Ayodele Maakheru: guitar, mandolin, ukulele, bass & banjo     

-Studied at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (guitar, trumpet, music theory & composition) and City College of New York (nursing & music)

- Teacher for New York Pops, Council for Living Music, The Learning Tree, Huntington Arts Council, The Josephine Foundation, St. Mary’s HS Orchestra Director & The Midori Foundation. Teaching classes in guitar, mandolin, banjo, electric bass, ukulele, theory/composition, string ensemble, vocal music & instrument building. 

- Performed, toured & recorded with Lionel Hampton Big-Band, Randy Weston, Jaki Byard Apollo Stompers, Frank Wess, Tulivu Cumberbatch, Ray Holman, Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill and Rashid Ali. With performers Donna McKechnie, Eartha Kitt, Gregory Hines, Linda Hopkins, Ruth Brown, Whitney Houston, Phylicia Rashad, Melba Moore, Savion Glover, Leslie Uggams, Miriam Makeba, Nona Hendrix, The Fifth Dimension, The New York Philharmonic, The Queens Symphony & Unity of NY.

-  In the Broadway pits of HALLELUIAH BABY, The WIZ, A CHORUS LINE, ME & MY GIRL, WILD PARTY,  BLACK & BLUE, JELLY‘S LAST JAM, THE FULL MONTY, HARLEM SONG, FROM MY HOMETOWN, BRING IN DA NOISE/BRING IN DA FUNK, The BOY‘S CHOIR of HARLEM, SHUFFLE ALONG, DON’T BOTHER ME-I CAN’T COPE & BELLA. Musical Director for BLACK ORPHEUS & SPUNK.  Appeared with Maurice Peress/ Royal Palais Orchestra & The Clef Club, Gunther Schuller’s New England Ragtime Ensemble, the Urban Bush Women’s film & stage productions of PRAISE HOUSE and the tv orchestra for the ESSENCE AWARDS. Appeared on the tv shows GOTHAM, MADAME SECRETARY, BULL &Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno and in the films THE SINGING BIOLOGIST, EVERY DAY & THE LAST 5 YEARS. Banjoist/guitarist in the opera “Regina”(American Symphony Orchestra)

-In the off-Broadway pits of GREASE, GODSPELL, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, ALADDIN, SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK, OKLAHOMA, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ, FAME, RAISIN, SEUSSICAL , THE LION KING, THE COLOR PURPLE & DREAM GIRLS

- Bandleader for Quadrant, Ayo Maak‘s Jazz Pack, Windsong String Quartet. Released 3 CDs: SUNSHIP, DISTANT TRAVELER & ANOTHER COUNTRY. Bronx Art Council BRIO awardee (songwriter) and an ASCAP songwriter award. www.MaakheruMusic.net 

Curtis Stewart & Jannina Norpoth, violins; Nick Revel, viola; Hamilton Berry, cello

2013 Concerts Artists Guild NEW MUSIC/NEW PLACES ENSEMBLE

Applauded by The Washington Post as “a perfect encapsulation of today’s trends in chamber music,” and by The New Yorker as “independent-minded,” PUBLIQuartet’s modern interpretation of chamber music makes them one of the most dynamic artists of their generation.  Dedicated to presenting new works for string quartet, PUBLIQuartet rose on the music scene as winner of the 2013 Concert Artists Guild’s New Music/New Places award, and in 2019 garnered Chamber Music America’s prestigious Visionary Award for outstanding and innovative approaches to contemporary classical, jazz, and world chamber music.  PQ’s genre-bending programs range from 20th century masterworks to newly commissioned pieces, alongside reimaginations of classical works featuring open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet.

PUBLIQuartet has served as artist-in-residence at top institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Sawdust and has appeared at a wide variety of venues and festivals, from Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Their latest album, Freedom and Faith, debuted atop the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart in May 2019. The 2019-2020 season brings a diverse array of programs to venues across the United States, including a special collaborative project with jazz violinist Diane Monroe.

PUBLIQuartet’s commitment to supporting emerging composers inspired their innovative program, PUBLIQ Access, which promotes emerging composers and presents a wide variety of under-represented music for string quartet--from classical, jazz and electronic, to non-notated, world and improvised music. Other unique projects include MIND|THE|GAP, a series of group-composed works developed by PQ to generate interest in new music while also engaging traditional classical music audiences.  These unique creations range from Bird in Paris (Claude Debussy meets Charlie Parker) to more recent extended works including What Is American? (an exploration of Dvorak’s beloved “American” String Quartet) and Sancta Femina (based on themes by three medieval and baroque female composers). 

Yacouba Sissoko was born in Kita, Mali, to a well-known djely family. Djelys for centuries they have been the traditional musicians and keepers of the factual history and fables of past rulers, nobles, social groups and families. The kora was the traditional instrument that djelys played.

At the age of 9, Yacouba started learning the kora and the oral traditions associated with it from his grandfather until he moved to Bamako, Mali’s capital, to attend the National Institute of the Arts. Based in the capital, he caught the attention of the music world and began touring with noted international African artists which eventually led him to settle in the United States in 1998.

With an intention to introduce and share the stories of his people but also to learn from other musicians and cultures, Yacouba incorporates a variety of musical influences into his repertoire, and as such has developed his own unique style of kora.

He performed, toured and recorded with well known African musicians such as Baaba Maal, Sekou (Bambino) Diabate and Kerfala Kante. Yacouba, not limited to African music has also recorded and performed with a variety of artists including Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and Lauren Hill. He has recorded tracks on over 15 CDs.

Rooted to give back to the community, Yacouba regularly performs for cultural programs and benefit concerts. In recognition of his commitment to educating others in 2007  he was selected as a Teaching Artist by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall and returned again to Carnegie Hall in 2016 and 2019 as a featured artists in the Musical Explorers Program in New York, NY and Savannah, GA. He also received a Sunshine Award for Performing Arts, African Music in 2016.

Yacouba continues to blend effortlessly with other musical styles, whether it is performing Indian ragas or Appalachian tunes. Yacouba can be seen regularly touring with Regina Carter, Rachel Brown, Jordana de Lovely, Oran Etkin, Kavita Shah, Benyoro and his own band SIYA. His first solo CD SIYA was released in 2017.

A highly regarded professor, painter and master printmaker, Curlee Raven Holton has exhibited his work throughout the world. His paintings, drawings, and prints are held by major museums and collections in the U.S. and abroad. His most recent solo exhibition, Journey: The Artistry of Curlee Raven Holton, was held at the University of Maryland University College. 

Holton earned his MFA from Kent State University with a concentration in printmaking and his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Fine Arts in drawing and painting. He served as the David M. and Linda Roth Professor of Art at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. where he taught printmaking and African American art history. Holton founded the Experimental Printmaking Institute with a vision to provide artists with the time, space, materials, and professional support to create new work. This vision was realized with more than 200 works produced. In 2014 he was appointed executive director of the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at University of Maryland, College Park.

Holton was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Art and Philosophy from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) at the 2018 commencement in New York City. In 2015 he received the Anyone Can Fly Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.