Angel Rittweger, Lead Vocalist, Platinum Owner
For the first twelve years of my career, I studied voice at the Vocal Fitness Center, in NYC, NY, concentrating on technique and placement. That training paid off, earning myself and my then band an audition spot for the Lilith Fair. As a result, we were named as 'Winner of the Levi's Talent Search Contest' and we earned a spot on the Lilith Fair Tour, performing for over ten thousand people at Bryant Park, opening for Sarah McLachlan and appearing on the first Lilith Fair CD.

To follow was a series of live television performances on VHI, MTV, the Today Show and many others, accompanied by numerous press interviews and a 'behind the music' documentary. Since then, I have performed on numerous album tracks as a free-lance vocalist for different writers, including writers for Cyndi Lauper, The Tuesdays, Eva Cassidy, Laura Branigan and members of the rock group Orleans and Kansas, as well as being the regular back-ground vocalist for Annie Haslam of the 70's group 'Rennassaince'.

During that time, and since age 18, I led and performed regularly with the popular club band Rcaro, giving me 12 years of experience in stage performance and 10 years of running my own band and business. I was then co-founder of the company Arcaro Entertainment Services, and served as President of the company's operations, as well as being the lead vocalist and band leader.

Currently, I am co-founder and co-owner of my company Platinum Band Music and The Platinum Band with my husband and partner and feel that I am blessed to perform beautiful music for thousands and thousands of people.

John Rittweger, Keyboardist, Platinum Owner
John began studying classical piano at the young age of 7. Since then, his life has been incredibly immersed in music. Throughout high school he performed with local bands then earned his BA and MA in Music Education from Montclair State University.

After College, John found himself in many different bands, performing at thousands of events. He was hired as a recording session musician for the first 10 years of his career.

John has worked with Annie Haslam (Renaissance), Dennis Ray (Sam Cooke show), the Crests (“Sixteen Candles”), the Drifters (“Under the Boardwalk”) and Tim Houser from Manhattan Transfer. Area performances include The Bottom Line, PNC Bank Arts enter, Club Bene’, Central Park, Keswick Theatre and performed with acts such as the Romantics and Blackfoot. Two bands that John enjoyed were a Lynyrd Skynrd tribute band and a Yes tribute band that received praise from Yes guitarist Steve Howe (who also records and performs with Annie Haslam).

You may have seen John on one of his regular weekly appearances for over 10 years on the show ‘Sound Waves’ with host guitarist-extraordinaire’ Steve Chirco. The show featured John’s & Steve’s collaboration in writing and production of original music, as well as John’s astoundingly vast knowledge of different genres and styles of music.

John has a collection of vintage keyboards, including Mini Moog, Prophet 600, Yamaha DX 7, Fender Rhodes and a Hammond Organ.

John currently has a private recording studio in his home and a 25 year private teaching career. John is co-founder and co-owner of Platinum Band Music.

Steve DeLuca, Drums
For most of my thirty-nine years, I have been obsessed with music in one way or another. My childhood musical time was spent begrudgingly hovering over a piano until I could convince my parents to buy me a snare drum. It took another couple of years before I was finally behind a set of drums and, for better or worse, I never looked back.

During high school, I played in the high school concert and marching band and won the chair in our high school jazz band. This group, the recipient of much praise and several awards in jazz competitions throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, was the impetus for me to really immerse myself in music and specifically, jazz. A special moment of affirmation for me was winning The Best Overall Instrumentalist Award at the Chesapeake Jazz Festival.

I studied jazz at Temple University in Philadelphia and received my Bachelor's degree in jazz performance. I worked with various jazz and rock groups until in 1995 I moved to the Northern New Jersey/New York City area. Some career highlights include playing with the improvisational quartet Wooster Sang. This group was one of twelve finalists, out of thousands of entries, in Musician's Magazine's best unsigned band contest of 1999 and hit the number one spot on the Billboard website for unsigned bands. I was a featured performer in various press and websites. I have been a featured performer in Modern Drummer magazine and am a freelance writer for the magazine.

Jason Sweet, Bass, Upright Bass, Classical Guitar
Jason Sweet is the founder and owner of Sweet Music Academy. He wants to share with others his love for music, experiences and knowledge. He was raised in the town of Howell, and was named to the all-state jazz band while attending Howell School.

