Description

This week’s episode features Trace Gaynor, a professional acapella singer and member of the all Filipino vocal group The Filharmonic. The group went viral after appearing in the hit film Pitch Perfect 2. They now have a recurring role on The Late Late Show with James Corden. They’ve toured nationally and internationally, including the national tour of The Sing-Off.  The Filharmonic has been named the #1 college booked entertainment group of the year, having visited over 120 colleges nationwide. They’ve shared the stage with acts such as Shawn Mendes, Liam Payne, Future, Fifth Harmony, Pentatonix, Black Eyed Peas, Linkin Park, Usher, & Jamie Foxx.

Trace sings tenor in The Filharmonic and also manages their dynamic social media presence as media director. His roots come from journalism and documentary filmmaking. He and a friend won the 2006 Chicago Children’s International Film Festival with a short film, Genie in a Bottle: Unleashed, about the history and consequences of developing the atomic bomb. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism. 

We speak with Trace about: 

• Growing up in a primarily white neighborhood, 
• Observing his identity as half white and half Filipino,
• His love for storytelling,
• Rediscovering his Filipino Roots after joining The Filharmonic,
• And his next steps towards going back into Journalism through MyxTV

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Relevant Links:

Learn more about The Filharmonic: http://www.thefilharmonic.com/

Here’s a clip of CNN interviewing Trace and his collaborator Steven Sotor about "Genie In A Bottle Unleashed," a documentary that explores the history and consequences of the development of the atomic bomb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN67xyjY5y0

You can watch the documentary here: https://archive.org/details/Genie20050810

Check out MyxTV, the only English-language Asian American entertainment network in the United States: https://myxtv.com/

Trace is developing a show for the network called, And We’re Live . 

Show Announcements:

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