MEET THE FACULTY

Akwasi Abrefah is a steelpan player who performs and teaches in the Bay, as well as around the world. He was born in Oakland, CA, and raised in Richland, WA where, at the age of 9, he started playing steelpan. Through middle school and high school, he traveled around the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. playing with bands OK 2 Botay and Bram Bratá before continuing with Cardinal Calypso in college at Stanford University where he also graduated with a B.S. in Earth Systems. Akwasi currently wears many hats lecturing at Stanford University, teaching elementary school music in Richmond, coordinating college application preparation at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, holding private lessons, and apprenticing as a steelpan builder.

Philip enthusiastically shares his wide range of gifts as an educator, dancer, and choreographer. Currently teaching music and dance at Stege and Verde Elementary Schools, Philip brings his dual passion for arts and education into each of his classes. Before coming to the Bay Area, Philip worked in his native Ghana where he studied and taught Dance and Choreography. A recent highlight was his contribution to “Amazing Child,” a popular Ghanaian reality television show. In addition to teaching, Philip continues to practice his craft as a performing dancer and choreographer.

Born and raised in the melting pot neighborhood of New Town, Accra, Francis grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of all of Ghana’s many ethnic groups. As a drumming instructor at the University of Ghana for almost two decades, he has mentored many of Ghana’s up-and-coming performers and introduced countless students from around the world to Ghanaian traditions. He regularly performs with many of Ghana’s leading traditional and neo-traditional ensembles and Afropop bands in North America, and he has performed, taught master classes, and conducted workshops at universities throughout the US and Canada, including McGill, Tufts, Wesleyan, SUNY Stony Brook, Mount Holyoke, Brandeis, UC Irvine, and CalArts. A newcomer to the Bay Area, he is also teaching at the University of San Francisco and Mills College.

Akwasi Abrefah is a steelpan player who performs and teaches in the Bay, as well as around the world. He was born in Oakland, CA, and raised in Richland, WA where, at the age of 9, he started playing steelpan. Through middle school and high school, he traveled around the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. playing with bands OK 2 Botay and Bram Bratá before continuing with Cardinal Calypso in college at Stanford University where he also graduated with a B.S. in Earth Systems. Akwasi currently wears many hats lecturing at Stanford University, teaching elementary school music in Richmond, coordinating college application preparation at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, holding private lessons, and apprenticing as a steelpan builder.

Kwesi Anku received his training in West African music, dancing and drumming at the University of Legon, Ghana. After obtaining his BFA in Dance in 2004, he became a teaching assistant for the School of Performing Arts, working with local students and study abroad participants, namely from: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford and San Francisco State University. He is also an accomplished performer, having performed with the Ghana Dance Ensemble and the Performing Arts Workshop, two of Ghana’s most prestigious dance ensembles. Since moving to the East Bay, he worked for World Arts West and the SF Ethnic Dance Festival.  Kwesi was promoted to become the Center’s  Director of Student Development and Training –in addition to maintaining classes as a West African drumming dance instructor. Kwesi is also a principal dancer in CK Ladzekpo’s West African Music and Dance Ensemble.

Tiffany Austin had sung on three continents- around her native Los Angeles while attending college, then for a year in London, and eventually for five and a half years in Tokyo- before setting music aside upon being accepted in 2009 at the University of California’s Boalt School of Law in Berkeley. Yet the itch by the music bug never went away, and a year into her law studies, she enrolled on a full scholarship in a local music school, where her refreshingly original singing style attracted the attention of such innovative young San Francisco Bay Area bandleaders as bassist Marcus Shelby, and tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley. Although she did earn a Juris Doctorate in 2012, while her peers were taking the bar exam, Austin decided instead to devote her life to her first love: Music.

Jason Chiu has been a Piano Instructor with EBCPA since 2006. He has a B.A. of music degree from UC Berkeley and a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jason has received numerous prizes in local competitions and has performed with the University Symphony Orchestra at UC Berkeley. He was a recipient of the Eisner Award for achievement in the creative arts while attending Berkeley. Jason earned his M.M. in 2004 studying with Dr. Sharon Mann, and has been teaching piano ever since. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival and the Bowdoin Festival in Maine, and internationally in China and Taiwan.

