Aaron Novik is a clarinetist, bass clarinetist and composer that has been living and performing in the bay area for 13 years. He performs hybrids of many styles, including jazz, classical, klezmer, improv among others. His compositional style blends genre and technique to create a unique hybrid.
A singer/songwriter from Bogota, Colombia, Alejandra has sung professionally for over 15 years. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and the Sound, Voice and Music Healing program at CIIS in San Francisco, CA. She has toured different countries performing original jazz, folk, world and electronic music.
She specializes in Voice Healing Therapy, a series of techniques that combine breath work, movement, imagery and singing. She guides students on freeing their authentic voice for pleasure, inner knowing and transformation.
Alejandra is one-half of the South American Electronic Folk duo Lulacruza, and also performs her original material with the Italian composer Laura Inserra.
Alejandro Carrasco, also known as Alex Conde Carrasco on the jazz and world music scene, is becoming fast a well know figure on the international jazz and world Son of the Spanish singer Alejandro Conde, one of the most relevant voices of the ‘Popular Spanish Song’, Alex Conde started at age of 3 playing piano learning from his father all the traditional music from Spain. At the age of 8 he enrolled at the Jose Iturbi Conservatory of Music of Valencia in Spain, graduating with excellence on classical performance eight years after. During that time he traveled through Europe to perfect his style on the classical style. He started into jazz at the Liceu de Barcelona, Spain where he graduated 4 years after and received a scholarship from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where graduated ‘Cum Laude’. Once in Boston, Alex Conde soon started to perform his own music, mix of flamenco and jazz with artist such as John Patitucci, Jamey Haddad and Danilo Perez among many others, all around the United States (Kimmel Center Philadelphia, MIT Theater, Boston College, BeanTown Jazz Festival, Columbus University Ohio) and Latin America (Panama Jazz Festival, Eurojazz Mexico) the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Canada and many others around Europe. His music has the rhythms and cadences from the flamenco, improvisation and harmony of jazz and the technique and heritage of the classical European composers. His first album ‘Jazz & Claps’ recorded in Spain is a mix of all that tradition and contemporary sound that Alex Conde incorporates to his compositions. The music is a mix of cultures and musicians from countries as Greece, Panama, United States, Spain, Israel, France and Italy. Danilo Perez, who was Alex Conde teacher on his time in Boston, called his group ‘the United Nations band’.
Alpha Oumar “Bongo” Sidibe is a traditional drummer from Conakry, Guinea in West Africa. He is Musical Director of Duniya Dance and Drum Company and founder and lead singer of the Wontanara Band. Bongo studied drumming with Master Drummer Mamady Keita at his school, Tam Tam Mandigue, Guinea, and participated in his workshops in Conakry and Balandougou, Mamady’s village. He performed with Ballet Jah Karlo in Dakar, Senegal, and recorded the CD “N’dguel Fall” and toured with Orchestre Baye Fall. Before leaving Guinea, he was co-director of Balandougou Kan, a group of traditional percussionists and dancers. Since arriving in the U.S., Bongo has performed with The Grateful Dead, Rhythm Village, Mickey Hart, Joan Baez, and Black Nature from Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars.
Brandi Brandes is a multi-disciplinary percussionist, keyboardist, vocalist, composer and resident artist of the Climate Theater in San Francisco. She has studied primarily with San Francisco Ballet principle percussionist David Rosenthal and Machete Ensemble composer and arranger John Calloway. Brandi’s musical foundation is in theater and competitive marching band, and her musical evolution was through the widely diverse ensembles in the artistic communities of San Francisco: Punk Rock Orchestra, Garnada Arabic and Flamenco Quintet, Rennea y Sus Amigos salsa and Venezuelan folk music ensemble, The SFSU AfroCuban ensemble, and the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. Original theater compositions include City Circus’ Kamikaze Heart at the Brava Theater, Tim Barsky’s 7 Beggars and Summer Shapiro’s Legs and All at the Climate Theater, and Territories at the Magic Theater. Theater orchestra credits include Tommy, West Side Story, The Wiz, and she is a regular stage band member for San Francisco’s award-winning sketch comedy troupe Killing My Lobster. Brandi holds a Bachelor’s in music with World Music emphasis from San Francisco State University.
Clara Rodriguez has dedicated the last 20 years to the study of flamenco dance and music, along with parallel training in classical piano. She began her dance training in her native Santa Barbara and continued her studies in Los Angeles and most recently in Andalucia, where she resided for the past two years. While living in Granada she performed regularly at such venues as Tablao Albayzin, Venta el Gallo, Eshavira, Zoraya de los Jardines, and has performed in Valencia and Portugal. She has studied flamenco dance in Spain with Concha Vargas, Juana Amaya, Andrés Marín, Isabel Bayón, Andres Peña, Úrsula Lopez, Alicia Márquez, Ana Calí, Luis de Luis and Patricia Guerrero. Cante teachers include Inés Bacán and Miguel Ángel Vargas Rubio, both of Lebrija in Andalucia. She has performed regularly in the Los Angeles area at the Fountain Theater “Forever Flamenco” series, Kodak Theater, Greek Theater, and Alex Theater. She was a soloist in the Benise “Nights of Fire” PBS Special and twenty-city US tour. Other filmwork include a feature on Dance Channel TV, Iron and Wine “Boy with a Coin” music video, and trailer for “The Spiritual Tourist”. As a classical pianist, she has been awarded various scholarships and won 2nd prize in the Alice Nelson Concerto Competition. She has performed as soloist on three occasions with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra for the “Young Soloists Showcase” and again with the Goleta Chamber Orchestra. She has taught piano in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Sevilla, Spain. She holds a B.A. from UCLA in Ethnomusicology.
