Jenni Batallas
Jenni Batallas is a talented singer/songwriter who received the Songwriter’s Guild of America’s President’s Award for her song, “Everybody’s Child”, which played on children’s radio stations nationwide. Over the past seven years, Ms. Batallas has shared husband Patricio's infectious dedication to teaching children music by helping build their Union City studio and to preserving Latin American folk music by performing with him.
Patricio Batallas
Earning national acclaim in Ecuador as a flute virtuoso, Patricio Batalla’s enthusiasm for traditional South American wind and string instruments has moved him to introduce traditional Andean music to US school assemblies and in public concerts. As a childhood music educator, Batallas’ 20-year career began at the National Conservatory in Quito, Ecuador, and has taken him to universities, early childhood centers, and parent workshops throughout the United States. At his Union City studio, Tempo D’Music, Patricio teaches his bilingual music/movement program for 2-to-5-year olds -- Ta-kig-tu-rum-bá – as well as guitar, piano, flute, and music instruction for all ages. www.myspace.com/tempodmusic
Judy Bro
A professional actor for fifteen years, Judy appeared in national and stock tours of ANNIE (Grace Farrell), in regional theatre (JACQUES BREL, BEEHIVE), in dinner theatre (BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, I REMEMBER MAMA), in summer stock (Anna in THE KING AND I, Adelaide in GUYS AND DOLLS) and Off-Broadway (A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC). Her cabaret homage to the Broadway/Hollywood songs of Frank Loesser, “Some Like It Loesser!” garnered Bro a Backstage BISTRO Award for Outstanding Female Vocalist. She is now Director of Marketing & Development for ArtsEcho.
DANZANOVA MUSIC PROJECT:
Ronn Yedidia (Accordion) Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Ronn Yedidia has won high praise worldwide as both a composer and pianist. His compositions have been performed by international artists, and featured in major concert halls and in film, radio and television during the last two decades. A student of Pnina Salzman (piano) and Yitzhak Sadai (composition), Yedidia received an MM and DMA in Composition from The Juilliard School, where he received numerous awards. Yedidia has also composed more than 150 popular songs and is renowned as an accordion virtuoso. With jazz pianist/composer Haim Cotton, Yedidia founded and co-directs the New York Piano Academy (NYC); his piano students have been recognized in US and European competitions and festivals. Ronn Yedidia’s latest CD, "Yedidia Plays Yedidia" (Altarus) is available on Amazon.com. www.ronnyedidia.com
Yuval Edoot (Percussion) has performed in a variety of genres, from classical to jazz to world music. He has played internationally with many highly-regarded orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (under maestro Zubin Mehta) and New York’s Jupiter Symphony (conducted by the late Jens Nygaard). Equally at home in the jazz idiom, Edoot has also performed with vocalist Diana Krall and jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Born in Haifa, Israel, he won first prize among all orchestral instruments in a National Competition held by the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation when he was 17 years old. He then received a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA), where he graduated summa cum laude. Edoot has studied with some of the world's greatest percussionists, drummers, and vibraphone players, including Jamey Haddad and Dave Samuels.
Lara St. John (violin), a prodigy who has performed professionally since age four, has been described as a “high-powered soloist” by the New York Times and as "a phenomenon" by The Strad.
St. John has performed as soloist with numerous North American orchestras, including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and the Boston Pops. In Europe and Asia, she has played with symphonies in Hanover, Zurich, Paris, Bournemouth, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. St. John’s recitals in major concert halls include New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal, and in Beijing’s Forbidden City. Of her performances, The Los Angeles Times has written, “St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.”
St. John’s debut CD, Bach: Works for Violin Solo”, sold over 40,000 copies and received resounding acclaim. Her second recording, “Bach: the Concerto Album”, was released in June 2005 on iTunes, where it was No. 1 in the classical category. Her latest recording, “Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo”, climbed to No. 2 in Autumn 2007 and was the year’s best selling double album on iTunes. www.larastjohn.com
FRANROY & CARLOS FIRUEROA QUINTET:
Franroy & Carlos Rigueroa
Born in Cuba’s northern province of Pinar del Río near the Bahía Honda, brothers Franroy and Carlos Figueroa Crespo were exposed early in life to the sounds of African drums, guajiro, and other rhythmic melodies which make up Cuban music. Franroy and Carlos’ “herencia sonera” – musical inheritance – mixes traditional Cuban stylings, ranging from macuta, guaracha, and pilón to mambo, rumba, and danzón to create a style that is authentically Cuban.
As young boys, the brothers sang in a local chorus, which later inspired Franroy to found the Iglesia San Jose’s music group, “Peregrinos del Amor” (Pilgrims of Love). In Piñarena, Cuba, Franroy studied with composer, singer, and arranger Carlos Hidalgo and taught music to children and adults. The band’s vocalist and manager, Carlos Figueroa is a graduate of Havana’s Escuela de Electrónica Industrial de Boyeros.
With their larger “conjunto” Franroy & Carlos’ Boys Band (which includes Octavio Ponce, Francisco Figueroa, Guillermo Madris, Flor Rodriguez, Vicente Sánchez, Ozzi Morales, Oscar Gongora, Yail Valencia, Pedro P. Martinez, and Diego Aquino), the brothers have played NYC’s fabled Copacabana several times.
