JUDGES BIO
We are honored to have a breadth of extremely talented judges all with varying musical backgrounds. These are the 4 judges, including 2cre8 LLC and family, that will be selecting the 5 Finalist for the Creople "Jingle Contest". In alphabetical order:

Charles Lachman has been a musician for over fifty years. His formative experience as a percussionist was guided by Morris Goldenberg, Toscanini's principal percussionist, at the Juilliard School, and many summers at Interlochen, where he was awarded the Band Medal and the National Music Camp Scholarship. Charles continued to perform at Amherst College, where he received his Bachelor's degree, with groups at Amherst, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts, as well as with the Springfield Symphony in Springfield, Massachusetts. In the mid 1970's Charles performed the Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, along with one other percussionist from Mount Holyoke College and two professors from Smith College. He continues his interest in music as the principal percussionist with the Ridgewood Concert Band in Ridgewood, New Jersey. When he is not playing percussion, Charles is a partner at Corporate Fuel Partners, an investment banking and financial advisory firm in New York City.

Kelly McCabe recently graduated with a Bachelor's of Art in Theatre at Rhode Island College. As a former lead singer in 2003 for Brite Phoenix, a celtic rock band, she has performed in many musical theatre roles. Her prior musical theatre experience includes the role of Benny Southstreet in "Guys and Dolls" (2003), Pied Piper in "Rats! A Rock Opera" (2003), Rosie in "Bye Bye Birdie" (2004), and Amanda in "Clockwork Waltz - an original musical based off the Dresden Dolls scores" (2006). She will be appearing in the show "Godspell" in the spring of 2010. She is also the director for children and adolescent community theatre as well as a theatre camp counselor in the state of Rhode Island. Kelly also ran part of the Junior Camp in the summer of 2006 and most of 2009 during which she assisted the children in writing a song about the camp.

Violinist, Sheryl Staples, is currently the Principal Associate Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, a position she has held since 1998. As a member of the Philharmonic, she has traveled throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, including the highly publicized visit to North Korea in February of 2008. In addition to her orchestral career, she performs frequently with the Philharmonic Ensembles at Avery Fisher Hall, the 92nd Street Y and the Metropolitan Museum Auditorium, and with the Lyric Chamber Music Society. Worldwide travel has led to chamber music performances at US Embassies in London, Paris, Hong Kong and Beijing. As a soloist she has performed with over 40 orchestras nationwide including the Cleveland Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. During her tenure in New York she has been presented as soloist in concertos of Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Haydn and Bach as soloist with the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Staples has participated in numerous chamber music festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Strings Festival, and she has been a faculty artist at the Aspen, Sarasota and Bowdoin festivals. She is married to percussionist Barry Centanni, and they have two children, Michael and Laura. Ms. Staples performs on the "Kartman" Guarneri del Gesu, c. 1728.

Crystal Waters is best known for her string of domestic and international number one dance hits in the 1990's, including her 1991 signature smash, "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)", which garnered her three American Music Award nominations and made her an international sensation. "Gypsy Woman" became a global, number one smash because of its socially-conscious lyrics and its positively infectious hook. Crystal was firmly embraced by the dance community and in 1994, she again found mainstream success with "100% Pure Love", which became one of the longest charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the charts for a whopping 48 weeks. That accomplishment earned Crystal several more award nominations, including an MTV Video Music Award nod and four Billboard Music Awards, which she won for the Top-Selling Hot Dance Music Club Play Single. She was also a model with the Ford Agency.

Crystal continues to add to her musical accolades, as she once again had a number one hit in Europe in 2007, with Alex Gaudino called "Destination Calabria". Her recently released single, "Enough" has already made impressive strides on the dance charts in early 2009. To date, she has 16 number one and top 10 singles in over 15 countries. She also recently started her own company, ClubHeadsRadio.com. You can read more about Crystal Waters on her official Web site, www.theoneandonlycrystalwaters.com.


