Mario

Mario Grigorov, the mastermind behind the record, is best known for conceiving and creating the 1998 classical crossover hit, Aria, with composer Paul Schwartz. The album immediately landed on Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart, beating out a Phillip Glass soundtrack, a John Williams/Itzhak Perlman collaboration, and even the London Symphony Orchestra’s reading of Williams’ score for Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. Writer Douglas Levy declared Aria as “the CD that could save classical music,” and the following two releases within the series immediately entered the Billboard Top 10 (where they remained for over two years). Aria sold over half a million copies worldwide and was licensed to Café Del Mar.
Another music career highlight for Grigorov was his groundbreaking debut record, Rhymes with Orange in 1994 (produced by Oscar Castro-Neves and Miles Goodman) about which All Music Guide said, “A virtuoso with a very strong classical influence but the ability to improvise masterfully, Grigorov reworks ‘Body and Soul’ and performs 11 of his originals.”

Mario has scored countless acclaimed movies, among them Oscar winners and festival darlings; most recently, Lee Daniels’ Sundance (’09) success, Precious. The film, whose cast members include Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, and Mariah Carey, took home the ‘Grand Jury Award’ for best feature film and ‘Audience Choice Award’ at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. At the 1998 Hamptons International Film Festival, Mario was recognized with a ‘Best Original Score’ award for his work on Leonardo Ricagni’s El Chevrolé. Another film he composed music for is Taxi to the Dark Side, which won a 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary. Mario Grigorov is also the founder of Siblings Music, a New York City-based composition and production company started in 2005.

Melissa

Melissa Newman’s talents span from painting, to poetry, to singing, to writing lyrics. As a vocalist, Melissa studied opera under legendary voice teacher Marlena Malas. Performing at venues such as The Russian Tea Room, Melissa is a seasoned live performer in Manhattan as well as Chicago. Eminent song and jingle writer, Robin Batteau, hired Melissa to collaborate with him on a well-known commercial project featured during the Superbowl.
Batteau ultimately connected Melissa to Mario Grigorov, who was immediately inspired by her voice; describing it as “a cross between Billie Holiday and Patsy Cline”.