Incognito Artists: History
Tenors Incognito Ltd was formed in London in 2000 by CEO/Director Geoff Sewell and Director Simone Lanham.
Geoff is a chartered accountant, classically trained singer, international recording artist for record label SonyBMG and an entrepreneur. Simone is an ex-TV journalist, ex-PR account director with 10 years experience in artist management. Both are New Zealanders who have lived in London since 1997.
Geoff and Simone were joined by Creative Manager Tim Rogers, an accomplished actor and singer who has performed many lead roles in London's West End and around the world. Together they created the 'incognito' element which was unique at the time ... which segued beautifully into choosing the name of the company and the Act - Tenors Incognito.
The fabulous Divas Incognito followed a year later in 2001. The Incognito brand continued to go from strength to strength and in April 2005 the New York office opened to better service the immense corporate entertainment and party entertainment needs in the States. In September 2005 two new Acts were launched, Swing Incognito and Dancers Incognito – all concepts designed in-house by our team of creative geniuses.
In November 2006 Tenors & Divas Incognito re-branded as Incognito Artists to fully reflect the innovation, professionalism and variety delivered by the company. The name allowed for future expansion plans to be incorporated, illustrating the company's commitment to growth, new products and ideas. Subsequently more stunning new Acts were introduced in 2009 to suit corporate entertainment, private party entertainment, wedding entertainment, and wider entertainment needs: Fusion, Incognito Live in Concert and Bravo! We offer so much more than singing waiters.
Incognito Artists is truly able to provide a wide variety of incredible, polished, successfully proven Acts which involve sexy, charismatic, professional singers and dancers in bespoke 'incognito' performance packages for corporate events, private parties, weddings, barmitzvahs and stadium events. You name it, we’ve done it.
Geoff, Tim and the other Tenors & Divas (fresh from lead roles in operas and musical theatre e.g. the West End, Broadway, Glyndebourne, the Met, Covent Garden) have performed at over 1000 functions in the UK alone, and around the globe, to such high profile names as Sir Elton John, Victoria and David Beckham, Nelson Mandela and royalty such as HRH Prince William and Prince Charles.
The venues vary from performances in Sir Elton's home, Posh and Beck's home, the Royal Albert Hall, the House of Commons and the Millennium Stadium - to a packed out capacity of 80,000 people - to exotic locations across Europe, the US, Asia and Australasia.
The company is thriving in a market which had no competitors when Geoff and Simone began. Now there are several knock-offs of the 'incognito' idea but Geoff is bullish about those copying their successful format. 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', he says. 'We and our clients know we are original and the best'.
Geoff and Simone are full of pride and say, 'We have an amazing team of people both on the business side and as performers. Hardworking, talented and fun, each person in the 'family' is a valued asset and we are proud to work alongside them'.
In 2002 Geoff and Simone also came up with the concept of Amici forever, the world's first opera band. For four years Geoff was a tenor in the group's line-up and Simone was co-manager. The 'popera' group was originally titled ‘Tenors & Divas’ when they signed their record deal and now Amici is an internationally renowned classical crossover sensation. They are multi platinum selling artists having sold over three million albums worldwide with The Opera Band (2003) and Defined (2005).
Both albums went to No. 1 in NZ and No. 2 in Australia and Amici also enjoyed success in Asia, Europe and the US where their debut album was declared No. 2 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart.
Amici were nominated for a Classical Brit (UK) in 2004 and performed by request for the Queen at the Royal Albert Hall and for Prince Charles at Windsor Castle.
Geoff and Simone launched their own record label - Sewell Music - in NZ in 2008 and released Geoff's first solo album Believe, topping the charts in NZ and Australia (in Australia Geoff continues to be signed to label giant SonyBMG). The inspirational album includes a very special song, with lyrics written by Simone, called 'Sienna’s Song' with royalties going to their Sewell Foundation in NZ, set up to help families treat Autism.
Geoff Sewell and Incognito Artists Live in Concert toured NZ in 2009. One of the concerts was filmed and earned the No.1 selling DVD in NZ.