Chloe Dolandis

The Scene Maker: Chloe Dolandis

Who she is: The 27-year-old Boca Raton entertainer — a versatile singer, songwriter and actress who performed this past weekend at the Arts Garage’s one-year anniversary gala — heads to El Paso in May to compete in the National Society of Arts and Letters’ national competition. She qualified for the trip by capturing the musical theater title against stiff competition in South Florida. “The National Society of Arts and Letters is an amazing resource for young artists,” Dolandis says. “They’re one of the country’s best-kept secrets!”

A few of her favorite things:

Favorite place to perform: “The Arts Garage is one of Delray’s newest hotspots and serves as an eclectic home for locally, nationally and internationally recognized performing/visual artists. The audiences there are supremely appreciative and interactive, which makes being on stage a great time.”

Arts Garage, 180 NE 1st St., Delray Beach, (561) 450-6357

Favorite cultural destinations: “I love seeing live music and cabaret acts. The Crest Theatre in Delray Beach has been one of my staple spots for watching some of Broadway’s legends up close and personal. There’s also The Colony in Palm Beach, which offers a more intimate, club-style setting. It’s great for a date night or just for an evening out that makes you feel like you’re in NYC.”

The Crest Theatre, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, (561) 243-7922

The Colony Hotel, 155 Hammon Ave., Palm Beach, (561) 655-5430

Favorite place to go on a Friday night: “Guanabanas in Jupiter is such an unexpected tropical haven. The ambiance is genuinely Florida-esque, with the walkway to an outdoor stage canopied by lush trees. You can dance all night to killer local bands when you go! After hours, I go to Dada. It’s another place with a truly unique atmosphere — and really good food.”

Guanabanas, 960 N. Highway A1A, Jupiter, (561) 747-8878

Dada, 52 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, (561) 330-3232

Favorite vegetarian restaurant: “For a sit-down meal, Sophie n Me is hands down my favorite restaurant in Boca. They serve only all-natural, sustainable and/or organic ingredients and cater really well to vegetarians and vegans. My favorite meal so far: The coconut curry soup, quinoa and pesto salad, and a vegan cupcake (one of the best I’ve ever had). “For something quick, I’m a huge fan of 4th Generation Organic Market’s prepared food. Try the vegan mac and cheese, raw kale salad, rich brownies and other heavenly chocolate treats.”

Sophie n Me, 4251 N. Federal Hwy., Suite 6, Boca Raton, (561) 961-4899

4th Generation Organic Market, 75 SE 3rd St., Boca Raton, (561) 338-9920

Favorite crafts fair: “The Downtown Delray Beach Craft Festival is always a great place to find inspiration or to pick up an interesting gift. Last time I went I came across some awesome art!”

The next Downtown Delray Beach Craft Festival will take place Oct. 6-7. - The Palm Beach Post

There's a funky, fresh, new beat in town and her name is Chloe Dolandis. The bubbly, energetic 26-year-old has a style for music that will leave you snapping your fingers and moving your feet to the soulful beat.

Dolandis comes from a family rich in music, art and dance, which have inspired her throughout her career. Her debut album, "Bring Back The Fever," is a combination of jazz, pop and soul, with songs like her hit single, "New Suit" and "Let's Make This Moment."

The 12 songs on her album offer a unique stylistic blend reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, and Better Midler. Dolandis has performed at various local venues, such as the Van Dyke on South Beach, and she can also be booked for private events. I suggest checking out her music video for "New Suit" on YouTube, and you can also follow Dolandis on Twitter to see where she'll be singing next.

Want to catch Chloe in action? Check www.chloedolandis.com for upcoming shows. - Luxury Magazine

It came as little surprise to Mindy and Rory Dolandis when their daughter, Chloe, developed an interest in music.

A 26-year-old singer/songwriter from Boca Raton, Dolandis was exposed to jazz, pop and classical music at an early age.

"My grandfather was a big band leader up in New York, and he's still playing," she said. "He's 83. When we lived in Aventura, he used to have me come down and have little music lessons with him. And my dad has been a musician since before I was born. He played with my grandfather and then he played with a wedding band. He still does that. There was always music in the house."

Dolandis, a Florida Atlantic University graduate, took up dancing at age 5 and musical theater at 7. She also began doing commercials at 9 and voice-overs at 14 and studied classical music in between.

"I kept developing and progressing into different forms of performing," she said.

Singing and songwriting, though, remains her passion. Dolandis, who writes music constantly and performs once or twice a month at local venues, released her debut album, Bring Back The Fever, on April 19.

