Meet the Celebrity Judges on In The Mix Talent Search

July 4, 2012 • By Tiffani Knowles

RACHAEL DAVIDSON

Choreographer and instructor Rachael Davidson recalls her desire to dance at the early age of four. Rachael pursued her dream and obtained her BS in education and a minor in Dramatic Arts at SUNY Geneseo, where she also studied classical ballet, modern, jazz, and theatre. In 1993, Rachael received her MA in Dance education from New York University. In addition to her studies, Rachael has taught, choreographed and directed several productions for many school, churches, production companies and dance schools throughout the Tri-State area for over 12 years. Her credits include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, WNYW Fox 5 Christmas and Easter Specials and New York. Currently, Rachael is an instructor and company member of Dance for Joy of New York City. She is also the founder and director of ANu Fire Dance School.

EBONY RUFFIN

Dance and choregrapher Ebony L. Ruffin began her dance training in Los Angeles, California. She received the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight award in 1997 and an NAACP ACT-SO award in 1998.

Ebony ventured to New York City for college and received her B.F.A. in Dance from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. While at Tisch, she had the opportunity to work personally with choreographers, such as Deborah Jowitt, Nicholas Leichter and performed works by Bill T. Jones and Paul Taylor. She performed professionally with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Andrea E. Woods/Souloworks and Dancers, nathantrice/Rituals, Genesis Dance Company, Hope Boykin, Stephan Koplowitz and the Brockus Dance Project. In 2007, Ebony received her M.F.A. in Dance and Choreography from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2007.

As a professional choreographer, Ebony has presented her work at the E-Moves dance series in 2003 as an E-merging choreographer and in 2005 and an E-volving choreographer and that year she received a Fund For New Work grant from the Jerome Foundation. Her Dance for Camera work has been screened at the Silver Lake Film Festival, Anatomy Riot.

She has been a teaching artist and dance instructor for California Institute of the Arts, Battery Dance Company, Abundant Life Creative Services, LLC, and The Miller School of Dance and Academy. As an arts administrator, she has worked in many facets for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

CHRIS "ROCK" BELMONT

Music Producer Chris "Rock” Belmont is the founder and CEO of JahRock’n Productions. Belmont started his professional music career in 1996 as a member of Blessed Hope, a Christian/Gospel vocal group that earned the honor of being the first Christian/Gospel group to perform on BET’s 106 and Park. In 2003, Belmont transitioned to a full-time career in music production, eventually forming JahRock’n Productions in 2005. Since then, JahRock’n Productions has grown into a multifaceted media company providing studio recording, mixing, and mastering services; music production services; and artist development services.

JahRock'n Productions is the official music sponsor of In The Mix Talent Search Competition on LifeZone Television.

HEESUN LEE

HeeSun Lee is a hip hop artist whose presence, talent and life story have opened eyes in the hip hop community.

Born in Korea and raised in Staten Island, NY, HeeSun uses her gifts as a poet/lyricist/performer to share her experiences, her testimony and her love for God. With her debut album, RE:Defined, HeeSun displays a vulnerability rarely seen in hip hop–detailing her experiences as a child adopted out of the foster care system, and as a teenager struggling to find her identity. With more sure to come from this talented artist, HeeSun Lee has announced her presence as a unique voice ready to redefine the game.

BIANCA DENIS

Bianca Denis is a musical theatre actress from Miami, Florida. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX with a BFA in Theatre and a minor in English. Credits Include: Hairspray National Tour (Networks), The Supper Club (Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre), Legally Blonde, Swing on A Star, Hairspray (Fireside Theatre), A Rats Mass, Reeling, Charlotte’s Web (Hangar Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theatre Center), Intimate Apparel, The Overwhelming, Fabulation (SMU), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Fringe Festival). She will be featured as Hedy LaRue in Theatre By The Sea upcoming production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.

