Lorenza Ponce & Ben Zebelman
LORENZA PONCE
Violinist/vocalist Lorenza Ponce has been mesmerizing audiences worldwide with her mastery of the violin, hauntingly beautiful vocals, and her dramatic yet graceful stage presence. Recently, she was the lead violinist and string arranger for The Dixie Chicks 2003 Top of The World Tour. Lorenza Ponce is the violinist of choice for rock superstar Bon Jovi, has toured extensively with Sheryl Crow, and was the featured violinist/vocalist for new age megastar John Tesh's One World PBS Special.
For Lorenza, the greatest aspect of her professional success has been the opportunity to travel around the globe, experiencing foreign places and cultures first hand. In addition to The Dixie Chicks and Sheryl Crow, Lorenza also toured with John Tesh, Japanese superstar Kitaro, and pop band Ben Folds Five.
A resident of New York City, Lorenza has taken full advantage of the city's richly diverse music scene, and as a result, has developed a reputation as a sought-after session musician. In addition to The Dixie Chicks, Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, John Tesh, Kitaro, and Ben Folds Five, Lorenza has performed on stage alongside Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper, The Zombies and Deborah Harry of Blondie. Lorenza is also a much-in-demand session musician and has appeared on albums by artists as diverse as Tricky, Jon Anderson of Yes, Stevie Nicks, Silverchair, Christine Lavin, Kitaro, John Tesh, Sheryl Crow and Ben Folds Five.
Lorenza is also an accomplished string arranger. Her arrangements can be found on albums by Sheryl Crow, The Dixie Chicks, and the I Am Sam soundtrack.
In addition, Lorenza Ponce is gaining quite a reputation as a solo artist. She has four solo records to her credit, Imago, Mystic Fiddler, The Instrumentals, The Song of Songs, and was featured on the cover of the April 2002 issue of New Age Voice magazine.The public has been quick to notice Lorenza's talents. The Boston Globe singled her out while on tour with Kitaro and wrote "The group's standout was violinist Lorenza Ponce, a classically trained talent whose playing...was spellbinding." Of her performance with Sheryl Crow they wrote that her playing, "added a simpatico poignancy and power." The St. Petersburg Times wrote of her performance with John Tesh that, "Ponce is a violin virtuoso, plucking her strings while singing on the ethereal 'Canta Domine'." The L.A. Times Syndicate called her first solo album "captivating" and went on to say, "Imago smoothly blends elements of rock, jazz and world music.
In Ponce's eclectic universe, a stately passage can segue into a bouncy banjo. With more countries and places yet to be explored, we can look forward to a lifetime of music from this unique artist.
BEN ZEBELMAN
Creating "New American Music" comes naturally to composer/pianist
Ben Zebelman, whose influences range from Bach, Mozart and Barber to Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Elton John and Billy Joel.
At age 26, Ben has earned numerous, prestigious awards, including the Howard Hanson Music Award and the Miles Davis Jazz Award. He received a Bachelor of Music degree with a minor in audio production from Ithaca College, where he both studied the piano with Dr. Karl Pualnack and captained the lacrosse team.
Ben’s debut recording, "Kol Nidre Variations,"was released in August, 1999. Ben’s original composition, scored for piano, violin and cello, was inspired by the centuries-old prayer that is chanted by Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur. Since its release, the CD has received widespread critical acclaim.
Ben’s second recording, “Suite Noah’s Ark,” was released on April 24, 2001. Combining original melodies with motifs from traditional Sephardic songs, Ben musically interprets the well-known biblical legend.
October 2002 saw the release of the “Song of Songs” CD, a collaboration with LORENZA PONCE.
In addition to his recording career, Ben is currently writing television, film and commercial music for David Horowitz Music Associates (www.dhma.net) in New York City, and composing several original, commissioned works.