A blend of jazz, pop and soul, the album reached No. 19 on the Top 300 iTunes jazz album downloads within a week of its release.

Dolandis, who has worked steadily in television as a voice-over artist for HBO Latin America and as an on-air personality for Nickelodeon, is busy with promotional work for her album.

"It's all original music," she said. "We were in the studio recording for a very long time. That's the nature of my life and my producer's life."

Life won't slow much for Dolandis if she achieves her career goals.

"I want to be internationally known as a singer/songwriter and a recording artist and tour, and just grow musically and continue doing what I'm doing," she said. "I want that big dream."

What are your hobbies?

Yoga, vegetarian cooking, crafts and sewing.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Reading books in a red bathtub at her elementary school library. 'It felt like a cocoon. It was really comforting.'

What event in history would you like to have witnessed?

'I would love to have grown up in the '50s and '60s. I like the sort of innocence of the '50s, but then on the flip side, I would like to have been at Woodstock.'

Who is your hero or someone you admire?

Princess Diana. 'I remember hearing about her when I was much younger. She was really humble, and she was in the trenches. She would go to Africa, and she would go and volunteer. I think that was really admirable.'

What do you do to get away from it all?

Song writing and yoga.

Who would you like to have dinner with?

Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. 'Without social media, look at what they did. Look at what an impact they had on people.' - The Palm Beach Post

Bring Back the Fever, the new album by Chloe Dolandis, features a song titled "Girl Can Wail." Having seen the soulful pop singer perform at Chrystal Hartigan's monthly singer-songwriter night at the Broward Center, I can attest that Dolandis can indeed wail. Once an on-air personality for Nickelodeon's Friday Night Slimetime, Dolandis sings with remarkable power.

Her album's energetic title track offers a fine example of her expressive voice. "Gotta let you in, feel the heat ‘cause it's strong enough," Dolandis sings. "Take the chill from my bones and heat me up/So come over tonight like you did last night/Let the music take control." While the song is a bit flirtatious, Dolandis, who has been performing since age 5, says it's really about reviving a style of music that is not very prominent.

With her sweet, soulful and often sassy tunes, Dolandis could lead such a revival. Her album, which features local musicians Fernando Perdomo and Derek Cintron, includes songs such as "In My Dreams," about being lost inside a beautiful dream in which lovers never leave; "Bittersweet," which concerns feeling devastated and alone after a breakup; and "New Suit," on which Dolandis roars, "Put on your new suit/We're going out tonight/Put on your new suit/Three-piece and a black tie. … Wear your best, get dressed/Come with me tonight." (Watch Dolandis perform "New Suit" here.) - The Sun Sentinel, City Link

Through her appearances on YouTube, and in clubs from Delray Beach to Miami, Boca Raton vocalist Chloe Dolandis (chloedolandis.com) is developing the deserved reputation of a rising young jazz singer. But if that’s the basis for your purchase of her debut CD, Bring Back the Fever (DFM), you’ll be in for a surprise.

The opening track, Let’s Make This Moment, is an infectious pop burner that more resembles Katrina & the Waves’ 1985 hit Walking On Sunshine. Solid Woman is a sassy R&B number anchored by Dolandis’ powerful horn section, and two ballads – All I Need Is To Be With You and Bittersweet – hint the most at jazz through the all-star South Florida rhythm section of upright bassist Chuck Bergeron and drummer John Yarling.

Fellow regional notables like keyboardist Rick Krive, drummer Derek Cintron and multi-instrumentalist and producer Zach Ziskin provide Dolandis with a rock-solid instrumental foundation and an impeccable sound throughout, and she impressively co-wrote all 12 songs. Despite most of its energy being front-loaded, the disc is a solid debut for the singer, whichever genre she eventually chooses. - The Palm Beach Post

Chloe Dolandis is one determined young woman. She has spent 20 of her 26 years getting to where she is today: a promising young recording artist with her first CD album. “Chloe Dolandis: Bring Back the Fever” is not just any recording; it is a family team effort.

She wrote or co-wrote each of the 12 songs with her mother Mindy and father Rory. The album, produced by Zach Ziskin, features a host of South Florida musicians, including Rick Krive, Max Farber, Chuck Bergeron and John Yarling, with horn and string arrangements by platinumselling arranger Charles Calello.

“The album has been getting radio airplay and great reviews,” says Mindy Gars Dolandis, who Chloe calls her “momager.” “Ed Bell (WLRN producer-announcer) has been a champion of Chloe, and he has given us a laundry list of people to see and things to do.”

