Hasan Bakr studied with the great masters: Baba Feami Akinlana on conga, Chief Bey on shekere, Nana Vasconcelos on berimbau and body percussion, the legendary Little Ray Romero on timbales and Mbemba Bangoura on djembe. Hasan has performed throughout the United States and for Amsterdam Public Television. He is a founding member of the Spirit Ensemble, and has recorded numerous CDs ranging from percussion music for dance, for multi-media and for meditation.

Barbara Barry is a certified national educator and director in the field of therapeutic recreation. She has conducted private art classes for institutions such as the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, Northern Jersey City Services for Battered Women, and Continuing Education at William Patterson University. She is the founder of Art for Self-Discovery, a center for art-making practices focusing on the personal experience of the creative process.

Charles Moore Dance Theatre, founded in 1974 by the late Charles Moore with artistic director Ella Moore, is the oldest professional dance company in Brooklyn. The company creates and reconstructs dances, most notably "Shango," the signature dance of world-renowned choreographer Katherine Dunham. The company's African, Carribean and African-American dance and drumming programs have been seen on the stages of Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Riverside Church and Central Park, and on the PBS series, Great Performances. Additionally, they are part of "Rhythm Journeys: Masters of World Music and Dance," a project supported by the NYS Music Fund.

Melvin Dean is a steel drum virtuoso and the founder of Steel the Show, a company that provides a full spectrum of music and entertainment services. He has performed at numerous venues from private parties to world festivals including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the American Black Festival in Montreal, and the NFL Super Bowl parties. He attended Baruch College, studied at the Jazz Mobile Workshops in Harlem and teaches steel drum to groups at the St. Nicholas Community Center in Harlem and the Minisink Center.

Karen Farnum works with various churches and their dance ministries, and teaches African, modern, jazz, and ballet techniques in local dance schools. Karen is co-director and one of 10 choreographers of the Allen Liturgical Dance Ministry, in Jamaica, Queens. As a member of P.R.E.C.I.S.I.O.N. Drum Corp, she plays both the tenor and the bass drums. Karen has created a line of Liturgical Dancewear. In 2004, she founded Kaphar Dance Company which is a professional dance ministry.

Tammy Hall, a former New York City teacher and advocate for literacy, has been called "Storyteller Supreme", a "Master." A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, she draws on her African-American southern rural heritage to deliver an unforgettable tale. Tammy has traveled to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Central America to study those cultures, collect stories and perform folklore. Her storytelling has been broadcast on both public radio and television.

Nicole Haroutunian is a fiction writer and artist living in Woodside, Queens. In addition to working as a teaching artist at Symphony Space, she is a museum educator at the Museum of the City of New York, the Morgan Library and Museum and the American Folk Art Museum. Nicole is an editor at Underwater New York, an anthology of writing, music and art inspired by the objects submerged in the waterways around NYC.

Kevin Nathaniel Hylton is a founding member of Spirit Ensemble. He pioneered the use of mbiras on the New York world music scene, having trained with legendary Zimbabwean mbira master Ephat Mujuru. He has composed and recorded mbira for the audio version of Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy, and the film Beloved, starring Oprah Winfrey.

Christopher Lea, a visual artist, has extensive experience as a teaching artist in residencies at the Lincoln Center Institute, Symphony Space, and Studio in a School. Trained in London, Rome, and New York, Chris has exhibited his work at many galleries, including Petra Bungert, Littlejohn Contemporary, and Julian Pretto galleries. Chris provides an experiential context for learning by engaging students through inquiry. He creates a comfortable environment for them to express themselves and develop problem-solving skills. Through various creative activities that encourage observation, reflection and interpretation, he enables students to grasp the complexity within a work of art.

Misha McGlown is a multi-media artist specializing in wearable art, jewelry design, and metalwork that reflects her deep interest in African culture and other ancient civilizations. A prolific and multitalented artist, Misha publishes an Internet magazine that covers art, fashion, fun, and social consciousness. "Travels Study," Misha's recent work in oils and acrylics, celebrates indigenous life around the world. She has exhibited at Columbia University and curated "Evolution: The Changing Face of Harlem" there, featuring the works of 25 Harlem artists.   Visit www.omomishagallery.com.

Lance Paladino is an expert in graphic design, illustration, studio art, visual essay, and the Old Master painting technique known as Fantastic Realism. He has exhibited his work in various media throughout New York City, Chicago, and Austria. His commercial work includes illustrations for museum diorama and poster design for the underground music scene. Lance is an adjunct Professor at York College.

Petra Pankow, a native of Germany, has a background in cultural studies and museum education. Upon completing her MA in Freiburg, Germany, she spent three years as an instructor at Michigan State University, where she taught classes in German, American Studies, Film and Literature. She has developed curricula and educational materials for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, MoMA, and Symphony Space. She specializes in conducting inquiry-based visual art classes and museum tours for the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Japan Society, and Symphony Space.

Rose Pearlman has exhibited her works at the Vermont Studio Center, The Red Mill Gallery, Johnson State College, Tisch Hall and her photos have been printed in Smithsonian Magazine and F-Stop Magazine. She was an art teacher at Johnson Elementary School, and at the Clarina Howard Nichols Center in Vermont. Rose has developed effective strategies for overcoming social and economic barriers in her teaching of at-risk teenagers and K-12 students in public schools. Rose has also developed neighborhood wellness programs teaching yoga and art for abused children and women. Rose is a skilled photographer, designer of handmade fashion accessories, and a graphic artist.

Spirit Ensemble is a musical team whose repertory is rooted in African and Afro-Caribbean traditions. Hasan Bakr, drummer, and Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, mbira player, perform an array of their original compositions. Both American-born, they are experts in the music of Africa and the African Diaspora.  Each of them sings and plays a variety of traditional and contemporary instruments including the mbira, kora, shekere, steel pan, hand drums, and bamboo flutes, weaving a tapestry of percussive patterns and melodies. Kevin has been a visiting scholar at Yale University where he received his BFA cum laude. Kevin and Hasan have recorded two CD's, Ancestral Music and Ancestral Voices.  They have been teaching artists at Lincoln Center, the Julliard School, the Museum of Natural History,the Guggenheim Museum, and Symphony Space.

Marsha Perry Starkes is a multifaceted musician who combines traditional African instruments and musical forms with contemporary influences. Marsha can be heard on Women of the Calabash's recording of The Kwanzaa Album. She is a featured soloist with The Neo-Bass Jazz Ensemble singing bebop, swing and big band music. Her recordings include Bird Lives! Through the Neo Bass Ensemble, Hit It! and Bebop meets Bass. She sings and plays the music of Africa, Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean.

Kristie Valentine is a visual artist who uses the interior spaces of newly-constructed suburban homes as an inspiration for her paintings and prints. Her comprehensive knowledge of visual art from around the world adds to the excitement of her art classes. Her works have been exhibited at the Quill Studio, Exhibition Space 156 and St. Francis College in Brooklyn. She is on faculty at Adelphi University and St. John the Divine Cathedral School.

Women of the Calabash with Madeline Yayodele Nelson as the artistic director has shared billing with The Temptations, Richie Havens, Philip Glass, Odetta and more. Founded in 1978, Women of the Calabash has performed for former Presidents Tomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and Jean Bertrand Aristide of Haiti. Cited as "Musicians Extraordinaire" by the National Council for Culture and Art, the group received the prestigious Monarch Merit Award, Blue Ribbon for Best Music Video from the American Film Festival and the CINE Golden Eagle Award. HBO featured Women of the Calabash in a Black History month profile in 1997.