Faculty
Ravi Abcarian, double bass and bass guitar, Richmond Jazz Collective Co-Director (with EBCPA since 1993) Mr. Abcarian started playing music on guitar at age seven and became interested in jazz as a teenager. He began playing bass when his high school band director challenged him to switch from electric guitar to double bass. Ravi quickly developed a love for his new instrument. Soon, he was studying with master bassist Herbie Lewis while helping the Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble collect regular awards at jazz competitions held all over the state of California. After high school, Abcarian went on to join the house band for a weekly jam session at famed Oakland, California, jazz venue Yoshi's Night Spot. There, he met and began working with many of the San Francisco Bay Area's great musicians, including Faye Carol, Edwin Kelly, and Smiley Winters. After studying with esteemed music theory and arranging professor Elvo D’Amante, Ravi began composing and arranging for many of the groups with whom he performs. He has since provided music for the award-winning dance video "In Public Spaces," and his pieces have been recorded by the Pacific Wave Jazz Orchestra and the Mark Wright Sextet. Seeing the importance of jazz remaining a community based form of music, Ravi teaches jazz to young musicians in "The Richmond Jazz Collective" at The East Bay Center for Performing Arts and he is the Educational Director of the Oaktown Jazz Workshop in Oakland, California. Ravi's website
Achyutan, Jazz Drummer, Richmond Jazz Collective Co-Director, Youth Jazz Band Co-Director, Private Drum Instructor (with EBCPA since 1998).
Achyutan has been a professional drummer for over 35 years. His musical roots go back to Kansas City where he studied at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and played drums for five years with the legendary Jay McShann. He performed with jazz greats John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Archie Shepp and Ruswell Rudd. He enjoyed concert tours in Italy and France with Gato Barbieri and played throughout the East Coast with the late Pony Poindexter, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Booker Ervin. He has recorded with Pharoah Sanders and Sonny Simmons.
Karl Alfonso Evangelista, guitarist, improviser, and composer, was born in Van Nuys, California, USA, on April 28, 1986, the son of two Filipino immigrants. His music explores the intersection between improvisation and composition in a multicultural, transidiomatic social space. Evangelista performs in an improvising trio with saxophonist Francis Wong and bassist/vocalist/percussionist John-Carlos Perea, the quartet Host Family, and the duo Grex with partner Margaret Rei Scampavia, and has studied and performed under under many of the chief figures in modern creative music, including India Cooke, Fred Frith, Myra Melford, Roscoe Mitchell, Zeena Parkins, and Gino Robair. He received his BA in Social Transformation and the Development of 20th Century Artforms at UC Berkeley, CA, USA, and is presently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts in Improvised Music at Mills College, CA, USA. Karl's website
Phillip Greenlief, clarinet, saxophone, improvisation and composition, began playing guitar and trumpet in elementary school and explored various instruments before discovering the saxophone in the mid-1970's. His ever-evolving relationship with the instrument continues to unfold with an expansive sound vocabulary, extreme dynamic range, a deep regard for melody and form, and a rollicking humor and wit that is not dissimilar to the Native American Coyote tales. He studied at several colleges and unvitersities on the west coast, and holds a BA in Music Education and a MA in Literature from the University of Southern California. He is director of music at San Francisco Waldorf High School and teaches saxophone, composition and improvisation at Oakland School for the Arts and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. As an organizer, he has produced concerts for local musicians and internationally touring artists under the auspices of Evander Music Presents in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997, and is is the founder of Evander Music: an independent record label presenting original composition, improvised music and new jazz. Philip's website
Lloyd Gregory is a well-established classic jazz guitarist whose style is smooth, soulful, melodic, flowing and immediately likeable. What makes his approach distinctive is that it evokes unique hints of his extensive R&B roots. He is a master of both acoustic and electric guitar. Although Gregory has released five critically acclaimed albums of his own, he has also recorded with Martha Reeves, MC Smooth and Freddie Stewart (Sly & The Family Stone); and has performed onstage with Rodney Franklin, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Freda Payne, The Dells, and Lowell Fulsom. He spent years touring extensively while serving as the musical director for The Ballads, Natural Four and Jesse James, and performed on their albums. As a studio musician in Los Angeles, Gregory worked with producer Richard Perry and played sessions with top musicians such as Klaus Voorman (The Beatles), Arthur Adams (B.B. King, Quincy Jones), Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock, George Benson) and Joe Sample (The Crusaders). Raised in Cleveland a part of a musical family, Gregory is now primarily based in San Francisco and has been a popular entertainer on the Bay Area music scene for several decades. Lloyd's website
Anthony "Cannon" Hernandez, Steel Pan, Richmond Bloco Steel Band Director (with EBCPA since 2002). Mr. Hernandez was born and raised in Tobago. In 1982, he joined the world renowned Our Boys Steel Orchestra. Our Boys toured to Guam, Benin, Malaysia, Canada, and Nigeria and the US with Calpyso legends like David Rudder, Mighty Sparrow, The Baron, and Arrow. He has recorded for numerous local and international artists, including jazz and blues artist, Roberta Donnay, master drummer, Sanga of the Valley, folk and blues artist, Alesia Panajota, master drummer, Babatunde Lea, and master pan artist, Len “Boogsie” Sharp.
