PASADENA, Calif. (CelebrityAccess) Gina Zamparelli, 59, concert promoter and founder of Zamparelli Productions in Pasadena, Calif., died May 21 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor May 4.
Zamparelli’s ordeal was described as “a cancer that moved in quick, grew very fast, was brutally destructive and in a place where doctors could not surgically get to it,” according to a statement issued by her family to the Pasadena Weekly.
Zamparelli, who promoted heavy metal, had a long history with concert promotion, starting in 1982 with a show that included Armored Saint, which she promoted on her Facebook page as recently as Jan. 19, and worked with Black Massive last year. She was known as the first woman music promoter in the U.S. to promote concerts in major venues with nationally known artists, her sister, Marisa Zamparelli, told the Pasadena Weekly.
She produced shows at Perkins Palace (opening in 1921 as Jensen’s Raymond Theatre and then for a brief time prior to its closure in late March 1991 becoming the Raymond Theatre), the Roxy Theatre, the Whisky a Go Go, the Hollywood Palladium, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and the Wadsworth Theatre, according to the Colorado Music Business Organization website.
In her hometown of Pasadena, however, Zamparelli was known for her efforts to preserve the city’s Raymond Theatre, forming the organization Friends of the Raymond Theatre in 1987. In 2000, she was named Citizen of the Year in Pasadena Weekly‘s annual Best of Pasadena reader’s poll for her work with the organization. In 2004, the California Preservation Foundation awarded Friends of the Raymond Theatre that year’s President’s Award, the highest honor in the state in regards to historic preservacion, according to the paper.
H/t Pasadena Weekly.
