ABOUT

The Prom Queens’ vocalists, Ayana Cheston and Hannah Rae Leach, met by chance in the fall of 2017 after they connected on Craigslist. After a tentative first meetup, the magic was obvious and palpable — their voices and ranges blending perfectly, bonding over shared long-time loves of Paramore, Lana Del Rey, Lucius, and even JoJo (plus a bit of musical theater). They began to work on music together, working on fine-tuning their harmonization skills and creating innovative arrangements of songs they loved, all while writing new material. Ayana, as a former voice major, and Hannah, as a former playwriting major, had a big, beautiful vision for the presentation and emotional life of their project. Their first gig was at Cleveland Public Theater’s Pandemonium 2018, but Ayana and Hannah needed a band — that’s when Josh Perelman-Hall came into the picture. A former coworker of Hannah’s, Josh joined the group with a level of instrumental skill and versatility that brought The Prom Queens to a whole new level. It didn’t take long to convince him to join the band as a full member, and as they brought Josh into the creative process, he brought his love of 60’s-era harmony and songwriting to the group as well. Last but not least, the sprinkles, cherries, hot fudge on top of the sundae, hyper-versatile multi-instrumentalist James O’Connor joined the band in the fall of 2021 and The Prom Queens haven’t looked back ever since — the glam, harmony-driven folk-pop quartet of dreams was formed.

AYANA CHESTON

Ayana Cheston is a vocalist and songwriter based in Cleveland, Ohio. She has loved music from an early age and grew up playing violin, acting, singing and dancing in school musicals, and singing in church and school choirs. After graduating from The Ohio State University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Ayana returned to Cleveland to launch her career as a musician.

HANNAH RAE LEACH

Hannah Rae Leach is a Cleveland-based writer, teacher, audio producer, and musician. She has a BFA in playwriting from NYU Tisch and her play Bedroom Culture received a workshop production at Cleveland Public Theater in March 2022 (with music by The Prom Queens)! She is one half of Too Pink Pictures, a film production company founded by Hannah and her sister, Audrey. Their documentary on Ohio show choir is available for streaming here! Hannah is senior producer for Evergreen Podcasts— her favorite projects are Storyworth, NPR and Ideastream’s Living For We, and Sleepover Cinema (cohosted by Hannah and Audrey). She’s also a vocal instructor and show director at School of Rock Cleveland. www.hannahraeleach.com

JOSH PERELMAN-HALL

Josh Perelman-Hall, also known by his online creator moniker, “Josh Isn’t,” is a Cleveland-based musician, songwriter, producer, audio technologist, and video creator.  As a multi-instrumentalist, he creates recordings in his studio and pairs them with funny videos. His style evokes the musical stylings of Brian Wilson brought into the modern era. He enjoys video games and wordplay.