66 Notable alumni of
Musicians Institute
Updated:
Musicians Institute is 767th in the world, 287th in North America, and 266th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 66 notable alumni from Musicians Institute sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Jeff Buckley
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterguitaristsingermusiciancomposer
- Biography
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Jeffrey Scott Buckley, raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by performing cover songs at venues in East Village, Manhattan, such as Sin-é, while gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing interest from record labels and Herb Cohen—the manager of his father, singer Tim Buckley—he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace, in 1994.
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Shruti Haasan
- Occupations
- modelcomposeractorsinger
- Biography
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Shruti Haasan is an Indian actress and singer who works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Filmfare Award South and three South Indian International Movie Awards. Haasan has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2015 and 2016.
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Kat Graham
- Occupations
- singer-songwritervoice actorexecutive producerphilanthropistdancer
- Biography
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Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham is an American actress, singer, and activist. She played Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017). Her film credits include The Parent Trap (1998), 17 Again (2009), The Roommate (2011), Honey 2 (2011), Addicted (2014), and All Eyez on Me (2017). In music, Graham has released two extended plays and four studio albums.
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Steve Vai
- Occupations
- songwriterguitaristmusicianrecord producercomposer
- Biography
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Steven Siro Vai is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and played in Zappa's band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Polyphia. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix Tour, as well as headlining international tours.
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Chad Smith
- Occupations
- musiciandrummer
- Biography
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Chad Gaylord Smith is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, formed in 2008, and of the all-instrumental outfit Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, formed in 2007. He worked with the Chicks on Taking the Long Way, an album that won five Grammy Awards in 2007.
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Rivers Cuomo
- Occupations
- singercomposerguitarist
- Biography
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Rivers Cuomo is an American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer.
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Synyster Gates
- Occupations
- musicianguitaristsongwriter
- Biography
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Brian Elwin Haner Jr., better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 9 on Guitar World's best metal guitarists of all time. Gates was voted as Best Metal Guitarist in the World by Total Guitar in 2016 and once again in 2017.
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Paul Gilbert
- Occupations
- guitaristcomposer
- Biography
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Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which he has released numerous solo albums, and featured in numerous collaborations and guest appearances on other musicians' albums.
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Bishop Briggs
- Occupations
- songwritersinger
- Biography
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Sarah Grace McLaughlin, known professionally as Bishop Briggs, is a British-American singer and songwriter. Her single "River" peaked at number 3 on the US Alternative Chart. and has been streamed more than 485 million times on Spotify. It was included on her debut album, Church of Scars, released on 20 April 2018. Island Records released her second album, Champion, in July 2019, and it was included in The Young Folks Top 50 albums of the year.
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Kenan Doğulu
- Occupations
- singercomposersongwriter
- Biography
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Kenan Doğulu is a Turkish pop musician. He represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, where he was placed fourth, with 163 points. In the summer of 2006, Doğulu released the album Festival, containing the hit single "Çakkıdı", in collaboration with Sezen Aksu.
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Ray Luzier
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Raymond Lee Luzier is an American musician. He is the drummer of nu metal band Korn, having become a full-time member of the band in April 2009.
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Tanya Chua
- Occupations
- singersongwriterrecord producer
- Biography
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Tanya Chua is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She launched her singing career by releasing her debut studio album Bored in 1997. She was part of the trio that sang Moments of Magic (1999), Singapore's official millennium song. Her albums, Amphibian (2005), Goodbye & Hello (2007), Sing It Out of Love (2011) and Depart (2021), each won her a Golden Melody Award for Best Mandarin Female Singer award.
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JinJoo Lee
- Occupations
- guitaristmusician
- Biography
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JinJoo Lee is a Korean-American musician, best known as the guitarist for the pop rock band DNCE.
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Zhou Bichang
- Occupations
- singeractorsongwriter
- Biography
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Zhou Bichang, also known as Bibi Zhou, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, and actress. She debuted her singing career by winning the second place at the Chinese singing contest Super Girl in 2005. The next year she released her debut album Who Touched My Violin String. She debuted her acting career by featuring in the 2006 Chinese films McDull, the Alumni and The 601st Phone Call. In 2014, she won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Worldwide Act. In 2015, she won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Chinese Act.