A native of Argentina, Claudio Santomé is a music teacher specialized in singing and vocal tecnique. He teach singing since 1995 and many of his students are doing musical careers in both the classical and popular repertorie www. dariolandi.com , www.claracanta.com. As a Tenor he sung in major Opera Houses like Theater Colon in Buenos Aires under the baton of Vittorio Sicuri, Stefan Solstez, Mario Peruso, Helmuth Rilling, Bach’s Magnificat, Handell’s Mesiah, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s Traviata, Macbeth. He was a soloist in Ramirez’s Misa Criolla at St. Andrews Cathedral, in Grand Rapids, MI, and at Hertz Hall in Berkeley. Most recently he performed Mahler’sRückert and Des Knaben Wunderhorn songs with Prometheus Symphony in Oakland. In december 2010 he is invited to give a singing workshop and conference at Bologna/Mendoza Foundation, sponsored by the University of Bologna Italy.
Oakland reed renegade Cornelius Boots is a progressive rock composer, bass clarinet performance specialist, wu wei woodwind instructor and Zen flute adept. In 1996 he founded Edmund Welles, the world’s only bass clarinet quartet, for which he has composed and arranged over 60 pieces including pieces commissioned by Chamber Music America and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He also creates works of varying scale (solo to large ensemble) which utilize sacred and mundane wind instruments and vocal techniques, percussion, conscious breathing, whimsy and metaphysical perspectives to explore themes of paradox: transformation, resonance, chaos, intuitive creation, rational order, expansion, focus, and the oscillation between individual will and universal fate. Most recently, these works have taken the form of a series of etudes for taimu-shakuhachi (large Zen bamboo flute) and performances and recordings with the elemental sound-structuring ensemble, Sabbaticus Rex, which combines taimu-shakuhachi, kagyraa-style Tuvan throat singing, and multiple, large overtone gongs, activated and played by “gongwoman” Karen Stackpole. He has music degrees (from Indiana University: BM Clarinet Performance ‘97, BS Audio Recording ‘97, MM Jazz Studies ‘99) and marching band experience, but by no means considers these items essential to most people’s musical growth, particularly if the innate creative and imaginative faculties are remembered and activated within an individual, which is a primary objective in his weekly training of young woodwind students in Oakland, Alameda, Fremont and Berkeley.
Dan Cantrell began composing at age 11. Since that time he has continued performing and writing music of all kinds. His main instruments, the piano, the accordion, and the musical saw have given way to a unique stylistic voice that is eloquent, eclectic and hauntingly harmonious.
In recent years his attention has been focused on the study of folk and popular music from Eastern Europe, as well as composing for film dance, and theatre. He has composed music for over thirty films, several plays, a variety of dance pieces and other eclectic performance events.
In 2002, Dan earned an Emmy award for his composition work on the KQED documentary “Home Front”. The same year his score to “Divided Loyalties” earned him the Golden Gate award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
His rich arrangements are known for their acoustic instrumentation and creative experimentation. His extensive jazz, classical, and modern musical training, paired with years of work and study of folk music and tradition give him the ability to compose original music that humbly outshines traditional forms.
His rich arrangements are known for their acoustic instrumentation and creative experimentation. His extensive jazz, classical, and modern musical training, paired with years of work and study of folk music and tradition give him the ability to compose original music that humbly outshines traditional forms.
It is Dan’s personal belief, that live musical integrity, creative experimentation and a clear dialogue for collaboration are vital components of good compositional work.
As a performer, Dan is focused on his own musical projects (the Toids, People’s Bizarre, and others) and visits local artists and songwriters for collaborations in live performances and recordings. His performances range from Folk music and many expanses of World Music, to Jazz, New Music, Rock and Hip Hop. In 2001, Dan co-founded the record label Odd Shaped Case, an organization that features some of the best and most unique Bay Area artists and musicians.
As a performer, Dan is focused on his own musical projects (the Toids, People’s Bizarre, and others) and visits local artists and songwriters for collaborations in live performances and recordings. His performances range from Folk music and many expanses of World Music, to Jazz, New Music, Rock and Hip Hop. In 2001, Dan co-founded the record label Odd Shaped Case, an organization that features some of the best and most unique Bay Area artists and musicians.
A sincere love of music compels Dan to seek out as many new areas of collaboration as he can. Some of Dan’s myriad current projects include performing for Greek Folk Dancers, collaborating on a multimedia dance piece, touring with his ensemble the Toids, accompanying puppet shows, and recording with Tom Waits.
Bassist Daniel Fabricant grew up in Ashland, Oregon, where he began playing guitar and trumpet in grade school. Since moving to the Bay Area ten years ago and transitioning to double bass, he has performed as a freelance sideman with Petula Clark, Joan Rivers, Keely Smith, Connie Francis, Andrea Marcovicci, Mary Wilson, Spencer Day and others. Locally, he is a member of the SF Weekly “Best Jazz Band” Award Winning Nice Guy Trio, Los Boleros, Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, and others. He recently completed his education degree at San Francisco State University and teaches private guitar and bass students as well as classroom general music. He is also an in-demand arranger, writing charts for Terese Genecco’s Little Big Band, Shotgun Players Theater Company, Veronica Klaus, and others.
