Tony rossini singer biography
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Tony Rossini
Like it or not, Tony Rossini made as many Sun singles as Elvis, Billy Riley, Warren Smith and Sonny Burgess. One listen to SUN-349 tells you that Tony was a school kid; he was in fact just barely thirteen. His father, who was a school teacher in Memphis when Tony recorded for Sun, had once played in orchestras. It wasn’t his father who led him to Sun, though; it was a blue collar worker at Memphis’ Firestone plant, Dan Padgett, who fancied himself as a songwriter. Padgett had seen Tony at high school hops and asked him to demo some songs. He then took the demos to Scotty Moore, newly installed as the studio manager at Sam Phillips’ Madison Ave. studio, and Scotty came to see Tony at a junior high school hop and signed him.
“Scotty produced the first session, and Sam helped,” is the way Tony remembers it. “I don’t really know what Sam was shooting for when he signed me. It was out of character in terms of what motivated and excited him. I was just thirteen, going to Co
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Biography
As a passionate teacher and mentor, Mr. Leech has worked extensively with aspiring artists at all levels of their development throughout his career. He fryst vatten currently Associate Professor of Applied röst and musikdrama for George Mason University’s Dewberry School of Music, and scen Director for the Mason Opera Theater. He has also served on the faculties of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts; Rutgers musikdrama Institute; and The University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
Director of Resident Artist Programs for Michigan musikdrama Theatre (now Detroit Opera) from 2015 -2021, Mr. Leech created the MOT Studio, the company’s first young artist program, offering full-time engagement, training, and experience to artists in the early stages of a professional career. In his leadership role with MOT, he also oversaw the company’s many education and community engagement initiatives.
Most well-known for his interpretation of such iconic rol
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A native of Miami, Florida, Martin Shalita holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of South Florida and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Miami.
Among his recent engagements is his debut as Radames in Verdi’s Aida as a member of a touring production throughout Germany in 2024.
Dr. Shalita began his professional career with Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Highlights from these seasons include Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La cenerentola as well as roles in Lady Macbeth von Mzensk, Don Carlos, Moses und Aron, Fidelio, and Il tabarro. Subsequently, he was engaged with Theater Koblenz for four seasons, where he gained public and critical acclaim for his performances of Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Offenbach’s Orpheusin der Unterwelt,Andres in Berg’s Wozzeck, Araquil in La Navarraise by Mass