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Stefan Olsdal
- Occupations
- bassistguitaristsongwriter
- Biography
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Bo Stefan Alexander Olsdal is a Swedish-Luxembourgish musician, best known as the bassist/guitarist of the alternative rock band Placebo, he is also part of the electronic band Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal and launched the electronic/dance remix at Hotel Persona.
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Scott Shriner
- Occupations
- musicianbassist
- Biography
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Scott Gardner Shriner is an American musician best known as a member of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded twelve studio albums. Joining the band in 2001, Shriner is the band's longest serving bass guitarist.
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Takayoshi Ohmura
- Occupations
- guitaristsinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Takayoshi Ohmura is a Japanese musician and songwriter. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his first instrument was the piano, which he began playing when he was three years old. By the age of 11, he had started to play acoustic guitar, moving to electric guitar at the age of 14. By the age of 17, he had developed an interest in western hard rock and heavy metal music and devoted himself to it.
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Dave Kushner
- Occupations
- guitaristmusician
- Biography
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Dave Kushner is an American musician best known as the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. Kushner has also been a member of Wasted Youth, Electric Love Hogs, Loaded, Danzig, Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro's solo band, Sugartooth, Zilch while he has also recorded with Infectious Grooves, Cyco Miko and more recently collaborated with Scars on Broadway guitarist Franky Perez releasing songs under the pseudonym of DKFXP, a combination of the initials of Perez and Kushner, as well as working with Indian singer and actress Shruti Haasan.
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Jennifer Batten
- Occupations
- guitaristmusician
- Biography
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Jennifer Batten is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997, she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001, she toured and recorded with Jeff Beck.
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Meja
- Enrolled in Musicians Institute
- Studied in 1992
- Occupations
- singercomposer
- Biography
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Meja Anna Pernilla Kullersten is a Swedish composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "Private Emotion", a duet with Ricky Martin from his multi-Platinum album Ricky Martin (1999), and "All 'Bout the Money", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998.
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Juan Alderete
- Occupations
- guitaristbassist
- Biography
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Juan Alderete de la Peña is an American musician, best known as the longtime bassist of Racer X, the Mars Volta and Marilyn Manson.
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Frank Gambale
- Occupations
- jazz guitaristsession musicianjazz musicianguitarist
- Biography
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Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released twenty albums over a period of three decades, and is known for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.
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Alessandro Cortini
- Occupations
- guitaristsingerrecord producerkeyboardistvocalist
- Biography
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Alessandro Cortini is an Italian musician best known for his work with modular synthesizers, and being the keyboard, guitar, and bass player in the industrial band Nine Inch Nails. As a member of Nine Inch Nails, Cortini is the first Italian inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
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Paul Masvidal
- Occupations
- singercomposerguitarist
- Biography
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Paul Albert Masvidal is an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and a founding member of the progressive metal band Cynic. He has remained a continual member in Cynic for nearly three decades and has developed numerous other projects including Æon Spoke, Onward with Love, and Masvidal (a solo project). Masvidal was ranked in Loudwire's 66 Best Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time and 50 Best Metal Songwriters of All Time.
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John Shanks
- Occupations
- songwritercomposerrecord producerguitarist
- Biography
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John Matthew Shanks is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist.
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Lex Lang
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterstage actorscreenwriterrecord producervoice actor
- Biography
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Lex Lang is an American voice actor and voice director, who has provided voices and served as a director for a number of animations and video games. He is best known for voicing Doctor Neo Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, Suguru Geto in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Goemon Ishikawa in Lupin the Third.
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Patiparn Patavekarn
- Occupations
- actorsingertelevision actor
- Biography
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Patiparn Patavekarn, is a Thai film and television actor and pop singer from GMM Grammy.
