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Phyllis Bethel, percussionist, vocalist, and composer, is the founder and director of ASE. Although she claims musical roots in Afro-Cuban folklore, her percussion styles range from Caribbean and jazz-fusion to R&B, pop, and gospel. She has performed throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, and West Africa. Ms. Bethel has worked with several folkloric groups including Women of the Calabash, Retumba Con Pie, The Ensemble of Women Drummers, and ASE. Her recording credits include Edie Brickells Picture Perfect Morning and ASE's Souls A’Gathered. Her film and video credits include the award-winning Marlon Riggs video Black Is...Black Ain't. In addition to teaching music, Ms. Bethel is a certified music therapist working with hospitalized children, and an adjunct faculty member of New York University's Therapy Department.
Jimmy Cruiz
Jimmy Cruiz, leader of the Spirit Ensemble, is a teacher as well as a performer. Mr. Cruiz's musical training began in childhood with piano lessons with his father. He later studied flute and percussion. Mr. Cruiz has studied with such noted teachers as Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Yusef Lateef, Baba Chief Bey, Dom Romao, and many others. This wide range of experience helps Mr. Cruiz to bring a universal vision of music to the Spirit Ensemble and to his teaching. Students are also treated to Mr. Cruiz's expertise in the instruments of Africa and South America.
Michael Eisenberg
An artist-in-residence with the Carnegie Neighborhood Concert Series, Michael Eisenberg is active as a recitalist in the metropolitan area, both as pianist and harpsichordist. Mr. Eisenberg is engaged as a teaching artist with ArtsConnection, the Third Street Settlement School and the Phipps Foundation and in partnership with such programs as Project Read and Annenberg. A recent finalist in the Dorian/EMA recording competition, Mr. Eisenberg is a recipient of the Sylvia Marlowe fellowship and is featured on an upcoming IMS CD release with soprano Patricia Sonego. He is currently pursuing Ph.d studies in musicology at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Ethos Ensemble
For the past ten years, the Ethos Ensemble have given performances of percussion music ranging from Guatemalan marimba music to Japanese taiko drumming... from contemporary masterpieces by composers John Cage and Lou Harrison to Bing!Bang!Boom!, the ensemble's popular education program for children. Based in New York, the all-star troupe -- Joseph Gramley, Eric Phinney, Michael Sgouros, and Yousif Sheronick -- have performed throughout the U.S at a number of venues including Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, and the Guthrie Theater. They have performed for thousands of children at such venues as the American Museum of Natural History and the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Their work can be heard on a self-titled CD as well as the Bizet/Shchedrin Carmen Suite with the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
Tenor Gregory Hopkins, a native of Philadelphia, holds degrees from Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the winner of top prizes in the Busseto "Verdi" competition and the Mantova International vocal competition, both in Italy. Mr. Hopkins is a featured artist on three recordings: Kurt Weill's Blue Monday (Concordia); a recording of spirituals entitled Amazing Grace (Naxos Records), which he also conducted; and Lost in the Stars by Kurt Weill with the St. Luke's Symphony (Music Masters). Additionally, Mr. Hopkins is Minister of Music at Convent Avenue Baptist Church in New York City and Professor of Voice at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Kevin Hylton
Kevin Nathaniel Hylton's musical training is in the ancient master-discipline tradition, studying and playing mbira and shekere with master musicians from Africa and the United States. He is also trained in African dance and vocal styles. Kevin performs with storytellers and dancers and is also a member of the Spirit Ensemble. Kevin has built mbiras for the Washington Square Preschool and has conducted mbira workshops at universities and colleges around the country. His lecture-demonstrations have been presented at a number of venues including the Kennedy Center Education Department, Symphony Space, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum for African Art. Kevin composed and performed music for the audio version of Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy. His music can be heard on the Narada Collection African Voices.
Marco Lienhard
Musician Marco Lienhard plays taiko drums and fue and shakuhachi flutes, and is the founder and artistic director of Taikoza -- a Japanese taiko group. He studied and mastered the shakuhachi under Master Katsuya Yokoyama. From 1981-1997, he was a member of Ondekoza (Japanese Taiko group). Lienhard has performed and taught in Europe, China, Japan, Canada, and the United States in some of the worlds most prestigious halls, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Osaka Festival Hall, and Suntory Hall. He has been awarded a Rockefeller grant to compose a work for San Jose Taiko, has appeared on a variety of television shows, and has done numerous recordings with Ondekoza, including a critically acclaimed solo shakuhachi recording.
