Jack Straw Artist Support Program

Ayllus is a family music group composed of Alfonso Arias Aluisa and his three sons. Alfonso has been learning and playing the music of the Andes since he was 12 years old. He learned through oral tradition from his grandfather, Atanasio Arias Maldonado, and by playing music with other members of his community. Between the ages of 15 and 17, Alfonso toured Europe with a musical group from his community.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record an album of traditional Quechua music.

Etienne Cakpo is an award-winning professional dancer, choreographer and musician from Benin, West Africa. He teaches and performs traditional African dance from Benin as well as contemporary African dance styles, and has been building his dance and music repertoire for nearly thirty years. He directs Gansango Music & Dance, a performing arts group that works with public libraries, schools and independent arts agencies locally and nationally to make performance of dance and music from Africa available to a wide range of audiences, including young children. Etienne has received a number of awards for artistic excellence, including: two-time Recipient of Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship for Excellence in Performing Arts (2013, 2006); danceWEB Europe’s 2007 Scholarship Program (2007); Dance Omi International Dance Collective residency award (2006); and UNESCO-Aschberg Bursury for Artists Award (2005- 2006).

Artist Support Program 2016: Produce an album of original music that fuses traditional rhythm, vocals and percussion from Africa with modern world music styles.

Srivani Jade was introduced to music at the age of four by her father Bhavani Prasad Jade and uncle Raghavendra Tilwalli. She studied Khayal initially with Dr. Sharad Gadre in the Gwalior style (2002-03), and since 2006, with Pandit Parameshwar Hegde in the Kirana style. Srivani also sings an eclectic repertoire of light classical music, such as,Thumri-dadra, Tappa and Bhajans. She performs regularly both in India and North America, and has sung in major music festivals such as the Sawai Gandharv Bhimsen Mahotsav (2014) and Devanandan Ubhayaker Yuva Sangeet Utsav (2009). She has five solo albums to her credit, and several grants, artist residencies and awards–including the Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award (2009). She has lent her voice and music to independent films such as Tapasya (2003), Siddhanto (2014) and stage productions such as Indian Ink (Sound Theater Company). She is an auditioned artist with All India Radio, and Visiting Artist at the University of Washington’s School of Music.

Artist Support Program 2018: Peace Mantra, a musical composition for female voices composed of incantations of peace from all around the world.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record music combining Indian raga vocals with Greek clarinet, Latin piano, Senegalese drums, tabla, and other instruments.

Artist Support Program 2008: Meera’s Love, an album of original songs featuring a range of styles and instrumentation representing different regions of India.

Coleman Pester is a choreographer and dancer based in in Seattle. Coleman has built a diverse palate of work; premiering dance works in Seattle, Australia, Israel, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Coleman acted as the assistant to renowned Choreographer Anouk van Dijk, Artistic Director of Chunky Move in Australia in 2012. Coleman earned a BFA from the LINES Ballet/Dominican University program in San Francisco. Coleman founded //TECTONIC MARROW SOCIETY// and continues to create and direct work through this company/project. Coleman has been commissioned and presented by Seattle Art Museum, Velocity Dance Center, On the Boards, and NEPO Arthouse. Coleman has received awards, grants, and residencies from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Artist Trust, The Glenn H. Kawasaki Foundation, The University of Washington, and The Cornish Playhouse.

Artist Support Program 2016: Develop sound concepts and recordings for the immersive performance/installation work PYLON.

Steve Peters makes music and audio for a variety of contexts and occasions using environmental sound, found/natural objects, electronics, instruments, and voices. Elements of improvisation and formal structure are combined to create place-based works that encourage a contemplative state of listening focused on subtle sonic details of the world around us. His work has been released on such labels as Cold Blue, Palace of Lights, Sirr, Dragon’s Eye, 12k, and Present Sounds. He performs with the Seattle Phonographers Union and is Director of Nonsequitur, a non-profit organization that presents concerts of innovative music through the Wayward Music Series at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Wallingford.

Artist Support Program 2016: Cancoes Profundas (Deep Songs), a soundscape composition for field recordings and improvising musicians.

