Amaryllis Santiago, The Latin Phoenix®™ to present at the 16th Annual Lehigh Valley Music Awards

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Feb. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- ~

Ms Santiago has two main projects on her plate for 2015, a Salsa album release along with a Smooth R&B album release. Her travels have recently taken her to Atlanta Georgia for promotional interviews and she will be in Puerto Rico for ten days recording her upcoming Salsa Album in late February.

Upon returning to the US in March she will be presenting for her third year at the 16th annual Lehigh Valley Music Awards. This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the Artsquest Center, Steel Stacks complex, Musikfest Cafe' in Bethlehem Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 8th, 2015 at 4pm. Tickets available at www.steelstacks.org
After presenting, her travels will  take her to Chicago Illinois to record her Smooth R&B album in mid March.


About the Lehigh Valley Music Awards (LVMA) ®

The Lehigh Valley Music Awards (LVMA) ® is a prestigious annual extravaganza that honors, rewards and celebrates the music industry of the greater Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. The LVMA ® is produced by The Greater Lehigh Valley Music Association (GLVMA) ®, an official non-profit 501c3 volunteer organization designed to produce music related events throughout the Greater Lehigh Valley along with providing grants for music education.


Additional info at:
www.lehighvalleymusicawards.org
www.glvma.org

About Amaryllis Santiago aka The Latin Phoenix®™

Amaryllis, aka The Latin Phoenix ®™, is best known in the Latin community throughout the world for her sexy Latin image, and has received acclaim for her music in the Smooth R&B and Latin Salsa markets.

Amaryllis’s inspiration for music began at an early age in Lebanon, PA. Music was not encouraged in her home due to a strict church upbringing.  Her brothers, Ivan and Luis, would cover for her if she was involved in music.  She learned how to rig the old cassette players to the main stereo to record herself singing. At times her brothers would scream, “ENOUGH already!” Ivan understood Amaryllis loved singing and promised that when she turned 21, he would take her to “Woofer Magoo’s” in Lebanon to sing Karaoke. He kept his promise and a life-long “family” relationship began with Woofer Magoo’s original owners, Georgie, Charles Bundy, and some of the patrons.

In the early 90’s, Amaryllis promised her Woofer Magoo’s “family” when she was on the big stage, they would be there as her VIPs. Charles Bundy escorted her on stage to sing her first song, and saw her go from singing Karaoke to sharing the stage with Jose Feliciano in 2013. The Woofer Magoo’s “family” was in the audience. Back in the day, Charles used to put a screen in front of Amaryllis while she sang karaoke with her hand inside her jean pockets because she was shy. Those who know Amaryllis today might raise an eyebrow if the word “shy” is used to describe her. She’s lead conga dances while handing out promo material, and, in some music circles, is affectionately known as the “aggressive queen of follow-up” because of her fierce passion for connecting people for projects.

Amaryllis’ hero, and most important inspiration, is her daughter Desa-Rhea Jefferson who was diagnosed with liver cancer at age two.  As a single mother, Amaryllis promised Desi that she would never give up on her education or her music. True to her word, Amaryllis earned her MA in Music and Third Sector Leadership, and is a fierce advocate for women and children. Twenty six years later, Desi is in her third remission of battling cancer, a proud mommy of two boys, and an MBA graduate.

Her upcoming 2015 projects and collaborations are with Ray Fry, lyricist and CEO of Midas King Productions (London, UK) and his team, and Grammy Award-winning Italian producer Giampaolo Pasquile and Michele Garutti, who are currently collaborating on her next Smooth R&B Album due to be released by Play Records in early 2015.

While on a media/radio tour with Jose "Coco" Solis, her promoter in the Dominican Republic, she was introduced to Jose Peña Suazo, international merengue artist and creator of the group, “La Banda Gorda.”  Suazo wrote, composed, and arranged a song for her upcoming EP album. The album will also feature original music by Julio "Gunda" Merced who is recognized as one of the most accomplished Salsa producers. (Among his accolades are over a hundred hits and seventy record productions in collaboration with Nino Segarra, Tito Gomez, Luisito Carrion, Gilberto Santa Rosa, MP All Stars, Puerto Rican Power Orchestra, Mimi Ibarra, Roberto Roena, and Willie Rosario.) This will be her third Latin Salsa music project. Her previous albums, "Sabor Latino" and "No Me Doy Por Vencida" were GRAMMY and LATIN GRAMMY submissions for consideration in 2011 and 2012.

The “Sabor Latino” album was produced in collaboration with Aaron “El Kosherican” Levinson, winner of the Grammy for Salsa Album of the Year 2005. Edy Martinez, also a Grammy nominee, arranged and played piano on her song. (As musical director he’s accompanied icons Ray Barreto, Gato Barbieri, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría and Dizzy Gillespie. As a pianist, he has played with many legends of the salsa and Latin jazz world including Rubén Blades, Jerry Gonzalez, Celia Cruz, Alfredito de la Fé, Paquito de Rivera and others.)

The album “No Me Doy Por Vencida” reached #34 in The Tropical Latin Charts in 2012. It was produced in collaboration with Erben Perez (Mark Anthony's Bass Player for 20+ years), and Craig White who is a 30-year veteran of all phases of the entertainment industry. (His engineering credits include projects with Celine Dion, Kool and the Gang, Gerald Levert, Wendy O. Williams, and most of the Philadelphia International Records roster; Phyllis Hyman, Dexter Wansel, The O’Jays, and Lou Rawls.)

The Next Level CD was her first original studio recording andreceived a special mention at Marché  International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale (MIDEM), the Cannes, France music trade fair. Amaryllis is the first jazz Latina to have 2 songs in the Top 10 of MIDEM’s Preview Magazine in 2008. (#6 - Simply Me and #10 - VFW.)

Amaryllis’ company, Syllirama Entertainment, LLC, produced the Jose Feliciano “World Tour 2013” at The Forum Auditorium in Harrisburg, PA, where she performed as his special guest. She’s a GRAMMY & Latin Academy of Recording Art and Sciences (LARAS) voting member, and former Governor for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy.  She is also a member of the HACC-Central PA Community College Music Industry Advisory Board.

To listen and purchase music visit: www.syllirama.com