Bell is a long-standing promoter of South Florida-based musicians with his South Florida Arts Beat show on Miami’s NPR station. “Chloe Dolandis is a rare talent,” states Bell. “She truly delivers as a terrific young singer-songwriter offering her heartfelt gems with maturity and sense of style well beyond her years. I predict she’ll have a long and excitingly creative career.”

Like her mother before her, Chloe Dolandis began performing with dance at age 5. She began musical theater at 7 at a community theater summer camp and turned professional at age 10 as understudy for the lead role of “Annie Warbucks” at Broward Center for the Arts.

Chloe won a number of awardsas a member of the InternationalThespian Society while a student atOlympic Heights High School. In2004 she won first place in MusicalTheater Competition for the BocaRaton/South Florida Chapter ofNational Society of Arts & Letters.She graduated summa cum laudefrom Florida Atlantic Universityin 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts inInterdisciplinary Studies: Arts andHumanities.
Chloe won a number of awardsas a member of the InternationalThespian Society while a student atOlympic Heights High School. In2004 she won first place in MusicalTheater Competition for the BocaRaton/South Florida Chapter ofNational Society of Arts & Letters.She graduated summa cum laudefrom Florida Atlantic Universityin 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts inInterdisciplinary Studies: Arts andHumanities.

Chloe has already been an on-air personality for Nickelodeon’s “Splat” and “Friday Night Slimetime.” She has been featured on NBC’s “Fame,” “Showtime in Harlem,” VH1’s “In search of the Partridge Family and the Discovery Channel’s “New Detective.” She has a “day job” at FAU with YouniversityTV and she has provided English voices for Cartoon Network’s Disney Spain cartoon series.

“I believe in working hard and being grounded,” Chloe says. “I know success doesn’t happen overnight. I’ve always tried to put out my best effort no matter how big or small my Chloe 19 Years, Nickelodeon’s SPLAT ! audience is. It’s about real, well-crafted, thoughtful music. I am fortunate to have so many friends who believe in me too.”

Chloe covers the waterfront in her musical styles, beginning with the uptempo, big-band sound of “Let’s Make This Moment,” and segueing to the rhythm-and-bluesy “Solid Woman,” the sassy, finger-snapping “Don’t Call Me;” the lovely, sultry ballad “All I Need is to Be With You” and the vocal gymnastics and percussive, funky rhythms of the title son, “Bring Back the Fever.”

Chloe was sole author of the contemplative, melancholy “Learning to Let Go.” “New Suit” was written with her mother, father and family friend Chris Castle. A video produced, directed and shot by Chloe, has been chosen as the official song for Dress for Success Palm Beaches, a charitable organization she supports. Chloe really shows her vocal range on the aptly-titled “Girl Can Wail.” There are a dozen songs in all on the CD, written over the course of several years, starting with title song “Bring Back the Fever,” first recorded in 2003. “A lot of the ideas came when I was still in school, and doing the TV stuff” she relates. “I was very focused on college. Now I can devote myself more fully to music. It helps to keep your chops up. I write regularly in the morning, while I’m fresh. I like that you have to be prolific to be proficient, and hopefully, profound.” For more information about Chloe visit: www.chloedolandis.com. - Atlantic Ave Magazine

What a debut! This album practically bursts out of the speakers with the swinging, horn-powered opener “Let’s Make This Moment,” setting off a terrific musical journey. Most of the acoustic piano, Rhodes, and Wurly is deftly handled by Max Farber. Adding keyboards are Rick Krive on B-3 and some piano, renowned producer Zach Ziskin, and Chloe’s dad Rory on further piano. From upbeat tracks like “Solid Woman” and the title cut to ballads like “Learning To Let Go,” this flawless disc should launch Dolandis and crew onto the global scene. -Robbie Gennet - Keyboard Magazine

"Chloe is the firecracker that's packaged in a soft, petite woman. She can belt out any tune or sing a sultry song that's way beyond her years." - Boca News

They say youth is king. If that's the case, a dynasty has risen in south Palm Beach County with these 40 rising stars.

