THE PERFORMERS

PERFORMING THE HITS YOU LOVE IN THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY

Stone Temple Pilots: Stone Temple Pilots is a rock band consisting of brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals) and Eric Kretz (drums). The band found success in 1992 upon releasing their debut album, Core (1992), and went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s, winning AMA’s ‘Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist” award, Billboard Music Award for “Top Modern Rock Act” and a Grammy Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance” in 1994. The band released six more studio albums - Purple (1994), Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996), No. 4 (1999), Shangri-La Dee Da (2001), a self-titled album (2010), and the EP High Rise with Chester Bennington (2013). Dean, Robert and Eric are proud to participate tonight to benefit the Palos Verdes Peninsula public schools.

Chester Bennington: Chester Bennington is a musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the multi-platinum, two-time Grammy winning rock band Linkin Park. Bennington became known as a vocalist with Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, in 2000, which was a massive commercial success. The album was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005, making it the best-selling debut album of the decade. Linkin Park released five more studio albums - Meteora (2003), Minutes to Midnight (2007), A Thousand Suns (2010), Living Things (2012), and The Hunting Party (2014). Bennington worked on material with Stone Temple Pilots in 2013 to release the EP High Rise album. Bennington has been ranked in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader (No. 46).

Gary Wright: Visionary songwriter, performer and all-around musical pioneer Gary Wright (aka, “The Dream Weaver”) has spent more than thirty years shattering conventional ideas about how to make chart-topping rock music. Wright is best known for his 1970’s hit songs "Dream Weaver", "Love Is Alive", and “Really Wanna Know You” - songs that have proven their genius by achieving hit status in three different decades. Wright’s musical wizardry is credited for changing the very sound and texture due to his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and pop music. Wright's breakthrough album, The Dream Weaver (1975), came after he had spent seven years in London where he played keyboards on former Beatle George Harrison's All Things Must Pass triple album (1970), so beginning a friendship that inspired the Indian religious themes and spirituality inherent in Wright's subsequent songwriting. He has been a longtime collaborator and creative influence to fellow artists ranging from his contemporaries George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Mick Jones (of Foreigner) and Joe Cocker – to the 90’s “rap” artists Third Base, Ton Loc, and Busta Rhymes as well as Eminem, Salt-N-Pepa, Joan Osbourne, Anastacia and Mya. In recent years, Wright’s hit songs have been prominently featured in Disney’s TOY STORY 3 movie, in Jay-Z and Kanye West’s latest album, and an episode of “Glee”, among others. Wright appeared in Martin Scorcese’s highly-anticipated George Harrison biopic “Living in the Material World” and is currently writing an autobiography titled “The Dream Weaver”.

Yutong: Yutong is a Chinese world-class violinist and chamber musician. She is a member of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Pacific Orchestra, as well as performs with the LA Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Her string quartet has toured Worldwide with ravishing reviews. Yutong has performed on hundreds of motion picture soundtracks, working with accomplished composers such as John Williams, James Horner, David Newman, Randy Newman and Alan Selvester. In addition, Yutong has performed with bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Heart, Journey, Sheryl Crow, Earth Wind and Fire, John Legend, Chris Botti, Andrea Bocelli and many more.

Monte Pittman: Monte Pittman is best known for his long-time relationship with Madonna, beginning as her guitar teacher and culminating with him playing guitar on all of her live tours and albums since 2000. Pittman performed at the 2012 Super Bowl with Madonna and recently completed The Rebel Heart Tour. He also played guitar and bass with Prong, was Adam Lambert’s musical director on his first tour, and briefly played guitar in Ministry and for Seal. In November 2009, Pittman released his debut acoustic solo album, “The Deepest Dark”. In 2011, Monte launched his second album, “Pain, Love & Destiny”, a No. 1 Rock Album, No. 1 Pop Album, and Top 10 Albums chart on CD Baby while also cracking iTunes’ Top 200. Pittman performed at the 2012 Artists In Music Awards where he was given an award for Best Solo Artist in addition to being nominated in four other categories. Monte has also been honored with a Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood F.A.M.E. Awards. The Los Angeles Music Awards nominated him for Best Male Singer/Songwriter and Best Modern Rock Album for “Pain, Love, & Destiny”. In 2013, Pittman recorded a heavy album with producer Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Morbid Angel, Rainbow) called “The Power Of Three” which got him signed to Metal Blade Records. He is currently working on his next album and is a local guitar teacher in Los Angeles.

Marten Andersson: Marten Andersson is the songwriter and bass player for the hardrock band Lizzy Borden. The band has recorded and toured extensively around the world for 20 years, Hitting the top 100 4 times in the U.S., headlining tours and sharing stages worldwide with groups such as Deep Purple, Motley Crue, Dream Theater, Journey, Guns and Roses, Ozzy, Motorhead & many more. Marten spent 7 years with Grammy-nominated guitarist George Lynch and his "Lynch Mob". Including a much talked about tour that included a marathon 26 shows in 30 days and a feature on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Marten is also known for scoring music in commercials and TV as well as authoring a successful music reference book.

Stan Sharp: Stan Sharp is an active performing cellist and has played with many symphony organizations: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, New West Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony and Opera Pacific with well known conductors including Simon Rattle, John Williams, Yuri Temirkanov, to name a few. Stan has recorded extensively for numerous Hollywood Motion Picture sound tracks with top film composers, including John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman, Marc Shaimann, Lalo Schifrin, James Newton Howard, David Newman, mark Isham, John Powell, and Tan Dun. Furthermore, Stan has performed and recorded with leading Rock, Jazz, Pop, and Classic recording artists including, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Santana, John Legend, Earth Wind and Fire, Elton John, Henry Conic Jr., Aerosmith, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Air, Julio Iglesias, Carpenters, Barry Manilow, David Foster as well as Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean pop singers. Stan is also a full time faculty member of the Colburn School of Performing Arts where his students have been accepted to the top conservatories and universities in the United States.

Chas West: Chas West has been recording and touring the World as the frontman for bands such as Resurrection Kings, Jason Bonham Band, Lynch Mob, 3 Legged Dogg, and Foreigner, winning Best Male Vocalist at the South Bay Music Awards.

Jane Lee: Jane Lee is an accomplished pianist, songwriter and Owner/Director of the “Hills Academy of Music, Art and Dance” located in Torrance California. Lee is a top-selling CD Baby artist, has performed on National Television and has taught thousands of students to embrace and thrive musically.

Extraordinary Guest Musicians:
Christopher Lennertz, Stephen Perkins, Devin Thomas, Stephen Chesney, Grant Fisher, Joi Simpson, Trameka Richardson, Benjamin Zelico, Sean Bart and the Peninsula high school choir

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