Artist Support Program 2014: Record interviews with Seattle-area composers and sound artists in order to assemble individual portraits and a collective oral history of experimental music activity in the city and surrounding region.

New Media Gallery 2012-13: Lições dos Antepassados (Lessons from the Ancestors)

Artist Support Program 2010 (with Steve Roden): Not a Leaf Remains As It Was, a series of experimental songs using Japanese jisei as lyrics.

New Media Gallery 2009-10: Chamber Music 8: Particles/Waves

Clyde Petersen is a Seattle-based artist, working in film, animation, music, installation and fabulous spectacle. He is a member of the Transgender and Queer communities in Seattle. Clyde is the director of Torrey Pines, an autobiographical stop-motion animated feature film, which premiered in October 2016 and toured the world with a live score. He is currently directing his second feature, Even Hell has its Heroes, a documentary about the legendary Seattle drone band Earth.

Artist Support Program 2018: Record new music by members of the band Earth for Even Hell Has Its Heroes, a documentary film about them.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record and mix live foley for the stop-motion animated film Torrey Pines.

Phoebe Tsang is a British-Canadian poet, librettist, short story writer and violinist. Her multidisciplinary performance practice integrates composed and improvised music with original poetry. Tsang employs the ancient, divinatory system of the Marseille Tarot to structure her performances, much as John Cage employed the I Ching. The resulting work is a product of chance – each performance differs in form and content, depending on the cards drawn. Phoebe’s poetry and fiction has been published internationally in numerous journals and anthologies. Praised for the “lyrical work and exquisite phrase-making” of her poetry (Sudeep Sen, Atlas 02), her violin performances reflect her “total commitment to bringing the music fully to life” (Allan Pulker, The Wholenote). A former member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, she lives in Toronto, Canada, where she serves as guest concertmaster and soloist with several regional orchestras.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record Paganini’s Shadow, a solo interdisciplinary performance piece exploring the inner life of violinist/composer Niccolo Paganini.

Danielle Villegas is an independent film and theater Director/Producer based in Seattle, WA. Her work often explores gender identity and the Native American Two-Spirit concept. She has been awarded support from Artist Trust, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Jack Straw and is currently serving on the 4Culture Arts Advisory Committee. She is actively working on a feature film project and is a rental income maximization consultant. She was brought to the Northwest in 2000 as a co-founder of the Utilikilts Company where she helped launch the “manskirt” industry. She holds an MFA in Directing for TV, Film and Theater from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record narration for a documentary film about senior lesbian trailblazers

Artist Support Program 2014: Produce sound for InBetween, her documentary film about the Two Spirit concept and philosophy.

Pandit Debi Prasad Chatterjee is a distinguished name among Indian musicians as an outstanding sitarist and a highly regarded teacher of Indian Classical Music. Pt. Chatterjee belongs to the Senia Maihar Gharana and plays in the style of Pt. Nikhil Banerjee. For more than 35 years he has been performing in major Music Concerts all over India and abroad. In India, he has been invited to perform in all major music conferences. He has also performed in many festivals and concerts across North America and Europe to propagate Indian Classical Music in the western World. Pt. Chatterjee has represented India at major music festivals around the world, such as the Intercultural School of Music in Venice.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record performances of rare compositions by Pt. Nikhil Bannerjee and Smt. Annapurna Devi.

Madeline Crowley is an oral historian, writer, and visual artist who has worked on the People of the Central Area & their Stories, an Oral History, Photography and Audio Project since 2012. She is the Oral Historian for Seattle Public Library’s Jazz History of Seattle Project and for Shunpike.org’s Racial Equity Project. She currently teaches writing and critical thinking at CityU of Seattle, Teen Art Studios at Gage Academy while serving on the Board of Allied Arts and the Hive Mind Project Group for Shunpike.org. Her work has been shown in Massachusetts, New York and Washington.

Artist Support Program 2016: Storied Seattle: an audio ‘memory map’ of Seattle’s Central Area.

Stephon Dorsey writes and performs original R&B/soul music under the name Goodsteph.

Artist Support Program 2016: Complete production of Mela.nin, an R&B/soul mixtape that chronicles life as a man of color in modern day America.

