Participants

Charlotte Blake Alston is a highly sought after, nationally acclaimed storyteller, narrator,librettist, and singer who performs in venues throughout North America and abroad. The 2018-2019 season will mark her 28th consecutive season as periodic Host and Narrator on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Family and school concerts and her 25th as the host of Sound All Around, The Philadelphia Orchestra’s preschool concerts. For 19 years, she was the featured host, storyteller, and narrator on the Carnegie Hall Family and School Concert series. She has made multiple appearances at the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Storytelling[...Read More]

Chen's incredible musicality and interpretive skills have resulted in overwhelming international acclaim as a solo interpreter of her instrument. Beyond that, with Chinese, American and European orchestras Chen was the first to bring the erhu into the symphonic concert hall, performing as a featured soloist. Her playing brought a new sound and excitement to classical music audiences. Perhaps most compelling are her achievements as a cross-cultural performer. Chen has virtually reinvented the erhu for the 21st century, performing in partnership with some of the most notable jazz and world music artists of our time. Her artistry has made[...Read More]

Multi-faceted percussionist, Rolando Morales-Matos is a well sought after Latin, Jazz and Classical musician. He has toured worldwide performing at the major jazz festivals and venues as a percussionist of Ron Carter Foursight Quartet, as well as appearing with artists such as Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels, Dave Valentine, Willie Colon, among others. Rolando has recorded with Ron Carter, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Birdland Big Band, as well as numerous film soundtracks and classical works. In 2006, Rolando was the recipient of Drum Magazine's World Beat Percussionist of the Year Award. Since 1997, he has been the Percussionist and Assistant[...Read More]

Of Navajo-Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute. As an artist, he is an adventurer and risk taker, always giving his musical imagination free rein. Nakai is also an iconoclastic traditionalist who views his cultural heritage not only as a source and inspiration, but also a dynamic continuum of natural change, growth, and adaptation subject to the artist’s expressive needs. His first album, Changes, was released by Canyon Records in 1983, and since then he has released fourty albums with Canyon plus additional albums and guest appearances on other labels. Nakai[...Read More]

Keila Pérez-Vega is a 2015 BFA University of the Arts graduate where she received extensive training in ballet, modern, jazz and improvisation. In 2012, Keila became a principal dancer at Eleone Dance Theatre where she remained for 3 years. Post-graduation, Keila settled in Philadelphia, worked as a freelance artist and was a part of Dance Iquail in its 2015 season. Thereafter, Keila has worked with numerous local artists in dance and photography including: Ani/Malayaworks (PHL), 10HL Projects (NYC), Melissa Rector & dancers (PHL) among others. Keila is a performing dance artist with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Marketing/Events Director at Koresh Dance Company, and coordinator with[...Read More]