IT’S BEEN A HOT MONTH ALREADY!
#VictoriaInBeirut
On July 1, I flew to Beirut, Lebanon to perform with Maysaa Karaa, a Los Angeles based Lebanese-American Singer-Songwriter. She’s already had some success in the USA, as one of her recordings (an Arabic adaptation of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit) was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015.
Mayssa and her producer / co-writer Rich Jacques recently completed her debut album, “Simple Cure“, and I was one of several artists invited to perform with her in concert in her home country. Her first concert. Sold out. Probably around 2,000 people. Pretty amazing success for an amazing young lady. Congratulations Mayssa!
The concert was held at the Zouk Mikael International Festival, in a stunning Roman-style amphitheater. The band was incredible, loaded with USA based musicians who’ve toured with some of the world’s greatest artists, including David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Stevie Wonder: Carmine Rojas (our MD), Scott Page, Marcus Nand, Rich Jacques and Neal Daniels. We were joined by a group of incredible Middle Eastern instrumentalists, including Naseem Alatrash, Layth Sidiq, Tony Barhoum, Gilbert Mansour and a few others, whose names I don’t recall…oops!
I had such a great time, eating delicious meals (with plenty of vegetarian options! I was so thrilled!), meeting beautiful, kind , music-living people (Mayssa’s friends and family are gems), and performing incredible music while singing background vocals in English, Spanish and Arabic. I felt so international! 😉
If you have a Facebook account, you can see part of the show here
and a concert news repot by FutureTV :: Group here
It’s in Arabic, but even if you don’t speak the language, it’s a cool video to watch, with snippets from the performance and interviews with Mayssa and the band.
Thank you, Mayssa, Michel, Mark, Salim and everyone at the Zouk Mikael International Festival for a most beautiful experience. I can’t wait to return to Beirut!
#SORonTour
Shortly after the concert, I left the venue and headed straight to the airport. I had to fly to Chicago so that I could be a mentor for the School of Rock at Summerfest in Milwuakee! Thankfully, my travel wasn’t terribly delayed (Beirut to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Chicago, 90 minute drive to Milwaukee), and I was able to get to my first group of students with 20 minutes to spare. Now that’s the Musical Life!
This annual event, School of Rock OnTour (#SORonTour), showcased over 450 students in dozens of bands from several of the School of Rock locations around the USA. Over the course of three days, the students rocked the Summerfest audience from numerous stages, performing iconic rock songs with professional guest artists from legendary bands – AKA The Mentors.
I was paired with guitarist Robbie Angelucci to listen, evaluate and offer feedback to dozens of bands. Both of us, and all of the other mentors, were very impressed with the young musicians. We were all taken back in time to when each of us were that age, our burgeoning thirst for music just starting. The students reminded us of how special it is to learn music; that it’s a gift. I was so excited and thrilled to be there, and to offer whatever nuggets of wisdom I could.
The Mentors were an eclectic bunch, with a solid portion coming from the world of Rock. Since I’ve spent most of my career in the R&B/Pop world, it was lovely to get to meet and bond with musicians from other genres. The Mentors were Tanya O Callaghan, Robbie Angelucci, Allen Blickle, Dan McCafferty, Kudisan Kai, Julian Coryell, Tariqh Akoni, Phil Xenidis, Glen Sobel, Rachel Z Hakim and Peter DiStefano. I enjoyed meeting and spending time with each of you. Thank you for your high level musicianship, your insight, talent and beautiful hearts!
Thanks to Tania for the referral, VIP and VP Stacey Ryan for keeping us in check, and all of the other SOR top brass, including Rob Price, Elliot Baldini and Tony Padulo for making it all possible.
INTERVIEW & PHOTOS
A few months ago, I was interviewed and photographed by the incredibly talented photographer, Amina Touray. I was introduced to Amina by Ciera Payton, who referred Amina to me as a potential model/interviewee. #SoFlattered
The photos turned out beautifully, and the interview was published in an Afro Elle Magazine web article:
@aminatphoto @afroellemag Makeup by @niehlao Styling by @_jeslopez
VIDEOS
I’ve created a few short videos documenting my Musical Life. Enjoy!
Lebanon Day 1 • Lebanon Day 2a • Lebanon Day 2b • Lebanon Day 2c • Lebanon Day 3 • Lebanon Day 4
@mayssakaraa @iamscottpage @marcusnand @richjacques @nealthedrummer @laythsidiq @naseem_alatrash.cellist @barhoumkanun @gilbert_mansour
SOR @ Summerfest, Day 1 • SOR @ Summerfest, Day 2 • SOR @ Summerfest, Day 3a • SOR @ Summerfest, Day 3b
@SchoolofRock @dtkindlerphoto #SoROnTour and #SchoolofRock
HUMAN
It’s been 2 years since I release my first video! I am flummoxed…time is flying ever faster…
Alas, I don’t yet have a new video, but here’s a new version, with the lyrics embedded in the video:
HOUSE CONCERTS
Speaking of hot… have live music for your summer fête! Book me! If you want to organize a house concert, it’s FREE to you as the host. Email me and I’ll send you details 🙂
Host a HOUSE CONCERT – no cost to you!
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 16th, 2017 at 6:32 am and is filed under Blog, front-page, Interview, News, Performance, Travel, Victoria Theodore, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.