Leilani Lewis is an arts administrator who is passionate about visual arts, community and social justice, and specializes in bridging communities and sparking conversations on the arts and social impact. She has curated art shows at galleries such as the Ethnic Heritage Gallery, Columbia City Gallery, and Lucid Gallery. She is an avid arts programmer who specializes in creating experiences that foster connections and promote social change. She is one of the founding staff members of the Northwest African American Museum, where she led NAAM’s high impact programs and communications initiatives. She hold degrees in Art History (BA) and Nonprofit Leadership (MA) from Seattle University.

Artist Support Program 2016 (with Chieko Phillips): Produce an installment of a five episode radio series featuring stories and interviews from black voices.

Chieko Phillips is an initiator, creator, and manager of culture based projects, with a strong commitment to collaboration and civic participation in museum practice. Phillips has dedicated her time in Seattle to uncovering and elevating lesser-known historical narratives in informal learning environments. She is currently the Executive Director of BlackPast, an online resource for global black history, and the Public Programs Curator at Photographic Center Northwest, a non-profit photography school. She completed her BA in History from Davidson College and her MA in Museology from the University of Washington.

Artist Support Program 2016 (with Leilani Lewis): Produce an installment of a five episode radio series featuring stories and interviews from black voices.

Stacey Mastrian, soprano, is a Fulbright Grantee, Beebe Fellow, and Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient. Her repertoire extends from Monteverdi to the 21st century. The New York Times has praised her for “intensity, focus, and a warm, passionate sound.” She has sung with the Konzerthaus Orchestra (Berlin), Nova Amadeus Orchestra (Rome), and at such venues as the Fondazione Cini (Venice) with the Experimentalstudio Freiburg, Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur (Montréal), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), St. Peter’s (Vatican City), and in collaboration with Nuria Schoenberg Nono, at the Conservatorio di Musica Respighi (Latina). She has performed across the U.S., most notably with The Bay Players Experimental Music Collective, the Vocal Arts Society, CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Opera Lafayette at the Kennedy Center and Rose Hall-Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall. Dr. Mastrian has been Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Voice at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College and has taught at American University, Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, and University of Maryland College Park.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record new vocal works composed for her by Stephen F. Lilly.

Dennis Rea’s guitar playing and composing blends modern jazz, creative rock, experimental music, and world musical traditions. Over the years he has led or been a key contributor to such innovative groups as Moraine, LAND, Iron Kim Style, Stackpole, Savant, Earthstar, and Tempered Steel. He has performed and/or recorded with many prominent creative musicians including acclaimed French composer Hector Zazou, Dutch jazz legend Han Bennink, trombone virtuoso Stuart Dempster, and godfather of Chinese rock Cui Jian, as well as members of King Crimson, Hawkwind, Soundgarden, Santana, Ministry, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. Past performances include NEARfest, WOMAD, Beijing International Jazz Festival, Sichuan-China International TV Festival, MuzEnergo Tour of Russia, Ustuu Huree Festival (Tuva), Voice of Nomads Festival (Buryatia), Baja Prog (Mexico), Bumbershoot, Northwest Folklife Festival, Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle Art Museum, and Seattle Asian Art Museum. He has collaborated with many of the most important figures in contemporary Chinese music and was one of the first Western musicians to record an album for the state-owned China Record Company. He has appeared on roughly 40 releases to date.

Artist Support Program 2016: Record Giant Steppes, an album of experimental music inspired by the music of Central Asia.

Artist Support Program 2007: Views from Chicheng Precipice, an album of original compositions drawing from contemporary adaptations of traditional East Asian music.

Artist Support Program 1995: Seattle Improvised Music Festival

Steve Rowland, radio producer and documentarian, uses music, theater and art as windows to explore issues in American history, society, race relations, creativity, and human possibility.  He has won nearly every major award in broadcasting including two Peabody Awards, The Prix Italia, The CPB, & The Ohio State Award and was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. His work is in the permanent collections of The Library of Congress and The Museum of Television and Radio.  He has received 10 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, 5 major grants from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.  His work has been heard on over 700 radio stations in the US and on networks in Europe, Australia and South Africa. Rowland has taught at Columbia University, teaches Shakespeare workshops in prisons, has lectured at dozens of schools and universities, and is past President of AIR (1998-2004), The Association of Independent Radio Producers.

