Casio America, Inc is proud to celebrate the winner of the fourth installment of Guitar Center’s Singer-Songwriter artist discovery program. Lanita Smith of Memphis, TN competed for the grand prize on Friday, March 6, 2015 at the Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter 4 Grand Finals at the Troubadour in West Hollywood along with four other talented singer-songwriters. As a sponsor of this program, Casio awarded all five finalists a Casio Privia digital piano to further perfect their musical skills.
"The ability to help foster budding musicians is very important to Casio and we are eager to hear what all of the artists in the Singer-Songwriter 4 Grand Finals will create using our Privia digital pianos,” said Stephen Schmidt, vice president of Casio’s electronic musical instrument division. "Guitar Center has done incredible work creating opportunities for aspiring musicians to not only get exposure for their craft, but also to help jump-start their careers. We are extremely excited to have been a part of this event.”
Guitar Center’s Singer-Songwriter 4 launched in September 2014 and offers aspiring singer-songwriters across the country the chance to take their careers to the next level. Finalists performed in front of legendary Grammy-winning producer and program judge Don Was for their shot at the grand prize, which included a chance to record a 4-song EP with Was and mentorship from Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat. Finalists also received a number of various prizes, opportunities, and products from numerous event partners and sponsors.
"Guitar Center's Singer-Songwriter has been supporting undiscovered artists for the past 4 years now, and each year the program gets bigger and the talents gets better. We are so proud to be working with legendary producer Don Was, Grammy-winning artist Colbie Caillat, and the top MI brands to help emerging musicians catch their big break," said Jake Cheung, manager, music marketing & artist relations for Guitar Center.
All five finalists received the Casio PX-350MBK, which is part of Casio’s Privia digital piano line and comes equipped with Casio’s proprietary AiR (Acoustic and intelligent Resonator) technology. The keyboard features a combination of a new keyboard action and a powerful sound engine to provide an enhanced level of detail, nuance and expression for a superior grand piano experience.
In addition, Lanita Smith, the Grand Prize Winner, received the Privia Pro PX-5S, a genuine stage piano, advanced MIDI controller, and performance instrument. Also equipped with AiR, the PX-5S delivers acoustic piano sounds.
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