Troy Anthony is a Kentucky-born composer/lyricist, director, and theater-maker based in NYC practicing Black queer joy. He has received commissions from The 5th Avenue Theater, The Civilians, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and The Shed. He’s enjoyed residencies with BLKSPACE, Chelsea Factory, The O’Neill Theater Center, and Village Theater. Additionally, he’s presented work at Joe’s Pub, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, JACK, Prospect Theater Company, the National Alliance of Musical Theater Conference, and 54 Below. He recently received the Vivace Award from the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation.

As an actor, Anthony has been seen in the Public Theater’s As You Like It, Hercules, and Twelfth Night, as well as Prospect Theater Company’s Tamar of the River. Anthony’s work lives at the intersection of art, social justice, and community practice. In this spirit, he founded Fire Ensemble Inc. as a home to develop his work and to share the joy of singing in community.

The Fire Ensemble is for shower singers, professionals, and anyone in between. During free, weekly rehearsals, singers from different backgrounds and identities come together to use music and ritual as tools to explore collective liberation, intergenerational healing, radical relationships, and personal emergence. Though the invitation to participate in collective liberation is open to all, The Fire Ensemble is committed to centering BIPOC communities.

Morley travels the world to sit with and sing for visionaries on the frontiers of social change. Her music has appeared on network television, commercials and in human rights documentaries, and it has moved minds and spirits as diverse as His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, entrepreneur Richard Branson, Nobel laureates, and Ela Gandhi. Morley has graced stages as wide-ranging as the Nomad Women’s Festival in the Sahara Desert, The United Nations, and Carnegie Hall.

She has been a featured performer + speaker at TEDWomen and TEDx gatherings nationwide, and spearheaded the successful fundraiser Borderless Lullabies that continues to be a source of revenue for the pro-bono legal defense fund, KIND: Kids–In–Need–Of–Defense, to aid reuniting children with their families after being separated by ICE.

To date, Morley has released six albums of original songs via Sony, Universal and independently, five of which she self-produced as well as co-produced. She is a founding member of the cast of Toshi Reagon’s Parable Of The Sower – The Opera, and has penned songs for the great William Parker, Richard Bona, Youn Sun Nah, and more. In 2023, Morley released her first family/children’s album, Story of the Sky with her partner, Chris Bruce.

Dj Stormin’ Norman’s diverse style allows him to play in different musical scenes from Disco Classics, Funk, Soul, Classic Hip Hop, R&B, Soulful, Deep, Afro House, and more. In the 90’s, he was part of a groundbreaking DJ collective who brought The Thunderstorm Mix to WBLS, 107.5FM NYC.This introduced live-mixing to daytime radio, setting a new precedent. For over 25 years, Stormin' has played legendary New York Venues, exclusive downtown spots, elite private events and has toured internationally. He has been named one of the top DJ’s in New York City by Time Out Magazine and has honored by the Harlem School of the Arts for his musical and cultural impact.

Kendra Foster is an American singer-songwriter, session singer, backup vocalist, and two-time GRAMMY Award-winner. She has performed with artists including George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, and D'Angelo and The Vanguard, among others.

Her style encompasses her many varied influences, including Belita Woods of Brainstorm, Sarah Vaughan, Chaka Khan, Björk, and Sade. Her integrated was sound (though she has several musical personalities) is a soul based fusion adding everything she can throw in the pot: jazz, funk, hip hop, rock, classical, world, electronica, gospel, etc. As a songwriter, she has written lyrics and melodies for artists such as Sunshine Anderson, Mark Ronson, PFunk Allstars, and George Clinton.

Felice Belle is the author of Viscera (Etruscan Press, 2023). As a poet and playwright, she has performed at the Apollo Theater, Joe’s Pub, TEDWomen, and TEDCity2.0. Her writing has been published in several journals and anthologies including Oral Tradition, The Common, and UnCommon Bonds: Women Reflect on Race and Friendship. Playwriting credits include It Is Reasonable to Expect, We Hold These Truths, and Game On! She is a lecturer in the low-residency MFA program at St. Francis College and Artists Network Director for the global nonprofit Narrative 4. She spends her free time solving fictional crimes.

Described as a “moving and electrifying performer” by The Wall Street Journal, Nia Drummond combines her jazz roots, operatic training, gospel beginnings, and R&B stylings into a unique “genre-fluid” sound. She has been featured at the Apollo Theater, Playhouse Square in Cleveland, the New World Center, and the Kennedy Center, among other renowned venues, and was featured in Great Performances: American Voices with Renée Fleming. Along with her solo work, Nia has appeared as a background vocalist for the likes of Sir Elton John, Bette Midler, Valerie Simpson, Fantasia, John Legend, Lillias White, Deborah Cox, and Grace Weber.