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Matt McJunkins
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Matt McJunkins is an American musician and photographer best known for touring and recording with the American rock band A Perfect Circle. He is a former touring bassist for Eagles of Death Metal. He is one of the founding members of The Beta Machine, a rock band formed with Jeff Friedl. McJunkins has also worked with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Ashes Divide, Puscifer, Poppy and Socadia.
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Jeff Young
- Occupations
- guitarist
- Biography
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Jeffrey "Jeff" Young is an American guitarist. He graduated from Musicians Institute in 1985, and is best known for his time with the thrash metal band Megadeth, appearing on the 1988 album So Far, So Good... So What! (Capitol Records). In 1998, Young co-wrote, produced and played on the world-fusion album Chameleon by Badi Assad. In addition to his subsequent music projects, he served as an author in Guitar for the Practicing Musician.
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Jimmy Herring
- Occupations
- guitaristrecording artist
- Biography
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Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist, known as the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic since 2006. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and The Dead.
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Scott Henderson
- Occupations
- guitaristmusicianjazz musicianrecording artistjazz guitarist
- Biography
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Scott Henderson is an American jazz fusion and blues guitarist best known for his work with the band Tribal Tech.
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Joacim Cans
- Occupations
- songwritersinger
- Biography
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Joacim Cans is a Swedish singer, best known as the lead vocalist of power metal band HammerFall. He is the only member aside from founder and guitarist Oscar Dronjak to appear on all of the band's albums.
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Elli Kokkinou
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Elli Kokkinou is a Greek singer. She is among the most popular singers in Greece today and has performed together with many notable Greek names of the music industry such as Anna Vissi, Glykeria, Paschalis Terzis, Sakis Rouvas, Tolis Voskopoulos, Thanos Petrelis, Natassa Theodoridou, Despina Vandi, Giorgos Tsalikis and Kalomoira. Kokkinou has been certified for the sales of 135 thousand albums by IFPI Greece. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Kokkinou the 27th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).
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Russ Parrish
- Occupations
- guitaristmusician
- Biography
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Russell John Parrish, better known as Satchel, is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist for the comedic glam metal band Steel Panther.
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Jeff Berlin
- Occupations
- bassistrecording artistjazz musician
- Biography
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Jeffrey Arthur Berlin is an American jazz fusion bassist. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the band Bruford led by drummer Bill Bruford.
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Ehsaan Noorani
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
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Ehsaan Noorani is an Indian composer and guitarist.
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Demir Demirkan
- Occupations
- songwritersingermusicianactorcomposer
- Biography
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Demir Demirkan is a Turkish musician, Eurovision Song Contest winning composer, formerly guitarist for thrash metal band Mezarkabul. Demir Demirkan started playing music when he was 13 and played guitar with various groups in college. Demir Demirkan also wrote television jingles and composed soundtracks for television and films.
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Kevin Fowler
- Occupations
- guitaristsinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Kevin Fowler is an American singer-songwriter. He has released five studio albums, and has charted four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including the top 40 hit "Pound Sign (#?*!)". In addition, he wrote Sammy Kershaw's 2003 single "Beer, Bait & Ammo", Mark Chesnutt's 2004 single "The Lord Loves the Drinkin' Man" and Montgomery Gentry's 2009 single "Long Line of Losers".
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Brooke White
- Occupations
- guitaristcomposermusiciansinger-songwritersinger
- Biography
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Brooke Elizabeth White is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter and actress who was the fifth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. In 2005, White released her first studio album, called Songs from the Attic.
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Norman Brown
- Occupations
- jazz guitaristcomposerjazz musicianguitarist
- Biography
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Norman Brown is an American smooth jazz guitarist and singer.
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LaToya London
- Occupations
- actorsinger
- Biography
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LaToya Renee London is an American R&B and soul singer and stage actress who was fourth-place finalist on the third season of American Idol. Her debut album, Love & Life, was released in September 2005 and spawned a number of moderate R&B chart hits. She has concentrated on stage work, including originating and performing the role of Nettie in the national tour of the Broadway musical The Color Purple from 2007 to 2010, for which she won an Ovation Award. She was the lead in the U.S. regional debut of The Bodyguard, a musical based on the 1992 film.