After graduating Howell High School he attended Berklee College of Music as a bassist. Jason graduated cum laud and received his Bachelor Degree. His education continued by attending Rutgers University music program where he received a Masters Degree.

After graduating from Berklee College of Music he released "The Chase", which contains original Jazz pieces, both written and produced by Jay.

Jason has taught academic music courses at Rutgers University and has been published as an author in "The Jazz Review". He is accredited for writing the first biography ever written on the life of Ray Brown, the great Jazz bassist for Michigan College Press.

Working as a professional musician Jason still teaches music, and performs at many Jazz clubs, theater productions and restaurants.

Jay is featured as a classical guitarist for ceremonies and cocktail hours

Steve Coleman, Lead Vocalist, Rhythm Guitar
Steve Coleman is a New Jersey native who brings ten years of performance experience out each time he and his Martin guitar take stage. As front-man for Platinum, Steve performs with a gutsy rock n' roll voice that somehow manages to still be beautiful and smooth. His smile is contagious and leaves you with no doubt he is having a great time.

As lead vocalist for Platinum, Steve emulates such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Edwin McCain and Frank Sinatra with distinct likeness to the original artist.

Steve embarked on a solo career and has accomplished several albums both solo and with his original band. He submitted his recordings to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and was selected to be showcased as an emerging artist.

The Daily Record (NJ) writes "The crisp vocals of Steve Coleman, the rootsy road trip inspired lyrics and the spirited rhythm grabs you magnetically".

Artlies forum writes "When you listen to [Steve] -Smoke suddenly fills the room and there is crude oil dripping down the walls. That's what his voice can do to a song".

Sean Pulley, Lead Vocalist-R&B/Motown/Soul
When Sean was eight years old, his grandmother had to bribe him to sing in church. Luckily, he took that bribe and hasn't stopped singing since.

Sean attended Newark's Arts High School where he studied choral music and
music theory. There he formed Base Harmony, a Doo Wop Acapella group that
was commissioned to perform in schools throughout the State. He went on to perform with Jerome Hines' Opera Music Theater International, in Whitney Houston's video "All the Man I Need", and on the soundtrack for Paul Simon's "The Capeman".

With Bass Harmony, Sean has traveled and performed with such R&B classics as the Chi-Lites, Ray Goodman and Brown, The Dell's, The Delfonics and many more.

Sean's years of performing has given him the experience to become a marketable entertainer, the talent to become a competitive entertainer and the fortitude to become a lasting entertainer.

Mark Hynes, Saxophone
Originally from Chicago, Mark spent several years in Detroit, where he worked with many upcoming stars of the jazz world such as Rodney Whitaker, Bobby Battle, and James Carter.

Once relocated to New York City in 1996, Mark has worked with such luminaries as Quincy Jones, John Faddis, the LA Philharmonic, Fred Hersch, Christian McBride, Slide Hampton, Patti Lupone, Jon Hendricks, Grover Mitchell, Art Baron, Britt Woodman, Jerry Dodgian, Jerome Richardson, and Steven Bernstein. He is a member of David Berger and the Sultans of Swing, and Art Baron and His Duke’s Men. Mark has performed with such shows as The Harlem Nutcracker, Hairspray, All Shook Up, and Prairie Home Companion.

Mark will be appearing in the upcoming Robert Deniro film “The Good Shepherd” and holds a Masters degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music.

Chris Rogers, Trumpet
Veteran trumpeter Chris Rogers has been a mainstay on the New York music scene for over 25 years. He's worked with many top artists in the field of Jazz and Latin Music, and has performed throughout Europe, Japan, Canada, South America and the United States. Although classically trained, Chris was exposed early on to the sounds of jazz, Salsa, and rock. (His father, the late trombonist Barry Rogers, recorded with people like James Taylor, Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Spyro Gyra, Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon and Celia Cruz.) By age 16, Chris started gigging professionally with local Latin bands, brass quintets, big bands and symphony orchestras.

