Tiffany Castillo, Alexa Valentino, and Tina DeCara: Trifecta

Guest Host, Tiffany Castillo’s profile is so multi-hyphenate describing her can leave one breathless: Founder and CEO of Trademark Talent, Choreographer, Artist Development & Management specialist, Nonprofit Coordinator, and Producer. She also sits part-time on the boards of directors of two charity organizations on Long Island. She also served as creative director for a digital performance event: The Keep-6-Feet Festival this past year.

Her company, Trademark Talent New York, is also multi-faceted organization offering casting, artist development, and management services “to all creatives.” Also in our conversation, she outlined plans for a Trademark Foundation that would provide art, music, and entrepreneurship resources and tools for schools locally and beyond. Castillo and her company, together, create a confetti-cannon-shower of opportunities, and support for artists, the arts, and the disadvantaged on Long Island and beyond.

So, who better than Tiffany Castillo to serve as the guest host of a show that provides musical opportunities and supports our local artists? The two performers appearing on the Studio Stage this evening are represented and supported by Trademark Talent: Alexa Valentino and Tina DeCara.

Tina DeCara has a soulful voice and her songwriting is inspired by some of the world’s great musical performers. She counts among her influences Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Dave Grohl, and legends including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, and Michael Jackson. If you find her on social media and the web, you will see that Lady Gaga’s has also inspired her sartorially. DeCara has sported many looks: punky, hippie-sheek, sixties-mod, and red-carpet elegance. That’s not the whole catalog, but you get the idea, and the thing that holds all these looks together is her self-assuredness.

DeCara started performing at thirteen and recorded for an independent record label at fifteen. Her recent music and recordings have turned toward Electric Dance Music (EDM), and she has been a featured vocalist on songs by EDM composers Thoreau and Golden Pony. DeCara’s 2016 piano-based ballad “Love Drug” has had six remixes by U.S. and British DJs. Listeners can find over a dozen singles by her on Spotify, and her work is available on other platforms as well.

We expect that Tina DeCara will bring some of her panache with her to Long Island Stage.

https://instagram.com/tinadecara

http://twitter.com/TinaDeCara

Alexa Valentino is a pianist, singer, songwriter, and actor. Her recording career began at eleven when she composed “Free 2 Love” an anti-bullying song. Now at 16, she has developed momentum with singles like “Scorpio,” and “Bad Boy Good.” She cites artists Lady Gaga, Halsey, and Canadian singer-dancer Tate McCrae as influences. Pandora’s algorithm tells us that her sound is also that of Camila Cabello, and Bebe Rexha.

Valentino travels between Long Island and Nashville where she works with a team of writers collaborating and honing her skills. She also aspires to write music and songs for use in films, and television shows. Not soundtracks but music identified as sync music. Several of her songs have been picked up by sync publishing companies who will pitch them to music supervisors for placement in films and tv shows, and commercials. Valentino believes she was made for this “soundtrack” genre. Her music can be found on Pandora and other streaming platforms.

She’s already had another kind of success in the film business. As an actor, Valentino has appeared in commercials, in The Mortician (a series-pilot on Amazon Prime), and in an NBC miniseries Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo.” She also has voiced the character of Daisey, a puppy, in an animated tv pilot. Valentino is slotted for a lead role in the horror film Mittens.

We are happy she has time enough to be with us on Long Island Stage.

https://www.alexavalentino.com/