Ruthie Dineen, MSW,  is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, pianist, composer, parent and Executive Director at East Bay Center. Ruthie grew up in the Bay Area; her mother’s family is Salvadoran and her father’s Irish-American. Bilingual in Spanish and English, Ruthie is now learning Hebrew with her daughter, Amaya!  Ruthie has a BA in music and history from UC Berkeley, her master’s degree in social work from Cal State East Bay, and her BFA in piano and jazz studies from the California Jazz Conservatory. Ruthie is also a founding member and co-leader of two original music ensembles, Negative Press Project and RDL+, with whom she performs, tours, arranges, and composes regularly. Dineen performs, arranges and composes for a wide range of jazz, Latin, salsa, and classical musicians and groups in the Bay Area, including vocalist/percussionist Christelle Durandy, members of the Amaranth String Quartet, and Bululú. Ruthie has worked at the Center since 2009 and believes strongly in the Center’s mission, vision, and values, including the transformative power of the arts. Ruthie has been involved in several community-driven initiatives, including serving on the Executive, Sustainability, and Steering Committees of Healthy Richmond, as well as a member of the Invest in Youth Coalition in Richmond, and the planning group for the Blueprint to Prevent Interpersonal Violence in Contra Costa County.

Sebastiao Felix, known in the Capoeira world as Mestre Calango, began training Capoeira music and movements at 7 years old in his native town in the state of Piaui in the Northeast of Brazil.. He received his formatura in the US under Mestre Acordeon in the late ‘90s and title of Mestre in the early 2000’s, but has been teaching since he was 18 years old. He was featured in signature productions of Mestre Acordeons’ in partnership with CK Ladzekpo – Warriors at the Edge of the Rain Forest (1991) and Konyifafa- produced by East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, as well as workshops, shows, and films throughout the world. Mestre Calango has taught in Chicago, Colorado, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Brazil and has been teaching at East Bay Center on and off since 2002.

Mara is an established freelance trombonist and educator in the Bay Area. For more than 25 years she has amazed audiences all over the world, working in Jazz, R&B, Latin and Classical genres. Mara recorded and toured internationally with Conjunto Cespedes, and with the Klezmorim. Locally, she plays with a wide variety of well-known groups including the 2013 Grammy Award Winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the Montclair Women’s Big Band, and The Purple Ones. She has also played with groups like the Berkeley Symphony, the San Francisco Sinfonietta, the Mike Vax Big Band, and the Bay Area Salsa all-Stars. Mara has a private trombone studio, and also teaches at St. Theresa School and Head Royce School in Oakland. She has been a faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and for Jazz Girls Days at Berkeley High School and SFJazz Center.

Jenelle Gaerlan (she/they) is a multi-disciplined creative, dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist from Portland, Oregon. Having trained in contemporary, jazz, modern, ballet, hip hop, house, waacking and movement improvisation/freestyle, Jenelle has done work for Nike Inc., DarVejon Jones Dance Ensemble, BodyVox Dance Company (under Emmy Award-winning choreographers Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland), Soulskin Dance, Fray Show by CandyBomber Productions (2022 premiere at Stanford Live), and Robert Moses’ KIN Dance Company.

Jenelle’s dancing comes from a place of coexistence and interconnectivity between movement languages. The way she reveals her experience through movement and storytelling bleeds into their teaching practices in the classroom. How can we tell our stories, while applying new information in class to deepen the quality of our narratives outside of that space? Using house dance philosophies (a club dance style centered around the music, footwork, grooves and the cypher/circle) as a focal point for her curriculum, Jenelle looks forward to facilitating a creative approach towards music and dance in her classes at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

Jenelle currently teaches Hip Hop & House Dance Fundamentals for Teens at LINES at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center (SF Dance Center) as well as the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA. She has taught workshops at the late MVMNT Arts Academia in Albany, CA, at Mark Sanchez (aka Hippie’s) Soul Movement Retreat, Rae Studios SF, and also at the University of San Francisco. As a professional dancer, she currently dances for Robert Moses’ KIN and is fascinated by the intersection of music, visual media and movement. With expertise in dance, choreography, video production, design and creative direction, she is based in the Bay Area to build and connect with other multifaceted artists.

A native of the Bay Area, Lolis García received her BA in Psychology from the University of San Francisco. A talented musician and dancer, Lolis has mastered multiple string and percussion instruments associated with the son of Mexico. She has been with the Center for 21 years, studying and teaching Mexican music and dance, hip-hop, modern dance and West African dance, both at the main site and after-school programs. In 2009, she participated in EBCPA’s joint production, Yanga, with the Oakland Museum of Art. The program was an exploration of the crossroads of Mexican and African traditional music. In 2004, she received an Alliance of California Traditional Arts grant for an intensive master-apprentice program where she studied with Artemio Posadas. She is currently part of Tarimba a musical project that focuses on Son Jarocho.

