Music @ the Chance

Indulge in an intimate evening of live music performances which profile young, local talent.

$10 pre-sale / $15 at the door

No food or drink minimum. 
If you plan to sing, please bring sheet music in your correct key.
$2 service fee by phone. $1 service fee online.

Performer line-up includes…

A Los Angeles native based in Tokyo, David Chester’s creative efforts richly reflect his bicultural experience. As a pianist he has performed throughout Japan, either at 5-star hotels or concertizing with Tokyo’s top foreign talents. He has written the music or lyrics for over 80 songs recorded on major Japanese labels for both Japanese pop artists as well as American pop icons Roberta Flack and Richard Marx. He is also an accomplished short filmmaker. His dramatic short “The Lesson” has traveled the world’s film festivals and won 2012 Torino GLBT Film Festival “Best Short” and the 2013 Tokyo Lesbian & Gay Film Festival “Grand Prix” award. While maintaining a full calendar of performances, David spends every minute of his free time writing feature screenplays with his writing partner Blake Pinter. To date their screenplays have received six finalist awards in U.S. national competitions. His work has benefited from training received at the Los Angeles Writers Bootcamp, Corey Mandell’s professional screenwriting workshops, and personal mentoring by producer/writer Ellen Sandler (“Everybody Loves Raymond”). www.davidchester.com and www.davidchestermusic.com

Wendy Tobiska began performing professionally in musical theater at the age of 17. She has performed in coveted roles such as Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl,” for which she was nominated for the prestigious Irene Ryan Award; Mona Kent in “Dames at Sea” at Downey CLO, for which she was nominated as a Robby Award for Best Actress; Tzietel in “Fiddler on the Roof;” and Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha.” She has performed with many musical groups throughout California, including lead vocals in several Top 40, Rock, and R&B groups. She was a featured solo artist on the NBC-TV special “Performance” hosted by Peter Marshall, and has recorded studio work with arranger Jimmy Haskell. She appeared as Jimmy’s Mum in the world premiere production of “Quad,” a fully-staged musical tribute to The Who’s “Quadrophenia”. Wendy is proud to be a 2012 National Artist Teacher Fellow. Most recently she appeared in her one woman cabaret act ISNG4U which premiered this past fall in venues in Los Angeles and Orange County. Wendy Tobiska is a faculty and staff member at the Orange County School of the Arts in the School of Theater. Additionally, she is a drama faculty member for the Pacific Symphony’s Arts X-Press program. Wendy is a successful private voice and performance coach. She is the sole proprietor of Nova Arts and Stellar Productions, an arts teaching, coaching, and producing business. 

Like all 16 year old girls from the O.C. ‘burbs, Blythe Abigail Su-Ren Schulte wants nothing more than World Peace. Her name, in whichever languages apply, means blissful spirit, Father’s exaltation, essence of charity, virtue, and administrator. Invited by the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Blythe spent her Summer in Beijing doing live shows, TV and media/P.R. as a cross-cultural artist representing the United States. Her tour highlights include: performing her cabaret act, Blythe in Beijing, for Chinese literati and expats at an underground bar/bookstore, being cast in a top-rated international TV series, and performing live at the National Theatre. This seems incongruous for an introverted soul. Blythe’s voice and visage are featured in a series of electronic dolls; her music and words have been published in an interactive John Lennon tribute book; she has conducted a world class orchestra and has performed domestically and internationally on stage, television, and film, in multiple languages. Blythe feels privileged to have been born into the life she gets to lead. And she hopes to give back more than she takes as a singing international diplomat and performance ambassador. Perhaps she can even bring about World Peace… we’ll see what happens.

McKenna Wells is a freshman at the Orange County School of the Arts. Singing is McKenna’s passion, but she also enjoys dance,acting piano, and guitar. McKenna fell in love with Musical Theatre at the age of 9, and has been a staple at “Puttin on Productions” ever since. When McKenna is not singing or performing she can often be found at the beach hanging out with her friends.