Artist Support Program 2016: Produce elements of a podcast series that attempts to answer the question “How much influence does Miles Davis have on contemporary arts and culture?”

Tai Shan has performed throughout the West Coast at venues such as Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. She has composed for jazz ensembles and string quartets. In 2005, as a student she was chosen to represent Seattle’s renowned Cornish College of the Arts with her song “Love Will Kill You in Time.” the song was recorded with internationally known jazz bassist Chuck Deardorf and was nationally distributed. Later, in 2009, she graduated from Cornish Magna Cum Laude, with honors. Tai Shan has shared the stage with Washington’s Governor Gregoire when Tai performed her environmental song, “Tiny Planet.” The song was later featured in the HBO documentary The Search for Turtle Island. She also donated profits from the song to People for Puget Sound, a non-profit organization, dedicated to the restoration of the Puget. In addition her music has been featured on over 100 videos, which have been distributed in Southeast Asia and China.

Artist Support Program 2016: Meet in the Middle, a full length album of songs inspired by literature

Peter Vukmirovic Stevens is a composer, pianist, and multimedia artist whose music and art is guided by his connections with travel, conceptual blending and the extraordinary side of human activity. His first musical influences came from the Serbian Orthodox church where he sang during church services. Stevens is a former student of Bern Herbolsheimer and Samuel Jones in Seattle, Washington and Bodhan Bubak in Prague, Czech Republic. Peter graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cornish College of the Arts. He writes for a wide variety of concert music settings and styles, with his unique approach to harmony most strongly characterizing his work. From 2006 to 2012, he served as the Artistic Director of the Seattle Pianist Collective, which he co-founded.

Artist Support Program 2016: Panacea – Three String Quartets, an album of new works for string quartet with members of St. Helens Quartet and Seattle Symphony.

Artist Support Program 2013: Feral Icons, an album of solo viola works performed by Mara Gearman.

Flutist Paul Taub has been a leading performer of chamber and contemporary music in the Northwest US since his arrival in Seattle in 1979. Professor of Music at Cornish College of the Arts, he is a founding member and Executive Director of the Seattle Chamber Players. Very active in musical projects with former republics of the Soviet Union, Paul has toured in Russia four times and has also performed in Greece, France, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Costa Rica, and at universities and colleges all over the United States and Canada. His teachers include Marcel Moyse, Samuel Baron, Michel Debost, and Robert Aitken. Paul has given premieres of works by composers such as Henry Brant, Janice Giteck, George Crumb, and many more. His program of ten commissioned solo pieces was presented at Benaroya Hall in May, 1999. Oo-ee, the CD of this repertoire, is available on the Periplum label. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Flute Association.

Artist Support Program 2016: Produce recordings of five new commissioned chamber works by emerging and established Seattle composers.

Artist Support Program 2001 (with Taneko Ensemble)

Artist Support Program 1999: Record Oo-ee, a collection of new works for solo bass flute, alto flute, C flute or piccolo commissioned from ten composers representing a broad spectrum of ages, musical styles, and ethnic backgrounds.

Artist Support Program 1995

Peter Williams is a cellist and educator. He is a current member of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and former principal cellist of the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the Bellevue Philharmonic, Federal Way Symphony, and Tacoma Opera, and has performed with the Seattle Choral Company, Northwest Chamber Chorus, Seattle Modern Orchestra and the Kirkland Choral Society. He is a certified Suzuki Cello Instructor. Before creating a private program in 2012, he was the Director of Cello at the Suzuki Institute of Seattle for 12 years. He has taught at the Seattle Youth Symphony, Tacoma Youth Symphony, Vivace Chamber Players, Marrowstone in the City, and the Foothills Cello Celebration. He is an employee in the Seattle Public Schools in Special Education. He is the director of Seattle Cello eXperiment, aka Cello X, which he founded in 2010 as a professional-level student cello ensemble.

Artist Support Program 2016: Produce a CD of music arranged and performed by the Seattle Cello Experiment.