 Emily is a dancer and dance instructor based in the Bay Area. She believes that dance and the arts provide much needed avenues for engaging in healing journeys, sharing stories, and building community. She holds a BA in Dance and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley, and an MS in Dance/Movement Therapy from Sarah Lawrence College. Her dance experience included being a youth company member with the Merced Civic Ballet, and training in a variety of modern dance forms under many artists at UC Berkeley. Emily currently teaches modern dance and ballet with the East Bay Center and works as a dancer with Joe Landini Dance and eMotion Arts.

Joe Kelly moved to the Bay Area in October 2003 after spending seven years post baccalaureate studying the physics and mechanics behind the steel drum. Combining the latest technology and innovations, with a meticulous eye for detail, Joe produces some of the finest steel drums available today. Joe speaks regularly at schools and universities, giving clinics and workshops pertaining to tuning, performance, history, and culture. Joe has performed internationally with artists and ensembles like Pan Harmony, Panyard All-Stars, Island Grooves, Greg Pare’ Quartet, Mariachi Libre, Wynnona Judd, Burt Bacharach, Pink Martini and locally with the Napa Valley, California, and San Francisco Symphonies. This past year Joe performed a concerto for pan, accompanied by the 60 member chorus, Viva la Musica. Joe enjoys teaching music at Bahia Vista Elementary School and has been Director of the East Bay Center’s Steel Band program since 2010.

Shahrzad Khorsandi is an Iranian-born dancer and choreographer residing in California. She studied Modern Dance and Performance Art at CalArts, and holds a BA in Dance, and an MA in Creative Arts from SFSU. Shahrzad has been faculty at several colleges in the Bay Area and teaches and performs Iranian dance globally. She has drawn upon her experience in Iranian culture, and her formal dance training, to create a dance vocabulary and pedagogy for Iranian dance as a means of emotional expression. She is the artistic director of Shahrzad Dance Company, co-founder of the online teaching platform, Iranian Dance Academy, and a Teaching Artist for Youth in Arts and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. Shahrzad is the author of the book, The Art of Persian Dance, and a member of an international research team, studying the effects of dance on the brain.

Native San Franciscan, Alia Kuhnert, began playing trumpet at age ten. Alia originally chose the trumpet to disturb the peace and annoy her mom but ended up falling in love with the instrument. Growing up, she studied piano and was a member of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, where she performed all over the Bay Area and sang regularly at Davis Symphony Hall. Today, you can see her perform in groups such as Oakland Symphony, Marin Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Modesto Symphony, Stockton Symphony, and more. Committed to education, Alia is a faculty member at SFCM PreCollege Division, East Bay Center for Performing Arts, Schools of Sacred Heart and Cazadero Music Camp. She conducts weekly coachings and masterclasses at schools all over the Bay Area and maintains a private studio of successful trumpet players of all ages and experience levels.

Alia received her Bachelors of Music from the New England Conservatory, her Masters of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University in New York. While living and performing in New York, Alia was a founding member of eGALitarian, an all female brass ensemble dedicated to inspiring and improving the lives of women and was a regular substitute teacher at the Juilliard PreCollege.  Her principal teachers include Catherine Murtagh, Ben Wright of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tom Siders of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Kevin Cobb of the American Brass Quintet.

Emily is proud to be working with the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, bringing music education into elementary schools in Richmond. Emily began singing as a child with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and has continued to sing professionally with many local ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Volti, and the Schola Cantorum at The Cathedral of Christ the Light. In addition to teaching classes for the East Bay Center, she is also a Prep Chorus Director at the San Francisco Girls Chorus and is on faculty at the Pacific Boychoir Academy, where she teaches musicianship at the day school and directs after-school choirs. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Francisco State University and a Masters in Music Education from Holy Names University.

Betty has been with East Bay Center since 1985. Ms. Ladzekpo is a Core Faculty Member of the Center, and has a long history as a teacher and performer. She is a principal dancer with the Ladzekpo Brothers African Music and Dance ensemble. Ms. Ladzekpo has performed at major venues throughout the U.S. including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and the African Cultural Festival (“The Afrikans Are Coming”). Ms. Ladzekpo is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley in African Dance.