Apart from her contemporary work, Ms. Drummond has extensive credits in the classical world. Her opera credits including Mother Superior in Benton Hess’ Felice, the title role in Tobias Picker’s Therese Raquin, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Rosalinda in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Edith in Gilbert and Sullivans’ Pirates of Penzance, which was her debut at Lincoln Center.

Amma Whatt released her debut EP Maybe to awaiting fans in 2012. This release garnered Amma a nomination for Soultracks.com’s “Best New Artist," and debuted at #3 in the R&B/Soul category on Bandcamp.com. After remaining in the Top 8 for over 6 weeks, Maybe positioned Amma at the forefront of new underground, indie favorites, and SoulTrain.com says her hybrid fusion of R&B, world music, hip-hop, and jazz has her "...poised to take soul music to the next level...” Amma grew up in Brooklyn learning Afro-Cuban Orisha chants and music, and Sene-Gambian dance, from both her parents who toured the world and performed professionally throughout her childhood. Having honed her musical skills at Howard University, Amma has toured internationally as in-demand songwriter, vocal producer, and supporting vocalist. Her signature vocals were featured in the national TV-ad campaign theme “Get Happy” for the retailer Homegoods, and was heard daily by millions of viewers from 2012-2015. Amma was also featured in the Oscar-nominated song “Raise It Up” from the movie August Rush, and she performed the song at the 2008 Academy Awards.

Amma has opened for and performed with a wide array of music artists including Common, Musiq Soulchild, Tweet, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jose Milan, Chante Cann, Eric Roberson, Gordon Chambers, Glenn Lewis, among others.

Five-time GRAMMY-nominated trombonist Jeffery Miller stepped onto the stage of the Apollo Theatre at the age of 19, and brought the house down. Not his first performance on a great New York stage, when he was just 15, Mr. Miller performed at Carnegie Hall at the celebration of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s 50th anniversary.

He's played the New Orleans VooDoo Fest, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Satchmo Summerfest, French Quarter Fest, Vail Jazz Festival and Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, among others, and worked with seasoned veterans including Donald Harrison Jr., Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), Delfeayo Marsalis, Herlin Riley, the Jonas Brothers, and Arcade Fire. He played trombone in the 2014 GRAMMY Band.

For 3 years he played a music student of Antoine Batiste (portrayed by Wendell Pierce) on David Simon’s critically acclaimed HBO series Treme. He has appeared on local New Orleans television stations and on New Orleans’ Jazz Heritage Station WWOZ.

It’s Showtime NYC! Is one of the largest street dance programs and companies in New York City. A program of the non-profit organization Dancing in the Streets, It’s Showtime NYC! provides performance and professional development opportunities to street and subway dancers as a legal alternative to dancing in subway cars.

Cellist, composer, and bonebreaker/flexN dancer Johnathan “Akuma” Moore was a featured soloist with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and won the Yale/New Haven Young Artists Solo Competition. He is a leader in the street dance community in his home state of CT, and has trained extensively with leading practitioners in NYC. To share street dance culture and opportunities with young dancers in his New Haven community, Johnathan produces street dance battles for local dancers. He teaches youth workshops in cello at Music Haven in New Haven, and teaches kids and teens bonebreaking, a form of street dance related to flexN dance.

Dancing first came to Drew “Jumbie” Smart Farrow when he was haphazardly placed into a tap class, while waiting for piano lessons, in his youth. At age 13, he started learning flexN, heavily influenced by his Brooklyn neighborhood where dancers were everywhere. He went to Harlem every Saturday for a youth empowerment program, and surrounded by litefeet dancers there, he developed a critical eye for the blueprint of the Harlem-based dance form. A big believer that knowledge is power, Jumbie brought litefeet back to his dancer circle in Brooklyn. He and his friends would break into dancing on the subway, out of sheer spontaneity.

Jumbie has performed at: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Guggenheim Museum, Bridge Street Theatre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NOoSPHERE Arts, Midnight Theater, Barclays Center, Racket, Abrons Arts Center, and he’s won battles including: Roundz of Flamez, NY Link 1, NY Link 2, Slaughterhouse, and KOBK.

Rakiem Walker is an accomplished saxophonist and musical director born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Harlem and the Bronx. He started playing the saxophone at age 14, and has studied under jazz legends at Jazzmobile workshops in Harlem, New York including Max Roach, Donald Byrd, and Milt Hinton. He has toured the world playing for the band Bluesyde, R&B group Soul 4 Real (Uptown Records), and hip-hop group The Spooks (Sony Records). Rakiem has also recorded with legendary hip-hop rapper and producer the RZA as a saxophonist for several Wu-Tang Clan recordings including albums Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (Raekwon) and Tical 2000 (Method Man). He was also a featured saxophonist, appearing in televised commercials for the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000, as well as in the feature film Friends with Benefits (2010).