Daniel Fries is one of the premier flamenco guitarists in the San Francisco Bay Area, both as an accompanist for flamenco song and dance, and as a soloist. While his playing style remains grounded in the roots of the traditional Spanish flamenco, he also explores new directions in musical composition as well as blending of elements from the various musical traditions around which he grew up in San Francisco; Indian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African. Over the last decade he has developed a distinctive blend of flamenco technique and harmonies with Persian and Afghan music, which he applied in his collaboration with Hamed Nikpay, the “All is Calm” album. While he has studied with many great masters and institutions, he credits his greatest learning to sitting alone with his instrument away from the world.
Dave Ricketts is a guitarist in love with the historical development of music in America as well as Gypsy Jazz music and has made obtaining and teaching about these genres a life long pursuit.
He has a degree in classical music and guitar from the University of New Mexico and studied for 4 years with Michael Chapdelaine.
He has a degree in classical music and guitar from the University of New Mexico and studied for 4 years with Michael Chapdelaine.
He was in the Hot Club of San Francisco from Fall ‘99 to the Spring of ‘03, is on 3 of that bands CDs and was in HCSF when the band performed at the Django Fest in Samois sur Seine in 2000, the first American gypsy jazz band to perform at that festival.
In the Fall ‘02 Dave assembled the gypsy jazz band, Gaucho, producing 3 CDs. Gaucho has just recently won SFweekly’s Best Jazz Band ‘09 and Dave has just finished writing 14 original gypsy/swing tunes to be recorded live with Gaucho in the winter ‘10.
Dave has also taught Classical, Rock and Gypsy Jazz ensembles for the past 10 years at the French-American international School in Hayes Valley and studies American jazz, blues and rock history constantly.
Diana Strong plays accordion tunes from around the world, including
Balkan, Brazilian, Scandinavian, French, and her own original pieces.
This diversity of musical influences, as well as strong classical piano
background contribute to a style that is both exotic and familiar,
playful and deeply expressive. Since discovering the accordion in 2006,
she has studied with Dan Cantrell,
Chris Bajmakovic and Mike Marshall, and has performed in the Bay Area with
Babes in the Woods, Go Van Gogh, Moh Allilech, Juliet Strong, and others.
Balkan, Brazilian, Scandinavian, French, and her own original pieces.
This diversity of musical influences, as well as strong classical piano
background contribute to a style that is both exotic and familiar,
playful and deeply expressive. Since discovering the accordion in 2006,
she has studied with Dan Cantrell,
Chris Bajmakovic and Mike Marshall, and has performed in the Bay Area with
Babes in the Woods, Go Van Gogh, Moh Allilech, Juliet Strong, and others.
Bay Area native Dina Maccabee has enjoyed sharing her love for the diversity of string music with students at JazzSchool in Berkeley and Blue Bear School of Music. She has toured across the U.S., Russia and Europe with Beth Custer’s live film score project, “My Grandmother,” and songwriter Vienna Teng. In addition to her own songwriting group Ramon and Jessica, she performs with Real Vocal String Quartet, Aaron Novik’s Thorny Brocky, the Japonize Elephants (circus-klezmer-bluegrass), Evie Ladin’s Evil Diane (original old-timey folk), and the Middle-Eastern psychedelic ensemble Khi Darag! She has studied traditional American fiddle music with the great Bay Area performers Chad Manning and Jody Stecher, as well as many other great fiddlers at the annual Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington. Performance highlights include appearances with Donovan, Sufjan Stevens, and Wilco, and her playing is featured on numerous successful records with artists such as Vetiver, The Cuts, Vienna Teng, Spencer Day, the Shotgun Wedding Hip Hop Symphony, and Carla Bozulich. She has also composed and recorded theatrical scores for Shotgun Players, Just Theater, and several San Francisco filmmakers.
Eliyahu Sills has been studying and performing music for over 20 years
on many instruments, including upright bass, bansuri (the bamboo flute
of India), and Turkish and Arabic ney (the reed flute of the middle east).
In the early 1990s, he studied the upright bass at The New School for
Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Deeply influenced by
teachers Makanda Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence and Reggie Workman
(bassist who played with John Coltrane and Art Blakey), Eliyahu began
performing as a sideman and bandleader in renowned jazz clubs such as
The Village Gate and Small’s.
on many instruments, including upright bass, bansuri (the bamboo flute
of India), and Turkish and Arabic ney (the reed flute of the middle east).
In the early 1990s, he studied the upright bass at The New School for
Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Deeply influenced by
teachers Makanda Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence and Reggie Workman
(bassist who played with John Coltrane and Art Blakey), Eliyahu began
performing as a sideman and bandleader in renowned jazz clubs such as
The Village Gate and Small’s.
After leaving NYC, he began his studies of North Indian music on the
Bansuri under the great master G.S. Sachdev, and began performing
Middle Eastern music on the ney, which he studied in Instanbul with
masters Neyzen Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya, and in Morocco
with Akdii Abdesalaam. He currently performs with many musicians in
the SF area and throughout the country, and leads his nationally
touring band, The Qadim Ensemble, whose CD
“Eartern Wind”, recently hit #7 on BillBoard’s world music charts.