Hiyas Hila, Doctor of Musical Arts, holds degrees from the University of Minnesota School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. An active solo and chamber music performer, Dr. Hila is also an inspiring teacher to her students in the Bay Area and previously at the University of Minnesota. As a soloist, her “dazzling tones and well-nuanced keyboard artistry” have received praise from critics. Born in the Philippines, her early studies were with Cecile Roxas, Regalado Jose, and Ariel Dechosa, and later studies with Mack McCray for her B.M. and M.M. degrees at the San Francisco Conservatory, and with Lydia Artymiw for her D.M.A. at the University of Minnesota. She was a recipient of several scholarships and fellowship awards such as the Sergei Barsukov Scholarship for Piano, the Asian Cultural Council fellowship grant, and the University of Minnesota Centennial Piano Fellowship. Dr. Hila was the top prize winner in several piano competitions including the 2005 University of Minnesota Concerto Competitions; the 2006 and 2007 Elinor Bell Piano Competition; and First Prize in Piano, Graduate Division, at the 83rd Annual Scholarship Competitions of the Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota in April 2006. She has been a featured artist in several solo and chamber recitals in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; Gijon, Asturias in Spain; in Manila; and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Antoine Hunter, Dancer/Choreographer, Iron Triangle Urban Ballet Director (with EBCPA since 2002) is a hearing impaired native of Oakland, CA. Mr. Hunter began his BA program at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia and is completing his work through L.E.A.P. (Liberal Education for Arts Professionals) at St. Mary's College in Moraga. In addition to his work with EBCPA, he is founder and director of Urban Jazz Dance Company. In November 2007, he participated in Philadelphia’s Deaf Arts & Culture PaH! Festival. In April 2008, he performed in Night of the Stars at the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) Eastern Regional Conference, co-chaired by NBDA President Fred Beam, and staged at Gallaudet University’s Elstad Auditorium. Mr. Hunter has studied and performed with several noted dancers and dance companies, including Reginald Ray-Savage and Zafra Miriam/Savage Jaz, Ramon Alayo, Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company, and Ross Dance Company. In 2002, he was given a full scholarship to study with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in NYC. In September 2008, he’ll be performing with the Sign Dance Collective, a British company that also participated in the Philadelphia festival. Mr. Hunter was named Deaf Person of the Month in July 2008 by DeafPeople.com and Artist of the Month in August 2008 by VSA Arts of California (formerly Very Special Arts California). Antoine's website
Nikita Jew, ballet, was born in Berkeley Ca, where she attended the Berkeley City Ballet since she was eight years old. She has attended many summers there as well as summer intensives at the Marin Ballet Theater and Dance Theatre of Harlem under full scholarships. After graduating high school, she moved to New York City to dance with the Dance Theatre of Harlem full time for five years. While she was there she performed in Bermuda, Detroit and the boroughs of New York. She now has been dancing with the Urban Jazz Dance Company under Antoine Hunter since September 2008. She began teaching at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and continues to be active in her community where she teaches at the Downtown Berkeley YMCA, and the East Bay Center for the performing arts. She has a very strong love for teaching and hopes to see young dancers grow and fulfill their dreams.
Betty Ladzekpo, West African Music and Dance, West African Music and Dance Ensemble Co-Director (with EBCPA since 1985). Ms. Ladzekpo is a Core Faculty Member of EBCPA and has a long history as a teacher and performer. She is a principal dancer with the Ladzekpo Brothers African Music and Dance ensemble. Ms. Ladzekpo has performed at major venues throughout the U.S. including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and the African Cultural Festival (“The Afrikans Are Coming”). Ms. Ladzekpo is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley in African Dance.
C. K. Ladzekpo, Ph.D., West African Music and Dance, West African Music and Dance Ensemble Co-Director (since 1972). Dr. Ladzekpo has been a Professor of African Music and Dance at UC Berkeley since 1974. Dr. Ladzekpo has worked since the early 1960s to include the effective representation of the African perspective in the modern arenas of college campuses, major concert stages, theaters and television. He has held positions as lead drummer and instructor with the National Dance Company of Ghana, the University of Ghana Institute of African Studies and the Ghana Arts Council. His direction and teaching of African dance forms and polyrhythmic percussion ensemble music has occurred at venues throughout the US, Canada, England, continental Europe and Africa.
