DIONNE WARWICK
CELEBRATES HER 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN ENTERTAINMENT
WITH A NEW ALBUM – ONLY TRUST YOUR HEART- March 15th, 2011
FEATURING SONGS FROM THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK

On March 15th, Music Legend, Dionne Warwick celebrates 50 years in the music business since being discovered by Burt Bacharach & Hal Davis. She will celebrate with the release of her first album of contemporary jazz standards, from the great “American Songbook” titled “Only Trust Your Heart” released by MPCA Records (Sony/Red). The songs are gems from the treasured catalogue of two songwriters closely associated with Frank Sinatra – Sammy Cahn and Jack Wolf.

Jack Wolf collaborated with Sinatra to pen the beautiful “I’m A Fool To Want You” and
co-wrote “Keep Me In Mind” which was written with the songwriter most synonymous with Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach. One of Cahn’s biggest fans was Frank Sinatra who recorded 89 of Cahn’s songs, may of them more than once. Cahn won 4 Oscars and was nominated 30 times. He wrote songs for 19 films and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

When Dionne was thinking about doing an album of contemporary jazz standards, it was no surprise that she chose familiar and cherished songs including: Only Trust Your Heart, You I love, I’m a Fool To Want You, Wonder Why, If you Can Dream, The Second Time Around, Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are, I’ll Never Stop Loving You, Some Other Time, I Fall In Love Too Easily, Keep Me in Mind, And Then You Kissed Me and Pocketful of Miracles.

Dionne Warwick has, over an illustrious four-decade career, established herself as an international musical legend. Her reputation as a hit maker has been firmly etched into public consciousness, thanks to nearly sixty charted hits since “Don’t Make Me Over” began its climb up the charts in December 1962. As a performer, she has charmed and entertained audiences on every continent, amassing a worldwide audience. There are a few important “firsts” that make Dionne Warwick a true pioneer.

Dionne Warwick received her first Grammy Award in 1968 (for the classic “Do You Know The Way to San Jose?”), and in so doing became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. This award has only been awarded to one other female African-American legend, Ella Fitzgerald.

Other African-American female recording artists certainly racked up their share of crossover pop and R&B hits during the 1960’s. However, Dionne Warwick preceded the mainstream success of some of her musical peers by becoming the first such artist to rack up a dozen consecutive Top 100 hit singles from 1963 to 1966. By 1968, she became the first African-American female performer to appear before the Queen of England at a Royal Command Performance. Since then, she has performed before numerous Kings, Queens, Presidents and Heads of State.

In recent years, Dionne’s pioneering efforts have focused on leading the music industry in the fight against AIDS. Her Grammy-winning, chart topping, single “That’s What Friends Are For,” lead the way by raising, literally, millions of dollars for AIDS research. Throughout the world, Dionne has devoted countless hours to a wide range of humanitarian causes, serving as the U.S. Ambassador for Health throughout the Eighties. On October 16, 2002 she was named a global Ambassador for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in Rome, Italy. Dionne has spearheaded the long overdue development and production of a history book that will detail African and African-American history for use in schools, libraries, and bookstores throughout the world. She continues her work as a socially conscious and concerned global.

Nothing seems impossible to Dionne, a woman who has inspired and empowered millions through her music, her performances, and her work as a humanitarian. In a recent interview she reflected on the words imparted to her by her grandfather; “If you think it, you can do it!” With a life filled with accomplishment and achievement, Dionne Warwick can proudly say that she has always believed in, and lived by, those words of wisdom.

Dionne has written her first book. “My Point of View”. It is a collection of Dionne’s own “pearls of wisdom” that she has gathered through the years. She provides her own thoughts and wisdom on various subjects, all highlighted by personal and rare photographs of her journey.

Track Listing:
Only Trust Your Heart
You I Love
I’m A Fool To Want You
Wonder Why
If You Can Dream
The Second Time Around
Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
I’ll Never Stop Loving You
Some Other Time
I Fall In Love Too Easily
Keep Me In Mind
And Then You Kissed Me
Pocketful Of Miracles

For further information please contact:
Doreen D’Agostino
DOREEN D’AGOSTINO MEDIA
212.366.9970
917.916.2626

doreendagostino@earthlink.net

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
ANNOUNCES
“PLAYING THE PIANO 2010 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR”

In support of the release of his new 2-CD package
“Playing The Piano” and “Out of Noise”

Released on Sept. 28th, 2010

(FOR TICKET INFORMATION IN YOUR CITY PLEASE VISIT: WWW.SITESAKAMOTO.COM OR SEE TOUR DATES BELOW

On September 28th, 2010, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s legions of fans will have two new albums to savor playing the piano and out of noise followed by a very rare eco-conscious North American solo piano tour.