Bansuri under the great master G.S. Sachdev, and began performing
Middle Eastern music on the ney, which he studied in Instanbul with
masters Neyzen Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya, and in Morocco
with Akdii Abdesalaam. He currently performs with many musicians in
the SF area and throughout the country, and leads his nationally
touring band, The Qadim Ensemble, whose CD
“Eartern Wind”, recently hit #7 on BillBoard’s world music charts.
Fabrice Martinez is the violinist for Fishtank Ensemble and a musical traveler. From 1997-2004 He travelled from western to eastern europe in a handmade wagon, achieving his goal of slow deliberate voyage in order to adequately soak up the diverse languages, cultures and music in Slovenia, italy, Hungary and Romania. After three years traveling through Transylvania and southern Romania learning Rom music, he shifted to southern italy for two years, after which he moved to California and took up with Fishtank Ensemble. He has been touring with the band since 2006.
Master percussionist, Faisal Zedan, showcases the elements of an Arabic virtuoso drummer- impeccable technique, combined with an inherent understanding of the complexities of Middle Eastern musical structures. From classical Muwashahat style, to folkloric or fusion genres, Faisal’s unique and gracefule approach blends thousands of years of tradition with a contemporary touch.
Fatma Goze, a Turkish-American singer, started singing at an early age with various choirs in Istanbul, Turkey. While in Istanbul she performed with the TRT (Turkish Radio Television) Polyphonic Youth Choir for three and a half years. She studied Western classical music at San Francisco State University, and since 1999 has been performing in various styles at different venues around the Bay Area. She taught a Turkish Singing class at Mendocino Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp for five years. Goze also had appearances on TV and radio shows, overseas and in the Bay Area. She is a very versatile singer, and can sing in 28 different languages. She is comfortable singing in Middle Eastern Classical music (Turkish), Folk (Turkish, Armenian, Iranian, Romanian, Tamazight), Devotional (Turkish) and the Western Classical (Arias, Art Songs, Choral) styles. She is an active professional singer and voice teacher for the past eleven years and currently is the vocal trainer of the Bay Area Arabic Choir; Aswat.
Founder and director of the Sangati Community Center for South Asian Music, Gautam Tejas Ganeshan is the vocalist for the New Directions in Indian Classical Music group, which was commissioned in 2009 by the San Francisco Foundation. Gautam has guest-lectured on Carnatic (South Indian classical) music for the Music of India courses at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and has conducted seminars on the philosophy and aesthetics of Indian Classical Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at the Asian Art Museum (SF).
Goyo Aranaga is a dynamic and passionate multi-instrumentalist, composer, artist, dancer, and writer with over thirty years of creative practice and experience. His professional career includes twenty years of sound recording, live event, and interactive media production, as well as strategic and marketing consulting for some of the world’s most influential organizations.
Regardless of challenge or context, Goyo seeks to inspire, provoke, educate, and illuminate. And he considers his daughters, ages 7 and 11, his greatest teachers — enduring sources of communication, clarity, collaboration, and creativity.
Starting at a very young age, Grant’s musical pursuits have carried him from classical music to jazz and later to the traditional American genres of bluegrass and old-time. While earning a degree in International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Grant lived abroad in both Spain and throughout Latin America. He has played in numerous bands ranging from Celtic rock to bluegrass, to highly original string ensembles blending old-time, Brazilian and jazz traditions in his home state of Wisconsin. Most recently, he toured nationally with Nashville-based Americana artist, Nora Jane Struthers.
A recent transplant to the Bay Area, Grant is staying active as a free-lance bluegrass musician, while composing works in two distinct original hybrid styles: one blending the simplicity and repetition of old-time fiddle tunes with a classical approach to musical texture and punctuation in the accompaniment; the other, the ‘electronica-fication’ of traditional Brazilian choro music.
Grant has shared the stage with many of the world’s most acclaimed mandolinists, from performances at the Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz to a presence with the nation’s oldest continuously active mandolin ensemble, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra. He has taught for the last four years both independently and at Spruce Tree Music in Madison, Wisconsin.
Bay Area born and raised, Greg was first exposed to Balkan music at events where they spun records for recreational folk dance. At age 13, he attended his first workshop at the EEFC’s Balkan Music & Dance Camp in Mendocino and for the past decade and a half has studied Brass Band and Greek music. He has since become an instructor there, leading the Kids Ensemble and also leads a similar ensemble at the balkanalia! Camp in Portland. Primarily known as a clarinetist and bandleader, he is a veteran of Bay Area bands The Brash Punks and Brass Menazeri and can be currently be seen with the band Agapi Mou. He plays in many other bands throughout the Bay Area, performing at everything from weddings to folk dance clubs to dive bars.
Born in Iraq, Husain Resan is a Bay Area composer, musician and singer. He began studied oud at Baghdad’s Bayt al-Fann school and joined its music ensemble at the age of 16. He continued his studies of violin at San Francisco’s City College. In addition to playing violin, oud and bass, he is also an accomplished vocalist and performs with San Francisco’s Aswat ensemble, recently presenting the debut of his composition Wajhun min al-Madi at their winter concert. He also performs with a number of other local ensembles such as the Aswat Choir, the Georges Lammam Ensemble and Layyali Sharq.
