Nigel Short
Julia Harris
Julia Harris was born in Cardiff but spent the first few years of her life in Cape Town, South Africa whale watching and riding on the cable car up to Table Mountain. Life growing up in South Wales was full of adventure too, camping, singing around bonfires, mud sliding down hills in the country and putting on talent shows for the local kids in the street. At 7 Julia was given a Casio VL-1 Keyboard from Santa and started playing along to her parents record collection. Zeppelin, Floyd, Squeeze, Paul Simon and Motown classics made a big impact on her.
Jacqui Dankworth
Daughter of the legendary jazz musician and composer Sir John Dankworth and International singing star Dame Cleo Laine... just visit her website for a very lengthy and informative biog.
Arto Lindsay
Arto Lindsay (born May 28, 1953, Richmond, Virginia) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He's probably best known as a founding member of the influential no wave band DNA, though his work after DNA has been quite prolific. He has a distinctive soft voice and an often noisy, self-taught guitar style comprised almost entirely of extended techniques, described by Brian Olewnick "studiedly naïve ... sounding like the bastard child of Derek Bailey"; his guitar work is contrasted frequently with gentler, sensuous Brazilian music themes.
Webb Sisters
Charley Webb (born 1979) and Hattie Webb (born 1981) were born in Kent,UK, to a hairdresser father and a tennis coach mother. They also have two brothers, who are also drummers. According to Charley, music often blared from all of the house. [1] Although Charley became briefly interested with being an ambulance driver, the sisters had early on decided on a career in music. Hattie played the harp, and Charley the piano.
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow Groban (born in Los Angeles, CA , on February 27, 1981) is an American singer known for his mature, dusky baritone voice. His musical style ranges from classical to pop. After only one year in the theatre department at Carnegie Mellon University, his choice school, Groban left when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through David Foster's own 143 Records imprint.
Brigitte Beraha
Born in Milan and raised in Monaco by Turkish and British parents, Brigitte moved to London in 1996, and after studying at Goldsmiths College-where she now leads vocal and jazz improvisation workshops- and completing the Jazz Postraduate course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she recorded her debut Album "Prelude to A Kiss" (FMR) with a first class band including Ingrid Laubrock-tenor sax, Barry Green-piano and guest vocalist Anita Wardell. The album received rave reviews and extensive international and national radio play.
The Supremes
The Supremes were a very successful motown all-female singing group active from 1959 until 1977, performing at various times doo-wop, pop, soul, broadway showtunes, psychedelia, and disco. One of Motown's signature acts, The Supremes were the most successful African-American musical act of the 1960s, recording twelve #1 hits between 1964 and 1969, many of them written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (b. 3 February 1525 – 2 February 1526; d. 2 February 1594) was an Italian Renaissance composer and the most well-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. Palestrina became famous through his output of sacred music. He had an enormous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music, and his work has often been seen as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.