Clayton, Giovanna Moraga

Cellist from Toluca, Mexico, who began her studies at a very young age and made her debut as a soloist in Santa Barbara, California, when she was only fourteen years old.

At sixteen years of age, she enrolled in the University of California in Los Angeles, where she studied with Colin Carr, Barry Gold, Andrew Shulman and John Walz, and earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees.

Groups with whom she has worked include The California Quartet, the Chicago Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the New West Symphony, Quattro and the Santa Barbara Symphony.

In January 2008, The California Quartet gave a pair of concerts at Los Angeles Harbor College and Pacific Unitarian Church under the umbrella of the South Bay Chamber Music Society. Their program comprised Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quartet in D major, Op. 18, No. 3, Antonin Dvorak’s Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 51, and Giacomo Puccini’s “Chrysanthemums for String Quartet”.

Recordings on which Giovanna appears include: Ahora Si! by Cachao; The Bolero Project & Mas by Francisco Castillo; Classic Moments by Patti LaBelle; Dragontown by Alice Cooper; Enamorado by Pepe Aguilar; Evolver by John Legend; F.I.L.T.H.E.E. Immigrants; The Four Seasons by Pierre Schroeder; Futuresex/Lovesounds by Justin Timberlake; Introducing Joss Stone; Little Spark by Jessie Baylin; Michael and This is It by Michael Jackson; Midwinter Graces by Tori Amos; MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends; Nha Mundo by Maria De Barros; One of Those Nights by Matt Cusson; Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson; La Rumba by Yalil Guerra; The Score of Life by Brian Kennedy; Serenada Schizophrana by Danny Elfman; Short & Sweet by Sylvie Simhon; Songs of December by Paul Anka; Stone Rollin by Raphael Saadiq; That’s Life by Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.; The Trumpet of the Swan; What Lies Within by Denise Donatelli and Ys by Joanna Newsom.

She can also be heard on the soundtracks of Angels & Demons, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Food for Thought, Horton Hears a Who!, Invictus, Iris: Cirque du Soleil, The Lost City, Mall Cop, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Nativity Story, The Pursuit of Happiness, Rocky Balboa, Spider-Man, The Tale of Despereaux, Unstoppable, Watchmen, X-Men, X-Men: First Class, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

On the small screen, she has performed on the Academy Awards, the AMA Awards, American Idol, Battlestar Galactica, the Billboard Awards, Felicity, a GMC truck commercial, the Grammy Awards, the Lady of Soul Awards, the Soul Train Awards, and The Tonight Show. She even did a voice-over for the Lifetime television network.

In the field of music education, she has dedicated her time and talents to tutoring at-risk youth. She has also composed “Music”, literally.

Sources:

Clayton, Giovanna Moraga

Navigation