The concerts will present a wide-ranging view into the world of this legendary composer, musician, producer, actor, and environmental activist. Sakamoto will perform with two Yamaha concert grand pianos. One is pre-programmed, so he in actuality, he is virtually performing a duet with himself. His graceful playing is visually enhanced by British Lighting Designer, Nigel Edwards, and Sakamoto’s longtime creative partner and Visual Director, Norika Sora, who will create minimalist images throughout the concert adding depth and dimension to Sakamoto’s performance.

Sakamoto has devoted much of his time in recent years to environmental concerns – to “turning Ego into Eco” as he puts it. He has made a huge attempt to use alternative energy for touring…constantly pushing towards sustainability With the current tour, which was toured in both Japan and Europe already, “Playing the Piano”, he chose sustainable and ecologically sound ways to tour; Sakamoto used green electricity at each performance, and all carbon dioxide emitted through the tour was offset

The inspiration of nature in his music, as well as his efforts to tour in an eco-conscious manner, was honored with the Echo Award for The Most Innovative Musician and Musical Tour 2009 at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Echo Festival in conjunction with World Environment Day in Brussels.

The new albums:
The first CD, playing the piano, is a series of miniatures or “self-covers,” as Sakamoto refers to them – solo piano versions of his earlier works, including some of the famous film themes such as The Last Emperor (Oscar/Grammy (r) -winning soundtrack), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Sheltering Sky (Golden Globe – best original score).

The second CD, out of noise, is arguably Sakamoto’s most ambitious to date in which he continues to explore the netherworld between music and noise that has fascinated him for years.

“As soon as you make a piano sound, it begins to vanish,” Sakamoto explains, “vanishing into noise. You can’t tell when it becomes noise, when it’s gone. That’s the area I’m interested in.” Sakamoto has studied these dichotomies for years and with the songs from out of noise, his explorations extend even further – to the sounds of the environment. “We are surrounded by the sound of the environment,” he explains. “That’s music too, really.”

Sakamoto continues to find new innovative ways of being more green through his music activity and creativity.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
DATE CITY VENUE SHOWTIME TICKET PRICE
Sun-Oct-17-10 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre 8:00 PM $25, $29.50, $35
Mon-Oct-18-10 New York, NY Skirball Center for Performing Arts 8:00 PM $40
Wed-Oct-20-10 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center 8:00 PM $26, $36
Fri-Oct-22-10 Montreal, QC Outrement Theatre 8:00 PM $28.50, $35
Sun-Oct-24-10 Toronto, ON Queen Elizabeth Theater 8:00 PM $39.50
Tues-Oct-26-10 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre 8:00 PM $45
Sat-Oct-30-10 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre 8:00 PM $29.50
Mon-Nov-01-10 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre 7:30 PM $31.50
Wed-Nov-03-10 San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom 9:00 PM $30, $37.50
Fri-Nov-05-10 Los Angeles, CA El Ray 9:00 PM $40

For further information:
Doreen D’Agostino
doreendagostino@earthlink.net
646-829-0652 – 917-916-2626

Tina Pelikan
ECM and Decca Label Group Publicity
Tina.pelikan@umusic.com
212 333-1405

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
RELEASES SPECIAL NEW 2-CD PACKAGE
September 28th, 2010

ECO-CONSCIOUS, RARE U.S.TOUR FOLLOWS IN OCTOBER

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s legions of fans will have a new special 2-CD package to savor on September 28th (Decca): the two albums, playing the piano and out of noise, present a wide-ranging view into the world of this composer, musician, producer, actor, and environmental activist. Ryuichi Sakamoto will make a rare North American solo tour in October/November, bringing his music to audiences through sustainable and ecologically sound touring. In addition, a carbon offset will be made for all carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the tour.

The first CD, playing the piano, is a series of miniatures or “self-covers,” as Sakamoto refers to them – solo piano versions of his earlier works, including some of the famous film themes such as The Last Emperor (Oscar/Grammy ® –winning soundtrack), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and The Sheltering Sky (Golden Globe – best original score).

The second CD, out of noise, is arguably Sakamoto’s most ambitious to date in which he continues to explore the netherworld between music and noise that has fascinated him for years. He is joined here by, among others, Austrian guitarist/laptop artist Christian Fennesz, guitarist Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada), England’s renowned early music group Fretwork, and Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Skuli Sverrisson. Read More…

Michael Amante is affectionately known as the “People’s Tenor”. He has been crowned the “Prince of High C’s” for his remarkable ability to hit and sustain with ease, one of the highest notes of a tenor’s voice. With Michael’s long history of singing popular Rock and Gospel music coupled with extensive classical Bel-Canto training, he is able to sing even higher with a strength and mastery rarely heard anywhere in the world. Being able to produce these notes consistently within the context of a moving line and in conjunction with a beautiful sound requires not only talent but skilled use of technique. The most prolific tenor of all time, Luciano Pavarotti, the “King of High C’s”, once described the feeling this way: “Excited and happy, but with a strong undercurrent of fear. The moment I actually hit the note, I almost lose consciousness. A physical, animal sensation seizes me. Then I regain control.” Amante experiences the thrilling sensation as well.