Eliza O’Malley, soprano, received training in the summer programs AIMS in Graz, Austria, Aspen School of Music, the Wesley Balk Institute and BASOTI as well as at Oberlin College. She earned an M.M. in Voice Performance at Texas Tech University School of Music She also produces a series of monthly Works in Progress concerts at the Chamber Arts House in Berkeley, which she helped to found.A great lover of new music, she has premiered works by Lisa Scola Prosek, Stephen Clark, Mark Alburger, Sheli Nan, Allan Crossman and more while working with Goat Hall Productions/San Francisco Cabaret Opera over the past couple of years. She has also premiered music by Peter Josheff, Mary Watkins and Alexis Alrich and sung opera roles with The Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Opera Theater, Berkeley Opera, Solo Opera, BASOTI, and Capitol Opera Sacramento. She also produces and sings in the “Dazzling Divas” nights of opera arias at the Bateau Ivre. Eliza's website
Artemio Posadas, Mexican Music and Dance, Son de la Tierra Director (with EBCPA since 1991)
Mr. Posadas received his B.A. in Humanities from the University of San Luis Potosi in his native city. He is a master Mexican Folklorist who has mastered a wide variety of traditional instruments. He specializes in Huastecan and Jarocho music and dance; as a scholar he researches regional cultural traditions for an organization he founded, Instituto Tamunal. Since 1973, Mr. Posadas has performed extensively at folkloric festivals and events throughout the US and Canada. He has been internationally recognized for his instrumental role in the development of regional Mexican music and dance in California.
E Yoon Saelee, Mien Music and Dance, Mien Legends Director (with EBCPA since 1992).
Mr. Saelee is a Mien (Laotian) scholar, priest and shaman, a former soldier and prisoner of war of the Khmer Rouge in Laos, and a respected elder in the Richmond immigrant community. He is also a sought-after storyteller and poet-composer, speaking at least seven languages: Mien, Lao, Thai, Hmong, Mandarin, some Cantonese, and growing English. He comes from a long line of Mien shaman/priests and has an extraordinary memory and repertoire of stories, as well as musical gifts and ceremonial skills.
Jordan Simmons, Artistic Director and Iron Triangle Theater Co-Director (since 1978, full time since 1982). Mr. Simmons is a graduate of Reed College in American Studies/Jazz with postgraduate work in Ethnomusicology/Jazz Composition at Indiana University. He has taught classical African music, Brazilian dance and percussion, European classical and jazz piano, composition, and theory, in addition to writing, producing and directing a number of original works for both theatre and film. He has performed with Olodum (Bahia, Brazil), 1981, 1984, 1985; Corpo Santo (Afro-Brazilian Dance Theatre) in SF; the Ladzekpo Brothers West African Music & Dance Ensemble, 1982-present; and the Japanese Music Institute of America in SF, 1980-present. Recent awards include the 2004 Daniel E. Koshland Civic Unity Award” from the SF Foundation and the “2004 California Arts Council’s Director’s Award.”
Randall Wong received his Doctorate of Musical Arts (historic performance) from Stanford University, and Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts (composition) from San Francisco State University; he was also a private student of the composer, Lou Harrison. From 1986 through the program’s demise, he was the recipient of a California Arts Council Touring Grant. He is currently an Artist in Residence at the Z Space Studio, Curator of Music for the Museum of Jurassic Technology (Los Angeles). As a vocalist, Mr. Wong has sung in such far flung places as Sydney, Australia to Juneau, Alaska: five continents in all. Among opera companies he has performed with are the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Semperoper (Dresden), and Pocket Opera (SF). As member of the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble he has performed in New York and throughout the US, Copenhagen, Avignon, Berlin, Paris, and Lisbon, and received a 1997 New York Dance and Performance Award (the “Bessies”). As a composer, Mr. Wong is the recipient of grants and commissions from the SF Arts Commission, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Theatre Bay Area, the American Composers Forum, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. The creator of a series of miniature operas, his works have been produced in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Randall's website
Janet Woodhams, Flute, Piccolo, Richmond Chamber Ensemble Director (with EBCPA since 1990). Ms. Woodhams received her B.A from U.C. Berkeley and has studied with Michael Debost, Geffrey Gilbert, and Merrill Jordan. She has performed internationally as a soloist, as well as with chamber orchestras, including the Broadcasting Orchestra in Johannesburg, the San Jose Symphony Orchestra, the Oakland Ballet Orchestra, Lamplighters Orchestra and with World Explorer Cruises. Ms. Woodhams plays with the renowned Cabrillo Festival every summer. She has also taught at universities and private studios in South Africa and the U.S.