Chloe Dolandis, 25

Singer/songwriter/entertainer; hosted Nickelodeon's "Friday Night SlimeTime" and "SPLAT!"; winner of South Florida's first Rising Star competition - Boca Life Magazine

By Lindsey Caruana

An old soul lies deep within the confines of this vibrant, petite-framed vocalist. Chloe Dolandis, 24, born in New York City, has music flowing through her veins...crediting Frank Sinatra, and Earth, Wind & Fire as inspirational idols. Although awarded "Chloe Dolandis Day" in 2004 by former Boca Raton mayor, Steven Abrams, this South Florida-based jazz/pop/soul songstress still manages to stay grounded and plans to drop her debut album next year. "Performance-wise, I have some shades of Bette Midler, I've been told," Dolandis says. "But then there is this funky, soulful, slamming music that comes out of me, and I don't think there is a lot to compare it to now." - Gold Coast/ Boca Life Magazine

By Colleen Dougher

Occasionally, we encounter performers who seem so confident about that voice that comes from very deep inside, they may not need a microphone. Pop, jazz and soul singer Chloe Dolandis is one of those singers. When she launches into “Bring Back the Fever,” a song about what happens when life leaves her cold, she sounds as if she knows exactly what she needs to get warm. “Gotta let you in, feel the heat ‘cause it’s strong enough,” Dolandis sings, “Take the chill from my bones and heat me up/So come over tonight like you did last night/Let the music take control.” During the chorus, she sings, “Bring back the fever, oh it’s making me hot … Bring back the fever, feel my temperature rise/Can’t you see the look in my eyes? Bring back the fever tonight.” Despite the song’s forthcoming nature, Dolandis says it’s about music. “ ’Bring Back the Fever’ definitely has an air of flirtation,” she admits. “But with the album as a whole, we’re talking about bringing back this type of music, this style that’s not necessarily lost but isn’t really in the foreground, in pop culture, as much as we would like it to be.” The song, which she co-wrote with friend Chris Castle and her parents, is the title track to the album Dolandis has been recording with her producer, Zach Ziskin. To hear the song, visit Myspace.com/chloedolandismusic. - City Link

By Kay Renz

Boca has many outstanding community leaders, especially some amazing women who have been mentors and role models to me and so many others. Every week we see these incredible ladies in the pages of our paper looking lovely and helping support our town’s many worthy causes. Their influence is long-lasting and is inspiring the next generation of stylish givers.

Recently, I caught up with Chloe Dolandis who was being honored at Blue Martini, Town Center as part of Boca Life Magazine’s “40 Under 40” issue. This incredibly talented young singer, only 25 years old, has already made her mark on this town and I feel she is poised to take on the nation when her debut album, “Bring Back the Fever,” produced by Grammy award winning engineer Zach Ziskin, is released this winter. Currently, she is putting the finishing touches on it!

I first met Chloe many years ago when she was participating in BRET’s (Boca Raton Educational Television) first Rising Star competition. I was impressed by her soaring vocals and outgoing stage persona. Naturally, as a PR person who does many events, I thought she would be perfect to perform at some of my charity functions. She was gracious then and has continued to be there for me and the many causes I have worked with over the years.

Whether I needed help raising funds so a beautiful little local girl could travel to visit an eye specialist, or I needed a special tribute to the soldiers, Chloe always came through time after time. But this is not a surprise to those who know her, giving back is simply part of her. Some of the charities she has supported include Forgotten Soldiers, The Haven, The Andy Roddick Charity Foundation, Food for the Poor, America’s Promise –Boca Raton and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“I grew up doing it,” she explained. “I am very lucky to be able to do what I love, and I have had the honor of performing at many charitable functions. I have also been extremely fortunate to have had many mentors, so I really also enjoy working with young performers helping to mentor them in return.”

Those who see Chloe perform either live or on TV shows such as Showtime in Harlem, VH1’s In Search of the Partridge Family and NBC’s Fame, immediately notice that she has unique fashion style that has developed over the years. She is as distinctive in her look as she is in her vocal presentation—the mark of a true star.

Many years back, I did a fun fashion story at The Boca Raton News with Chloe and the girls of The Rising Star competition at Bloomingdales. The look then was sort of Rocker Chic, but today Chloe has developed her own style by creating a mix current and vintage pieces.

“I love shopping at vintage and thrift stores,” she reveals. “They have so many unique items, and I like the idea of supporting the local economy.”

She also enjoys seeking out the deals at Loehmann’s and like all young women there is the occasional raid of mom’s closet. Mix it all up and you have a trend-setter to watch!

Makeup wise, Chloe loves vegan makeup brand ZuZu and Gabrielle available at Whole Foods. And you will also see the singer stocking up on lots of healthy good food there as well. “I love to be green and eco-friendly,” she says.

Whether looking out for the environment or any of the causes that are dear to her, Chloe is always giving from the heart. Our town is very lucky to have her and I know we will all be cheering her on as she takes her next steps to stardom! - The Boca Raton Tribune