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| Lisa Occhino to Receive Award At 15th Annual Arts Recognition Banquet 17 year old musician, songwriter and singer Lisa Occhino will be honored for excellence and distinguished service in music and the performing arts at the Connecticut High School Arts Awards Fifteenth Annual Arts Recognition Banquet on April 27. Westhill High School has announced that senior Lisa Occhino will be a recipient of the Connecticut High School Arts Awards for excellence in the performing arts at the Fifteenth Annual Arts Recognition Banquet. The teachers and administration at Westhill selected Lisa as an outstanding student who possesses the qualities of scholarship and leadership. As an honoree, Lisa will receive a plaque for excellence and distinguished service to her school, and will be treated to dinner at the Outstanding Arts Awards Banquet on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville. The event, sponsored by Jostens and the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS), is expected to have over 1, 000 people attending, about 250 of which will be awards recipients from schools throughout Connecticut. CAS is a non-profit organization serving the students and staff of over 1, 100 of Connecticut's public and parochial schools in all areas of operation in order to provide exemplary programs and services that promote excellence in education. Born and educated in Stamford, Lisa has received numerous awards and honors for academic excellence, leadership, and musical achievements. In January, the Stamford Board of Education awarded her with a certificate for outstanding musical achievement in releasing her debut album, Discovery, as well as for her upcoming performance in May at Manhattan's famous rock club, The Bitter End. According to Larry Oakes of The Bitter End, Lisa is among less than 1% of performers under 18 who have ever been invited to perform at the Singer/Songwriter Sessions. Since 1961, The Bitter End's famous brick wall stage has launched the careers of thousands of artists such as Miles Davis, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, Janis Joplin, Patti La Belle, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor, along with dozens of famous comedians. Lisa was recently a featured artist at a benefit for Stamford's Shelter for the Homeless at the Hilton Hotel in Stamford, SL Signature's Night of Paramount Performers, and the Stamford Art Association opening reception for the 37th Annual High School Scholarship Show and Senior Portfolio Competition. Lisa regularly gives her time to non-profit causes such as the Stamford Symphony, Stamford public schools music programs, Interact Community Service Club, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, Knights of Columbus, World AIDS Day, Senator's Cabaret for Child Abuse, the North Stamford Exchange Club, and the Volunteer Center of Southwestern Fairfield County. "I think the most effective way to legitimately make a change in the world is by starting in your own community with a cause you truly believe in, " says Lisa. She is especially passionate about providing children with the opportunity to be exposed to music, which is why every purchase of a hard copy of Discovery will benefit the SYAP Outreach program. Sample tracks can be heard on Lisa Occhino's website. Producing her album involved not only financial obstacles, but also many emotional and mental challenges. "I had over 25 songs that were in the works, but I just couldn't complete them, " explains Lisa. "I eventually realized that this was because I was afraid of finishing a song that wasn't 'perfect.' I knew I had to overcome my fears because I really wanted feedback from people that weren't just my family and friends." Lisa saved up her money over the years from her jobs at a local music store, her parents' business, tutoring, babysitting, and playing professional gigs. She prepared a list of goals she wanted to accomplish, completed the music and lyrics to six songs, opened a music bank account, and created a profit and loss spreadsheet. She helped design her album artwork and website, recorded rough demos, and invested her hard-earned money in professional studio time. Lisa (LisaOcchino.com) continues to juggle her music career with a rigorous school schedule of classes and activities. Westhill High School in Stamford knows Lisa Occhino as a good-natured and focused academic student, ranked in the top 4% of her class. They've seen her win talent shows and named her "Most Musical" of the class of 2010. She is the alto section leader of the Westhill Chamber Singers, who won the Gold Cup at 20th International Choir Competition in Verona, Italy last April. Lisa has performed in over a dozen musicals, acted in videos, studied dance for over 14 years, and has played on Connecticut State and high school volleyball teams. She is also a part of her high school concert choir, gospel choir, jazz band, concert band, marching band, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and the Northstar Playmakers dramas and musicals. Lisa grew up listening to music and going to concerts and musicals since she was a toddler. She has spent years researching songwriters online, reading music business and marketing books, analyzing hit songs, and taking classes and workshops in piano, music theory, songwriting, and production. She began songwriting at age 12 and has since experimented with fusing elements of jazz, rock, classical, Latin, and pop genres. At 15, her original jazz tune, "Back in the Swing of Things, " was selected for the Stamford Young Artists concert at UConn Stamford. The following year, another one of her jazz compositions, "Midnight Blues, " was performed by the Stamford Young Artists at Stamford High School. During the same summer, she was one of the featured performers at the Stamford Town Center's Jazz on the Plaza series. The daughter of Ron and Barbara Occhino, who own Vertex Marketing Communications and the High Ridge Driving School in Stamford, Lisa's early exposure to business and marketing have strengthened her focus as an entrepreneur. Lisa recently received the Dean's Scholarship from Northeastern University and the A.J. Drexel Scholarship from Drexel University, both for academic excellence and community involvement. However, she has accepted the Berklee College of Music Songwriting and Composition Scholarship and will be attending the prestigious college in the fall, where she plans to double major in songwriting and music business. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |