Duane Padilla, violinist, began his musical career in an extremely traditional manner. He began classical violin lessons when he was four years old and went on to receive degrees from Northwestern University and Yale University. He was still in school and earned fellowships to perform as a member of the National Repertoire Orchestra or the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. He founded the highly-acclaimed chamber ensemble The Gemini Duo in 1995. The Gemini Duo was semi-finalists in the Concert Artists Guild Competition, NYC. They also received outreach grants from Chamber Music America. After completing his university studies, Duane began a 15-year career as an orchestral musician. He started with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra and New Haven Symphony Orchestras, and then with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Duane started to explore a wider musical world after he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii in 2001. He performed as a member the Honolulu Symphony Pops Orchestra with a “who’s who” of the jazz world, including Diana Krall and Chris Botti, Diannareeves, Bela Fleck. Duane was intrigued by jazz and improvisation. He began to sit in on some of Honolulu’s most popular jazz musicians. He founded the Hot Club of Hulaville in 2009, a “jazzmanouche” group that focuses on 30’s era swing music and Stephane Grappelli. Honolulu Magazine voted them the Best Band to Hire in 2011, quickly making them one of Honolulu’s most popular bands. Their debut album, “Django Would Go!” reached #1 on Roots Music Reports’s radio/internet airplay charts. The Hawaii Academy of Recording Artists nominated Hulaville for their most prestigious Na Hoku Hano Hano Award Jazz Album of Year. Duane’s improvisational skills attract other artists than jazz. He was recently seen performing Texas Sock Hop Swing with Academy of Western Artists Female Artist of the Year Devon Dawson. He was a guest artist at Hawaii Public Radio’s Saturday afternoon concert. They performed with a variety of artists, including Celtic reels and Hindustani Ragas. His playing can also be found on the albums of many Hawaiian Pop stars such as Amy Hanalii Gilliom and Uluwehi Gururero. From www.cdbaby.com
