PAIGE GILMAR
MITCH MAROIS
RAQUEL AHLQUIST
Wayne Berman
Music and improv
instructor
ROSE WEST
A. Paul Johnson
Executive/Artistic Director and founder of Apollo Project, Inc.
Composer, conductor, writer and director A. Paul Johnson has appeared as a guest artist for regional theatres and music organizations throughout the United States. His art has graced the stages of Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Arkansas Repertory Theatre and the Manhattan Plaza. In his home state of Florida, Mr. Johnson has worked for the Hippodrome State Theatre, American Stage, Asolo Theatre Festival, Caldwell Theatre and Florida Studio Theatre. Last season he was a finalist in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s Fresh Ink Florida Composers Competition. Other ensembles that have performed his works include Argentina’s Ensemble Rosario, Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Philharmonic, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Sofia Philharmonic........
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Wayne Berman is part of our Elementary and Young Childhood education with certification from NAECE and Tri-County Coordinated Child Care. His own work as a composer and writer has led to collaborative projects with such luminaries as Spike Lee and Allen Ginsberg. Mr. Berman earned his bachelor degree at Bard College in Music Composition and Performance, and his Masters at Bowling Green State University in Composition and Theory. He was awarded the Peter R. Stone Music Prize at Bard for versatility in music composition, the Multi-Cultural Perspectives in Art Award at Bowling Green in memory of Harry Partch, and is a past president of the Tampa Bay Composers Forum. In addition to his outstanding artistry as a composer and pianist he also works as an improvisational actor, stage director and creator of eclectic performance art.
Raquel Ahlquist is a student at Lutheran Church of the Cross Day School. She quickly rose to be a star of our voice studio there and recorded “It’s all so Beautiful” for XTREME CLASSICAL II when she was only 8 years old! Raquel has gone on to sing as a soloist at some of our other sites and contribute to our concert programs. She is an avid fan of both Celine Dion and Kelly Clarkson and has her eye on both TV and movies down the road. Raquel can be heard performing "It's All So Beautiful" on XCII on the soon to be released XCV singing "Dare to Grow".
Mitch attends high school at Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg, FL. He enjoys playing the guitar, running, riding his bike and going to movies. He has an appreciation for art and likes the work of Goya. He also enjoys acting. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino are his favorite actors. Mitch wants to be a musical theatre actor because in his words, "It's the marriage of both worlds, singing and acting.Mitch is one of the Apollo Project's newest young artists and is the featured vocalist on "Free My Freedom" on XCIII and "My Eyes Are Full of Grace "on XC IV.
Rose has an international reputation, having performed in places such as London, Brussels, Edinburgh and Sydney along with recitals and shows closer to home in Florida with the Florida Composers Forum and the Ruth Eckerd Hall Singers. Rose participates energetically through board service, costuming skills and as an actor with the St. Petersburg Little Theatre. Her talents were chosen to sing the National Anthems of the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan for the Women's World Series of Baseball. She has shared the stage with diverse luminaries as Mickey Rooney and Jamie Farr and has recorded with the great ensembles the Sofia Philharmonic and Argentina's Ensemble Rosario. Rose can be heard in her CD's Rose West Sings and her Holiday CD The Dancing Giraffes Danced at Christmastime. Keep an eye out as Rose will have a new release through API later this year.
Don't let this little girl fool you, Paige can belt out a tune with the best of them. She has studied music at Ruth Eckerd Hall as well as Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Paige can be heard singing "Teach Me Out There" on XCIII. Check her out!!!!!
SUNDUI CHIMIDKHORLOO
A native of Mongolia, Sundui is a master of Mongolian Traditional Musical Instruments,a music instructor, composer, music producer and arranger and a jazz performer. This award winning artist is not only a gifted musician but also a storyteller and entertains audiences with the folklore of his native land as well as the Horse-Head Violin. He has worked as an instructor at The Mongolian Music Teacher's College and has received awards for composing, accordion and national instruments. He performed in the Asian Youth Festival in Korea. His CD "Sound of Earth" is featured on Apollo Project Broadcasting. Sundui is available through API for concerts series also.
One of API's dearest friends, and one our newer professional associates. Judy Peterson is an actress, vocalist, performer, whose credits include many musical theatre productions in most local venues.
Judy is featured on XC V performing "Fall", a song commissioned especially for her. We are thrilled and look forward to hearing Judy's beautiful and powerful soprano voice on many more productions.
