• Musicians

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• Julianna Buffum Holmes
• Todor Pelev
• Cynthia Brogan
• Linny Kammer Smith
• Gail Cruz
• Jeannine Manthey

• Jazz

• Marshall Hawkins & Seahawk Mojo

Gail Cruz is a professional violinist who free-lances within the main stream of the L.A. industry for the past 30 years. She resides in both Palm Desert and in Orange County.

As a well respected free-lance musician, Gail Cruz has doubled up as a leading contractor to the L.A. studios for 20 years. Skywalker studio, owned by film maker George Lucas, was a high honor to serve as Assistant Concertmaster / contractor for the Grammy winning album of Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville. Capitol Records in Hollywood is where she recorded Natalie Cole’s remake of the legendary song, “Unforgettable”. The legendary arranger, Eugene Page, relied on her playing as Assistant Concertmaster / contractor for 20 years on all of the early Motown celebrities such as Whitney Houston, Barry White, Dianna Ross, Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller CD“, to name a few. Her playing was among the top L.A. musicians on famous film scores of Hollywood. Some of the writers included John Williams, Maurice Jarre, Michelle Legrand, Lalo Schiffrin. Gail played on movies like: The Titanic, Ghost, Dances with Wolves, and most of the “Star Trek” series recorded at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

In recent years, Gail has performed several times with Andre Bocelli in both genres of Pop and Classical music.

The L.A. Music Center has given Gail repeated work with the famous Ballet companies such as: Joffrey Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Harlem Dance Company. While being a regular player at the Dorothy Chandler, she played in the original “Phantom of the Opera”.

Ms. Gail Cruz landed work over the years with Orange County Master Chorale, Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Fresno Philharmonic. Earning the title of Assistant Concertmaster, she served the Pasadena Pops Orchestra for 19 years. She has also served 5 years as Assistant of Redlands Symphony, and with Burbank Symphony.

She has an extensive history of work related travels, working both as a violinist and teacher. She lived back and forth in Eastern Europe for 20 years where she recorded with the Bratislava Radio Orchestra, and was an invited string coach guest in both Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories, and in Guam with her father. She was asked to sub as a teacher at the prestigious Idyllwild Arts Academy in 2002 and 2009 by her colleague Todor Pelev.

Throughout Gail’s career, teaching has always been another professional focus. Her solid mentor, Ms. Alice Schoenfeld from U.S.C., has given Ms Gail Cruz her well rounded education, as she continues to free-lance within a broad range of jazz to wedding music. Wedding ceremonies are among her specialties where she meets the challenges of playing to perfection for a one shot event for the bride and groom!