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| Name: |
Beryl Quinton |
| E-mail: |
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| Website: |
Click Here |
| Type of Film Music: |
Blues, Country, Electronic, Folk, Funk, Pop, Soul |
| Best Suited For Film Genres: |
Children's Family, Drama, Musical, Religion/Spirituality |
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| If interested, contact information is listed above |  |
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BIOGRAPHY OF A PROFESSIONAL DUO:
Having met while participating in a group ministry at their church, Beryl and husband Juan will soon be celebrating 28 years of marriage. Beryl's personal music ministry evolved from that group ministry, and she regularly sings for weddings, funerals, baptisms, and other church events. She and Juan share vocals, and he is her "official" percussionist. Their music reflects a lifetime of love and praising God. Juan was a first responder during Hurricane Katrina and is still actively engaged in a law enforcement career in New Orleans, commuting daily from Baton Rouge, LA.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Happily, three songs from Beryl's "Amazing Graces" CD release were among the winners in the 2009 International Christian Art Competition (ICAC), sponsored by Stephen Sawyer's Art4God website. Click on http://www.art4god.com/ICAC4/top100.php?category=Song+%2F+Music to hear "America, God's Country," "I Will Praise The Lord All My Life," and "The Garden." This, plus having her music featured on the Catholic EWTN network, and three CD's and a music video reaching finalist status in 2002 and 2005 United Catholic Music and Video Association (UCMVA) Unity Awards -- results in a deep sense of gratitude to God for his many blessings, and a feeling that her international distribution and recognition is significant for an Independent Christian Recording Artist. She is also proud that "America, God's Country" -- a patriotic track from her latest "Amazing Graces" CD, composed by her father -- was used in Ireland to represent America's Independence Day celebration.
OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL DATA:
Born to a musical and God-centered family, with radio/TV performances as a child, Beryl's experience ranges from a "doo-wop" group in high school, to her own rock band, raising five children, singing in the "Papal Choir" during Pope John Paul's visit to New Orleans in 1987, 25+ years with the "Contemporaries" (a contemporary guitar group at St. Dominic Church iin New Orleans), and now a member of St. Jude the Apostle's 11:30 a.m. choir in Baton Rouge. A natural evolution from group ministry, Beryl also launched her own personal music ministry several years ago, and now regularly does "church gigs," i.e., weddings, funerals, baptisms, and masses. From 1980 to 1985, Beryl was the Civilian Personnel Officer for the Eighth District of the United States Coast Guard. She completed her Federal career with an early retirement from the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs in June 1994, after being reached in one of their rare "buy-outs." A descendent of the operatic Caruso family, Beryl's father was a New Orleans composer with a couple of modest successes with his compositions back in the 20's.
Beryl's husband Juan, who provides percussion and sings on "Amazing Graces," has a primary career in law enforcement. Juan's musical heritage carries on a name which originated with his great-grandfather Juan Bautista Quinton, a composer and organist who studied at the Conservatory of Paris before moving to Puerto Rico. Juan's grandfather Jose Ignatio Quinton later became one of the island's most celebrated composers. Juan's father Bobby Quinton was a pianist known for his "Bach to Boogie" at locations such as Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, La Lune, and Bobby Quinton's Lounge on Tulane Avenue. The children who sing on the CD were selected from the St. Louis Cathedral's Catholic Elementary
School choir, which Beryl directed from 2001 to 2004.
Sadly, when Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath destroyed a large portion of the Crescent City, Beryl's home was in one of the most devastated areas -- Lakeview. Her home was submerged in 15 feet of water for more than two weeks, and the reality of what she and Juan were facing together was seen firsthand when they docked a boat on their front porch on September 18 and broke down the front door. Assets and equipment related to both of their businesses -- photography and music -- were destroyed by the salt water flooding, and they relocated to Baton Rouge, LA where they decided to stay. Returning to their home in Lakeview was simply unaffordable.
Looking back, Beryl and Juan are so grateful for their survival and the strength and resilience to renew their lives. Beryl has likened the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to a "practice death," a reminder to focus our eyes on an indestructable heavenly home where loved ones await. Beryl and Juan lost everything material, and family and friends are scattered to the winds for now, but they have each other and face new challenges together... one day at a time. God's blessings are always present, and they embrace once again the opportunity of sharing with others their abundant love of Jesus Christ through their music.
CD RELEASES AND MUSIC VIDEO:
Beryl's debut CD, "Like The Seagull," is a collection of traditional/classic hymns, with an original title song connecting the hymns together in a metaphorical wish for nearness to God, in life and in death. One of the original female soul singers in New Orleans as a young adult, Beryl still brings passion to her music. Arrangements of all but the title song are pure and clean, liturgical in nature and personally created. Beryl used a Roland XP-50, Cakewalk Professional 8, and a Tascam 4-Track Recorder (shades of Paul McCartney). Once the vocal tracks were added, professional mastering and replication completed the production.
In November 2004, Beryl released "Amazing Graces" (a full length CD), and also a CD single "Jesus, I Trust In You." Both were digitally produced, still using Roland equipment, and pre-mixed using Cakewalk Sonar 3 Producer's Edition and Sony Sound Forge 7.0. Professional mastering and manufacturing followed. Beryl is proud to be one of the six "new" composers whose work was never before recorded, and one of fourteen musicians who participated in these ambitious projects. The journey of souls on earth from the cradle to the grave, "Amazing Graces" follows a Christian lifetime in song. Introducing the first song is a 30-second harp solo of the traditional melody of "Amazing Grace," followed by a blues guitar breaking into the melody of "House of the Rising Sun." Blending the lyrics of "Amazing Grace" with the "House of the Rising Sun" melody creates a soul-stirring musical experience with a New Orleans flavor. From New Orleans "funk" to a patriotic "second-line," from a glimpse of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to a "Marriage Medley," from a singular harp accompaniment to featured "back-up singers" ranging in age from 8-13, this collection is a really unusual assortment of Christian music. "Jesus, I Trust In You" was inspired by the Divine Mercy devotion in the Catholic church.
"Following Christ," the music video, is actually a track from Beryl's "Amazing Graces" CD. Completed on June 30, 2005 -- only two months before Hurricane Katrina's devastation -- it depicts the spiritual events in one Christian lifetime, from Baptism to Funeral and beyond.
LINKS:
Check out Beryl's music ministry website at www.berylquinton.com.
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Any scene depicting a triumph of soul-searching, a quest for survival of an abysmal life experience, and/or a redemptive breakthrough would benefit from the first song on the new CD release, "Amazing Graces." Particularly with the instrumental introductions by the harp and blues guitar, a lot of action could occur before the lyrics of "Amazing Grace" begin. Song #4, "Blessings" is just that, a very up-beat wish that God's love be with you; #5, "Following Christ," is the condensed all-in-one-song depiction of the lifetime reflected in the CD theme. #11 is the patriotic complement to any scenario honoring the military and/or veterans. The musical background provided by #17 would work with a character who perhaps believes or knows that death is eminent, struggling through the crisis by meditating on Christ's prayer (from the song) "Oh, Father in heaven, let this cup pass me by." #24 "Time Was" is a fanciful reflection of a wish to return to the innocence of childhood, when "sound of angel wings fluttered near to me," with the realization that it is "time to sing and tell my fears goodbye."
The title song from the 1st CD release, "Like The Seagull," would benefit from a plot which brings the characters near water, to relate the metaphorical freedom to be lifted up (like the seagull) to soar through the heavens with no remaining chains to the earth.
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