James Newton, composer

Born: May 1, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA

Positions: Professor of Ethnomusicology with a compositional emphasis at UCLA since 2008; has also held professorships at University of California at Irvine, California Institute of the Arts and Cal State University Los Angeles; Music Director of Luckman Jazz Orchestra 2001-2006

Known for: being a composer, flutist and conductor; compositions and performances include chamber, symphonic, and electronic music genres, compositions for ballet and modern dance, and numerous jazz and world music performances

Awards, fellowships and grants: received an honorary doctorate from California Institute of the Arts, Cal State LA Distinguished Alumnus Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Rockefeller Fellowship, Montreaux Grande Prix du Disque, Downbeat International Critics Jazz Album of the Year, Downbeat International Critic’s Poll Top Flutist for 23 consecutive years

Performed with and composed for: Mingus Dynasty, Buddy Collette, New York Philharmonic, Anthony Davis, David Murray, Aurèle Nicolet, Donald McKayle, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi, Sir Roland Hanna, Jose Limon Dance Company, Bennie Maupin, Cecil Taylor, John Carter, Andrew Cyrille, Wu Man, Red Callender, Southwest Chamber Music, Bobby Hutcherson, Dino Saluzzi, Zakir Hussain, San Francisco Ballet, Jon Jang, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Frank Wess, LA Philharmonic New Music Group

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Cedric Berry

Voice part: Baritone

Performances with: Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, Pacific Symphony, Arizona Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Luckman Jazz Orchestra, New West Symphony, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pasadena Pops Orchestra, Southwest Chamber Orchestra, California Philharmonic

Opera roles: title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Falstaff in Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Collatinus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Shaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème, Jake in Porgy and Bess, Prettyman in Kenneth Wells’ The First Lady (World Premiere)

Education: Music diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy; Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from University of Southern California

Awards: First place, 1998 Metropolitan Opera, Western Region Competition

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Darius de Haas

Voice part: Tenor

Broadway performances: Rent, Carousel, Marie Christine, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm

Off-Broadway performances: Running Man, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, The Man In My Head, Saturn Returns

Regional and national tours: Only Heaven; The Bacchae; Children of Eden; Once On This Island; Cry, The Beloved Country; I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky; The Blue Demon; Ain’t Misbehavin’

Concert performances: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (American Songbook), London’s Royal Festival Hall (with Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry), the Guggenheim, Kennedy Center (with Marvin Hamlisch and Roberta Flack), Dreamgirls: The 20th Anniversary Benefit Concert, Walt Disney Concert Hall

Guest appearances: National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Cincinnati Pops

Recordings: Day Dream, Variations on Strayhorn (PS Classics); Children of Eden (RCA Victor); Marie Christine (RCA Victor); I Was Looking at the Ceiling (Nonesuch and Naxos); Myths and Hymns (Nonesuch); Dreamgirls in Concert (Nonesuch); Roy Nathanson’s Fire at Keaton’s Bar and Grill (6 Degrees); Bright Eyed Joy (Nonesuch)

Award: Obie Award for Running Man

Film and Television: Only Heaven, My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs, In The Life, Anastasia, Malcolm X, Martin and Orloff, Chicago

High praise: “De Haas is blessed with a gorgeous voice and a keen theatrical sophistication.”—Jazz Time

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Carmen Lundy

Voice Part: Mezzo Soprano

Performances and recordings with: Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, brother and bassist Curtis Lundy, Ray Barretto, Bobby Watson, Roy Hargrove, Walter Bishop Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Ray Baretto, Don Pullen, Kenny Barron, John Hicks, Bruce Hornsby, Ernie Watts, Mulgrew Miller, Billy Childs, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jimmy Cobb, Kip Hanrahan, Courtney Pine, Marian McPartland, Ron Carter, Regina Carter, Steve Turre, Geri Allen, Robert Glasper, and the late Kenny Kirkland

CDs: Solamente, Come Home, Jazz and The New Songbook — Live at The Madrid, Something to Believe In, This is Carmen Lundy, Old Devil Moon, Self Portrait, Moment To Moment, Night and Day, Good Morning Kiss

As an actor: They Were All Gardenias (off-off Broadway), Sophisticated Ladies (Broadway), Shangri-La Plaza (CBS-TV)

As a composer: with over 60 published songs, she is one of the few jazz vocalists in history to accomplish such a distinction, and has led to the first publication of the Carmen Lundy Songbook; her songs have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Barron, Ernie Watts, and Straight Ahead

Education: Bachelor’s degree Studio Music and Jazz, University of Miami

High praise: “One of the world’s greatest jazz vocalists...” —Blues and Soul Magazine

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Nolan Shaheed, trumpet

Musical Director for: Marvin Gaye from 1974-1976

Played lead trumpet with: Count Basie Orchestra, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Phil Collins, Anita Baker

Has also performed and toured with: Eddie Harris, Teddy Edwards, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham, Francisco Aquabea

Best known as: being one of LA’s top studio musicians since 1974; currently owns a recording studio and is a music producer

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Channing Cook Holmes, tap dancer

Education: studied tap with dancer/choreographer Alfred Desio and in 1994 received a Brody Grant to study with the renowned Fayard Nocholas

Known for: being a 21st century renaissance entertainer with his drumming ability, syncopated rhythmic tap dance style, singing and natural audience appeal

On stage: with the Jazz Tap Ensemble and in Riverdance, both the tour and on Broadway

Film and TV: Bojangles, Gangs of New York

Awards: received the Princess Grace Award for artistic excellence in 2002

As a director and producer: has created the current children’s show and Los Angeles Music Center Favorite “Got Rhythm!”

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Duke Ellington, composer

Born: April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C.

Died: May 24, 1974 in New York City

Education: began taking piano at age 7; taught himself harmony at the piano and learned orchestration through experimenting with his band

Best known as: a jazz composer, bandleader and pianist; was a leading figure in big-band jazz for decades and still remains the genre’s most significant and innovative composer

Compositions: not only composed in the jazz genre, but also branched out into blues, gospel, film music, and classical music; estimated to have written around 2000 compositions, including short instrumental pieces, popular songs including Mood Indigo, Sophisticated Lady, Satin Doll and Take the “A” Train; large scale suites including The River Suite, Newport Jazz Festival Suite, and Toot Suite; several musical comedies; film scores; an incomplete and unperformed opera, Boola

Awards: Thirteen Grammy® Awards; Keys to the City of Los Angeles; Honorary Doctorate, Yale University; Honorary Doctorate, Howard University; elected member of Swedish Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm; French Legion of Honor; Presidential Medal of Honor; made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters; posthumous Special Citation from the Pulitzer Prize in 1999

Quote: “I like any and all of my associations with music — writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky.” — Duke Ellington

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