Jonathan Hsu started playing guitar in high school in Texas where he
was fed a regular diet of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. He
figured out early on that he was not going to be able to make a living
playing the guitar so he went ahead and got a PhD in theoretical
physics from Stanford instead which currently gathers dust as he works
in analytics and marketing at Facebook. Jonathan loves playing with
musicians of all types so when he heard about Zambaleta and the the
community focus of the school, he naturally had to get involved.
was fed a regular diet of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. He
figured out early on that he was not going to be able to make a living
playing the guitar so he went ahead and got a PhD in theoretical
physics from Stanford instead which currently gathers dust as he works
in analytics and marketing at Facebook. Jonathan loves playing with
musicians of all types so when he heard about Zambaleta and the the
community focus of the school, he naturally had to get involved.
Justin Ancheta is a music making, social changing, conscious spreading, teacher and artist. His eclectic style of classical, reggae flavored indie-rock, funk and jazz is a down-to-earth and moving music with lyrics that reveal his passion for community, awareness, and change. Ancheta is trained on guitar, vocals, violin, percussion and piano, to name a few. On a scholarship for soccer for four years at Sacramento State University, He studied Environmental Science and Music while fronting the acclaimed band “Sinclair” and later “Pills & Jackets.” He plays music to encourage art and culture at schools and venues throughout Northern California, focusing on the concept to be the change you wish to see. Ancheta will be teaching Guitar, Cajon (percussion), and world music and dance for toddlers at Zambaleta.
Kevin Cloud has always been a singer and grew up to the sounds of Balinese Gamelan, Japanese Koto, and Congolese drumming on Dad’s record-player. As a self-taught guitarist and composer he was accepted to the UCSB music department where he completed his BA in Music Theory and Composition. After a stretch of coaching bands and writing music for theater, he immersed himself for years in San Francisco’s vigorous performance-art and experimental-theatre scene, eventually fronting a postmodern jump-jazz orchestra. A chance encounter with a Yugoslavian bandleader in 1994 led him to the study and performance of traditional Balkan, Greek, Turkish, and Armenian musics, which in turn led to Berber, Afghan, Persian, Brazilian, Arabo-Andaluse, North-Indian, Algerian, Afro-Peruvian, and other musics. He plays oud, guitar, mandolin, ukulele, bass, ney, saz, kaval, chalumeau, flute, blues-harp, bansuri, saxophone, fiddle, Afghan robab, and percussion, and is working on accordion, koto, clarinet, and trumpet. Some of his teachers have included Omar Mokhtari, Sinan Erdemsel, and Maestro Ali Akbar Khan. He is also an artisan woodworker who designs and builds master-quality cajónes.
Lamont Young is 25 year veteran spinning at various nightclubs, restaurants, cafes and social event throughout the Bay Area. Lamont Young is the creator & director of Fingersnaps DJ & Art Collective. Fingersnaps is a DJ school and art center established in 2004. Lamont Young’s experiences range from radio broadcasting, office administration, event supervision to photographer. He loves a good meal, a long walk through out the city, and an optimist at heart. Lamont Young is a native of Waterbury, Connecticut and a long time resident of the Mission District San Francisco.
Laura Inserra was born in, Italy. Her style is an interfusion of different musical genres from classical to electronic. Audiences worldwide are not only surprised by this woman from Sicily but captivated by her virtuosity, profound musicality and the passion she brings to the music she performs. At the age of 15, she began studying classical piano, but her passion for research led her to the improvisation style. She attended the Classical Music Conservatory in Italy, where she studied classical orchestral percussion and she intensified her skill in minimalist music. She has played contemporary and ethnic music in different projects as a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. At 21 she created and directed a theatrical multimedia performance called ‘Apologia della Gioia’, involving a live ensemble of thirty artists as musicians, actors, dancers, poets and performers. This is the vision she holds in all her works: different expressions of art all in an unique event. Now she is the founder and artistic director of Samavesha, a production that seeks this vision. (visit www.samavesha.com)
She has authored and performed various pieces of music for theater, dance performances, exhibitions and soundtracks for movies and documentaries with acclaimed musicians from all over the world. In these last years she has collaborated musically and as an technical assistant to Paolo Buonvino, one of the most famous italian movie soundtrack composer. Currently, Laura lives most of the year in Berkeley where she is creating cds, new soundtracks, performances and concerts with artists of all genres. In the past few years, she has discovered the HANG, a new instrument from Switzerland. Now her research is focused primarily on this instrument, although she continues to perform with a variety of instruments, she teachs percussion instruments and improvisation and she runs a recorging studio in the Bay Area. For more information visit www.laurainserra.com
Luke Aaron Mayer, born and raised in Austria, began playing blues, rock and jazz guitar at the age of 10. Four years later he discovered his love of classical music and began his studies in classical guitar at the university Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. His main teachers there were Matthias Seidel, Marco Diaz Tamayo, Izabel Siewers and Eliot Fisk. He took part in numerus master classes with teachers such as Pepe Romero, Alvaro Pierri, Manuel Barrueco, Juergen Huebscher, Paver Steidel and many more. Luke has been teaching guitar in all styles and performing since over 15 years all around Europe.
Born in Japan and currently based in the Bay Area, Marié Abe is a versatile accordionist, classically-trained pianist, composer, improviser, and ethnomusicologist. Marié is also an ardent music educator with 6 years of teaching experience at the Department of Music at UC Berkeley, and currently working on getting a PhD degree in ethnomusicology at UC Berkeley.
