July 12 ZALON Program

Intro. Dr. Angelique V. Nixon 

Angelique V. Nixon, Ph.D. is a Bahamas-born, Trinidad-based writer, artist, and scholar-activist. Her research and creative work has been published/featured widely; she is author of two books – one poetry and art collection titled Saltwater Healing and the scholarly award-winning book titled Resisting Paradise: Tourism, Diaspora, and Sexuality in Caribbean Culture. Angelique strives through her activism, writing, and art to disrupt silences, challenge systems of oppression, and carve spaces for resistance and desire. She is active in Caribbean movements for social and environmental justice and is committed to intersectional queer feminist praxis, decolonial politics and Black liberation. She currently serves as director of the feminist LGBTI organisation CAISO: Sex & Gender Justice in Trinidad and Tobago. And she teaches at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Find her on the web: Twitter/Instagram @sistellablack | www.sistellablack.com.

Leandro Ragusa

Argentine composer, arranger, and bandoneon player Leandro Ragusa writes and arranges music for ensembles in Buenos Aires, New York, and Montreal. In his latest album with Quinteto de Academia (woodwind quartet plus bandoneon), he combines the popular spirit of tango and Argentine folklore with the resources of chamber music composition. He was recently commissioned by Montreal’s “Choros quintette a vent” for their upcoming concert season. He also works as a guest soloist and arranger with the Polyphonic Choir of the University of Morón based in Buenos Aires. For tonight’s concert, Leandro has invited Nili Grieco, flautist, and director of Quinteto de Academia to perform of his own compositions, which he has arranged for the duo.

For further information, please visit https://www.leandroragusa.com/

Quinteto de Academia https://quintetodeacademia.wixsite.com/quintetodeacademia

Choros, quintette a vent  trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfFZEd06xl0&feature=youtu.be

You can support Leandro’s artistry through Paypal: paypal.me/leandroragusa

Steve Kramer

Steve Kramer, cellist, is a former pupil of the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. He was a student of Tchaikovsky’s Laureate Karine Georgian [student of Mstlav Leopoldovitch Rostropovitch], and started his musical education in the home of Scandinavian cellist Erling Bløndal Bengtsson [student and 1st assistant of Gregor Piatigorsky at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia].  Since becoming active as an international cellist and educator in the United States in 2010 and being sponsored in 2016 and 2019 for his extraordinary abilities as a musician, Steve Kramer has proven to be one of the most prominent and colorful musicians of today. His childhood experience studying the art of chamber music with Yehudi Menuhin and Peter Norris has contributed a significant element to his invigorating and expressive musical style. Steve Kramer has made his appearance as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as the Barnes Foundation and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. His recent invitations by patrons continuously bring Steve Kramer to Europe. He has worked with such prominent European orchestras and chamber ensembles as the Yehudi Menuhin Orchestra; the Detmold Chamber Orchestra; the Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra and ensembles and orchestras in the Netherlands, France and Germany. In the U.S. Steve Kramer continues his passionate involvement with educating less privileged young people. He emphasizes the utmost importance of training children in classical music as part of their academic education. Children born into poverty receive free of charge lessons in his local community.

http://stevekramercellist.com/biography.html

Nicole Francesca Diaz-Pellot

Nicole Diaz-Pellot is an independent performance artist specializing in Afro-Modern and Contemporary Improv dance techniques. Based out of Philadelphia for the last seven years, she received her BFA in dance from University of the Arts in 2017. Nicole originates from San Diego, California where she started her tap, jazz, and modern dance training at four years old through the San Diego Civic Dance Association, as well as ballet training under Maxine Mahon through California Ballet. Before attending college, Nicole was a member of the San Diego Civic Dance Company for six years under the direction of Andrea Feier. Throughout her dance career she has received scholarships to extensive dance intensives throughout the United States including the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive Program and American Dance Festival. Having worked with a variety of renowned choreographers throughout her college experience she was introduced to Manfred Fischbeck where under his guidance, embraced contemporary improv.

