Christine Vaindirlis

Born in London and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa during the most horrific and diabolic era of apartheid, intolerant of the political injustice, Christine searched for the first opportunity to pursue her passion for music and take her to new horizons. At the mere age of 17, Christine moved to Milan, Italy, with a full scholarship under her belt and not a word of Italian, to train as an opera singer at the “Conservatorio di Milano G.Verdi” and later the “Teatro della Scala di Milano”, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted to have her own voice that would speak her thoughts and what was in her heart. She was endowed “The Berklee College of Music Achievement Scholarship” graduating with Honors in Contemporary Writing & Production and Performance as a Voice principal, focusing on composition, arranging, orchestration, and production for a live and studio audience. She also served as an ambassador for the College on the World Scholarship Tour Auditions and her merits were recognized by the Solo and Ensemble Award for Outstanding Musicianship. With extensive experience as a sideman and band leader in the many facets of the music industry over diverse stylistic approaches from classical to Funk, R&B, Rock, Jazz and World Music, she moved on to produce “Shikisha!”, an entertaining twenty-three piece Boston based band promoting the Music of South Africa. In 2005, she moved to New York City to experiment with world music on a different level. She longed to produce an album that would capture the essence and energy of her dearly missed South Africa. Enriched by her global chops and the Berklee experience which had pushed her envelope further, she ventured into putting her dream team together for her debut album, fruit of a deep sense of joy, and a heart-felt appreciation for life. “Dance Mama!”, a ten track original collection of arrangements infused with syncopated rhythms of traditional jazz and South African influenced horn and powerful vocal arrangements, features the up-and-coming jazz pianist Hiromi, along with the legendary Paul Simon “Graceland” accordion player Tony Cedras and Grammy-award winning bassist Bakithi Kumalo, and Cape-Jazz Pennywhistle and saxophone guru, Morris Goldberg to name a few. Three of the tracks hit the finals, semi-finals and quarter-finals of the 2009 USA, International (ISC) and UK Songwriting Competitions respectively, while the album received airplay in the US, Europe and South Africa, and on the in-flight World Music play-lists on Continental, Copa, Sri Lankan, Caribbean and United Airlines. In 2010, Christine was featured on CNN International, NBC’s New York Non-Stop, ESPN and Time Out New York. She has since had the privilege of performing at many prestigious music venues world wide, among which the Blue Note in New York City. She was also elected as one of the official judges of "In the mix" talent show on LifezoneTV to take place in July. Christine’s voice of her deeply personal experience and transcontinental life has culminated in her songs and remains a source of profound happiness and gratitude, the sunny disposition that echoes throughout her work. “It's like a house that you build, brick by brick and you never know how long it’s going to take or what it will be like. You cry and scream with frustration in between because you can’t see the final outcome, but when you look back, you think ‘wow!’ It’s fascinating how far I’ve come, it’s all going to make sense one day,” Vaindirlis smiles. Christine’s debut Album "Dance Mama!" (feat. Hiromi, Bakithi Kumalo, Tony Cedras, Morris Goldberg, Daniel Sadownick, Mauricio Zottarelli to name a few) is out NOW! Get it online at: www.dance-mama.com, cdbaby, iTunes, Amazon