Hall of Fame Announces Saxophonist Grace Kelly will Entertain Guests at Induction Celebration

August 7, 2019  by Jane Chero in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, High Point, Industry, Market   

Featured in the 2017 Emmy-winning Yamaha production The Right Note, Kelly performs with the heart and passion of an old soul yet with the genre-bending zest and energy of her generation.

“Vanity Fair described Grace Kelly as a millennial shaking up the jazz world,” says David Gebhart, president of the Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors. “Grace wrote her first song at seven years old, recorded her first CD at 12, orchestrated and performed an original composition with the Boston Pops Orchestra at 14, and performed at President Obama’s inauguration at 16.  She has performed in over 800 concerts in more than 30 countries at such notable venues as the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. We are fortunate to have her join us at the Induction Celebration.”

Kelly is rewriting the rules of the performance experience with such projects as GO TiME: Brooklyn, which brought a fully live, choreographed show to an in-person audience at a recording studio in New York, as well as to thousands more globally over a Facebook Live broadcast. Her PopUp video series, which features her playing soulful sax solos live in unexpected locations via Facebook, Instagram and her YouTube channel, draws millions of views.

A multiple award winner as a performer and as a composer, Kelly was the 2018 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize winner (country genre) and placed second in the 2017 International Songwriting Competition (adult contemporary category). Other awards include Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll 2016 Rising Star – Alto Saxophone, and Boston Music Awards 2016 Jazz Artist of the Year, among many others. She has performed and/or recorded with Questlove, Lin Manuel Miranda, Esperanza Spalding, Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Emma Stone, Huey Lewis and Gloria Estefan, to name a few.

Kelly will perform at the Induction Celebration when four industry leaders are inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame. Joining the current 116 members of the Hall of Fame are Jake Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse; Clement “Clem” M. Lange, co-founder and chairman of Best Chairs, Inc./Best Home Furnishings; Paul Maitland-Smith, founder of Maitland-Smith Ltd. and Theodore Alexander; and Jim McIngvale, founder and owner of Gallery Furniture. “Miracle on the Hudson” Captain Sully Sullenberger will be the keynote speaker, and TV personalities Bobby Berk and Kelli Ellis will serve as hosts.