She performed for Group Motion Dance Company for five years and participated in Group Motions 50th Year Anniversary.

Focused on the relationship between dance and holistic health, Nicole is currently a third-year candidate in the Dunham Technique Certification program; an African American Dance form engaging the mind, body, and spirit through modern, ballet, and traditional dances of the African Diaspora. She is also in the process of obtaining her 200Hr Asana Yoga Teacher Certification.

In addition to advancing her afro-modern, yoga, and contemporary improv practice she shares her dance passion through choreography and teaching throughout Pennsylvania and California.

Nicole plans to further her education in dance therapy where she will apply her dance background to focus on the holistic approach of movement.

Links to support Nicole here:

nicolefrancesca.dance@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/nic.francesca/

https://www.facebook.com/NicFrancesca ,           

CashApp & VENMO: @ArtistNicFrancesca
           paypal.me/nfdp 

Phillip Cheah

Phillip Cheah is a conductor, singer, pianist, and teacher based in New York City. In addition to being the Music Director for Central City Chorus, a mixed ensemble, and Amuse Singers, a women’s ensemble, he is a bass with the professional nonet at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields and freelances as a singer with various ensembles in the tri-state area. He is also a Co-Artistic Director of Cheah Chan Duo, a versatile piano-voice team with Trudy Chan, known for its electrifying concerts of uniquely curated thematic art song programs. He has taught at Barnard College and The Putney School, and has served as the personal assistant to Peter Schickele.

Links:
Venmo: @MaestroCheah
www.cheahchanduo.com
www.youtube.com/quireofcheahs
www.facebook.com/quireofcheahs

Tessa Brinckman and Matt Goodrich

New Zealander Tessa Brinckman, a “flutist of chameleon-like gifts” and “virtuoso elegance” (Gramophone), enjoys an international career, including co-directing Oregon duo, Caballito Negro, with percussionist Terry Longshore. She creates interdisciplinary work, which this year includes remote collaborations with taonga puoro master Horomona Horo, guitarist Caroline Delume, video artist Diana Lehr, pianist Kathleen Supové, cellist Madeleine Shapiro, animators Miles Inada and Devyn McConachie, for her upcoming solo album (2021) and various single releases (2020). 

Matt Goodrich is a graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory and the University of Washington. He was a national finalist in the MTNA (Young Artists Division) Competition and is a frequent collaborative performer, recently presenting French and emerging repertoire throughout the Western U.S. Equally at home in the world of musical theater, he spent 2016 with the Broadway national tour of If/Then and has performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for seven seasons. He holds Alexander Technique International teaching certification and is Instructor of Piano at Southern Oregon University.

Matt and Tessa are overjoyed finally to play together (in a socially distant manner) after seven years of talking about it. “Agrestide” is a part of their first collaboration (COVID-19-postponed); their concert Before the War, links themes of conflict and nostalgia with music and poetry.

Links:
www.tessabrinckman.bandcamp.com – to buy Tessa’s new gorgeous ambient single “Below” for contrabass flute and electronic soundscape, and follow her on Bandcamp – more singles to come this year!

www.tessabrinckman.com – about, recordings, journal blog 

www.caballitonegro.com – about the flute and percussion duo Caballito Negro

Facebook – Tessa Brinckman
Instagram – @tessabrinckman
Paypal – www.PayPal.Me/TessaBrinckman

www.kineticmusestudio.com – Matt’s performance and performance training website

Facebook – Kinetic Muse Studio
Venmo – kineticmuse

Weege & The Wondertwins

With wild live performances of original music, Weege & The Wondertwins channel the vintage vibes of The Kinks, Julie London, Bessie Smith, and more. Prepare to be enchanted, delighted, and thrilled to your core.