JUDY PETERSON
Laura Sullivan first met A. Paul while performing in API's own musical, Fractured Folktales at St. Petersburg Little Theatre. Laura, a former beauty queen, actress and vocalist, is a recorded artist and has also recorded on various API's projects. On Xtreme Classical II she can be heard singing the beautiful song Paradox. Her talents were chosen for the Women's World Series of Baseball to sing the Canadian and Japanese National Anthems. Laura has graced many stages in the the Tampa Bay area, performing in shows such as; Fiddler on the Roof, Meet me in St. Louis, Anything Goes, Ester, Webb's City, Sugar, plus many others. Her voice has been desribed as breathtaking and deeply moving. Laura is also known back in her home state of North Carolina for her powerful one woman shows, singing and performing to sold out audiences. Laura is a mother of a 3 year old son, and is awaiting another bundle of joy in March 2010. She also is the wife of API's own, John Sullivan, and she can be heard on Apollo Project radio.
LAURA SULLIVAN
As talented as she is beautiful, Tsidii came from Lesotho in Southern Africa to the United States in her mid teens. From singing for change for friends and passers-by to singing for thousands on the Broadway stage, Tsidii has a voice that is truly a gift from a higher power. She has been an award nominee and winner of several top industry awards including the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Performance in a musical (originating the role of Rafiki) for THE LION KING on Broadway. Her movie and TV credits include Rose Red and The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer and Law and Order. Her television special CAUGHT IN THE ACT on WGBY won the Iris Award for best local program, and her TV special TSIDII LE LOKA IN CONCERT aired on major networks. She is the only performer invited to perform for Nelson Mandela's first International Press Conference in Johannesburg after his release from prison.
Her original composition Rafiki Mourns is on the Grammy Award winning LION KING ON BROADWAY recording. Many of her other compositions including Beyond the Isle, Here's To The Night, Mo'Clicks and covers of Nothing Compares 2 U and I Am Singing can be heard on Apollo Project Broadcasting. She will be launching her own radio show with us in the next few months.
Custom Design Residency Programs for Your Organization
Michael Molina comes to the Apollo Project from his home state of Arizona. He is a graduate of Eckerd College and has studied guitar with local celebrities Joe Bracchio and Brad Carlton. Michael created his pirate storytelling character "The Quartermaster" for Tampa Bay Ghost Tours and is now touring this fun, history based drama with API. Tune in to our Internet Radio Broadcast to hear Michael in action!
MICHAEL MOLINA
Mark Sforzini is proud to be a part of the vibrant Saint Petersburg arts scene and has established himself as a passionate conductor and inspired composer as well as an accomplished bassoonist. In various posts, including Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Opera, Sforzini conducts a full range of repertoire including orchestral repertoire, chamber ensembles, Broadway, pops and opera. He has conducted fully staged productions with orchestra of Madame Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Die Fiedermaus, LaBoheme, L'Elisir d'Amore and Don Giovanni. In 2002 he co-founded FloriMezzo and served as Artistic Director until 2008. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Encore Series at the Palladium Theatre. As a bassoonist, Mark can be heard on XCV in the tracks "A Pearl in an Onyx Sky" with vocalist Rose West, and on "Toktuit Timestep" with cellist Keith Jensen.
MARK SFORZINI
Chloe lives in Land O' Lakes, Florida. She loves to horseback ride, sing, act on stage and joke around with her friends. Some of the shows Chloe has done are Oliver, Grease, Into the Woods, School House Rock and the Florida All-State Choir. She is looking forward to performing in High School Musical being presented by the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Chloe has one sister and a dog. She has recorded with The Apollo Project and can be heard on XCV performing I Am A Dancer.
CHLOE MARIE MANSELL
Stephen Vassilev was born in Toronto, Canada. Both of his parents played the piano and his mother even performed before the war intervened in her musical career. During his school years, Stephen was in a choir that was on occasion heard on the radio or seen on TV in the Toronto area. His first piano lessons were in Sofia, Bulgaria with teacher Panka Pelicheck. His interests include Beethoven, Chopin and melodies that feature strikingly beautiful melodies. He is now active as a composer and pianist. His variation of Fuer Elise by Beethoven can be currently heard on Apollo Project Broadcasting.
STEPHEN VASSILEY
Karen Adair is versatile artist, she sings the gamut of classical vocal literature: opera, oratorio, operetta, art song and musical theatre. Her voice has been called crystal clear, powerful and polished, warm and opulent.
Karen has recorded sacred arias with conductor Kirk Trevor and the Slovak Radio Symphony in Bratislava, and has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Rosario, and the Central Florida Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. She is privileged to work with award winning American composers such as Ed Martin, Aaron Alon, Daniel Crozier, Bob Moore and A. Paul Johnson.