Los Pleneros de la 21
Los Pleneros de la 21 was formed in NYC’s South Bronx in 1983 by National Heritage Fellow, Juan Gutiérrez-Rodriguez. The group has spanned three generations of Puerto Rican musicians, dancers, and artisans dedicated to performances of bomba and plena, two styles of Puerto Rican music which spring from deeply-rooted African traditions. While they have peformed at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center and at festivals such as the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, Los Pleneros de la 21 remains deeply rooted in the Puerto Rican community -- maintaining an active program of workshops, performances, and lecture-demonstrations for children, teenagers, senior citizens, and the community in general. Los Pleneros is:
Alberto "Tito" Cepeda: Pandereta/Bomba drummer
Juan José Gutiérrez: Leader and composer
Edgardo Miranda: Cuatro, arranger
Nellie Tanco: Lead Vocals
Pandereta Seguidor: Maracas and Director of Programs
World Irish flute and tin whistle champion Joanie Madden and her ensemble Manhattan Ceili, celebrate traditional Irish music and dance in lively performances that introduce students to the enduring folk arts of Ireland and the cultural history of that nation. Ceili, pronounced "kay'lee", is the Irish term for a social gathering that usually involves song and dance. The performers of Manhattan Ceili are: Joanie Madden, silver flute, tin whistle; Donny Golden, step dance; Gabriel Donohue, guitar,vocals, and Siobhan Egan, fiddle, and bodhran (drum).
Branice McKenzie
Branice McKenzie is a vocalist and composer whose performing career includes everything from jazz to theater. Some of her credits include the critically acclaimed Shades of Harlem, the musical revue Savoy Suite, Tambourines to Glory, and most recently Easy--a work-in-progress of which she is also a contributing writer and composer. Ms. McKenzie has toured with Harry Belafonte and Gregory Hines throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Korea. Other performing credits include appearances with Roberta Flack, Lesley Gore, Diane Schure, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the National Tourism Conference in Harare, Zimbabwe. She can be heard on Hugh Masakela's release Uptownship. Ms. McKenzie, who received a Master's of Music Education from New York University and a B.A. in psychology from Brown University, has been teaching music in the schools for twenty years.
Music from China
Music from China performs the classical and folk music of China and actively creates a repertoire of new music by todays composers. Led by Artistic Director Wang Guowei and Executive Director Susan Cheng, the ensemble offers a range of concerts, workshops, and lecture-demonstrations throughout the East coast and in other U.S. cities. The musicians perform on various 2-string fiddles, lutes, zithers, bamboo flutes, double reeds, hammered dulcimer, and percussion. Music from China's educational and outreach programs introduce young audiences to Chinese music. Their in-school workshops engage children with more in-depth learning and experience of China's musical culture.
www.musicfromchina.org
Founded in 1990, the New York Buenos Aires Connection, under the artistic direction of Pablo Aslan, has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia, and South America. The group combines a solid grounding in the tango tradition with a contemporary sound influenced by jazz and classical music. Their concert performances include Teatro Solis in Montevideo (Uruguay), Place des Arts (Montreal), Museum of Modern Art (New York), and Theatre de la Bastille (Paris). They have performed at the 2nd and 3rd International Tango Summits and given tango workshops throughout the U.S. Since 1994, they have brought tango performances to New York City public schools. Their discography includes The New Tango (VAI Audio) and Cabarute (NY Tango Trio, Lyrichord Discs).
Spirit Ensemble
Spirit Ensemble is a musical ensemble whose mission is to educate others about the rich musical traditions of Africa that have been dispersed throughout the world, and to promote a sense of unity among all peoples. The Ensemble plays works from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. By interweaving traditional styles with contemporary ones and blending the sounds of indigenous instruments with more modern ones, the Spirit Ensemble encourages both a sense of respect for the past and a hopeful look to the future.
West Village Quartet
The West Village Quartet is an African-American string quartet, performing works from the classical repertoire. The Quartet was founded in 1987 by David Burnett, who is the second violinist and manager of the group. The quartet has made noteworthy appearances on Entertainment Tonight, 20/20, Queens Access Public Television and PBS's Children's Express, and have also performed in the West Indies, Florida, Georgia, San Francisco, and Oregon. The Quartet has performed for the Essence Awards; the NAACP; Dance Theatre of Harlem; the Ford Foundation; former Mayors of New York City, Ed Koch and David Dinkins at Gracie Mansion; Paul Newman; and Patti LaBelle, among others.
