Lina Orfanos and her Jazz Trio will entertain on Saturday, November 14, 2020 from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
“Orfanos is a true vocalist. She has a full-bodied lady-like soprano. I would even go as far as to call her the ‘bel canto songstress of cabaret’ because of her legato lines and pretty sound. She is a find… A gorgeous vocal instrument… The ethereal sound and exquisite attention to detail had me dancing in my seat and tearing up at the same time. A highly stylized jazz singer with one of the best bands I have ever heard… She sings from her soul.” -New York Cabaret Today
Lina’s Jazz Trio includes: Don Branden, (tenor saxophone & flute) Spiros Exaras, (classical & electric guitar and arrangements) Harvie S, (acoustic bass).
Additional musicians include: Charles Blenzig, (piano), Richie Morales, (drums:) Essiet Okon Essiet (acoustic bass), Gary Schreiner, (accordion & harmonica).
Doors open 30 minutes before the show. MetropolitanZoom event website address will be emailed to you in your ticket purchase confirmation email and with follow-up reminders. You will receive the zoom link in the confirmation email after you purchase your ticket.This exciting and unique performance will allow you, the audience, to participate by affecting the performance with your appearance and reactions. The virtual nightclub experience will be as powerful in your mind as an action-packed movie or well-written novel with the entertainment value Time of show: London 12:AM +1; N.Y.C. 7:PM; Chicago 6:PM; Denver 5:PM; L.A. 4:PM.
Lina Orfanos is an acclaimed international mezzo-soprano who sings in popular, classical, jazz, and world musical styles. Excerpts from her website: She has a lush voice with faultless intonation and great rhythmic footing. Born in New York, the daughter of a Greek-American father and a Polish-American mother, Lina can sing in English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish. Her performances are enriched with old Greek folk laments, tributes to Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Night and Day,” or Spanish poems written for her by a young composer.
Her charisma was recognized from a very young age, when she was on stage at the Metropolitan Opera with the Children’s Chorus. Since that time, she has worked hard at developing her art with private lessons, studio education, university studies and solo performances. These performances include venues such as the Metropolitan Room in New York City, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Town Hall.
A serious illness in adolescence, however, derailed her for a few years. Being a true warrior though, Lina learned to mend wounds of all kinds through her music. Always enjoying live performances and engagement with audiences, Lina put her remarkable recital skills, high quality repertoire, and vocal expressiveness in full throttle in her first studio album “Enchanted Night (2007”).
Recording old and recent songs by Greece’s most famous composer, Mikis Theodorakis, Enchanted Night has been presented to audiences around the world. She has received high praise not only for her selections but for what Theodorakis himself says about Lina’s “beautiful lyricism and interpretive perfection!”. Lina holds the exclusive honor of being invited personally by Theodorakis to cross the Atlantic twice and sing on the huge concert stages of the Herodion Theater at Acropolis in 2007 and Lycabettus Hill in Athens in 2010. The composer found her singing “thrilling”. When she sang “How lovely is my love in her everyday dress…” from The Mauthausen Cantata (1965), critics noted that an invisible trembling wave moved across the theater stage and settled amid the 4,000 listeners.
Lina recently released her newest CD, “Dream Odyssey” which is a collection of traditional and contemporary lullabies from around the world. The songs are in different languages and are about protecting the baby, imagining a future, and dreaming deeper.
Gary Schreiner is as accomplished a performer and studio musician, as he is a composer, producer and arranger. His work on keyboards, accordion and chromatic harmonica can be heard on many recordings, television shows, and films. He has worked with diverse artists such as Elton John, Rosanne Cash, Joan Osborne, Patti LaBelle, Pedrito Martinez, Yoko Ono, Pheobe Snow, Marvin Hamlisch, Run-DMC, Lucy Kaplansky, Carly Simon, Ben Taylor, Blue Man Group, John Pizzarelli, Julio Fernandez (Spiro Gyra), Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kermit the Frog, and World Champion figure skater Randy Gardner.
Gary has written music for hundreds of television commercials including: Award winning Cotton Council Commercial, Ralph Lauren (My Romance), McDonalds, Pepsi, Applebees, Advil, Honey Bunches of Oats, Duracell, and a number of Super Bowl spots (including one for Pepsi). His arrangement and production of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry About a Thing”, was the long-running centerpiece of UPS’s national campaign.
His musical compositions have also been featured on many TV shows such as Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, X Files, and Chappelle’s Show ( Gary has composed in collaboration with his writing partner, Curt Sobel, music featured in films such as “Ray”, “Donnie Brasco”, “Parker”, “Thank You for Smoking”, “Love Happens”, and “Get On Up”.
In the theater world Gary has co-written the music (with fellow Emmy-award winning composer, William Electric Black) for the shows “American Star!!!” and “My Boyfriend is a Zombie” both featured at the Theater for the New City. Previously Gary composed the music for Alison Larkin’s one-woman show “The English American”, featured in the The Edinburgh Festival and The London Comedy Festival (with other performances in New York City and Los Angeles).
Get into the act and have even more fun: Have you ever been pulled into a scene while reading a good book or watching an action-packed movie? That’s great story-telling: you’re in the audience but you feel like you’re in the scene. With our high-quality production, you will be transported to a nightclub experience. We want you to take part in this exciting, new platform and participate and ‘get into character’ as a good audience should. Let us show you how.
For further information on Lina Orfanos: linajoannaorfanos@gmail.com
For further information on Gary Schreiner: gmail88@mac.com
