2008 Woodie Awards
Musician plays to benefit Solano and breast cancer
LaTasha Monique
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Classical musician Nick Palance will be playing a benefit concert at Solano Community College. The proceeds will go towards the NorthBay Breast Cancer Awareness Program and the Solano Community College Foundation.
Born in Los Angeles, Palance is the youngest of five children and comes from a long line of accomplished musicians including his father, who at one time was a prominent flautist.
Lately, Palance's sound has been sweeping the nation and creating a fan base that includes all ages.
"I want everybody to be able to enjoy my music," said Palance. "I sing for everybody, the whole world. I play the songs I like to sing for my audience."
Teaching himself to play classical guitar and violin at 8, Palance would be introduced to Hollywood at 14, and would spend the next six years opening up for big name bands like Poison.
"I would write the songs, and then teach the lead singer how to sing them right," says Palance "This is how it goes; the band often pulled me aside and said 'Nick, why don't you sing for us?'"
However, Palance admits he "just wasn't interested in singing."
After years of hard work and dedication, Palance would see the return when he would be accepted to the Southern California Conservatory of Music at seventeen.
It would be here that he would make the crossover from playing guitar and writing songs to singing and performing them.
He asked his music teacher, Lorraine Burgess, for an honest opinion on how his vice sounded one day while playing the piano. She immediately began to shove music at him in hopes that he would try out for the school scholarship.
"I was scared," explained Palance, whose admits he had no previous experience with opera. "I was used to singing backup in the bands I messed around in," he said.
"I had to learn three opera songs, which I had no idea on how to sing at that time and three Broadway songs in two weeks which I had no clue on how to do."
Much to his surprise, Palance would win and continue to win the conservatory scholarships for the next four years. "It was here I found my love for opera thanks to Lorraine," he said.
Fusing the sound of classical music with modern pop and Broadway tunes, Palance has been compared to Andrea Bocelli, Josh Grobin and the late Pavarotti.
For his performance at SCC, Palance will be accompanied by his 74-year-old piano player Vince Morton, who has opened for big names like Barbara Streisand and Bing Crosby, and violinist Jennifer Spingola.
"I'm lucky to have them," said Palance, adding "I love what I do."
Born in Los Angeles, Palance is the youngest of five children and comes from a long line of accomplished musicians including his father, who at one time was a prominent flautist.
Lately, Palance's sound has been sweeping the nation and creating a fan base that includes all ages.
"I want everybody to be able to enjoy my music," said Palance. "I sing for everybody, the whole world. I play the songs I like to sing for my audience."
Teaching himself to play classical guitar and violin at 8, Palance would be introduced to Hollywood at 14, and would spend the next six years opening up for big name bands like Poison.
"I would write the songs, and then teach the lead singer how to sing them right," says Palance "This is how it goes; the band often pulled me aside and said 'Nick, why don't you sing for us?'"
However, Palance admits he "just wasn't interested in singing."
After years of hard work and dedication, Palance would see the return when he would be accepted to the Southern California Conservatory of Music at seventeen.
It would be here that he would make the crossover from playing guitar and writing songs to singing and performing them.
He asked his music teacher, Lorraine Burgess, for an honest opinion on how his vice sounded one day while playing the piano. She immediately began to shove music at him in hopes that he would try out for the school scholarship.
"I was scared," explained Palance, whose admits he had no previous experience with opera. "I was used to singing backup in the bands I messed around in," he said.
"I had to learn three opera songs, which I had no idea on how to sing at that time and three Broadway songs in two weeks which I had no clue on how to do."
Much to his surprise, Palance would win and continue to win the conservatory scholarships for the next four years. "It was here I found my love for opera thanks to Lorraine," he said.
Fusing the sound of classical music with modern pop and Broadway tunes, Palance has been compared to Andrea Bocelli, Josh Grobin and the late Pavarotti.
For his performance at SCC, Palance will be accompanied by his 74-year-old piano player Vince Morton, who has opened for big names like Barbara Streisand and Bing Crosby, and violinist Jennifer Spingola.
"I'm lucky to have them," said Palance, adding "I love what I do."
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