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bio
When
GINA SCIPIONE (skip-ee-YONE) sits down at her piano to write a song,
she�s as likely to be influenced by Kate Bush and Billie Holiday as she
is by emotional collisions and waking dreams. Gina feels destined to share
her personal yet universal experiences through song and performance, hence
the title of her debut CD, DESTINO, the Italian word
for �destiny.�
DESTINO
brilliantly and succinctly
crystallizes the life experiences she chronicles from one track to the
next. �Independence Day� -- easily Gina�s most-requested song in
concert -- tells the story of taking back one�s powers and ending a
relationship with someone who was never really willing to give in the
first place. Those unanswered offerings are further explored in �My
Request,� about a woman�s wants and needs in a relationship
(prompting men who�ve heard it to often call it �The Commitment Song�).
�Winter� deals with separation from a lover, while �A Moment of
Truth� tells of misunderstanding another�s intentions and �Silence�
probes family dysfunction. DESTINO
closes with �Take Me to Freedom,� a song of love without attachment
intended to leave the listener reexamining unconditional love.
Before
releasing her first CD, Gina had already played at all of Philadelphia�s
top acoustic rooms -- including The Tin Angel, The Point and The Fire --
and performed at venues as varied as The Art House in Delaware and the
Sun Music Company in New York City. She also has showcased twice at the
Philadelphia Music Conference and hosted and performed at the First
Annual Bryn Mawr Music Festival at The Point . Other festivals where
Gina has played include the Newton Colony/WXPN Arts and Music Festival,
the Camden County (NJ) Summer Sundown Series, the Haddon Heights (NJ)
Fall Festival and the Pumpkin Festival in Core Creek Park, PA .
Gina
produces and hosts a monthly songwriters� showcase at her alma mater,
the University of Pennsylvania, where she performs with different
songwriters each month at the Philadelphia Cathedral. Since 2001, Gina
has served double duty for the Philadelphia AIDS WALK as a performer and
key entertainment coordinator, overseeing some two dozen acts each year.
She also has played numerous benefits to support other charitable
organizations such as The Make A Wish Foundation, Dreamcatchers, The
American Red Cross, Skyhelp (supporting workers of the September 11
terrorist attacks), the Marine Stewardship Council of the World Wildlife
Fund and a disabled musicians fund.
Gina
knew a music career was her �destiny� as early as age 5, when she
told her grandmother she�d grow up to be a singer. And by second
grade, when she first started taking piano lessons, it was already clear
she�d begun her lifetime pursuit. Having sought out and studied with
various piano and voice teachers from Juilliard, Settlement Music School
and Temple University since her teens, she is forever pushing herself as
an artist. During her Master�s studies in Education at Penn, Gina
could often be found unofficially auditing Music classes in the School
of Music. She spent a memorable and particularly influential semester
studying music and arts in Salzburg, Austria, through the American
Institute for Foreign Studies and the University of Salzburg. While
studying overseas, Gina sang lead and backup vocals with an original
Austrian band called Cash and Powder. And upon her return, she landed a
vocalist gig with the legendary Vegas swing combo the Playboys, led by
Juilliard faculty member Kenny Iatarola Gordon.
Moving
from a swing band to a chant choir, it was soon evident that GINA
SCIPIONE needed to channel all she had learned from her vast and varied
experiences and launch the solo career she realized she was always �destined�
to pursue. DESTINO
is not only the culmination of all Gina has experienced, but the first
major foray from a woman with so much more to give.
website
www.ginascipione.com
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