Michael Amante’s artistry drew its highest praise from none other than Luciano Pavoritti, who recognized his unique talent after he first experienced Michael’s vocal prowess. Pavoritti suggested but one name to perform in his stead for an international audience: Michael Amante. Joining the ranks of high-class commentators was opera legend Franco Corelli, with whom Michael trained and who was lavish in his praise saying that Michael was “one of the greatest voices I’d ever heard”.

Legendary vocal superstar Tony Bennett will “guarantee you” that Michael Amante is “the next Mario Lanza”, further commenting during Amante’s performance: “That’s the most beautiful singing I’ve heard in years”! Regis Philbin (Live With Regis & Kelly) said “we know there are “the three tenors but actually there are 4” – Michael Amante – the 4th Tenor”. Countless newspaper reviews and features have described the effect of his golden-throated outpourings in glowing terms: a New York Times reporter, for example, described Amante as exhibiting “both the voice and charisma of a crossover star”. The Philadelphia Exclusive asserted outright: “Amante rewrites the book on the idea of what a tenor can be”.

With a combination of suave all American good looks, romantic charm and emotionally charged singing, Michael has wowed audiences everywhere including PBS Television for which he received an Emmy Nomination. Apart from his thrilling High C’s, Michael’s signature is versatility. From the Phantom’s “Music of the Night” to Puccini’s La Bohéme, it’s all on his playlist. The “People’s Tenor” immediately makes an intimate connection with his fans and the people flocking to his concerts. He found some of his earliest fans in Italy a few years ago singing Italian operatic arias and popular Neapolitan songs for an informal collection of priests within the Vatican. He has a stockpile of laudatory compliments. These days he’s accumulating an Everest-like mountain of bonafide raves from the sort of well-pedigreed sources guaranteed to induce envy in fellow artists.

On stage, Michael exhibits the rare talent common to singers who bring grandeur to their material: he inhabits a song, as surely as a gifted stage or screen actor becomes a character, giving it a life of its own. In fact, working with the respected stage and film star Tony LoBianco, Michael has developed into a credible thespian with roles ranging from the stage incarnations of Danny Zuko in “Grease,” Tony in “West Side Story,” alternating roles of both Jesus and Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” to opera leading men as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La bohéme,” B.F. Pinkerton in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” and Turiddu in Mascagni’s “Cavaleria Rusticana.” So an Amante concert audience gets more than Michael: it really gets Rodolfo; it really gets Tony; it really gets Danny Zuko, as the artist makes his assured, electrifying way through a repertoire of Broadway and Opera numbers. A Michael Amante concert is an experience unto itself.

Once past this Olympian conglomerate of praise makers; once accustomed to the offhand brilliance Amante can produce with his four-octave vocal range and multilingual abilities (English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Latin and Polish); once cognizant of his versatility as a vocalist who is equally at home and powerfully persuasive in Classical Opera, Pop rock, Gospel, Jazz and Broadway styles; it may be that listeners are responding less to technical virtuosity than to the near-palpable soul emerging from Michael’s every sung note. Something in his emotionally riveting delivery, in his complete immersion in a song’s text, underscores a philosophy that clearly informs his art: as he puts it, “Love must be a vital part of who we are and how we view life. It colors our world view, and it is the greatest of the gifts we receive and the most precious gift we can give those around us”. These are not mere words to Amante: they reflect a deeply held passion for and belief in the power of the human voice to affect listeners on a fundamental level. Michael is the son of a decorated World War II Army Air Corps veteran who flew nearly 100 combat missions. It was from his father that Michael would learn his love of classical composers as well as a strong sense of pride in his American heritage.

Growing up in New York, he did a near identical impression of Lou Gramm, the lead singer of the hit band Foreigner and Steve Walsh from Kansas. He quickly established himself in biker bars up and down the New York State Throughway where it was technically illegal to perform, but his taste in popular music was voracious. In his early 20s, the choir director in an upstate New York church put him on to the legendary Swedish tenor Jussi Björling in a recording of the plaintive aria “Una furtiva lagrima” from Donizetti’s masterpiece L’Elisir D’Amore, and it hit Michael like a bolt from the blue. Singing this song would be the best way yet to fair well with “the ladies.” Quickly, he put together a surefire portfolio of Italian arias that showed his killer high notes to advantage.

