Lyricist, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Rose Winebrenner has the talent and experience to be at home on the stage or in the studio. She is an asset of immense value for any musical production. The real deal.
Rose is a Chicago born and trained musician. Now a seasoned professional, she began her professional career at the age of 14. She is an alumna of Roosevelt University where she majored in classical and jazz vocal techniques, and minored in classical piano.
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Rose is currently based in Central Illinois, USA. Most of the time she is playing on Norwegian Cruise Lines for Howl @ Sea Dueling Pianos
and Le Cirque Top Performers, with random side gigs in the USA Midwest.
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About Rose
"Beginning in 2008, ZAiA was intended to run for a decade.
But after just four years the show was cancelled. Winebrenner’s dreams were dashed; her life turned upside down.
In the depths of despondency, she retreated to Lamma Island in
Hong Kong, hoping for a new beginning. There, she found an artistic environment that enabled her to reset, and a combination of experiences that led her back to the stage.
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“Lamma has been integral in reinventing and rediscovering myself,” Winebrenner, who is in her late 40s, says. “If Zaia hadn’t taken its last bow, I probably wouldn’t have ever come here. It has affected me profoundly, to the depths of my being.”
The curtain fell on Zaia for the last time on February 19, 2012, Winebrenner remembered how someone had told her that if she ever wanted to relax in Hong Kong, Lamma was the place.
She packed a suitcase and took a ferry to the city.
On Lamma, everything fell into place. “I met musicians and artists who immediately befriended me, asking me which village I lived in and how long I had lived here,” she recalls. “They obviously thought I fit in.”
She found an affordable flat and settled into enjoying her surroundings, from the sounds of nature, to Cantonese opera performances, to the recordings of Indian musician Ravi Shankar. She went back to creating music.
Winebrenner suggests island life is not for everyone: drawbacks range from “incessantly barking dogs and jackhammers” to “stinging centipedes in my bed, poisonous snakes, giant spiders and wild boars on the trail, and feral packs of dogs with their poop”.
But counterbalancing these, she says, are “haunting birdsong, the distant blare of foghorns, spontaneous jam sessions, breathtaking sunsets, dragon dancers, cymbals and incense”.
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After five years, Winebrenner is now back on the road – this time in Italy, with Italian circus troop Le Cirque, performing in Alis, an original show for which she has composed three new songs.
“I’m somehow magically back on stage,” she says. “Except that this time, I am performing my own compositions for thousands of people and learning Italian culture, music and language.
“I’d say my coming to Lamma Island to reinvent myself as a composer and producer is working out.” ~David Vetter, SCMP 2017
ALIS and Le Cirque With the World's Top Performers
Rose is a musical artist with a show called Alis, in Italy, where she performs her most recent compositions as a vocalist and flutist.
Cirque du Soleil - ZAiA in Macau
In 2007, Rose was selected amongst hundreds of vocalists around the world to be one of the main characters of the stellar Cirque du Soleil show "ZAiA", that was presented in Macau from 2008 to 2012, where she performed over 1400 shows as singer and musician. She is also featured on the Cirque du Soleil ZAiA Soundtrack as a Vocalist, Vocal Arranger and Melodica Player.
Cirque du Soleil - ZAiA Bollywood and CNY on CCTV
In the context of two Cirque du Soleil special presentations, Rose was also featured as soloist singer for the opening of the worldwide televised 2009 Bollywood Awards Ceremony and the prestigious 2011 CCTV New Year's Gala TV Special that had a viewership of over 700 million.
CINEMATIC VOCALIST
Short film written, directed and produced by Jacqueline Haigh.
Rose sings the Elder Theme in the credits and trailer,
composed and produced by Violaine Corradi.
A young woman has a magical meeting in a mysterious wood which transforms her life.
"...The Elder premiered at the Monaco International Film Festival where Eve Pearce was honoured to receive an award for Best Actress In A Supporting Role In A Short Film! The Elder is a magical contemporary fairy tale set in the woods of North London ...and starring Kate Alderton, Eve Pearce and Jethro Skinner. The Elder continues its festival circuit tour this year." - COMPLEXITY
RECORDING ARTIST
Rose has recorded two solo albums "I Am a Butterfly" (1999) and "Setting New Standards" (2005) that have received regular airplay in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Spain and France, and on commercial Internet radio stations including Apple Music, Rdio, Deezer and Spotify.
ORIGINAL
MUSICAL THEATRE CREATION
MELODIA - full length youth-musical created in Hong Kong
In 2017, Rose teamed up with long time partner Violaine Corradi (Cirque du Soleil ZAiA, Varekai, Dralion), Lindsey McAlister and the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation to co-write the story, music and lyrics of MELODIA. Rose also starred in the show as the character Grand Ora, the flute playing sage of planet Zymbalia. Melodia's 100 member youth cast had it's world debut in 2017 in Hong Kong at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, and played to over 9000 spectators.
Along with the MELODIA Theatrical Experience, HKYAF also initiated an Outreach Art Educational Programme, which was experienced by several thousand Hong Kong school children. The Melodia story was translated into standard written Chinese, with full colour illustrations by A YIP and gifted to seven thousand school children by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Additional information
Rose Winebrenner has performed as full time singer and pianist in Chicago's piano bars for over 17 years, and has memorised well over 1000 cover songs from multiple musical genres. She has also created and hosted a diverse radio talk show broadcasted in the United-States, "Pop Up the Planet" on Chicago's WSBC 1240 AM, the most prestigious brokered radio station in the Illinois market. Rose has created and toured 4 children's shows incorporating music and theatrics to promote reading and creative writing, along with being the originator of a number of characters for Children's Educational Entertainment, and performing as a silent or singing clown for fairs and festivals as a Roving Animation Artist across the U.S.
Rose currently appears as an international musical artist with Le Cirque World's Top Performers in ALIS.
When she's not on stage, Rose is composing music for other artists, giving private music lessons, building her commercial sound library, attending spontaneous jam sessions and working on her upcoming personal musical releases.