Since the age of three, Marié has studied classical and contemporary piano performance as well as composition with acclaimed teachers in Japan, Italy, Germany, and the US. The turning point came to her in the summer of 2003, when she took up a shiny white accordion. Since then, she has been studying various accordion styles from the world over, and exploring extended techniques and experimental possibilities of the instrument. On the accordion, Marié has been actively performing, recording, collaborating, and touring with a wide array of musicians, dancers, and performers from the world over: including Thorny Brocky, the Japonize Elephants, Ramon and Jessica, Campo Santo Theater Company,Tango no9 (San Francisco), Marzouk Mejiri, Gnut, Daniele Sepe (Italy), and Cicala Mvta, Ett, and Midori Hirano (Japan.) Marié enjoys exploring the intersection between improvisation and composition, while integrating her interest in folk musical styles around the Mediterranean. She is also a founder of the pan-Asian prog-folk group O, Pomelo (SF), zany improv/Balkan groups Four Flea Circus (SF) and Chichûike (Osaka/Kyoto).
Matthew Montfort is the leader of the world fusion music ensemble Ancient Future. An award-winning guitarist (Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, Colorado Outstanding Young Guitarist Award), he is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar (an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar). Montfort spent three months in intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. He is also known for his work on electric guitar, flamenco guitar, sitar, charango, mandolin, and gamelan, and as Ancient Future’s main composer.
Matthew Montfort holds a B.A. in World Music and Composition and an M.A. in Arts and Media Technology from Antioch University. He has studied with the master musicians of many world music traditions, including sarangi master Ram Narayan, sarod master Ali Akbar Khan, mridangam master Guruvayoor Dorai, and gamelan director K.R.T. Wasitodipuro. He has recorded with legendary world music figures ranging from Bolivian panpipe master Gonzalo Vargas to tabla maestros Swapan Chaudhuri and Zakir Hussain. He has performed concerts world wide, including at the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain near Barcelona and the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay.
Matthew Montfort is on the faculty of Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco, where he teaches music theory, all styles of guitar as well as rhythm classes based on his book on the rhythmic traditions of Africa, Bali, and India. He also teaches at his studio in San Rafael, California. Some of his students have gone on to promising music careers.
A respected dancer amongst her peers, Nanna’s expertise and depth of understanding in belly dance developed through a lifetime of active involvement. She has cultivated her skills through widespread experience as an entertainer in Middle Eastern & Mediterranean nightclubs & restaurants. She has danced in a wide range of public and private events both nationally and internationally, including the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and the International Cultural Festival in Beijing. As a practiced instructor numerous students of Nanna have gone on to become known professionals. Her classes offer valuable and vital information to newer students as well as adept dancers.
Patricio Hidalgo is seen as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Son Jarocho music (the rhythmic, African-influenced musical and dance tradition from Veracruz, Mexico). He began his career as a professional musician in 1986, playing traditional Son Jarocho with the international group Mono Blanco. In 1991 he founded the group Chuchumbe, with whom he toured throughout Mexico and brought Jarocho music to four continents. Many of Patricio’s compositions with Chuchumbe have become widely recognized as important parts of the Jarocho canon. Patricio is also known for his powerful ability to improvise poetry and verses. Currently he composes, improvises, and plays with his group Afrojarocho, of which is is founder and director.
Paul Eastburn is a Bay Area Bassist, Sound Engineer, and Educator. Since 1998, Paul has worked around the San Francisco Bay Area as a bassist in various settings, including (but not limited to) samba, indie-rock, free-jazz, southern rock, funk/R&B cover bands,bossa-nova, and jazz. (His favorite is som’n funky.) He has recorded as a bassist for various artists including Ken Flagg, James Caran, Pi, Stevan Pasero, and Vernon Bush. Paul’s melodic sense caries into his bass lines, which are smooth in both his rhythm-section and soloistic playing.
Paul has a B.A. in Music from U.C. Santa Barbara, and a single subject teaching credential in Music from Dominican Univ. of CA. He directs a Concert Band program in the public schools of Daly City, CA, and teaches reading and instrumental music (winds, brass, and percussion) to about 250 students each year. Whether playing the upright bass in a jazz, afro-cuban, brazilian (or even indie-rock setting), or thumping out surdo lines and samba on electric bass in a Brazilian pop group, Paul is equally comfortable.
Peter Jaques has been celebrated in the Bay Area Balkan and Near Eastern music scene for over a decade for his innovative meld of traditional Balkan Rom, Greek, Turkish, and klezmer styles with his own deeply soulful approach. He performs principally on the Bb clarinet and truba (rotary-valve flugelhorn), as well as Egyptian nay (reed flute), alto saxophone, and Turkish G clarinet, and alto saxophone. Peter founded and directs the Brass Menaeri Balkan Brass Band, winner of the SF Weekly’s Reader’s Choice Award (2008) for “Best International Band.” He also performs with several other Bay Area ensembles: Stellamara, Black Olive Babes, Rumen Sali Shopov’s Orkestar Sali and Gamelan X. Peter is highly regarded for his knowledge of and skill within various Balkan, Turkish, Greek, and Jewish/klezmer traditions, his creative combinations of these styles, and his exceptional musical sensitivity and passionate expression on his instruments.
Akhavass learned the Tombak with Saeid Roudbary, the Setar with Hamid Sokoti and Masoud Shaari, and the Oud with Majid Nazempour and Hosein Behrouzinia. Since 2001 Pezhham began working professionally with the renowned vocalist, Shahram Nazeri. He has performed in many notable music festivals world-wide and toured extensively in Iran and Europe including prestigious venues such as: Theatre de la ville and Due soley in France (Paris), FEZ festival in Morocco, Sodran theatre in Sweden, Austria, Italy, Australia, Finland and the USA.
