T
he hair, the eyes, tattoos, the rock n roll flair and poise, at first glance Charles Jirkovsky has everything that can drive a girl wild, but there’s more than meets the eye. Charles is composer, musician, writer, and performer, on a highway to stardom. Charles Jirkovsky was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1989 and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and then San Diego, California after his parents divorce. Coming from a musical family, Charles was exposed to the guitar, drums, and trumpet at a young age. Eventually settling on guitar, he played with various bands in high school--everything from a Blink 182 cover band to Swing Big Bands. At age 17 he began writing and recording original music with Kelsey Martinez and Victor Lopez, with whom he would later continue to collaborate with in the following years. He moved to New York when he turned eighteen and while living there, retained his love for rock music but also gained a love for Broadway. That fusion of styles culminated in his writing of Sheila, a rock-musical. After returning to San Diego he continued to edit his musical which lead to work-shops and read-throughs while also recording and performing with his band, All in Favor. Around that time he also began playing guitar, piano, and trumpet in the orchestra pit for musicals such as Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida, Anything Goes, and many more. In mid-2011, San Diego director Geoffrey Cox took an interest in Sheila and a 2012 production is in the works accompanied by a full-length musical soundtrack which will be released February 2012.
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ast February we got the opportunity to sit down with Charles and ask him about his music driven lifestyle, and even got a chance to be part of Sheila! Here are some of the highlights...
What you hope people get from your art?
I try to use music to offer an escape. Many art forms try to either show or explain the world; others try to give us a chance to get away from its troubles. My goal has always been the latter. I’ve always wanted people to have a happy or funny reaction to my music.
“In the spirit of GREASE & HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, yet in the rock style of RENT comes an original and hilarious take on the ‘high school’ musical.” — Geoffrey Cox
Available Now! For updates and to listen to the soundtrack, please visit out page at www.facebook.com/SheilaMusical
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