C.K. Ladzekpo is a Professor of African Music and Dance at UC Berkeley. Over the years, he has worked to include the effective representation of the African perspective in the modern arenas of major colleges, concert stages, theaters and television. Dr. Ladzekpo has held positions as lead drummer and instructor with the National Dance Company of Ghana, the University of Ghana, and Ghana Arts Council. He has directed and taught African dance forms and polyrhythmic percussion ensemble music at many international venues.

Andrea Shigeko Landin is a musician and educator from Los Angeles, CA. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Latin America, including playing with ensembles at Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Before moving to the Bay Area, she was the Director of New West Symphony Harmony Project, a youth development program whose mission is to enact social change through music by providing low income youth in Ventura with tuition free, high quality ensemble based music instruction. In 2015 she was granted the City of Ventura Mayor’s Arts Educator Award, as well as recognized by the California Legislature Assembly for her contribution to the empowerment of the Latino community. Andrea has also been one of fifty international musicians selected over a period of 5 years for the Sistema Fellowship at New England Conservatory. She holds a B.M. in Cello Performance and a B.A. in Anthropology from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, and an MA in Education Policy and Leadership from Stanford. In addition to teaching cello, she is also the Director of School Partnerships at East Bay Center.

Kwaku received his education and training in West African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana. After obtaining his BFA degree in Dance in 2004, he was employed by the University of Ghana as a Senior Production Assistant and worked in the capacity of Dance and Drumming Instructor from 2004-2010. He received the Curtain Call Costumes Rising Star award from the Dance Council of North Texas to attend American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina in 2010. He was selected on numerous occasions to travel abroad to perform and teach African Music and Dance. He is currently working with East Bay Center teaching African Music and Dance to teenagers, is involved in a variety of Out of School Time (OST) programs for children from kindergarten to 6th grade, as well as an in-school professional development program at Title One Schools called Learning Without Borders.

Tanya Marie is a Boston native and recent transplant to the Bay Area after 7 years living in Paris, France. She has worked internationally in film, television, radio, theater and is excited to be back on the American stage, as well as in the classroom with aspiring artists! Some of Tanya’s favorite credits include: Oskar (TheatreWorks, d/ Lisa Giglio), Oslo (Los Altos Stage Company, d/Gary Landis); Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (San Jose Stage Company, d/Lee Sankowich); Ballerina (animated feature, Paris, d/ Eric Summer); A Collection of Stories (Word for Word/French Tour, d/Susan Harloe); Dr. Junod (animated feature, Paris, d/ Matthew Géczy); Café Winnipesaukee (Whitebridge Farm Productions d/ Oscar-winner Ernest Thompson); L’Amour(orless…) (tv pilot, Paris); Company Member with DramaTies (Paris); and many more! In this new era of ‘covid theater’, Tanya has recently had the privilege of filming Jane Austen’s « Persuasion » (San Jose Stage Company) and has signed on for the upcoming zoom reading of « Henry V » (African American Shakespeare Company). In addition to acting, Tanya has been a teaching artist and public speaking coach since 2010 in both France and America.

Eliza O’Malley, soprano, trained at AIMS in Graz, Austria, Aspen School of Music, the Wesley Balk Institute, BASOTI, Oberlin College, and earned an M.M. in Voice Performance at Texas Tech University School of Music. She produces a series of monthly Works in Progress concerts at the Chamber Arts House in Berkeley, which she helped to found. A great lover of new music, she has premiered works by Lisa Scola Prosek, Stephen Clark, Mark Alburger, Sheli Nan, Allan Crossman and more while working with Goat Hall Productions/San Francisco Cabaret Opera over the past couple of years. She has also premiered music by Peter Josheff, Mary Watkins and Alexis Alrich and sung opera roles with The Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Opera Theater, Berkeley Opera, Solo Opera, BASOTI, and Capitol Opera Sacramento. She also produces and sings in the “Dazzling Divas” nights of opera arias at the Bateau Ivre.

Joe is an actor, singer, dancer and story-teller who has worked in theatres across Europe, Asia and North America, television and on screen. He started his dance career as a tap dancer on the streets of NYC where Gregory Hines discovered him. On stage, Joe has performed with Joan Baez, Bob Hope, the Smothers Brothers, Michael Davis, Liliane Montevechi, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Melissa Manchester, and the Cookie Monster, among others. He has tap danced with such greats as Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde and Savion Glover, and old masters including the Nicholas Brothers, Honi Coles, Charles “Cookie” Cook, Chuck Green and Lon Cheney. He has been directed by Woody Allen (Everyone Says I Love You), James Mangold (Copland), Tim Boxell (Valley of the Heart’s Delight), Stefan Haves (Punch Drunk) and David Shiner (Nacht Mund). CNN International profiled Joe on “People in the Arts.” Joe received his MFA from University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts in Acting.