Akhavass also became acquainted with some of the masters in Persian music and performed with them both locally and on tour in Iran and Europe. These masters include Hossein Alizadeh, Aliakbar Moradi, Saeid Farajpouri, Majid Derakhshani, Hosein Yousefzamani, Masoud Shoari, Shahram Nazeri and Kayhan Kalhor.
In addition to the tombak, Pezhham has studied other percussion instruments: Daf, Indian Tabla, kanjira and Gatam. His unique approach to Rhythm and style of playing, considers him as one of the distinguished and capable Tombak players of his generation.
Portsha Jefferson is the artistic director of Rara Tou Limen, an arts organization founded in 2004. Portsha’s dedication and exploration of Haitian culture have brought her to Haiti, where she has traveled throughout the country to research regional dance, rhythms and musical traditions.
Q Morrow is a Bay Area 7-string jazz and Brazilian music professional guitarist who plays with such groups as Grupo Falso Baiano, Ana Carbatti, Masha Campagne, Jobooom, the Strong Move Quartet, Illy Bogart, and with many other of the Bay Area’s finest as a sideman.
Rachel Valfer is a singer and oud (Arabic lute) player. Comfortable in Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic and Farsi, her rich, earthy vocals evoke longing, love, strength, and ultimately, a sense of vastness and grace.
She studied Maqam and Persian dastgah modal systems in Israel and Palestine for six years at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and sings with several ensembles in the Bay Area. Rachel teaches Middle Eastern vocal styles and oud from her home in Berkeley, and can be reached at ravalfer@gmail.com.
Growing up in Fez, Morocco, at fourteen he entered the Conservatory of Music there to study Western classical and Andalus music which best features his voice. In addition his strongest instruments are the oud (similar to a lute without frets) and the violin, which he plays in both the classical manner and upright resting on the knee for Moroccan folkloric music. The music which he presents is soulful and poetic as well as very danceable. Not an empty spot can be found on the dance floor wherever he plays.
He has presented his music in Ivory Coast, Sweden, Finland at the Helsinki International Music Festival; Global Groove Festival, Denver and Boulder Theater, Colorado; toured with the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble playing Moroccan Andalus music with Abdelfattah Bennis including Genesis at the Crossroads Festival in Chicago. Rachid was presented at MOMA, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Columbia University, University of Northern Florida, as well as other ethnic concerts and various Moroccan establishments throughout NYC; in Summer of ‘05 he played at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the inaugural King Tut exhibit in the US, and toured the US and Canada with Rachid Taha (Algerian/French) Rai-rock band. Rachid teaches music and rhythm workshops throughout the USA.
Raffaella’s dance training and experience includes performing professionally with Brazilian dance companies in the Bay Area since 1998 and internationally in Europe and Brazil. She has studied Brazilian dance extensively both locally and in Brazil. Raffaella has performed in numerous types of events including the SF Carnaval Ball and numerous SF Carnaval Parades. In 2004, she became co-founder of Sambamora Dance Company which offers dance classes, performances and costume design in the Bay Area. Raffaella’s samba class was also awarded Best of the Bay in 2004. She is honored to have had one of her students win the title, Queen of SF Carnaval 2009!
Rodson Santos de Jesus,was born in Salvador, Bahia. Rodson joined the Bale Folclorico da Bahia of Brazil in 1992, toured the United States with The Capoeira Foundation, and has performed and taught across Europe and Asia. In addition to his extensive background in Afro-Brazilian and modern dance, Rodson has also trained and performed in Hip hop, Modern and Latin dance and holds a brown belt in Judo.
Rowan Storm is recognized internationally for her command of Middle
Eastern percussion instruments and music, her Essential Frame Drum
Method workshops and Carpet Concerts, and singing in several
languages.
Eastern percussion instruments and music, her Essential Frame Drum
Method workshops and Carpet Concerts, and singing in several
languages.
Rowan has studied and performed with many world-renowned musicians,
including Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Necati Celik, Souren Baronian and the
great Master of Classical Persian music, Mohammad Reza Lotfi.
Originally from New York, Rowan has been living in Greece since
1993, where she is a leader in the contemporary movement to embrace
shared Oriental heritage. Her performance venues include New York
City’s Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, Greece’s
Epidavros ancient amphitheater, Istanbul’s Resit Rey Concert Hall,
as well as universities, museums and concert halls throughout the
world.
including Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Necati Celik, Souren Baronian and the
great Master of Classical Persian music, Mohammad Reza Lotfi.
Originally from New York, Rowan has been living in Greece since
1993, where she is a leader in the contemporary movement to embrace
shared Oriental heritage. Her performance venues include New York
City’s Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, Greece’s
Epidavros ancient amphitheater, Istanbul’s Resit Rey Concert Hall,
as well as universities, museums and concert halls throughout the
world.
One of the highlights of Rowan’s performance and teaching schedule
is the August week-long Middle East Music and Dance Camp in the
magnificent redwood forest of Mendocino, California. Researching the
role of women and drumming in traditional spiritual practices, while
in Iran in 2006 Rowan met with women dervishes to play Frame Drum in
their rituals. Rowan’s signature Frame Drum, featured in the Artist Innovation Series by Cooperman, is
an innovative version of the traditional Iranian dayereh.
is the August week-long Middle East Music and Dance Camp in the
magnificent redwood forest of Mendocino, California. Researching the
role of women and drumming in traditional spiritual practices, while
in Iran in 2006 Rowan met with women dervishes to play Frame Drum in
their rituals. Rowan’s signature Frame Drum, featured in the Artist Innovation Series by Cooperman, is
an innovative version of the traditional Iranian dayereh.
