Sam Stryke is the artist name of Sam Struyk (pronounced Sam Strike). Stryke is an American composer and contemporary pianist whose self-produced first album, In the Wind led him to be signed by Atlantic Records in 1991. Stryke has independently released the instrumental album Emerging in 2002 and his popular CD, Christmas, which includes adaptations of classic Christmas carols, along with several original compositions in 2006. Stryke released his fourth album, a pop jazz CD entitled Brunch, in April 2010. Also in 2010 Stryke released his second Christmas CD, Joy to the World featuring piano and orchestra arrangements of traditional carols.
Stryke and Scandal Music owner Sandy Torano are responsible for composing the music for the award-winning Real Men of Genius campaign, along with numerous other well-known ad campaigns, including Bud Light, Nintendo, McDonald’s, Capital One, State Farm and many more.[1] Stryke has also composed music for independent films and TV including The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Oprah and Friends XM Satellite radio show, and Oprah Winfrey’s “Leadership Academy” prime time TV special devoted to her school in South Africa.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, often referred to simply as Oprah, is an American syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Oprah Winfrey, it remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in American television history.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Stryke moved to Chicago, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern University in 1993. He has studied with jazz pianist Michael Kocour, noted composer and arranger Cliff Colnot, and New York-based jazz pianist Jim McNeely through a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1994. Stryke has performed as a guest pianist with the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony.[2] He also participates in art projects in Grand Rapids.[3]
Northwestern University (NU) is a private research university based in Evanston, Illinois, United States, with other campuses located in Chicago and Doha, Qatar, and academic programs and facilities in Miami, Florida; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco, California. Along with its selective undergraduate programs, Northwestern is known for its Kellogg School of Management, Pritzker School of Law, Feinberg School of Medicine, Bienen School of Music, Medill School of Journalism, and McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Jim McNeely is a Grammy award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. The NEA has its offices in Washington, D.C. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, as well as the Special Tony Award in 2016.
Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music group founded by Chip Davis that is known primarily for its Fresh Aire series of albums, which blend classical music with elements of new age and rock, and for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.
Stephen "Steve" Rucker is an American musician and drummer who served as the drummer with many artists. His biggest and well known act was the Bee Gees. With the Bee Gees band, he appeared on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and a Royal Variety Performance for the Queen of England. Rucker appears on the Bee Gees' One Night Only recording and DVD. He is currently the Drumset Studies director of the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
William Henry Cunliffe Jr., known professionally as Bill Cunliffe, is an American jazz pianist and composer. He has written books on jazz for Alfred Publications and has taught at California State University, Fullerton.
Cape jazz is a genre of jazz that is performed in the very southern part of Africa, the name being a reference to Cape Town, South Africa. Some writers say that Cape Jazz began to emerge in 1959 with the formation of The Jazz Epistles, many of whom were from Cape Town, including Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand. Cape Jazz is similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character. Where marabi is a piano jazz style, Cape Jazz in the beginning featured instruments that can be carried in a street parade, such as brass instruments, banjos, guitars and percussion instruments.
Stephen Beville is a composer and pianist of classical music.
Marcin Masecki is a Polish avant garde pianist, composer and conductor. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. In 2005 he won the main prize at the International Jazz Piano Competition in Moscow.[1]
Lavinia Meijer is a South Korean-born Dutch harpist.
Peng-Peng Gong, formerly known as his stage name Peng Peng, is a Chinese classical composer and pianist born on July 3, 1992. Described by The Washington Post as an artist "with the confidence of a weathered veteran and a welcome unbridled quality to his playing", he has established himself as one of the most gifted young artists of his generation. At 18, he has become an internationally active concert pianist and a six-time American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers National Award-winning composer in consecutive years since 2006. He was among the youngest pianists to be officially signed to the artist roster of the renowned Opus 3 Artists in 2007 at age 14, and the youngest composer to be signed by the [Lauren Keiser Music Publishing] in 2009 at age 16. Since 2005, he concertized and toured intensely in the North America, South America, Europe, and China, appearing in over a hundred solo and orchestral engagements. He was invited twice, on personal request, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to perform for the United States Congress.
The Jazz Messengers is a 1956 album by the Jazz Messengers, released by Columbia Records. It was the last recording by the Jazz Messengers lineup featuring pianist Horace Silver.
Emily Jordan Bear is an American composer, pianist, songwriter and singer who has received notice at an early age. After beginning to play the piano and compose music as a small child, Bear made her professional piano debut at the Ravinia Festival at the age of five, the youngest performer ever to play there. She gained wider notice from a series of appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show beginning at the age of six. She has since played her own compositions and other works with orchestras and ensembles in North America, Europe and Asia, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Montreux Jazz Festival and Jazz Open Stuttgart. She has won two Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and was the youngest person ever to win the award. She has also won two Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Awards.
John Serry Jr. is a jazz pianist and composer, as well as a composer of contemporary classical music works that feature percussion, on which he also doubles. He is a son of the accordionist and composer John Serry. His debut solo album was 'Exhibition', for which he received a Grammy Nomination for his composition, 'Sabotage'.
Julie Ann Giroux is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and numerous concert band works.
Ian Mulder is an award-winning Dutch-born pianist and composer, who lives in Orlando, Florida. He performs in the United States and Europe. He performs on the piano and conducts an orchestra simultaneously. His inspirational CDs Love Divine 1, 2, 3, and 4, with i.a. the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra are popular in over 20 countries, and have achieved gold and platinum status.
p53 was an experimental music group commissioned by English percussionist Chris Cutler to play at the 25th Frankfurt Jazz Festival in Germany in September 1994. Their performance was recorded and released by Recommended Records in 1996 on a live album entitled p53. The group reassembled in May 1997 to play at the Angelica International Festival of contemporary music in Bologna, Italy. In November 2006 an orchestral version with three soloists, Jon Rose, Zeena Parkins and Chris Cutler performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, Scotland, which was recorded and broadcast by the BBC in March 2007. This version was performed again at the Opera House in Milan in 2014 with the Orchestra de Teatro Communale, with soloists Daan Vandewalle and Thomas Dimuzio.
Terje Bjørklund is a jazz pianist and composer. He was an active jazz pianist until approximately 1980. From then on he has concentrated on composing.
Greg Danner is an award-winning contemporary American composer, educator, and professional musician. He is currently the composer-in-residence and professor at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is the 2010 Composer's Guild Grand Prize winner.
Lina Nyberg is a Swedish jazz singer and composer. She has released 17 albums since her debut and composed major works for String Quartet, Big Band and Symphony orchestra. She is married to the Swedish jazz clarinettist and saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist.
Donna Singer is an American jazz vocalist, known for a unique jazz with a hint of gospel. She is praised for her interesting phrasing and control as a singer, as well as her melodic ornamentation of various key notes. Critics have stated that her time is clear and her pitch is focused. She has reached the top 50 charts for various national and international terrestrial radio stations. Her music has been recognized in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Norway, and Japan. She performs a variety of songs from classic jazz composers such as George Gershwin and Arthur Hamilton, as well as original works by her husband, pianist and composer Roy Singer.
Mario Grigorov is a Bulgarian composer for film and television and a concert pianist. He performs on the piano and improvises in the styles of jazz, classical and world music.
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