Pierr is a member of the artistic genealogy of the Vasquez family who have transmitted Afro-Peruvian cultural traditions through generations beginning in the late XIX century. He began his artistic career as a dancer, becoming a member of important ensembles such as Conjunto Nacional de Folklore del Perú and Teatro del Milenio among others. He has participated in shows by renowned Peruvian artists, among them master Victoria Santa Cruz and singer Eva Ayllon. He obtained the title of “Champion of National Champions of Peru of Marinera Limeña.” He created Colectivo Palenke, a Afro-Peruvian musical group as well as led the musical group Mandinga Project and Cambalache La fiesta Afroperuana. Pierr participated as Zapateador in a recording of a song “El Surco” from the album “A Chabuca,” which was nominated for Record of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards (2017). Throughout Pierr’s career, he has toured America, Asia and Europe as an artist and speaker on Afro-Peruvian music. He is one of the authors of the book “Personajes Afrodescendientes del Perú y América (African descendent characters of Peru and America).” Pierre was teacher and artistic director of the Puckllay Cultural Association and teacher and director of the Centro de Acción Cultural Afroperuano, as well as teaching at many other dance schools. He currently leads the musical group “Huarango”, directs the festival “Afro-Peruvian Fest” and has recently created the international educational platform, “Seminario de Música Afroperuana,” which promotes and disseminates Afro-Peruvian cultural traditions.

Pablo Puente is a performer, teaching-artist, creator, and alum of the Young Artist Diploma Program.  He recently received his Bachelor of Arts in music and dance from Wesleyan University.  While there, Pablo created and directed fight choreography for student run plays, regularly performed with Prometheus: Fire Arts and Performance, and helped teach the Circophony Teen Circus at Oddfellows Playhouse.  Working with collaborators at Red Feather Studios, Pablo wrote, performed, recorded, and produced numerous original music compositions for personal and professional projects.  Since graduation, he has continued learning how to play various new instruments, is always working on a new song, and is slowly perfecting his recipe for vegetarian fried rice.

Pianist, singer, composer, producer, and musical director Dana Salzman creates funky, flavorful tunes that re-imagine jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul, Latin, and R&B music, and illuminate her sultry voice, fine-tuned piano technique and talent for composition and arrangement. Salzman began to study piano at age four with her mother, an accomplished Russian pianist, and went on to study jazz formally – eventually earning a degree from the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Salzman has had the opportunity to work closely with many celebrated musicians and songwriters during her career, including Mike Marshall (Timex Social Club), Tony Flores (Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack), Pete Escovedo, Rappin Forte, Samuelle Prater (Club Neaveau), Heartafiya and more. She has also played at notable east and west coast U.S. venues, and overseas at Duc De Lombard in Paris, the Reduta in Prague, L’Archduc in Brussels, and the Hotel Ellington in Berlin. Now based in Oakland, CA, Salzman does all her own production, writing, and arranging and is also an in-demand piano and voice teacher. She has released four acclaimed solo albums that are available on all platforms – It’s Out of Your Hands (2007), Rising (2010), Deep Down (2014), and Unfold (2020) – and has music on rotation at several radio stations across the country.

Candace was a member of the San Diego Symphony for 5 years, and moved to the Bay Area in 1981 as a member of the Oakland Symphony. She is presently still a member of the Oakland East Bay Symphony along with the Berkeley Symphony and the Fremont Symphony. Candace has taught in the Oakland Schools through the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s Muse program for the last 10 years and at the Center for 8 years. She is a member of the Luna Nova quartet, and Mt Tamalpais string quartet. She studied trumpet at San Diego State University and continues to enjoy playing and teaching the trumpet.