Frontwoman Lexi Weege is a true vocal acrobat, leaping from dangerous, sultry growl to playful lilting in a single bound. You would be hard-pressed to find as transfixing a storyteller. Unapologetic, brazen, and boldfaced, Weege’s mastery of narrative is as thrilling as it is wrenching.

Backed by identical twins Tom and AJ DelNegro, drummer Kade Parkin, and guitarist Nick Ferrara, Weege is buoyant on the steady foundation of the self-taught Wonderboys, who lend perfect harmonies and rollicking shout choruses to originals and old favorites alike.
Their debut album “Marigold” arrived in 2017, followed by “Do I Seem Weird Lately?” in 2019, followed by what the band does best: tour. Performing hundreds of self-booked, self-promoted shows all over the country in just a few years, Weege & The Wondertwins are true seasoned professionals, and their work ethic shows.

Our albums and other info can be found at Lexiweege.com. Tips can be sent to our Venmo: lexi-wegiel or our PayPal lexiweege@yahoo.com. Our merchandise can be found at Lexiweege.bandcamp.com.

Paul Reisler

Paul Reisler is a composer, songwriter, recording artists, performer and teacher. He’s the founder and artistic director of Kid Pan Alley, co-founder of Trapezoid, as well as his current bands, Paul Reisler & A Thousand Questions featuring Howard Levy, and Three Good Reasons. 

Over the past 45 years, he’s performed in over 3,000 concerts, recorded close to three-dozen albums, written Aesop’s Fables for Orchestra and Narrator, as well as the script and songs for 2 musicals, Bouncin’ and The Talented Clementine. He has written more songs than the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Foster combined—somewhere north of 3,000 compositions thanks in no small part to his army of 65,000 short collaborators as well a handful of Grammy-winning co-writers. Artists including Sissy Spacek, Raul Malo, Darrell Scott, Cracker, Corey Harris, Jesse Winchester and many others have recorded his songs.

www.paulreisler.com www.KidPanAlley.org. 
Venmo: paulreisler@me.com, PayPal.me/PaulReisler. 
or donate to Kid Pan Alley Venmo: @KidPanAlley, PayPal: @kidpan

Carol Morgan-Eagle and Daniel Pretends Eagle

After meeting in the underground music scene of Los Angeles  where Daniel Pretends Eagle, hailed by the LA Weekly as “one of LA’s best unsigned guitarists,” fronted roots-rock band, The Peckinpahs, he and dancer/ singer, Carol Morgan-Eagle,  relocated to Taos, NM in the early ‘90s. Singing and playing music around a campfire on the banks of the Rio Chama one fall evening 20 years ago, Daniel and Carol finally realized it was time to mesh their talents, even though Daniel had always adamantly stated “you don’t form a band with your wife!” He has since acquiesced it was one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

They’ve been co-writing, recording, and producing their own music  ever since, crafting a sound and songwriting style that expresses their eclectic interests;  Celtic harmonies, Gypsy melodies, Spanish rhythms, Spaghetti Western,  psychedelia, the starkly beautiful landscape and fables of the southwest all converge into Daniel and Carol’s  own mythology and sound of the Old/New West  which they perform both with their band, Bone Orchard, and as a duo nationally and internationally.

Projects include composing music at the invitation of The Albuquerque Museum for the exhibition “Only in Albuquerque” as well as making an appearance in the movie “Ideal Home” starring Paul Rudd. Their last album, A Romance Of Ghosts, was considered by Eric van Domberg Scipio of Heaven Magazine in the Netherlands as  “one of the most exciting folk rock CDs of recent times”.  They are currently finishing up their next cd, Saints of the Borderlands, to be released on the 13 Music, LTD label whom they have recently signed with. Daniel also teaches in the Health and Sciences program at the University of New Mexico and Carol is a photographer and mixed media artist. 

You can find them at www.boneochardmusic.com 
 or on Facebook @boneorchardmusic 

donations graciously accepted through PayPal: morganeagle@hotmail.com