SN. 4 / EP. # 171 - RADIO VERSION - Chris Fossek & Friends

RADIO VERSIONGo check out Chris Fossek & Leila Drake this Friday, August 10th at 8 pm at the new Vic! Get your tickets here NOW www.chrisfossekmusic.comGet to know Chris & his wife Leila and the "behind the scenes" before the show!Check out Leila and The State Street Ballet here: www.statestreetballet.comChris Fossek, Musician and Composer, has performed as a soloist and in ensembles in such venues as the Olympic Stadium of Rome, the RedCat Theater at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, and theLobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. He is also a Top-Ten Billboard charting recording artist and composer.Chris holds a Master’s Degree in Guitar Performance from the California Institute of the Arts, where he was greatly inspired by his mentor, world-renowned guitarist, improvisor, and composer, Miroslav Tadic.Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised studying classical piano music, Chris has also lived for years in Italy, where he studied piano with Stefania Bellodi in Modena, and attended the faculty of DAMS at the University of Bologna. He has lived in Spain and Germany, and has traveled extensively throughout the "Greater Mediterranean" in such countries as Portugal, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Lebanon and Turkey. His compositions are a unique blend of classical music, flamenco, Eastern European folk music, and rock ‘n' roll, and in 2017 he released his debut album Camino Cielo, to both critical and popular acclaim.Leila Drake, Dancer, is from Santa Cruz, CA, and is a graduate of UC-Santa Barbara with a double major in Art History and Film Studies. Since joining State Street Ballet in 2005 she has performed in nearly every production in the company’s repertoire, including the principal roles in Carmen, An American Tango, Carmina Burana, Appalachian Spring, and Scheherazade. Leila has been a featured soloist in works by Robert Battle, Nancy Colahan, Autumn Eckman, William Soleau, Josie Walsh, and Edgar Zendejas, and appeared as a principal Guest Artist with The Ithaca Ballet in their full-length Swan Lake. Leila has toured extensively both nationally and internationally with the company and was the recipient of the 2016 Apogee Award for Excellence in Dance Performance for her work in Common Ground, Carmina Burana, and The Nutcracker. She also serves as Associate Director of State Street Ballet.