At music festivals here and in the Caribbean, their band has shared the stage with Johnny Rey, Power Latin, Orchestra Lírica, Cachimbos, Willie Santana, Hector Tricoche, Andy Montañes, Jr., Zion & Lenox, Jerry Maisinet and Orquesta, Tito Nieves, Van Lester, Pepe Castillo, Tego Calderon, Ivi Queen, Julio Volt, Roberto Torres, and other renowned artists. The Figueroas have also performed on Univision’s “Cada Dia” with Maria Antonieta and on Miami’s morning programs on Mambi Radio and Power One. Their first CD, “Franroy & Su Herencia Sonera” was just released and is available on CDBaby www.cdbaby.com/cd/franroy. For more info - www.myspace.com/franroyycarlosboysband
Sergio Rivero
Most people know Sergio Rivero as “El Haitiano”, one of Cuba’s most popular bolero singers and composers, with hits like “El Haitiano”, “Anita tun tun”, “Llueve que llueve”, “Caridad, tu son hija de Ochún”, “Vamos a ponerle ganas”, “Guajiro en Nueva York”, “Pon un vaso de agua clara” y “ Pa Puerto Rico me voy”. But Rivero has also enjoyed a parallel career as a visual artist.
Born in Santiago de Cuba, he and his mother moved to Havana, where Rivero became a backup singer for the popular “La Sublime” orchestra while sketching portraits of famous singers and musicians. His popular cha-cha about the Haitian who speaks French-accented Spanish made him famous throughout Cuba, where he performed on TV and radio and in theatre spectaculars. Seeking political refuge in Spain, Rivero did not record for 12 years, and moved to New York City in 1980, where he continues to perform in nightclubs. The 1982 release of his album, “Llegó El Haitiano”, a collection of his famous hits, introduced Rivero to a new audience throughout Latin America. Sergio Rivero’s paintings of his childhood Cuba and his black-and-white Rumba cycle have been shown at galleries and exhibitions throughout New York’s metropolitan area.
Wanda Glowacka
An internationally renowned cellist, Wanda Glowacka is on the faculty of the Special Music School at Kaufman Center (NYC) and is a member of that city’s Sonos Chamber Orchestra. She annually performs with pianist/composer Ronn Yedidia in ArtsEcho’s “20th Century Music and On” concert at the Kaufman Center, and has played with pianist Eleonor Bindman in the Weill Recital Hall Chamber Music Series, with pianist Nadia Schapenko at the Ukrainian Institute of America, and at the Polish Consulate’s International Chopin & Friends Festival (all in NYC). Ms. Glowacka’s recordings include “Music for Keyboard Instruments by Alan Brings” (UK) and “Steven Brinberg/Simply Barbra: The Duets Album” (UK).
THE RICHARD REITER JAZZ TRIO:
Richard Reiter (sax, clarinet and flute) is a nationally acclaimed jazz performer and composer whose music has also reached international audiences. A Cedar Grove, NJ resident, Reiter plays ten woodwind instruments, and improvises exciting solos that are emotional, adventuresome and thoughtfully structured. "Richard Reiter has forged an expressive and personal sound," wrote Bill Milkowski in Downbeat. George Kanzler wrote in the Newark Star Ledger: "Reiter is a resourceful soloist who composes exceptionally melodic compositions."
His contemporary jazz group, The Richard Reiter Afro-Jazz Project, has recorded four CDs, all of which received rave reviews. Their fourth CD, "I Hear Africa", The Richard Reiter Swing Band’s CD "Swing This!" and Reiter’s latest CD, "Live at China Gourmet", are available on his label, City Pigeon Records.www.richardreiter.com
Reiter has been a guest soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and a featured artist on television, both nationally (PBS’s "Live & Listener Friendly") and worldwide (United States Information Agency’s "Arts America"). He was an on-stage soloist in Bob Fosse's Broadway musical, "Dancin'” and has played backup for Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, Linda Hopkins, The Temptations, and The Supremes. Reiter has also recorded with such artists as Marshall Hawkins, Buck Hill, Jimmy Hopps, Stan Rubin, Joe Carson, and Mother Scott. Piano star Michel Camilo has performed Reiter's composition, "Fast Feet" and Diane Moser's Composers Big Band has featured Reiter's "Bumpy Road."
Mitch Schechter (piano) has performed at New York City’s Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center, and abroad in Europe, on recordings, and in WNYC’s live radio concerts with clarinet and mandolin virtuoso Andy Statman. Garden Stater Schechter is a member of Jazspring, a jazz trio which performs in and around the NYC area and recently played at the City of Brooklyn’s awards ceremony honoring jazz great Max Roach. Mitch's playing, compositions, and arrangements are featured on Jazspring’s well-reviewed CD, "Seasons and Sentiments", and on Vinnie Cutro's "New York City Soundscape", Pete Furlans’ "Spy Glass Hill", Erick Storckman Septet, and with Aaron Alexander’s Septet’s most recent CD, "Blues For Sparky".
Takashi Otsuka (bass), a talent who lends authenticity to any genre of music, has performed with Bob Mintzer, Ted Curson, Lew Soloff, Claudio Roditi, Eliot Zigmund, Perry Robinson, and others. A graduate in composition and arranging from Boston’s famed Berklee College of Music, Otsuka is also a member of the Open Space Band and currently lives in Teaneck, NJ.
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