Pioneer Records Selects Rock Guitarist and R&B Singer as its Newest Stars Tuesday, November 26, 2019
“These are two exceptional artists! Elias is an amazing guitar player and has already done so much with his music career. Dejah has a wonderful voice and has showed a lot of vocal range as an artist."
Pioneer Records, Point Park University's student-operated record label in the Rowland School of Business, has selected Elias Khouri and Dejah Monea, both sports, arts and entertainment management majors, as its 2019-20 Pioneer Stars.
Khouri, 18, a graduate of Nazareth Prep (formerly Holy Family Academy) in Emsworth, Pa., is focused in the rock, blues and soul genres. He takes inspiration from some of his favorite artists such as Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.
Monea, 20, a Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School graduate, has been developing her music talent since she was the age of 9. She finds inspiration from other young aspiring artists, as well as big name musicians like Beyonce, Chance the Rapper and Lauren Hill. Monea focuses her style of music in the R&B genre, but likes to change it up at times as well.
Since 2015, the University's record label has held a music contest each year to find talented musicians in the Pittsburgh region to be its Pioneer Stars. SAEM Professor Ed Traversari, MBA, supervises Pioneer Records, exposing students to real-world experiences in the entertainment management field.
"Elias and Dejah both presented so much immense musicianship through their submission that Pioneer Records decided that they needed to take this opportunity to work with both artists. This now makes eight artists on the label’s roster," Traversari said.
“These are two exceptional artists! Elias is an amazing guitar player and has already done so much with his music career. Dejah has a wonderful voice and has showed a lot of vocal range as an artist,” said Aimee Renninger, a junior SAEM major and director of operations for Pioneer Records.
The Pioneer Stars will have the opportunity to record a song with Jesse Naus, owner/engineer at Red Caiman Studios and will receive their own CD copies (with artwork done by Pioneer Records) to distribute. Additionally, Monea will work with the SAEM Music Video Workshop class and the University's cinema arts department to film a music video to promote her single.
In March 2020, Khouri and Monea will both perform at the Pioneer Records CD release Party at The Club at Stage AE.
Pioneer Records is equipped with booking, marketing, operations, multimedia and graphic design departments, all of which work to create a successful brand for artists, while allowing students to gain real-world, professional experience.
For more information about Pioneer Records and its artists visit, PioneerRecords.org.