Her credits include the soprano solos to Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Handels' The Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mendlessohn's Elija, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, J.S. Bach's Magnificat in D., Vivaldi's Gloria and Haydn's The Creation. She also sung the roles of Christine in Phantom of the Opera, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Lady Thiang in The King and I, Nimue in Camelot, Maria in West Side Story and Cio-cio san in Madame Butterfly.
She holds a BA in Music with Honors and a Master of Music, both from the University of Florida. She and her husband Tom have three children and reside in Ocala, Florida.
KAREN ADAIR
Sara A.K. Butler is a voice specialist, speech-language pathologist and public speaking coach. Her book, Exercise Your Voice to Health has been popular since 1994. Children from age 6 thru adult have taken prizes in contests, cut CDs in Kansas City and Atlanta and are beginning to win contests and perform in the Tampa Bay area. She is currently teaching on Tuesdays at Lakewood United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, FL.
SARA A.K. BUTLER
Carol Ann Johnson has been in the business since 1988 as an actress on stage, TV and movies. Some of her more recent credits include Discovery Health channel's Dr.G. Medical Examiner and Royal Inquest. She has many TV and radio commercials to her credit, as well as infomercial and industrials.
She has also been "voice" of the Apollo Project doing some of the promo's, ads, and celebrity interviews on air. she interviewed the stars of ABC soaps "All My Children", "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital".
CAROL ANN JOHNSON
Apollo Project Radio
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Below are some of our supporting associates. Check back as more as we continue to update
LAUREN CLARK
TSIDII
Copyrights held by Apollo Project and or the Artist. 1999 -2010
Lauren is one of our voices on API radio and often serves as special correspondent for radio news. She made her directing debut with FRACTURED FOLK TALES at the new theatre opening at Northwest Presbyterian Church.
She has also graced the stages of most theatres in the Tampa Bay area as a musical theatre powerhouse vocalist. She has appeared in BAT BOY, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, and URINTOWN among others. Lauren has her BA in Performing Arts from the University of Tampa and has studied voice with Yvonne Dechance and Ron Billingsly.
Creativity in Music, on Stage, in the Classroom
ACHIEVE MANAGEMENT
ALLENDALE UMC
AMERICAN STAGE
ARTS GARDEN
ASOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL
Boston Day School
BRAVO Children’s Theatre
CANTERBURY SCHOOL
CARROLLWOOD PLAYERS/Tampa
CRYSTAL RIVER UMC
EMPOWERMENTS
ENSAMBLE ROSARIO/Argentina
EMPOWERMENT ENSAMBLE ROSARIO/Argentina
GAINESVILLE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
GALAXY Theatre and Studios
GARDEN OF PEACE
Hippodrome
The ISLAND PLAYERS
INDIANAPOLIS PHILHARMONIC
JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY
JAX IRISH FEST
LIGHTHOUSE of PINELLAS
LAKEWOOD UMC
LCC DAY SCHOOL
MMC Recordings/Boston
NEW GATE SCHOOL/Sarasota
NORTHWEST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The ORANGE FACTORY/Sofia
ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS
The PALLADIUM THEATRE
The PLAYERS/Sarasota PATEL
SHORECREST PREP SCHOOL
SOFIA PHILHARMONIC
SLOVAK RADIO SYMPHONY
ST. PETE LITTLE THEATRE
ST. NICHOLAS ORTHODOX SCHOOL
SYLVAN ABBEY UMC
Patel Conservatory/TBPAC
VSA Arts of FLORIDA
WARSAW NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC
Artist Residencies are the heart of API activities. The following are some of the organizations that have partnered, co-produced or hosted API programs and artists.
Donna Delonay
Donna DeLonay (Mrs. A. Paul!) is one of Florida’s most versatile and powerful vocalists having performed in intimate settings, for special populations, as a recording artists of sacred and popular music, and as soloist for auditoriums packed with thousands of rapt listeners. Miss DeLonay is well known in Florida for her theatre roles in GIFT OF THE MAGI and MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at American Stage, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY and AMADEUS at the Asolo Theatre, a recent run as Marian the Librarian in THE MUSIC MAN for the Salerno Theatre in Tampa, and Polly Browne in THE BOY FRIEND with Director Neal Kenyon at Florida State University. She has also been a frequent recitalist on programs with the Florida Lyric Opera and the Summit Orchestra. Mark Leib writing in Tampa’s WEEKLY PLANET wrote of Donna’s Marian, “…her voice is arguably the most professional in the show; she handles the highest notes with ease, and uses her melodies for the sort of self-revelation that other performers think possible only in spoken dialogue.”