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Bryan Mantia
- Occupations
- drummer
- Biography
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Bryan Kei Mantia, known professionally as Brain, is an American rock drummer. He has played with bands such as Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis, and Godflesh, and with other performers such as Tom Waits, Serj Tankian, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, and Buckethead. He has also done session work for numerous artists and bands.
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Mohammad Ridwan Hafiedz
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Mohammad Ridwan Hafiedz or Ridho is an Indonesian guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter. He is best known as Slank's rhythm guitarist and back vocalist along with another lead guitarist, Abdee Negara. With Slank, Ridho has created nine studio albums and three live albums, also one compilation album which was released in May 2006.
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Shane Theriot
- Occupations
- record producercomposer
- Biography
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Shane Theriot is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is the musical director, guitarist, and band leader for Hall & Oates and musical director/guitarist for the television show Live from Daryl's House. As a composer for TV his music has been used by ESPN, HBO, and Showtime Networks. He is the author of several books on guitar styles, including New Orleans Funk Guitar Styles, and instructional DVDs.
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Greg Edmonson
- Occupations
- film score composercomposer
- Biography
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Greg Edmonson is an American music composer for television and movies. He is primarily known for composing the soundtrack to the television series Firefly. He is also the composer for the first three games in the Uncharted video game series, and for a number of episodes of the American animated sitcom King of the Hill.
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Christopher Maloney
- Years
- 1969-.. (age 55)
- Occupations
- singer-songwriter
- Biography
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Christopher Patrick Maloney is an American singer-songwriter, bass guitarist and music educator. He is widely known for his work with instrumental hard rock band Cosmosquad, his stints in Hardline and with Dweezil Zappa, as an independent solo artist, an instructor at the Musicians Institute, the co-owner of Absolute Music Studios and the co-creator of the online music education site Practice Warriors.
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Howard Alden
- Occupations
- banjoistjazz musicianjazz guitarist
- Biography
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Howard Vincent Alden is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps.
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Allen Hinds
- Occupations
- guitaristmusician
- Biography
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Allen Hinds is an American guitarist, who has recorded or performed with Natalie Cole, BeBe & CeCe Winans, The Crusaders, Hiroshima, Roberta Flack, Randy Crawford, Bobby Caldwell, James Ingram, Marilyn Scott, Eric Marienthal, Marc Antoine, Gino Vannelli and Boney James, among many others. His songs have appeared on the TV shows Lucky, JAG, Pawn Stars, Sons of Guns and Sliced, among others. He is also an instructor and artist in residence at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, and has released five solo albums.
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Rick Hill
- Occupations
- politicianbureaucrat
- Biography
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Richard Allan Hill is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Montana in 2012.
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David Becker
- Occupations
- jazz musicianjazz guitaristguitarist
- Biography
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David Becker is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute.
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Sharon Aguilar
- Occupations
- songwritersinger
- Biography
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Sharon Aguilar is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. She toured with 2NE1 in 2012, and has both founded and performed with several other groups.
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Magos Herrera
- Occupations
- jazz musiciansinger
- Biography
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Magos Herrera is a Mexican jazz singer, songwriter, producer, and educator. She sings in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and has collaborated with Javier Limón, saxophonist Tim Ries, Aaron Goldberg, Pedro Aznar, Ed Simon Trio, John Patitucci, Luis Perdomo, Adam Rogers, Tim Hagans, Alex Kautz, composer Paola Prestini, former Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Zeigler, and many others.
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Rafael Moreira
- Occupations
- guitaristsinger
- Biography
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Rafael Moreira is a Brazilian-American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist / vocalist on the hit CBS television shows Rock Star: INXS and Rock Star: Supernova, MTV's Rock The Cradle and most recently on NBC's The Voice. He has also appeared as lead guitarist / supporting vocalist live on world tours and television, as well as on CD & DVD releases, with world-renowned and groundbreaking artists such as Paul Stanley, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe) and Natasha Bedingfield. Rafael has also performed as the lead guitarist for Grammy-winning artists Pink, Christina Aguilera, Don Felder (The Eagles) Marc Anthony, Colbie Caillat and Mýa.
