G. Louis Hemenway

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Rocket Man

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Rocket Man
by G. Louis Hemenway

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Rocket Man
Written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin

G. Louis Hemenway

biography

G. Louis Hemenway was raised in the small Eastern Oregon town of Pilot Rock where his early musical interest, largely due to his parents love of music, the church, and AM radio, was first noted when as a 4-year-old he asked his mother, “When do I get to play piano in church”? Her reply of “you don’t know how to play piano” did not daunt him. He began piano at 6 and composing at 10. Though he was influenced by Andre’ Crouch and the Disciples, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Chicago, Earth, Wind and Fire, and The Temptations, it wasn’t until moving to Portland, Oregon to attend Warner Pacific College (now University) that Hemenway saw his abilities expand under the tutelage of Dr. Dennis Plies. With a passion for excellence and a newfound love for many styles of music many doors have been opened to him.

Hemenway’s diverse abilities have allowed him to work extensively in piano & vocal performance, soundtrack recording, production, composition, arranging, teaching, workshops, choral and instrumental directing. His work has appeared throughout the world in Nike & Avia videos and events, and at the World Olympics. His live performance work has taken him throughout the U.S., South Pacific, Europe and Asia.

His other credits include Walla Walla Symphony, McCall Musicfest, Weiden & Kennedy, Newton & Bard Studios, Will Vinton Studios, Scream Music, Kung Fu Bakery Studios, The Portland Rose Festival, The Oregon Symphony (David Byrne, Gospel Christmas, Rufus Wainwright, Byron Stripling, Carmen Bradford, Ted Louis Levy, Roberta Flack), Pink Martini, and The Heritage Singers. His greatest joy has been found in the people and groups he has worked with. They include Anthony Jones (Pink Martini), Bruce Carter, Dr. Charles Floyd, the late Chris Kent, Clark Bondy, Clipper Anderson, Curtis Stigers, Daniel Cox, Don Lewis, Gary Hobbs (Stan Kenton), Gavin Bondy (Pink Martini), Graham Lear (Santana), Mick Gillette and Lenny Pickett of Tower of Power, Mac Arnold, Mark & Sarah McMillan, Mark Schulman (Cher, Foreigner), Patrick Lamb (Gino Vanelli, Smokey Robinson, Diane Schuur, Bobby Caldwell), Phil Baker (Diana Ross & Pink Martini), Renato Curanto (Bernard Purdie & Esperanza Spalding), Saeeda Wright (Prince & Liv Warfield), the late Tim Ellis, Randy Stonehill, Steve Camp, Scott Steed (Diane Schuur), and many others.

For 23 years G. Louis has been the choir director for the Oregon Symphony’s Northwest Community Gospel Chorus, and also teaches Jazz Piano at Whitman College, in Walla Walla, Washington. He is the Choir Director for Cloverdale Seventh-Day-Adventist Church in Boise, Idaho, teaches choirs at Boise Valley Adventist School, and is the Music Director for Christ Presbyterian Church in Garden City, Idaho.

The joy of his life, his wife, Clairece, and three daughters, Sarah, Olivia, and Amelia, are all accomplished artists in their own right.

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