GLR¥A's 4.5 octaves resonate from shared stages with Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson, Deborah Cox, and Patti LaBelle. She has had residencies in some of New York's most recognized hot spots. In addition to performing as a vocalist, she's also a skilled songwriter, arranger, and producer. While GLR¥A has a few GRAMMY nods under her belt as a background vocalist, she's most excited about her work with Walker Entertainment Group/SONY ORCHARD and Rakiem Walker Project.

YahZarah is a Ghanaian American singer and music producer, known for radio hits "Wishing" and "Why Dontcha Call Me No More." She began her career as a background singer for Erykah Badu. Her musical genre has varied throughout her career including R&B, rock, acoustic, soul, jazz, and pop. Her artistic influences include Michael Jackson, Minnie Riperton, Prince, and The Beatles. She has a soprano vocal range with the ability to use the whistle register.

The HawtPlates is a family singing group that was formed in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx. They create live vocal works by breaking down vernacular musical forms and reconstituting them into other modes of performance, producing sound tonics and “one pots,” harkening to the spirit of the family heirloom recipe. Their work honors their lineage and personal histories while outwardly reporting an ultimately human experience.

The HawtPlates have worked with numerous organizations and artists across disciplines including Meshell Ndegeocello, Abigail DeVille, Kaneza Schaal, Hilton Als, Helga Davis, Steffani Jemison, Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray and The D.R.E.A.M. Ring, National Black Theater, The Public Theater, Performance Space New York, and The Park Avenue Armory, among many others. The HawtPlates is comprised of drama desk nominated composer/performer Justin Hicks, his sister, singer/songwriter Jade Hicks, and his wife, Tony-nominated actor/singer Kenita Miller-Hicks.

joseph webb is an international award-winning dancer, choreographer, actor, educator, and poet who has showcased his talents in a number of performances throughout the years, including the Tony Award-winning Broadway production, Bring in 'Da Noise Bring in 'Da Funk. Following his Broadway success, Webb ventured into acting in television and film, including Martin Scorsese’s film Bringing Out The Dead, Black Nativity starring Angela Basset and Forest Whitaker, a short film by Red Bull Academy Music NYC, and more. He has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Live with Regis and Kathy Lee.

Known as a “go to” pianist by many musicians and band leaders, Lafayette Harris, Jr., born in Philadelphia and raised in Baltimore, MD, currently performs and records with Houston Person, Archie Shepp, and with his own bands. He’s toured with late great music pioneer Max Roach, performed with the Duke Ellington Legacy Orchestra, and has recorded and toured with four-time GRAMMY nominee - the late, Ms. Ernestine Anderson.

Sun Kim Dance Theatre is founded by its Artistic Director, Sun Kim, with a mission to explore the possibilities of the dance style ‘Popping’ in a theatrical manner, along with different aspects of physical theatre, and use it as a medium for storytelling, amplifying diverse voices and sharing universal human experience. The company has performed at LayeRhythm/Works & Process with New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New Victory Theater, San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Festival, NYU Skirball, Ladies of Hip Hop Festival, Dance Parade NYC, MOPTOP Anniversary, and Choreographer’s Carnival. Sun Kim has received The Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award and was nominated at the 2022 Bessie Awards for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer.

Joe McGinty & The Loser’s Lounge is a collective of New York City’s finest performers who have been selling out live shows every other month for thirty years. Founded in 1993 by former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Joe McGinty, the band continues to canonize the great songwriting catalogues of the '60s, 70's and ‘80’s in its own unique way. From well-known composers like Neil Diamond and David Bowie to more obscure artists like Serge Gainsbourg and Harry Nilsson, The Loser’s Lounge walks the line between sincerity and irreverence to recreate the meticulous arrangements of the classic song books that you love, live.

Loser’s Lounge performances often include strings, horns, Theremin, extensive vocal arrangements and a backing band made up of the best musicians in New York. Along with a parade of up and coming singers, some past celebrity guest performers have included Richard Dreyfuss, Moby, Parker Posey, Debbie Harry, Lee Hazlewood, Paul Williams, Cyndi Lauper, John Cameron Mitchell, Fred Schneider, Joey Ramone, John Flansburg of They Might Be Giants, Ronnie Spector, Anne Magnuson, Michael Cerveris, Joan Jett, Ian Hunter, Fred Armisen, Antony, Santi Gold, and many more.

The Loser’s Lounges performances have been featured on NBC’s Last Call With Carson Daly, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and Night Of Too Many Stars TV Special, ABC’s My Kind Of Town, radio stations NPR, WFUV, WBAI, WFMU, and in press including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Post, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone online, Spin Magazine online, and Time Out New York who have dubbed The Loser’s Lounge “Essential New York.”