Thursday, July 1, 2010

Michelle Raitzin: Long Island's Latest Pop/Rock Sensation

A chameleonic rising star, Michelle Raitzin is an 18-year-old pop/rock artist from Great Neck, N.Y. Daughter to Russian-born Michael Raitzin who holds her independent label Majestic Entertainment Co. LLC, Michelle's career has transgressed national borders and musical genres. While she has enthralled New York's Long Island music scene with her powerful voice, captivating stage presence, and musical style reminiscent of Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson, she has toured Europe and Japan with Danish heavy metal group Royal Hunt.


MIchelle Raitzin

Photo: PopCore Entertainment

Two summers ago, Raitzin traveled to Sweden with her father who introduced her to Danish heavy metal group Royal Hunt, also signed with Majestic. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship: Raitzin recorded the lead vocals for the rock band's "Tears of the Sun" on their Collision Course:Paradox II album and performed during their international tour in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan and the Sweden Rock Festival, one of Europe's largest rock festivals held in Solvesborg, Sweden in 2008. Recently, Michelle joined the rock group at the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta, Ga., the Loud Park 09 festival in Tokyo, Japan, and featured on their new album X.

One of Raitzin's foremost public performances has been a soulful interpretation of Celine Dion’s love ballad “The Power of Love” during WOR News/Talk Radio 710 HD's "Shining Star Talent Search" competition in June 2008. The performance not only earned the young artist $2,500 for herself and $10,000 for her Great Neck South High School in Great Neck, N.Y. It was also a tribute to her grandmother and musical mentor Hadassah Futernick, who had passed away several months before the contest.

“She introduced me to classical music,” Raitzin says. As her granddaughter’s artistic mentor, Futernick introduced Michelle to various music genres, classical voice training lessons at the Long Island Conservatory, and extensive dance and hip-hop classes at Long Island's Zawacki Dance Center, among other art forms.

Talent and hard work granted Raitzin the chance to record her debut album with touted engineer Bill Malina who has worked with Christina Aguilera, Alanis Morrisette and Britney Spears. Raitzin's feats also include performances in numerous events, such as the GirlFest event organized by Girl Scouts of Suffolk County in Bayport, N.Y., the Delta Fair and Music Festival in Memphis, Tenn., and the Commemoration of United Nations Day in Roslyn, N.Y.

Personal experience is Raitzin’s muse. Her repertoire includes both high-spirited rock/pop tunes with playful lyrics and love ballads delivered with the soulfulness of an R&B singer. “About Tomorrow” and “Still In Love with You” on her 11-track self-titled debut album sound like Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart”, while “Everybody Knows” has a rock/pop sound and rhythm similar to an early Britney Spears. On her debut album, the artist portrays relationships and youthful experiences that stir familiar emotions in the hearts of all young girls. For instance, “Running Away” reveals Raitzin’s experience as a teenage girl who is slowly losing her boyfriend but not her confidence and inner strength.

“A lot of my songs are about having fun," she says. "Music is something that people can look up to. [It makes] you feel inspired and powerful from within.”

Michelle Raitzin's upcoming performances include the Westfield Mall in Millford, Conn. (Jul. 3), the Westfield Mall in Bay Shore, N.Y. (Jul. 15), and Crash Mansion in New York City (Jul. 20).

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