GREGORY CHARLES VILFRANC

Gregory Charles Vilfranc is a professional music producer, composer, vocalist, re-recording mixer and sound designer in the fields of recording arts, TV, film and video games. Greg--as he prefers to be called--was a child prodigy, teaching himself to play his sister's piano at 5 years old as well as the guitar totally by ear. As a teen, he added the clarinet and the bass guitar to that list. Greg is also an accomplished 2nd tenor/baritone who's been singing since he was a child and professionally since he was 16.

He has sung in various groups including one called 6 to 1, a group that was often compared to the infamous accapella group, Take 6. He's had success in developing local artists as a vocal coach and has worked alongside fellow producer and songwriter Chris "Rock" Belmont of Jahrock'n Productions for close to a decade. His influences range from Mervyn Warren, Hans Zimmer and Michael Giacchino all the way to Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin, just to name a few.

Trained as an audio engineer at the SAE Institute in New York City, Greg received the award for the Outstanding Music Composer in the L.A. Web Series Festival in 2012.

CHRISTINE VAINDIRLIS

International recording artist Christine Vaindirlis was born in London and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa during the most horrific and most diabolic era of apartheid, intolerant of the political injustice. She searched for the first opportunity to pursue her passion for music and take her to new horizons. At 17, Christine moved to Milan, Italy with a full scholarship under her belt and not a word of Italian to train as an opera singer at the "Conservatorio di Milano G.Verdi” and later the "Teatro della Scala di Milano.” She was endowed "The Berklee College of Music Achievement Scholarship” graduating with Honors in 2004 in Contemporary Writing & Production and Performance as a Voice principal, focusing on composition, arranging, orchestration, and production for a live and studio audience. She also served as an ambassador for the College on the World Scholarship Tour Auditions and in 2003, her merits were recognized by the Solo and Ensemble Award for Outstanding Musicianship.

Her ambition to experiment with jazz and world music on a different level drew her to New York City in 2005 where she produced an album that would capture the essence and energy of her dearly missed South Africa, enriched by her global chops and the Berklee experience which had pushed her envelope further. "Dance Mama!” is a ten track original collection of South African Funk-Jazz with three of the tracks reaching the finals and semi-finals of the USA, International (ISC) and UK Songwriting Competitions respectively, has received airplay in the US, Europe and South Africa, and on the in-flight World Music play-lists on Continental, Copa, Sri Lankan, Caribbean and United Airlines. In 2010, Christine was featured on CNN International, NBC’s New York Non-Stop, ESPN and Time Out New York. She has since had the privilege of performing at many prestigious music venues around the world, among which the Blue Note in New York City.

JEREMIAH ABIAH

Jeremiah Abiah (Tenor) is a renowned singer, vocal coach and composer. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Syracuse University and the New England Conservatory, he has graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, NYC Opera and numerous international stages to great acclaim. Most recently, he completed a European concert tour and is preparing his studio recording, Life As A Ballad, to be released in August 2012.

He was also recently featured as a vocal coach on MTV's Made.

SHANELLE GABRIEL

Poet and singer Shanelle Gabriel has been labeled a virtuosa. She's a soulful singer, poet, lyricist, and an advocate for Lupus Awareness. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, she has displayed her skills at colleges and venues both nationally and internationally, hitting cities from L.A. to Vancouver to Yola, Nigeria. Shanelle effortlessly blends her soulful singing with elements of spoken word and hip-hop. She both opened and featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam along with Jill Scott and DMX. She recorded a nationally televised promo for the 2007 NFL Draft and competed in both the National and Individual World Poetry Slam Competitions. Shanelle has shared stages with artists such as Eric Benet, Talib Kweli, Nas, Erick Sermon, and more. You can hear her voice as the narrator for Jennifer Hudson's "I Got This" audiobook and also catch her acting in Q-Tip's video for "ManWomanBoogie."

Shanelle is presently finishing up the follow-up to her amazing debut album, Start Something (winner of the Atlantic City Alternative Soul Best CD Award) while serving as a consultant to other indie artists. Her new album More Than One of a Kind is set to be released this October.

To view these talented artists on the judging panel for In The Mix, be sure to watch Saturday, July 14 and Saturday July 21 on LifeZone TV.

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