Couture Fashion Week

Kenny Cunningham

A native of Liverpool, England, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Kenny Cunningham is an accomplished performer who has been delighting audiences for over 25 years. His musical influences and inspirations include Simon & Garfunkel and his fellow Liverpudlians, The Beatles. Says Kenny: "I have always been amazed with the process of song writing. It is something that I've never had to work at. Over the years thoughts/music just came out... I take no responsibility for what you may hear, blame some cosmic miscreant somewhere."


Iyanya

Winner of the popular West African program MTN Project Fame 2008, Iyanya recently released his first album entitled "Desire" which features his hit song "Love Truly." Iyanya is a young rising star in his native Nigeria as well as throughout Africa and beyond.


Kimera

With her four-octave range and visionary approach to art, Kimera has intrigued and fascinated many. Millions have embraced her unique opera-pop fusion embodied in various albums starting with "The Lost Opera", which sold over 10 million copies, followed by “Opera Express” and seven additional albums.

A native of Korea, Kimera has loved singing ever since she can remember. From the age of twelve, she began singing classical music in church choirs, as well as in the Korean National Metropolitan Choir. After earning a B.A. in French Literature from Sung Sin University in Seoul, she went on to pursue post-graduate studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, and began to train in opera at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. After years of arduous vocal studies, she received a Superior Diploma in Lyrical Art with a unanimous vote, and with congratulations from the jury.

In 1984 Kimera released the controversial classic-pop fusion recording, “The Lost Opera”, with the London Symphony Orchestra. Representing a divergence from her previous classical opera path, the album promptly climbed the British music charts and went on to gather momentum in France, South Africa, South America, Korea, and many more countries across the globe. Kimera, the blazing rebel of opera, blended two genres from opposite ends of the musical spectrum to create a new style of music utilizing traditional operatic arias and a modern rhythmic pop beat. She called it "Popera" or "Opera Rock." While it was well received by the public, she endured a great amount of criticism from classical purists who believed she had vulgarized opera. As one critic put it, “Mozart would turn over in his grave if he heard this.” Criticism, however, did little to slow her down. She was happy to popularize opera and make it more accessible to kids, teens, and adults alike. Kimera's latest album is entitled “Opera Found."


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