Gioia Bruno - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Bruno was born in Bari, Italy. She was raised in New Jersey. At the age of 16, she started singing in night clubs with bands, after being encouraged by her friend David Fields to make serious efforts with her musical career. After high school, she moved to Manhattan. In 1986 she auditioned for a group in Florida and relocated there. When performing at the Gee Wiz nightclub in Miami, Florida, she was approached by Frank Diaz, of Pantera Group Enterprises, who offered her a role in Exposé. After over nine months of recruitment attempts, Bruno finally accepted the offer and ended up joining the group.

Bruno sang lead on the Exposé singles Let Me Be The One, What You Don't Know, and Tell Me Why. She toured with the group between 1986 and 1990, except for a short period where she was replaced by Julie Albers, while on maternity leave.

In 1990, a benign throat tumor ended up putting her singing career on hiatus. An operation was considered but rejected by Bruno since it could permanently damage her vocal cords. She was forced to cut short the "What You Don't Know" tour in August 1990, just before Exposé was slated to perform at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. She left Exposé in 1991, though fans in the Exposé fan club were not told until mid-1992, shortly before the release of the next album. She was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker.

Bruno co-founded the West Broward Performing Arts Academy in Florida. She was unable to sing for a few years and even had to keep regular talking to a minimum. Finally, after about 4–5 years of healing, vocal retraining and development, she fully regained her voice, resumed her singing career. When Exposé reformed in 2006, she returned to the group for the first time in fifteen years.

As of July 2010, Gioia has rejoined Ann Curless and Jeanette Jurado, recording tracks for a new Expose' album to be released in the near future. This will be the trio's first album together since 1989.