Pitz Quattrone Raised in Pennsylvania, Pitz’s heart lies half a world away in Arnhemland, a native land of Australia, the birthplace of the Didgeridoo/Yidaki. Pitz played the standard drum kit as a teenager and later moved on to other percussion instruments. Since the mid 80’s, he has been involved in many projects performing and recording a wide range of musical styles including: Folk, Reggae, Funk, Worldbeat, New Orleans R&B, Rock & Roll and Hip-Hop. He has “sat in” on the Didgeridoo and performed live with Pete Seeger, Guy Davis, Entrain, Max Creek, Dave Keller and Vorcza. Pitz once played Didgeridoo to kick off a presentation by environmentalist, anti-nuclear activist, Dr. Helen Caldicott. Since 1993, he has performed concerts, playing on recordings, instructing workshops, leading school assemblies, teaching “Didge” lessons and handcrafting Didgeridoos. The deep felt connection to the Didgeridoo, combined with Pitz’s eagerness to pass on what he has learned about the Didge, has become his life’s work. www.pitzondidge.com
Rebecca Quattrone is a professor at York College of Pennsylvania, artist in residence at ForSight Vision Center, and a public artist. She earned her MA at Pennsylvania State University and advanced mosaic certification from the Scuola Arte Del Mosaico, Ravenna, Italy. Her works have been exhibited in national and international juried exhibits. Her current hybrid mosaic works are influenced and inspired by her recent studies with the world-renowned Byzantine mosaic master, Luciana Notturni. These sculptural art works are created by employing both traditional Byzantine and modern mosaic techniques and materials. Quattrone states her "works attempt to embody the many voices of my life — exposing the vulnerable, fragile, and delicate emotional facade we strive to possess." Her current works have recently been exhibited in galleries and museums in New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. rebeccaquattrone.com
Tatiana Rakhmanina is a milliner with 25 years of experience. She started on the hat making path in her native St.Petersburg, Russia, following in her grandmother Larissa’s steps. Living in the US since 1990 she is renowned for her unique vision and skills. She has won a number of design competitions in the US and abroad. Her work has been exhibited in museum shows around the country. She has been a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Professional Development for Artists twice (in 2001 and 2007). In the spring 2008 she went to England to study under Mrs. Rose Cory, formerly the milliner by appointment to the Queen Mother. Tatiana loves to share her skills and talent with the eager student.
Henry Reiff While earning his Ph.D in Special Education at the University of New Orleans, "Hank" was a journeyman acoustic and electric bassist in Americaís true music city. He is comfortable in a number of musical genres, including classical, R&B, blues, rock & roll, folk, jazz, and bluegrass. Henry is the musical director of Sangmele, and in 2008 he was named Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at McDaniel College.
Cinda Rierson began her practice of yoga in 1999, studying with a wide range of teachers including Senior Iyengar Instructor Manuoso Manos, Marge LaMothe, Don and Marsha Wenig. She has been sharing her practice of yoga and teaching students since 2007 and received her 200-hour teaching certification at Dancing Feet Yoga Center in 2009. She is continuously deepening and broadening her knowledge and experience through personal study, workshops, and teacher training. Cinda's private practice has evolved through over thirty years of coaching others in a wholistic approach to physical, emotional and spiritual growth. She supports individuals in achieving their wellness related goals through development of personal practices focused on a healthy lifestyle including whole foods, emotional balance, movement, breath work, and meditation.
