Cristal Marie
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| Cristal Marie | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 26, 1986 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Years active | 2004–present |
Cristal Marie (born May 26, 1986 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican singer, songwriter, actress and performer who is best known for being the first Dominican to sing the opening theme of a North American telenovela, Telemundo's "Pecados Ajenos" alongside Cuban-American singer Jencarlos Canela.
Nominated for two consecutive years as "Female Solo Artist of The Year" at the Casandra Awards 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 [1] and "Woman of the Year 2008" [2] at Diario Libre, Cristal Marie is set to release her first international album in Spring 2008.
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[edit] Early life
Cristal Marie was the youngest of two siblings and grew up in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She began her musical and dance training at the age of 4, when she enrolled in ballet classes at the Alina Abreu Institute of Classical Ballet and was assigned to piano instructor Margarita Heredia. She spent most of her years between ballet lessons, rhythm and groove lessons, guitar lessons, voice lessons, flute lessons and theater lessons. Her last professor was director Enrique Chao.
Cristal Marie aspiration to become a pop artist took shape after winning the "Miss Roches" title during summer in France at "L'École Des Roches". She had originally dreamed of becoming a Broadway actress after her experience participating as one of the lead vocalists in the Dominican adaptation of Broadway's hit rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar in 2003, directed by Amaury Sánchez.
She was also the lead vocalist of "Mujeres en la Historia" (Women in History), a Dominican production directed by Guillermo Cordero which was shown at the United Palace Theater in New York, NY; Teatro Nacional (The National Theater of Dominican Republic), The Renaissance Jaragua Hotel in Santo Domingo and Gran Teatro Cibao (Grand Cibao Theater) in Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros, Dominican Republic. This production was sponsored by the Office of the First Lady in the Dominican Republic.
She graduated from the Colegio Pre-Universitario Lux Mundi school in 2004, where she was featured as the lead vocalist of plays such as: "El Caballero de la Armadura Oxidada" based on (The Knight in Rusty Armor), "Siddhartha", "El Regalo Perfecto" based on (The Gift of the Magi) and others. Before graduating in 2004 she co-wrote, co-produced and directed her own script and played "El Oraculo" (The Oracle) which sold out three consecutive nights at the prestigious theater "Casa de Teatro".
[edit] Musical career
Cristal Marie first album titled "Sueños" ("Dreams") was non-commercial and recorded in the studio of Jorge Taveras in 2001 and given as a Christmas gift to mostly friends and family. The album leaked to the public and caused a strong positive reaction. After graduating from high-school she applied to Berklee College of Music to continue her studies, where she chose to major in Musical Performance and Music Business/Management, earning a Specialist Degree in Music Business before returning to the Dominican Republic in late 2005. Some of her most influential professors are quoted as: Anne Peckham, Ann Dolan, Paul Pampinella and Tune Core executives David Kusek (Author of "The Future of Music") and George Howard.[3]
Cristal Marie released her debut album on April 2006, "Vivir el Momento". The album featured her own Spanish compositions as well as three international covers, one in English and the other in French. She is known for singing in various languages including: Spanish, English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Finnish and Japanese.[4]
She was the first Dominican singer to open an international concert with an open curtain during Ricardo Montaner's Tour, her picture was featured on the billboard alongside the artist and in his promotional video, a feat which had never been accomplished by a new artist in Dominican Republic. [5] By the end of 2006 she'd already performed with: Bachata Rosa singer Adalgisa Pantaleon, Maridalia Hernandez, Danny Rivera, Johnny Ventura, Sonia Silvestre, Anais, Sergio Vargas, Nini Caffaro, Gio and many others. She had a notable appearance in the Juan Luis Guerra and Candido Bidó Tribute Theater Production "La Musica se Viste de Solidaridad y Esperanza".
She also sang a duet with Armando Manzanero in the spring of 2007. She was the first artist to be nominated for a "Singer of the Year" Casandra Award during her first year as a professional artist. She was one of the top ten finalist in the "Festival de la Cancion Dominicana" (Dominican Song Festival) with the song "Mariposas" ("Butterflies").
Cristal Marie also became the first Dominican artist to be featured singing the opening song of a North American Telenovela, and only the fourth to do a telenovela theme on October 10, 2007 for "Pecados Ajenos" from Telemundo. She got the part after impressing the producers and executives during Mauricio Islas's birthday celebration at Baires in Miami, Florida.[6][7]
During this year she also began production of her soon to be released first international album. Produced by Roy Tavare and led by Grecia Colmenares's husband Marcelo Pelegri of Universo Latino Media, [8] the album was mixed at Estefano's Midnight Blue Studios. Other artists that had recorded in Midnight Blue Studio with producer Estefano Productions Group include Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Chayanne. [9]
The production was set to be released on January 2008, but was stalled when Hurricane Noel hit the shores of Dominican Republic, soon to be followed by Hurricane Olga causing unprecedented damage. Cristal Marie stopped production of her album to aid efforts being led by various non-profit organizations to help the climate refugees "Damnificados" [10].
For her efforts and accomplishments, Cristal was nominated for "Mujer del Año" ("Woman of the Year") on January 2008[11] On January 14, 2008 Cristal Marie was nominated for the second time as "Singer of the Year" at the Casandra Awards.
Her international album is now set to be launched between February-March 2008.
[edit] Discography
| "Sueños" | "Vivir el Momento" |
| December 2001 | April, 2006 Azares Entertainment/ Laurel Records |
[edit] Other Notable Mentions
Cristal Marie received a parchment declaring her "Distinguished Guest of Moca" for participating in the Christmas Concert of 2007 [12]
Cristal Marie's first published short story "El Regalo Perfecto" (The Perfect Gift) received the "Honorable Mention Award" at UNIBE (Universidad Iberoamericana). Cristal Marie's story inspired the creation of said award, and so she received the first of its kind. She was in her first semester at the university and 19 years old at the time.
She is the grand-niece of singer Jesus Faneytte.
She was part of the organizing committee of the first Anime convention held in Dominican Republic "CONANIME" on August, 2006.
Her website www.cristalmarie.com was nominated for an "Arroba (@) de Oro" ("The Golden @ Award") [13]
[edit] External links
- Cristal Marie's Official Homepage
- Cristal Marie's Official Writing Studio
- Universo Latino Media
- Casandra Awards of Dominican Republic
- Berklee College of Music Profile
[edit] References
- ^ Casandra Awards (Spanish) http://www.cronicadigital.com.do/?module=displaystory&story_id=842&format=html
- ^ Woman of the Year (Spanish Article) http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=133427
- ^ Check Bio Page for mention of Anne Peckham, Paul Pampinella and Ann Dolan (Article in Spanish) www.cristalmarie.com
- ^ Cristal Marie's Homepage Bio and Languages http://www.cristalmarie.com
- ^ Ricardo Montaner's Promo featuring Cristal Marie www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXlFCCM18YU
- ^ Cristal Marie sings at Mauricio Islas's birthday (English) http://hollywoodlatino.blogspot.com/2007/08/happy-birthday-mauricio.html
- ^ Cristal Marie sings at Mauricio Islas's birthday (Spanish) http://diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=124144&commentMode=true
- ^ Universo Latino
- ^ Estefano Productios Group Chayanne Album http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Tiempo_(Album)
- ^ Climate Refugee Campaign by Cristal Marie (Spanish) http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=133427
- ^ Woman of the Year (Hombre y Mujer del Año, Diario Libre, Spanish Article) http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=133427
- ^ Moca Christmas Concert http://listindiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=41787
- ^ www.arrobadeoro.com/2007/do/nominados.asp Arroba de Oro List
