Amy Banks Music

Amy Banks

Amy Banks is a singer, actress, producer, television personality, and arts professional whose career has taken her from Disney World stages to Moscow jazz clubs, from cabaret rooms and concert halls to television sets, wedding dance floors, and university performing-arts spaces.

Originally from Minnesota and now based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Amy has built a life around bringing people together through music, storytelling, and memorable live experiences. She relocated to Lancaster to join the resident company at American Music Theatre, where she performed for four seasons—and later returned for a fifth. Along the way, she became a familiar voice throughout Central Pennsylvania’s jazz and arts communities.

Amy has independently produced and released five albums, including When the Sun Comes Out, which reached Chartbound status at JazzWeek. Her fan-funded project, Amy Sings Aretha: A Motown Love Story, became a cabaret-concert-dance party recorded live before a sold-out audience at Millersville University’s Ware Center. The production later traveled to Building 24 in Reading and Long’s Park Amphitheater’s Summer Series.

Her other self-produced concert productions include Amy Sings Aretha (2014), Happy 100th Birthday, Ella! (2017), How Glad I Am: Remembering Nancy Wilson (2019), Swinging Through the Holidays (2022), and The Swinging Nutcracker Suite with Marko Marcinko and the Scranton Jazz Festival Big Band (2023). Across these projects, Amy has made a specialty of honoring iconic artists while creating shows that feel personal, joyful, and fully alive in the room.

Her professional performing career began in Atlanta, where she appeared with leading theater companies including The Alliance Theatre, Jomandi Productions, and Horizon Theatre. For nearly a decade, she performed cabaret shows with Robert Ray, developing the storytelling instincts that continue to shape her work today.

Amy later headed to Orlando to join Walt Disney World’s then-new Animal Kingdom, starring in The Festival of the Lion King. Performing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Circle of Life” each day for audiences from around the world remains one of the defining experiences of her career. After a jazz residency at the Grosvenor Resort, she returned to Minnesota for performances with Penumbra Theatre and Illusion Theater before making Lancaster her home.

Her performance résumé includes appearances at the Harrisburg Hilton’s celebrated jazz room, The Bar; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Berks Jazz Festival; Bucknell University; Atlantic City casinos; and the Michener Museum in Doylestown. She has also returned to Disney for another run of The Festival of the Lion King, performed in five original productions at the Charleston Music Hall with Brad and Jennifer Moranz, made her European club debut at Moscow’s Soyouz Kompozitorov Jazz Club, and appeared with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in Mistletoe Magic, conducted by Maestro Stuart Malina.

Television audiences may recognize Amy from her hosting work on FOX’s Design Invasion and HGTV’s Bad Baths USA.

In 2016, Amy and business partner Katie Robinette launched Central City Orchestra through Robin-Banks Entertainment, LLC. Known for polished arrangements, powerhouse horns, and a packed dance floor, CCO was twice named Best Variety Band by the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame and earned multiple Best of The Knot, WeddingWire, and Susquehanna Style honors. Amy transitioned out of CCO leadership in 2026, carrying with her years of hard-won experience in live entertainment, entrepreneurship, client service, and the particular art of having “the hardest fun you can have in heels.”

Beyond the stage, Amy has consistently invested her energy in making her community more creative, connected, and welcoming. She co-produced Aware Lancaster: Yoga & Wellness Day in 2016 and 2017; helped establish recurring jazz nights at The Greenfield, Gibraltar, and the Lancaster Marriott; and co-founded Divas of Jazz, which raised more than $70,000 for the PA Breast Cancer Coalition. Her board service has included the Lancaster Creative Factory, the Lancaster Mayor’s Office of Special Events, and Central PA Friends of Jazz.

Beginning in 2011, Amy also used her pottery practice to create OM Mugs for Rinji, raising funds to support a friend and trekking guide in Nepal as he completed his education. It is one of many examples of her belief that art can be useful, generous, and deeply personal all at once.

Today, Amy serves as Arts Operations Manager at Penn State Harrisburg’s Kulkarni Theatre, where she helps create meaningful connections among artists, students, and community audiences. Previously, she was Arts Communication Manager for Millersville University’s Office of Visual and Performing Arts.

A lifelong learner, closet entrepreneur, and enthusiastic believer in the next good idea, Amy continues to build a career at the intersection of art, culture, community, and business—ideally with fewer emails. Away from work, she lifts weights at Tread House, travels for coffee, family, museums, and a great view, occasionally catches live music for fun, and mows her lawn like it is therapy. She is also the devoted human to Possum and Nugget, her two cats, and to her mom, Myra.