Sally Rogers is no ordinary public school music teacher. Since 2001 she has taught general music at Pomfret Community School in Pomfret, CT. But her tenure as a teacher is preceded by twenty years of touring across the country and over the oceans. Her discography includes fourteen recordings. She has received three Indie awards and two Parent's Choice Gold awards, plus other honors for her music. Some of her songs are included in both the Unitarian and Quaker hymnals. She has produced a kids' video and one of her children's songs was published by E.P. Dutton as the picture book, Earthsong. She has written a chapter in Ellipsis Arts' book, Open Ears, which includes chapters by other luminaries such as Shari Lewis, Baba Olatunji, Mickey Hart, Pete Seeger, and others. Her four albums for children are released on Thrushwood Kids, her own label for quality children’s recordings. Rogers is also known for her work as a Master Teaching Artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and has worked in the Commission's HOT (Higher Order Thinking) Schools Program. Her residencies have included many school visits teaching students how to collect oral histories and transform them into songs. These songs are included on three CD compilations of local historical songs. She is past president of the Children's Music Network and is currently working on her master's degree in Integrated Curriculum Through the Arts at Lesley University. http://www.sallyrogers.com/
The Ronstadt Generations: Michael J. Ronstadt, vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, grew up in Tucson, Arizona learning traditional songs from his father and musical family and singing with his older sister Linda. He has toured all over the world since 2004 with the Santa Cruz River Band, released two children's albums and one gospel CD, and performed on many of Linda Ronstadt's recordings. Michael's family dates back to Jamestown on his mother's side, his father's side dates back to 1776 and 1840 with his great grandfather arriving in northern Mexico from Germany, thirteen years before the Gadsden Purchase. In 1882, the great Ronstadt family musical tradition began with Federico Ronstadt’s arrival to Tucson where he started the Club FilarmÛnico de Tucson. Michael continues to carry that torch to venues all over the world. Michael's son, Petie Ronstadt, bassist, guitarist and vocalist, has toured with the Santa Cruz River Band. He is the owner and engineer for LandMark Sound Recorders in Tucson, recording a wide variety of artists in the southwest. Michael's other son, Michael G. Ronstadt, has been offering his music to audiences on cello, guitar and voice for sixteen years and is conversant with a wide range of styles. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico with artists like David Bromberg, Linda Ronstadt, and Muriel Anderson. In addition to collaboration, Michael currently tours with his groups Lost In Holland, Ronstadt Generations, and the Lisa Biales Trio. His playing can be found on more than 30 albums from the last 10 years “…showing him to be a performer with an amazing command of the typical and exotic sounds of the cello, a true virtuoso and a man of instinctive musicality." Tucson Citizen Josh Hisle tours with Michael G. Ronstadt as the national touring duo, Lost In Holland. He is a Fox 2/5 Marine, songwriter, world-class guitarist and has his music featured in Neil Young’s CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). His songwriting background and combat experience bring forth passion and truth, both virtues rarely seen in today's music.
Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform throughout the U.S. and overseas, singing songs and telling stories from the American folk tradition. Sparky has been performing more than forty years and is internationally recognized as a leading folklorist, musician, historian, storyteller, and author. He accompanies himself with fingerstyle picking and bottleneck blues guitar, banjo, and spoons. Rhonda is an accomplished harmonica, piano, banjo, bones player and vocalist. Their music includes a variety of old-time blues, slave songs, Appalachian music, spirituals, ballads, work songs, Civil War music, cowboy music, railroad songs, and a few of their own original compositions. Their 1991 release, Treasures and Tears, was nominated for the W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Recording. Their music is heard in the mini series “The Wild West” and in the National Geographic Society's video, “Storytelling in North America,” NPR's Morning Edition, Prairie Home Companion, and Mountain Stage. www.sparkyandrhonda.com
Bob Rychlik Multi-instrumentalist Bohuslav "Bob" Rychlik was born in Czechoslovakia, and at young age started to play acoustic guitar and the 5-string banjo. He taught classical guitar, studied various folk and blues finger-picking guitar styles, established several country and bluegrass groups, and organized musical gatherings and festivals prior to moving to America in 1984. When he received his first fujara flute as a gift from Slovak friends, he fell in love with the sound and his growing interest included the whole class of overtone instruments. After mastering the fujara and smaller overtone flutes, he started sharing their beauty with others. He has given over seventy fujara/overtone flute performances at folk festivals and other events, has been featured on Czech and American TV, Czech and Slovak radio, and has taught fujara and overtone flutes in the USA and Europe. His 2010 performance at the Library of Congress was recorded, view the webcast here: www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5044 Bob’s love for American acoustic blues and Slovak overtone flutes intersected when he discovered that blues can be played on the overtone flutes, and he has been jamming blues with Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation at their performances for many years. He is working on a new method-book for playing the fujara, composes for fujara, guitar, and keyboard, and is preparing his next CD.www.dusafujary.sk/bob-rychlik-en.php