At the age of only 19, Chris began a 5-year stint as the featured trumpet soloist with Gerry Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. Since then he has been featured with Buddy Rich, Chaka Khan, Frank Sinatra, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Eartha Kitt, Tonya Pinkins, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Maria Schneider, The Mingus Big Band, Tom Harrell, Hilton Ruiz, Mongo Santamaria and many others. Chris has appeared at such venues as The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, Carnagie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Additionally, Chris has frequently performed on Broadway, including Cats, 42nd Street, Kiss Me Kate, Paul Simon's The Capeman, Fosse, Annie Get Your Gun, and Wonderful Town. Chris' soon to be released CD, "Voyage Home", features multiple Grammy Award winning saxophonist Michael Brecker, and the acclaimed guitarist Steve Khan.

Jerry Bohrer, Guitarist, Lead Vocalist
Jerry Bohrer started playing guitar inspired by classic rock and local bands. During high school he played guitar in rock groups, played bass and tuba in marching band, and began studying jazz. He was the recipient of several music awards and was enrolled in New Jersey's Arts High program.

In 2001, Jerry enrolled at Berklee College of Music as a recipient of the World Scholarship Tour. At Berklee, he enjoyed the opportunity to study with some of the finest jazz performers and educators including Victor Mendoza, Dave Samuels, Ed Tomassi, Greg Hopkins, Dave Santoro, and Hal Crook. His degree concentrated on jazz composition and performance and he was a member of many of the college's top level writing classes and ensembles. The college recognized his accomplishments with a Berklee Achievement Scholarship.

Being in Boston provided him with many resources - the ability to work with musicians from all over the world and play a wide variety of music at shows and in the studio. Jerry has been influenced by a wide variety of musical styles- jazz, classical, rock, pop, and latin. His heroes include jazz guitarists: Charlie Christian to Kurt Rosenwinkel; jazz innovators: Charlie Parker to John Coltrane; classical performers: Andres Segovia to Paul Galbraith; and great composers: Bach to Shostakovich.

Having a mom who was a soprano theatre performer at the Boston Conservatory, Jerry started his voice training at a very young age. In high school, he began singing in choir, men's choir and barbershop, and continued his training and vocal performance into several different bands. Jerry enjoys covering the vocal style of newer alternative rock artists.

Jerry Vezza, Jazz Pianist
www.jerryvezza.com
During his thirty year career, Jerry has maintained high standards in both the artistic and commercial realms of the music business.

As an active jazz pianist and leader of his own trio, Jerry maintains an active performance schedule at clubs such as Shanghai Jazz in Madison NJ, which has been voted in Down Beat magazine as one the top 100 jazz clubs in the world.

He was a featured artist at the 2005 New Jersey Jazz Festival and has made numerous appearances in Europe. Jerry performs and has recorded with some of the finest musicians in the world.

As well as his artistic jazz side, Jerry has a great deal of experience in providing highly professional entertainment for private and corporate functions. After ten years of working as a free lance jazz and club date pianist in New York City, Jerry formed a wedding band agency with his partner Rose Holden called Precious Moments Orchestras. From 1980 though 1995 this agency represented and booked six bands and DJs and did hundreds of weddings and parties. After this fifteen year period Jerry decided to end that partnership and return to his roots of jazz performance and smaller jazz combos for private parties, with or without the addition of a DJ.

Jerry continues to perform in all venues: concert stages, jazz clubs, restaurants, homes, and at many of the most prestigious catering establishments, country clubs and hotels in the metropolitan area. These include, for example, the Hilton at Short Hills, the Waldorf Astoria, the Plaza, the Pleasantdale Chateau, the Park Savoy, the Manor, the Basking Ridge Country Club and Baltusrol Golf Club. His corporate clients include Honeywell International, Toyota Corporation, Novartis, Merck, Bayer, Lucent, AT&T, RCA, Pfizer and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ruth Schepartz Fouda, Ceremony Vocalist
Vocalist Ruth Schepartz Fouda has been singing for more than 20 years. Since the age of 12, Ruth has been classically trained. She began private professional training and later moved on to the Manhattan School of Music, where she met her current voice teacher Babara Eubanks.

Ruth’s powerful vocal ability earned her many roles throughout NYC, NJ and Boston, MA; ranging from Musetta in La Boheme to Papagena in the Magic Flute. She was a featured soloist at the NY Renaissance Festival and a concert based on Ivor Novello music in NYC.

Ruth has experience in producing and performing masses in Latin, as well as a cycle of art songs composed by the late Gayle Schmidt.

Ruth has extensive experience with performing at religious and non-religious functions. What has helped her immensely is her proficiency at sight reading music.