Skip Sams (1996), is working in the music industry as a composer, arranger, producer and vocal artist. He produced Kate Shindle's (former Miss America, pictured to the right) solo CD with a planned release in Spring 2001. He played Che in Evita at a summer stock theater just outside of Chicago in 2000. In 1999 he founded SSP Records, a division of his Chicago based company, Skip Sams Productions, Inc. SSP's newest release, Christmases To Come, features Skip Sams' Society Sound jazz ensemble with guest vocalist Kate Shindle. Royalties for Christmases To Come will be donated to National AIDS Fund in Washington, D.C. Skip has studied with the Coservatory of Music of Cincinnati, Grove School of Music, and the University of La Verne. While at La Verne, he collaborated with Mary Anne Sellers on the composition and production of an original creation, AWAKE!, a Subliminal Opera. Inspired by Irish folklore, the dream-like opera incorporates musical idioms from gospel, rock, pop and opera. AWAKE! features a chamber orchestra with Celtic instruments and songs in traditional Gaelic language. Currently, Sams is living in Chicago and working on the libretto for his second compositional work.