I was born into a musical family, going as far back as my great, great, great, great-grandfather, who was a bassist in the Moscow Opera. I started on bass at age 16. My mentors have been Michael and James Finley, John Brecher, Nico Abondolo, and Dennis Trembley, as well as Wolfgang Guttler and Shinji Eshima. I now perform on Electric Bass, Fretless Electric, String Bass, Baby Bass, Marimbula, Bandoneon, and just about any other instrument I can get my hands on. I completed a Master’s degree at the University of Southern California, and then went on to teach at Humboldt State University. I served on the faculty at Laney College in Oakland and the Sequoia Chamber Music Festival. I performed as principal bass with the Santa Cruz Symphony, and the American Musical Theatre in San Jose, and as a section member of the Monterey Symphony. I am also currently performing with the Sarasota Opera as well as the Argentine Tango group TRIO GARUFA. My Jazz group, the Sascha Jacobsen Quintet, released it’s premier CD “Outer Sunset”, which Double Bassist Magazine declared, “shines a light on Jazz that it hasn’t basked in for years”.
Sameer Gupta is known as one of the few percussionists representing the traditions of American Jazz on drumset, and Indian Classical music on tabla. He is a student of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee and lives in Harlem, NYC where he is actively involved with performing and
teaching through Carnegie Hall’s Global Encounters’ Music of India program.
teaching through Carnegie Hall’s Global Encounters’ Music of India program.
Shorey is an accomplished teacher whose primary goal is to give her students those tools necessary to make their dancing as enjoyable as possible in the shortest amount of time. Coming from a background in martial arts and classical music, she is driven by the desire to make her own movement as clean, fluid and musical as possible. She counts among her strongest influences the great dancers Tomas Howlin, Cecilia Gonzalez and Alex Krebs. As great as her love of the dance, is her love of the music, a passion that is evident whenever she steps behind the DJ booth. She loves to keep both the very traditional and very alternative crowds dancing all night long.
Srinivas Reddy is the founder of SADHANA Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Indian Classical Music. Srinivas teaches the SSEAS Music of India class at UC Berkeley and has lectured at many universities including Brown, Wesleyan and UMass. He continues to learn sitar from his guru Pandit Partha Chatterjee.
Sonja Drakulich has been singing professionally for the past 18 years. She studied Bulgarian singing for over 10 years with Tatiana Sarbinska: voice teacher for Les Mystère des Voix Bulgares and has more recently studied with renowned soprano: Tzvetanka Varimezova and Persian vocalists: Taghi Amjadi and Hamed Nikpey. Sonja also continues her long time studies and performances of classical Medieval European, Turkish, Arabic and Hindustani singing.
Sonja is the producer, singer and percussionist of the internationally acclaimed world music group Stellamara, and has toured with Turkish folk and Sufi ensembles as well as Balkan choirs. Sonja has spent most of her time focusing on the devotional aspect of song and she carries within her a passionate and rhythmic style, expressing the colorful ornamentation of Eastern melody.
www.stellamara.com email: info@stellamara.com
Susu Pampanin plays the derbakki, riqq, and framedrum. Susu is well known for her virtuousity in Middle Eastern drumming, and is highly respected by the Arab professional music community. She has also explored and studied a wide range of percussion instruments and various styles of music.
Zaina performs and teaches internationally and is well known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She specializes in Modern Egyptian and American Cabaret, with stylistic influences from some of the forerunners of Egyptian Dance, including the great classic performers Samia Gamal and Tahia Karioca.
Tim Abdellah Fuson is a musician and ethnomusicologist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has done extensive research on Gnawa music in Marrakesh, Morocco and recently completed a PhD in Music at UC Berkeley. Tim Abdellah performs regularly in the Bay Area with The Dunes (North African Grooves band) and with Moh Alileche’s Algerian-Amazigh ensemble. email: tim@timabdellah.com
Yari Mander has been a professional music educator for over 15 years. He currently teaches drumming to adults at his own school-Heart of Rhythm- and music to children at El Dorado and Encompass Elementary Schools in SF and Oakland, respectively. He is also a professional drummer who has performed and/or studied with Keith Terry, Reverend Michael Beckwith, Rickie Byars-Beckwith, Agape Choir, Chus Alonso, Social Prophet Choir, Chochmat HaLev band, Joan Baez, Maracatu Luta, One World Music, and Gamelan X. His clear and supportive teaching style has been honed by years of teaching children and adults, influenced by completion of a certification in Orff-Schulwerk-a somatic approach to music education-and his studies of African musical pedagogy in Ghana, West Africa, and Balinese music in Bali, Indonesia.
Yussef Breffe is an instructor of salsa, rueda, son and rumba. He was born in Havana, Cuba where he developed his artistic talent and profession, teaching Cuban popular dance for fifteen years. Yussef has also performed with professional dance companies such as Via Danza, Key 2 Cuba, and Minerva. He had the opportunity to live in Europe for five years where he continued to dance with these companies as well as teach classes and workshops. Yussef now lives in San Francisco and participated as an instructor and performer at SF’s Salsa Rueda Festival.