most recently, Rae Ann Perez, has performed successfully in worldwide venues for corporate giants such as Disney, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Paramount Show Services, to name a few. She has also graced the stages of many Las Vegas casinos and been instrumental in studio recordings. Rae Ann has traveled the world entertaining audiences on the worlds most luxurious cruise ships, Jazz Festivals and in many European capitals as a dynamic and professional jazz artist.

Rod was born in 1945 in St. Albans. His early musical education consisted of a couple of years piano lessons and several years as a member of St.Albans Cathedral Choir.

In 1956, he heard Elvis sing 'Hound Dog', and in that moment fell in love with rock 'n' roll. He soon went to his first live gig - featuring his older cousin Jim Rodford (later to play bass with 'Argent', and now playing with 'The Kinks') on tea chest bass. Starstruck, he knew that he somehow had to be part of what was going on, and immediately vowed that one day he would have his own group. Three years later, at the age of 16, he formed 'The Zombies'.

Between 1961 and 1963, 'The Zombies' quickly built a reputation as one of the best groups in and around St. Albans, and in a 1963 they secured a record deal with Decca after winning the 'Herts Beat' contest. Rod wrote 'She's Not There' especially for the first recording session (only his second ever song), and the subsequent record was a hit all over the world, going to Number 1 in the US 'Cash Box' charts (No 3 in 'Billboard').

Refreshing but familiar, innovative yet classic, these are just a few words that come to mind when describing the voice, the music, the artist... Rudy Currence. Rudy's musical background spans almost every genre. He has extensive classical and jazz piano training as well as experience singing Classical, R&B, Gospel, Hip Hop, Soul, and Pop music. All of these styles mixed with his own creative expression make his live performance a rare jewel that you don't want to miss!

Currence, a young singer-songwriter, musician, and producer began to sign his signature on the world at an early age with such writing credits as songs for multi-platinum recording artist Mya, a song featured in the blockbuster hit movie “The Bourne Identity” starring Matt Damon and a song titled “Let’s Play House” for national recording artist/ reality TV star, Ray J on his album, "Raydiation.” He has been honored as one of the recipients of the ASCAP writer’s award and received this award consecutively for 3 years.

OneRepublic is a Grammy Award nominated American pop rock band from Colorado. Formed in 2002 by Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins, the band achieved success on Myspace, becoming the most prominent un-signed act on the website.

They signed onto Mosley Music Group in 2006, and released their debut album, Dreaming Out Loud in 2007. "The toughest thing to do is write a hit song and the easiest thing to do is act like a rock band," says OneRepublic singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder. "But we had a hit song before we had an album and we can't pull off the 'rock god' thing. We do everything backwards.

Clearly, OneRepublic is an unusual rock band. "One difference from other groups is that we're always rotating instruments," bass player Brent Kutzle points out. "I might play keyboards, and Ryan bass, or I play cello, Ryan piano, and Drew, bass. Sometimes we forget who plays what on a song." For OneRepublic, it's all about the song."

Making music was the furthest thing from Scars on 45 co-founder Danny Bemrose’s mind until the professional soccer player for England’s Huddersfield Town F.C. broke his foot at 21 and his world came crashing down. “I was in limbo, without knowing what to do with myself,” he says. It wasn’t the first time that fate would intervene in the band’s formation.

Danny put down the soccer ball and picked up for his father’s guitar. “I’m quite an obsessive person. I became kind of addicted,” he says. “I used to lock myself away to write songs and record on four-track recorder.”

Those early years led to creation of Scars on 45, a quintet from Leeds, England, that combines the gentle melodic intensity of Snow Patrol or Keane with the added allure of co-ed vocals. Tension, often propelled by drummer Chris Durling’s insistent beat, builds throughout the songs as the emotional ante rises. Hearts are broken and seldom rendered whole again before new wounds pierce through.

Highlights on the group’s self-titled, 11-song debut include the gracefully propulsive “Heart on Fire,” on which Danny and fellow lead vocalist Aimee Driver play out a couple’s anguished conversation. “That song came out of nothing,” Danny says. “It just seemed to pour straight out. I must have sung it 4,000 times and it feels fresh every time I sing it. I’m sure one day, I’ll fully understand it."

Pianist Scott Watkins’ sophisticated recitals have earned him a reputation for elegance and integrity, and his concerto appearances have been hailed as “fresh, forceful, and exciting.” His US debut occurred in Chicago in 1985 in an all-Bach recital on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, which was broadcast live nationwide over WFMT Radio and PBS. Since then the pianist’s career has taken him to many of the world’s music centers, including New York where he has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall in 1999, 2005, and 2010.

In a review of his debut recording which included music by Beethoven, Schumann, and Liszt, Folio Weekly described Watkins as “a polished player in his prime.” Of his Teatro Colòn recital in Buenos Aires, El Mercurio called it “a colossal performance, impeccably played.

"I have been using Kawai as my stage piano of choice for around 10 years now, since I first got my hands on the classic mp9500.

The wooden key action on this instrument was streets ahead of any other makes at the time - and Kawai have been upping the game ever since.

Now with the MP10 they have the only piano sound out there that seriously rivals the computer based sounds in the mega software libraries, but with far better reliability, and that immaculate keyboard response making for an unbeatable playing experience."