Since his title role performance a production of Oliver at age 6, he has been delighting audiences from all walks of life with the effortless, unabashed power of his voice and a style of singing that is classy but not harshly classical. The music that Michael explores ranges from Italian Bel Canto to a huge Broadway belt: Songs such as “Recondita armonia” from Puccini’s Tosca, and “Maria” from Bernstein’s West Side Story, are delivered with the passion of love in full flower. “And This Is My Beloved,” from Kismet, is another gem in Broadway’s unabashed romantic vein. Everyone knows “Vesti la giubba,” from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, which climaxes in heart-broken anguish “Ridi, Pagliaccio”! Michael’s beautifully sung rendition minus the bitter, maniacal laughter so traditional on the stage-delivers all the requisite drama; but for sheer visceral thrills, the rousing “Di quella pira,” from Verdi’s sizzling melodrama Il Trovatore, would be hard to top. Michael currently studies with Mark Oswald who is regarded by the Metropolitan Opera as one of its leading voice teachers, with fourteen Met soloists under his tutelage. Mark spent 13 seasons at the Met singing hundreds of principal roles.

Michael’s main showcases for the past decade have been private events for clients ranging from presidents (including Gerald Ford on his 91st birthday, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton) to a myriad of A-list celebrities at world famous New York eateries and Las Vegas casinos. “Sooner or later, everyone who is anyone heard me” from Sophia Loren, Isabella Rosellini, Julia
Roberts to Billy Crystal, Denzel Washington and Sidney Pointier. On one night of impromptu entertaining, mega producer Charles Koppelman came up to Amante and said with cigar in hand, “Let’s make a record” and so started a recording career.

On the larger scale, Michael has sung to capacity crowds of 80,000 at Giant Stadium for season opening Giants’ games as well as when the Madrid soccer team played Rome. Offering something for everyone, he brought down the house with “Granada” and “Nessun dorma,” the aria that achieved worldwide cult status when Pavarotti’s recording was played in Rome at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He is also known as “the Voice of the Mets” singing opening and playoff games at former Shea Stadium and the new Citi-Field for sold-out events.

Michael Amante is a true patriot. One of his recent projects is a patriotic album titled Amante Salutes America. All proceeds from the sale of the album are donated to the nation’s disabled veterans, whose personal sacrifices protect the freedom we enjoy as Americans. “I’m behind our troops 100 percent”, Michael says. “Growing up, I heard many war stories from my father. He and his buddies were doing a hard job. Their lives were on the line. But they did what needed to be done, and they did it with dedication and integrity. That example inspires me every day….I love music… and I love my country”.

For further information please contact:

Doreen D’Agostino
DOREEN D’AGOSTINO MEDIA
doreendagostino@earthlink.net
646-829-0652 • 917-916-2626

If Ryuichi Sakamoto had been born in 16th century Italy, we’d know what to call him: a Renaissance Man. But since he was born in Japan in the mid-20th century, we have to string together words like composer, musician, producer, actor, and environmental activist. It’s a diverse resumé, but there are two things that match it: one is Sakamoto’s music – pioneering electronic works, globally-inspired rock, classical scores (including a massive opera) and of course those familiar soundtracks. The other is the list of awards on his mantle – among them an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, a Grammy, the Order of the Cavaleiro Admissão from the government of Brazil, and, in July 2009, he was named an Officier of the coveted Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the government of France. Perhaps most prized of all, was the UN Environment Programme’s Echo Award, for his innovative and groundbreaking work in eco-friendly touring and music distribution. Read More…

Ludovico Einaudi may defy easy categorization, but this composer and pianist is already a megastar in Europe. With the release of his mesmerizing and elegant new album Divenire arriving in the United States on June 10th, 2008, Einaudi is set to finally conquer America. Divenire, which translates in English as “to become,” is a masterly mix that weaves together the best of a classical sensibility, electronic experimentation, a hypnotic ambient groove, and an almost cinematic sweep. Part of Einaudi’s talent is deftly dodging arbitrary labels of genre and tradition. Once a student of the famed modern classical composer Luciano Berio and a fellow at the highly prestigious Tanglewood Music Center, the now 52-year-old Milan resident has written some fifteen film scores, several of which have won prizes as best soundtracks in Italian, German, and French film festivals, including the BAAF award (a precursor to the UK’s famed BAFTA prizes) for his soundtrack for British filmmaker Shane (Dead Man’s Shoes, Twenty Four Seven) Meadow’s new film This Is England, which has already won the Special Jury Prize at the recent Rome International Film Festival and the Best British Independent Film award at the British Independent Film Awards this past September. His score for Fuori Dal Mondo(by Giuseppe Piccioni) received an Academy Award nomination as Best Soundtrack Read More…