Aubrey Foard is the principal tubist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2018. He also serves as lecturer of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and as Artist Faculty at the Brevard Music Center. He has performed as a guest musician with several other orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Louisville Orchestra.

https://www.hiphopdancer.com/

Lisa Kellogg is famed as a choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher. She is also the owner of 'Santa Monica Hip Hop Dance' studio. Her charismatic style, consisting of hip hop, pop, jazz and street dance has fascinated audiences in America, Europe and Japan for years.  She has worked with recording artists such as: Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown and Janet Jackson. Lisa has also worked with companies such as McDonald’s, Pepsi, and Adidas.

Xavier Banister is the owner of 'Cuttin Up' barbershop in Santa Monica, CA. Mr. Banister was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. The first time he visited California and felt that warm sunshine, he decided to stay and never looked back. Years later, Xavier has now made himself and the barbershop an essential part of the community. He joined the show to share the journey that led to his success.

'Cuttin Up' - 1802 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Erin Baker is a professional harpist and music educator. Erin earned her BM and Performer’s Certificate from SUNY Fredonia Degree in Harp Performance from the Peabody Institute and since has continued working as a freelance harpist in the Baltimore/DC area. 

Teng Chen is a New York City based audio engineer and music editor with a decade of experience in music production in a variety of musical genres. Now a pre-record music editor and mixer at NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Teng began her studies at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, and graduated with a duo BM degree in Piano Performance / Recording Arts and Sciences, as well as a MA degree in Acoustical Studies within 5 years.

Kayin Scanterbury is a professional drummer and day trader. He earned his BM in Jazz Percussion from the Peabody Institute and since has continued working as a freelance drummer in the East Coast region.

In this episode, I catch up with one of my favorite professors from back in the day, Dr. Hollis Robbins. We discuss why it's important for teachers to connect with their students, challenges she faced throughout her career, politics, and her book, 'Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition.'

Dr. Hollis Robbins currently serves as Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Dean Robbins is a noted scholar of nineteenth-century American and African American literature, film, and poetry. Her newest book, Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (University of Georgia Press, 2020), explores the interrelationship of influence, double consciousness, canon-formation, and poetic form. Dean Robbins has previously edited or co-edited five books, including the Penguin Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers, co-edited with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., which was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2017.

Dean Robbins holds a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University (2003); an M.A. in English from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1998); an M.P.P. from Harvard University (1990); and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University (1983). 

Parthenon Huxley is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both of which are latter-day offshoots of the 1970s-80s symphonic rock band Electric Light Orchestra. He has also made cameo appearances in several films including Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and The Flintstones.

Hux made his mark as a producer and collaborator in 1993 with Mark Everett of eels, when Everett was a solo artist known as E. The first collaboration ("Hello Cruel World") became a Top Ten Alternative hit.  Hux scored again when he produced and wrote with Kyle Vincent. Their song "Wake Me Up (When The World's Worth Waking Up For)" hit number one in several markets and set a record for "bubbling under" the Billboard Hot 100 longer than any song in history (not that that was the plan…). Hux has also collaborated with Foreigner hit maker Mick Jones, McCartney guitarist Rusty Anderson, Mick Jagger guitarist Stevie Salas, Canadian chanteuse Sass Jordan, Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter, Go-Go's drummer Gina Schock, Chicago Transit Authority's Robert Lamm and many more.

Shurmi, Jacob, and Ethan are all young musicians living in New Yawk, New Yawk. I checked in with my old friends to see what they're up to, what living in the Big Apple this past year has been like, and what they're looking forward to as the city begins to open back up. 

Jasper Marsalis, better known by his stage name Slauson Malone, is an American jazz, hip hop, and ambient producer hailing from New York City and based in Los Angeles, CA. He is also a former member of Standing on the Corner, an underground experimental jazz and hip hop group based in Brooklyn.

Napoleon W. Gladney has a diverse performance and arts management background which spans seasons and international tours with dance companies including Odyssey Dance Theatre, The Dance Cartel and Backhausdance. National Broadway Tour credits include Wicked The Musical, most recently as Dance Captain/Swing/Chistery Understudy.

As an arts administrator, Napoleon has stage managed the mobile opera Hopscotch by Los Angeles’ The Industry and created positions for non-profits at the Theater at the 14th Street Y and LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture in New York City, MUSE/IQUE in Los Angeles, and Greenway Court Theater in Los Angeles. He is currently the Audience Development Coordinator for the Musco Center for the Arts.

Michael Mollo and Nick Bentz joined the show to talk about music, film composing, and life as a composer. 

Michael Mollo is a musical native of the Pennsylvania mountains. As composer and songwriter in Santa Monica, California, his music can be heard in a number of film, television and game scores. Michael also oversees global operations for Velvet Green Music.

​

Nick Bentz (b. 1994, Charleston, SC) is a composer and violinist whose art is drawn to the remote fringes and recesses of human experience. In his work he seeks to render intimately personal spaces imbued with an individual sense of storytelling and narrative. Finding inspiration in historical materials, Nick's work explores the destructive relationship between sound artifacts and time.