Jordan Simmons, Theater

Richmond native and proud graduate of JFK High, Jordan served as Artistic Director at the Center (1984 – 2021) and has been a faculty member since 1974. A graduate of Reed College, active Mestre of Capoeira, licensed Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) teacher, and theater director, Mr. Simmons’ portfolio includes more than 50 productions for theater and film – many of which have focused on the lives and concerns of youth and young adults from Richmond’s Iron Triangle and surrounding neighborhoods. Recognition for Mr. Simmons’ work has ranged from the Governor of California’s Award for “Outstanding Individual in the Arts” to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences “Outstanding Contribution to the Bay Area Arts,” an inaugural City of Richmond Human Rights Award, and San Francisco Foundation’s Helen Crocker Russell Award: presented to an “under-recognized, mature artist who has made a significant and ongoing contribution in the SF Bay Area.”

Richard Squeri (Stage Combat/Intimacy Coach) is an award-winning Fight and Intimacy Director and Choreographer, as well as Executive Producer and Assistant Director of Birdbath Theatre. As a Stunt and Stage Combat Instructor, he has 40 years of experience and a record of safety. His work has appeared in every media genre. He is an adjunct faculty member at the College of Marin and East Bay Center with fight directing credits for over 350 stage productions, including Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, Richard II, Othello, Hamlet, Arabian Nights, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, I Hate Hamlet, and King Lear. Film credits include Craig Hamann and Roger Avery’s Boogie Boy and Quentin Tarantino’s first film, My Best Friend’s Birthday. He also worked on television shows including the original Battlestar Galactica and Cagney & Lacey.

W. Allen Taylor began his career in theatre in 1979, and includes performances in many regional theaters around the country, as well as in NYC, with such critically acclaimed off-Broadway theaters as the Negro Ensemble Company and La Mama E.T.C. He has also been seen on Broadway in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars”, and has appeared on network television and in feature films. His solo show, “In Search of My Father…Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins,” which he wrote and performed, was originally commissioned and work-shopped at East Bay Center. The play made its professional debut at the Marsh Theatre in Berkeley, CA in 2006 and won the Best Solo-Performance Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Allen received his MFA from the American Conservatory Theatre, and has served on the theater faculties of Laney College and the College of Marin, where he served for 16 years, and 5 years as the department chair. He actually began his teaching career at East Bay Center in 1989, and maintained his connection to the theater faculty throughout the years. He now returns as an acting teacher, audition coach and production director.

Javier Trujillo was born in Lima, Peru where he studied Classical Guitar at the Conservatorio de Musica de Lima, later on he continued at UC Berkeley where he studied Musicology as well. He has participated in various festivals in USA and Peru as a performer and educator, always sharing the importance of the guitar in Latin America. Living in the East Bay Javier has had the opportunity to have master classes with different classical guitar masters related to the Omni Foundation of the Performing Arts. While playing with different bands and ensembles in the Bay Area, Javier explored both classical and popular music with Vibo Simfani, Proyecto Lando, Ajayu, just to name a few. He felt the need to further investigate the Afro-Peruvian guitar and became engaged with the style, exploring the different rhythms and possibilities in the music of his country.

Claudio Naranjos Vega has participated in “Los Vega” for 25 years to date. His main activities as a musician are mainly playing the requinto instrument or guitarra de son.  As of 2020, he is the director of the group; throughout this time, Mr. Claudio has contributed as a composer and arranger on different songs from the group’s latest albums. Likewise, in the trajectory as a group, they have performed in a large number of cultural and artistic festivals in the country and abroad; in countries such as China, the United States and Canada. Has participated in different film recordings, one of them with the theme “La Bruja” for the movie “Frida”, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2002, we participated as guests in the show “De Sirenas y Peteneras e Infortunados Marinos”, which was nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio in 2015, in the same way in 2018 we put on a show bringing together more than 20 renowned artists in the son jarocho genre on the occasion of our 20 anniversary, which was nominated in 2019 by the Lunas del Auditorio. This same year we were invited to participate in the benefit concert for Tibet at Carnegie Hall in New York, under the direction of renowned composer Philip Glass. Our discography consists of five albums, the last two “Vientos del mar” and “En tonos muy diferentes” under the production of Leo Heiblum with the Audiflot label.

Carolyn Walter is a freelance music educator and artist, specializing in multiple woodwind performance – she holds a bachelor of music degree in clarinet performance from SFSU. In addition to teaching privately, coaching in schools and leading group classes at EBCPA, Carolyn has played clarinet, bass clarinet, all saxophones, flutes and bassoon in venues all around the bay area, along with touring nationally and internationally. Carolyn is a member of long-standing projects including the Awesöme Orchestra Collective, Makeunder, miRthkon, Jean Fineburg’s Jazzphoria, and the Montclair Women’s Big Band.