Rex Solomon (born March 1966) is an American jewelry store owner and former capella directory publisher.
Rex Solomon a fifth generation Texan, was born in March 1966, and raised in Houston, attending Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, Ma. He is a grandson of notable Harvard psychiatrist Philip Solomon, and the step grandson of his second wife, U.S. Senator Maurine Brown Neuberger, son of landscape photographer Andrew Solomon & Dana Donsky Solomon, nephew of music critic/writer Linda Solomon and brother of filmmaker Keith Solomon. [1]
A 1988 graduate of Brandeis University, also studied at Tufts University and Harvard University. He was a founding member of the first fraternity at Brandeis University, the Lambda Beta chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi. [2] While at Brandeis was the founding president of the Barrister News, an independent weekly paper serving the university. [3] Mr. Solomon was a member of the Varsity Sailing Team [4]
Mr. Solomon attended the University of Houston Law School in the fall of 1989, where he founded The List, the first national directory, of a cappella groups, and an arrangement exchange which combined to cofound with Deke Sharon's Contemporary A Cappella Society, where he served as the publisher/printer for the initial year of operation. Mr. Solomon was briefly mentioned in "Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A CAPPELLA Glory" by Mickey Rapkin. [5]
After a year of law school, in 1990 Solomon became active in his Houston-based family jewelry store, Houston Jewelry, [6] where since 2005 he has served as President. Solomon is the Immediate Past President of the Texas Jewelers Association, [7] and serves on the board of the Texas Retailers Association. He was a guest editor of Modern Jeweler Magazine, [8] and a featured speaker at the JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show. Solomon serves on the National Advisory Board of the Main Street Growth & Opportunity Coalition. [9] He is a frequent contributor on Kevin Price's Show The Price of Business Radio on KTEK and the BizTv Network.
In 2020 Mr. Solomon was elected to the Board of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston & South Texas. Since 2016 Mr. Solomon has served on the Board of Seven Acres Home for the Aged. Mr. Solomon has been active in the Anti Defamation League's Security Committee for many years. Mr. Solomon is a member of the Gentlemen's Committee of the American Cancer Society's Cattle Baron's Ball by Victory. He continues as an ardent supporter of Victory.
Two time honoree as one of America's Best Jewelers by National Jeweler and the Jewelers of America, as well as the winner of multiple Telly Awards as a producer, multiple BBB's Award for Excellence, [10] and the State of Texas Historical Commission Texas Treasure Award in 2008. [11] National Retail Federation 2015 & 2016 Retail Champion Award [12]
Texas Southern University is a public historically black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Collegiate a cappella ensembles are college-affiliated singing groups, primarily in the United States, and, increasingly, the United Kingdom and Ireland, that perform entirely without musical instruments. The groups are typically composed of, operated by, and directed by students. In the context of collegiate a cappella, the term a cappella typically also refers to the music genre performed by pop-centric student singing groups. Consequently, an ensemble that sings unaccompanied classical music may not be considered an a cappella group, even though technically it is performing a cappella.
Deke Sharon is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer, author, coach, pioneer, and teacher of a cappella music, and is one of the leaders and promoters of the contemporary a cappella community. He has been referred to as "the father of contemporary a cappella" and "the godfather of a cappella".
Zoltán Dávid (1955) is a Hungarian-born American jewelry designer based in Texas. His business, Zoltan David Precious Metal Art, opened in 1980 and has focused on individually crafted one-off pieces. On August 27, 1988, he was knighted by the Hungarian nation in honour of his father, Zoltan David I.
Bailey Banks & Biddle was a retailer of jewelry and designer of US medals that was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1832.
Damiani S.p.A or Damiani Group, is an Italian luxury jewelry corporate group that designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewelry and luxury watches. It was founded in Italy in 1924. The company uses celebrity endorsements to market its products. In the early 2000s the company had a dispute with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston regarding the use of their names and wedding ring designs. The dispute was settled for $50 million and the couple helped Damiani create and market a line of products. Damiani expanded across Asia and the US. It went public in 2007 and its most well-known jewelry product brands are Calderoni, Salvini, Alfieri & St. John and Bliss.
Aaron Henry Furlong is an American jewellery designer.
The Tufts Beelzebubs, frequently referred to as "The Bubs", is a male a cappella group of students from Tufts University that performs a mix of pop, rock, R&B, and other types of music while spreading their motto of "Fun through Song". Founded in 1962, they have toured in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America, and they competed on NBC's The Sing-Off in December 2009, finishing in second place.
The Stanford Harmonics are a co-ed a cappella group from Stanford University. Known for their alternative rock repertoire and award-winning recordings, the Harmonics have garnered international recognition for their performances and have been featured on BOCA, Sing, and Voices Only a cappella compilations. The Harmonics are one of the few collegiate a cappella groups that own their own wireless microphone equipment and have developed a live performance style that includes the use of electronic distortion and sound effects.
International Gemological Institute (IGI) is a Belgian diamond, colored stone and jewelry certification organization. Established in 1975, it is the largest independent gemological laboratory worldwide.
Diane Falkenhagen is an American artist, she is known as a metalsmith and creates mixed-media custom jewelry which incorporates two dimensional imagery. She is based in Texas.
Gerald D. "Jerry" Sisk Jr. was an American gemologist who co-founded Jewelry Television (JTV) in 1993. Sisk also served as the executive vice president of Jewelry Television until his death in 2013.
Todd Reed is an American fine jewelry designer best known for his use of rough diamonds. Reed's designs are hand-fabricated in Boulder, Colorado using recycled metals.
Evynne Hollens is a female vocalist who lives and works in her native Eugene, Oregon. She was one of the co-founders of the University of Oregon’s female a cappella group, Divisi, with which she sang for five years. Her name is the first word in the first chapter of the book Pitch Perfect, on which the movie of the same title is based. Her and Divisi’s adventures at the 2005 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Finals make up a major portion of the book.
Pitch Perfect is an American musical comedy media franchise created by Kay Cannon, based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin. Jason Moore directed the first film, Elizabeth Banks directed the second, and Trish Sie directed the third. Paul Brooks, Max Handelman, and Banks produced the films. The film series features an ensemble cast, including Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, Ben Platt, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Hailee Steinfeld, Chrissie Fit, John Michael Higgins, and Banks; while the television series stars DeVine. The series is distributed by Universal Pictures.
Bromberg's is a jewelry, crystal, silver and gift retailer with two locations in the Birmingham, Alabama area. The firm was founded by Prussian immigrant Frederick Bromberg in Mobile in 1836, the oldest family owned and operated retail business in the United States and the oldest business firm operating in the state.
Bill Hare is an American Grammy Award-winning audio engineer known for pioneering contemporary recording techniques in a cappella. He was the first to record voices individually, and the first to mic singers exactly as one would mic instruments. Over the course of his career, Hare has become well known for his outsize role in shaping the sound of recorded a cappella. Industry observers have called him the "patriarch" and "the Dr. Dre" of a cappella recording. Deke Sharon, founder and longtime president of the Contemporary A Cappella Society, wrote of Hare's influence in 2018: "The sound of contemporary recorded a cappella owes more to his technique, style, and pioneering than any other person."
Beth Hutchens is a jewelry designer and entrepreneur living in New York City. In 2019, she was nominated for the CFDA Award for American Emerging Designer of the Year.
Yupadee Kobkulboonsiri was a Thai-American artist and jewelry designer.
Sallie Morton, born Sallie Miller, was an American jeweler and gemologist. In 1977, she became the first female president of the American Gem Society.