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Jeff Zwart
- Occupations
- film directorphotographer
- Biography
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Jeffrey "Jeff" R. Zwart is an American commercial film director, racer, photographer, cameraman and author for Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, General Motors, Hyundai, Ford and more.
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Michael Denning
- Occupations
- historian
- Biography
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Michael Denning is an American cultural historian and William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American Studies at Yale University. His work has been influential in shaping the field of American Studies by importing and interpreting the work of British Cultural Studies theorists. Although he received his Ph.D. from Yale University and studied with Fredric Jameson, perhaps the greatest influence on his work is the time he spent at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies working with Stuart Hall.
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Douglas R. Docker
- Occupations
- musiciansongwriterrecord producer
- Biography
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Douglas R. Docker is an American-French musician, singer, songwriter and producer known for his work with Docker's Guild, a progressive-metal space opera, and as a member of Cheap Prick, an Italian Cheap Trick tribute act. He has also worked with artists including Shining Line and Tony Mills. Docker is also the founder and owner of the Black Swan Rock School of Music, a music and ESL teaching facility located in Italy.
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Shane Alexander
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- singersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Shane Alexander is a contemporary American singer-songwriter and musician. Alexander was born in San Diego, California, raised in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and is currently residing in Southern California.
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Moses Stone
- Occupations
- rapper
- Biography
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Moses Kenneth Haughton Jr. better known by his stage name Moses Stone is an American recording artist, music producer, entrepreneur, and actor. Moses Stone is the founder of brands Art Sky Agency (Creative Digital Agency ), Art Sky Entertainment (Record Label), Art Sky Productions (Music Production & Licensing) he founded in 2013. Stone has appeared on MTV, BET, Showtime At The Apollo, NBC'S The Voice, Nickelodeon.
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Terje Gewelt
- Occupations
- jazz musicianrecording artistcomposer
- Biography
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Terje Gewelt is a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass).
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Mike Campese
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
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Mike Campese is an American guitarist and composer best known for being a member of the multi-platinum group Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Campese was picked over several guitarists in 2004 during the band's fourth CD, The Lost Christmas Eve, and received a gold record for his work. In 2008 Mike released his own rock Christmas CD, The Meaning of Christmas, which was well received. Campese is an honors graduate from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California and is a graduate of Shaker High School.
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Big Chris Flores
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Chris Trinidad Flores, known professionally as Big Chris Flores, is an American-Mexican record producer and sound engineer. He first began his music production career in 1999, and in 2002, he founded Moodswing Records. Over the years, Big Chris has been producing music for people such as; Slash, Fergie, K-Ci & JoJo, Layzie Bone, KRS-One, C-Bo, Bun B, Trill OG, Lil Zane, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
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Charles Olivier
- Born in
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United Kingdom - Occupations
- screenwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Charles Olivier is an American film and television writer, producer, playwright, journalist and editor. His work has won several Emmys, a G. Foster Peabody award, a Thurgood Marshall Humanitarian Award for Excellence in Journalism, as well as many other accolades. He and his films have taken top awards or been nominated at the Sundance Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, and many more.
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Jean Marc Belkadi
- Born in
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France - Occupations
- jazz musicianjazz guitarist
- Biography
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Jean Marc Belkadi is a French-born, American jazz fusion guitarist known for his improvisational soloing technique.
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Anel Paz
- Occupations
- composerrecord producersingerguitarist
- Biography
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Jose Manuel "Anel" Paz is an Argentinian guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and recording and mix engineer. He has been a member of Los Violadores, and Los Politicos.
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Gilles Renne
- Enrolled in Musicians Institute
- Studied in 1980
- Occupations
- jazz guitarist
- Biography
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Gilles Renne is a French jazz-fusion guitarist and composer.
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Phillip Michael Pacetti
- Occupations
- musiciansongwriterrecord producer
- Biography
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Phillip Pacetti known as "Philonious" is an American musician active in the 1990s to present.
