Christian Ray

Last updated

Christian Ray Flores
Born (1969-03-15) March 15, 1969 (age 53)
Moscow, Russia
NationalityChilean, Russian
OccupationSpeaker, entrepreneur, artist, producer, director

Christian Ray Flores (born March 15, 1969) is an entrepreneur, investor, evangelist, media producer and artist.

Contents

Early life

Christian Ray Flores was born in Moscow, Russia, on March 15, 1969, to a Chilean father and Russian mother. The family moved to Chile when Christian was nine months old.

During the 1973 military coup of Augusto Pinochet, Christian's father, Americo Flores, was arrested along with thousands of others and spent time in one of the infamous concentration camps. His mother Larisa, along with two children, went into hiding under an assumed name and with a fake Argentinian passport. After Americo's release, the family spent some time in a UN refugee camp and was granted asylum in Germany, moving to Munich. After living in Germany and Russia, Americo and Larisa moved to Mozambique, at the invitation of the government, which was recruiting international professionals after a mass exodus of Portuguese upon the nation's independence. Christian learned four languages by the age of nine: Russian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese. After his parents' divorce, Christian returned to Russia with his mother and sister in 1983. Christian got a master's degree in economics in 1991 from the RUDN University in Moscow. [1]


Music career

In 1993, Ray released his first single in Russia, and became an instant success, winning awards like Generation ‘93 and Ovation in 1996 and playing to large crowds all over the country. Back to back top-ten hits culminated in his number-one single, "Our Generation" [2] – an anthem of freedom and change. It became a song widely used as the anthem of Boris Yeltsin's election campaign. Christian tirelessly campaigned for Yeltsin as part of the Russian version of Rock The Vote, which is credited to giving Yeltsin the youth vote and victory in the campaign. [3] [4] Ray, together with his co-producers, Andrey Grozny and Andrey Shlykov, produced several other musical projects including a "girl band" called Blestyashchiye, which has had a more than 20-year run and generated several of the biggest female solo careers in Russia. [1]


Career in the United States

After moving to the US in 2004, Christian worked for the international charity HOPE Worldwide, serving as a country director for Latin America, focusing on health care and education for the poorest of the poor in nine different countries. He also developed and directed the award winning Positive Choice education program, implemented around the US and internationally in Mexico, Jamaica, Indonesia. [5] [6]

Christian co-founded a production company, Hollywood World, in Los Angeles with his wife, Deb de Flores. Hollywood World provided international artists the ability to work with top Hollywood producers and directors. Among other projects, Christian lends his voice to English and Spanish versions of Masha and the Bear, one of the biggest animated TV series in the world, with over a billion views on YouTube. [1]

After moving to Austin, Texas, Christian and Deb co-founded (with Brandon Knicely) Third Drive, raising millions of dollars for startups and creating award winning digital media projects for emerging businesses and non-profit organizations. [7]

Christian speaks to audiences in the US and internationally, produces the Third Drive Stage Podcast [8] dedicated to entrepreneurship and the Headapace newsletter on Substack. His short film Dance With Me [9] was selected to several international film festivals, the title song was released on all major music platforms. [10]

Family and Faith

Christian married Deb de Flores [11] in 1999. They met during a Christian conference for entertainers in Los Angeles, where Deb was living at the time as she worked for MTV, Universal Studios, and VH1, as well as serving in Christian ministry. [1]

Ray and de Flores have three daughters: Diana, Violetta, and Isabella.

Christian and Deb have been active in Christian ministry in the US, Eastern Europe, and Latin America for two decades. They lead The Tribe, [12] a community of faith in Austin, Texas. Ray frequently speaks to different audiences in the US and overseas. They are also active in philanthropy through their charity Ascend Academy in Mozambique that lifts children out of poverty through developing character, communication, and computer skills. Ascend Academy. [13]


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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Кристиан Рэй: биография и творчество". Fb.ru. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  2. ↑ "itunes preview Christian Ray" . Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ "The guy who supplied the soundtrack for Boris Yeltsin's Rock the Vote". Pri.org. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  4. ↑ "El chileno que ayudó a que el comunismo no regresara a Rusia con una canción". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The Positive Choice Program - It's all about you! Your goals, dreams, career, health, relationships, and life". Positive-choice.org. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Disciples Today". Disciplestoday.org. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Third Drive A Venture Development Organization". 3rddrive.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Third Drive Podcast By Third Drive Media". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Dance With Me". 3rddrive.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Dance with Me (feat. Kat Lawson / Doejah) – Single Christian Ray". Itun.es. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Deb de Flores – Bio". Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ "The Tribe Austin Christian". Atxtribe.org. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Ascend Academy Lifting Children out of Poverty". Ascend.academy. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
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