Program Description

About

Tena Clark, CEO & Chief Creative Officer of DMI Music Media Solutions; Composer/Lyricist

What musical touchstone does President Barack Obama, the most powerful ruler in the world, share with Aretha Franklin, crowned the greatest singer of the rock era by Rolling Stone Magazine? The answer is the music expertise of Tena Clark. The company she founded, DMI Music & Media Solutions, programs the President’s music for Air Force One, and Clark also recently produced the Queen of Soul’s most recent album. Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Holliday, Gladys Knight, CeCe Winans, Dionne Warwick, Patti Austin, Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams and Rev. Shirley Caesar are among the iconic recording artists for whom Clark has written and/or produced. In 2009, Natalie Cole was honored with two GRAMMY awards for Still Unforgettable, executive-produced by Clark. A musical compass has guided Clark from rural Mississippi to Hollywood. Beginning at age five, she would visit New Orleans with her mother, a songwriter from the big band era, where she absorbed the city’s intoxicating rhythms. Her first professional gig at 15 was playing drums at the Crescent City’s famed Roosevelt Hotel. Since then, Clark has excelled in multiple genres across an breadth of mediums. Highlights include penning award-winning country hits, contributing to multi-platinum movie soundtracks including Hope Floats, The Five Heart Beats, Where the Heart Is, and My Best Friend’s Wedding, writing for television shows like Desperate Housewives, and creating the instantly recognizable national campaign theme, “Have You Had Your Break Today,” for McDonald’s. In homage to her musical and spiritual roots, Clark produced Church: Songs of Soul and Inspiration that included classic soul artists like Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan plus contributions from Pulitzer Prize winner, Dr. Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. A stratospheric anthem from this collection, “Way Up There,” written and produced by Clark and performed by Patti LaBelle, was nominated for a GRAMMY award. “Way Up There” was originally commissioned by NASA as their theme song. Clark, a preeminent songwriter, is one of the rare female producers in the music business, and is among the most influential women in American media. Recently, Clark was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Committee of 200, a prestigious group of the highest ranking women executives in successful private and public companies. Also, Clark recently launched “Twist, An American Musical” to rave reviews in Atlanta; Clark is the composer and lyricist. “Twist” was directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen. As CEO/Chief Creative Officer for the industry leader DMI Music & Media Solutions, the company she envisioned 13 years ago, she is involved with every imaginative aspect of the forward-thinking firm’s endeavors. But she is never far from her recording studio and her world-class campus. Writing eloquent songs and producing remarkable artists is at the heart of her musical soul.

Program music courtesy of The G-Man (Golosio Music Publishing, BMI)

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