Performers

Emiliano Pardo- Tristán Composition and Guitar	Emiliano Pardo-Tristán was born in Panama and is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in composition at Temple University, studying with Dr. Maurice Wright. Pardo-Tristán studied classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid and holds a Master degree in performance from Temple. He has participated in composition seminars taught by the Cuban maestro Leo Brouwer, IRCAM's Summer Academy in Paris led by composers Jonathan Harvey and Girard Grisse and a workshop at Carnegie Hall on Le Marteau Sans Maitre with maestro Pierre Boulez. His music has been played by the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, Grand Rapids Orchestra, Jackson Symphony, Panama National Orchestra, Latin Fiesta Ensemble, Temple's New Music Trio, Gandhara Guitar Trio from Uruguay, Trio Cadenza from Belgium and The Philadelphia Guitar Trio. His piece CAMOUFLAGE won the 2002 SCI/ASCAP regional competition. Emiliano has given guitar concerts as a soloist and with orchestras and chamber groups in Panama, Martinique, Austria and USA. This summer he will conduct a seminar on classical guitar at the Salamanca Conservatory in Spain and will study composition with maestro Leo Brouwer at the Córdoba Guitar Festival. Recently he was the recipient of the Presser Music Award for a research project in Panamanian folkloric music.
Michael Morelli vibraphone	Michael Morelli studied at Settlement Music School and graduated from PCPA (Philadelphia College of Performing Arts). He was a percussionist in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and toured with them through China, Hong Kong and South America. He has been a member of the New Jersey State Symphony Orchestra and has performed with Judith Jamieson's Dance Company. He performs regularly with local jazz artists in Philadelphia and is a founding member of the Cachaça Ensemble, a group that blends classical and jazz elements with Latin American music.
Luigi Mazzocchi violin	Luigi Mazzocchi was born in Venezuela and began his musical education in the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra and the "Sojo" Conservatory. From 1987 to 1995, he studied violin with J. F. Del Castillo in the Latin American Academy of Violin in Caracas. Mr. Mazzocchi was a member of the Lara State and the "Simón Bolívar" Symphony Orchestras. He also played as soloist with the main Venezuelan symphony orchestras. He attended music festivals in Australia, France, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the US. He won Second Prize in the 1993 Latin American Violin Competition "J. F. Del Castillo" in Caracas, and First Prices of the 1997 South Orange Symphony Orchestra, the 1999 FOSJA, and the 1999 Temple University Solo Competitions. Mr. Mazzocchi received his MMA at Temple University, where he currently studies violin with Helen Kwalwasser. As a Temple student, Mr. Mazzocchi played in master classes of the Emerson, Guarneri, and Orion String Quartets; he was coached by W. de Pasquale and L. Orkis, and played in the Philadelphia Orchestra's performances of "Gurrelieder." Currently, with a Temple University Fellowship, Mr. Mazzocchi is pursuing a DMA degree.
Elizabeth Sayre Iyá	Elizabeth Sayre is a percussionist and ethnomusicologist, who has studied and performed African and Afro-Latin music for fourteen years. She is a lecturer in Music History at Temple University and teaches Afro-Cuban drumming at the Asociación de Músicos Latino-Americanos (AMLA). Currently, she is pursuing dissertation research on Philadelphia hand drummers of the last fifty years, and has published various short articles on African and Caribbean music in Philadelphia. Also an active performer, Ms. Sayre is the musical director of Iré and Cambio Libre, Afro-Cuban folklore ensembles in Philadelphia and New York. She performs regularly with Philadelphia groups such as Areíto (salsa), Alô Brasil (Brazilian samba), and Páramo (Chilean nueva canción) as a conga player and percussionist.
Sandra James Okónkolo and Itótele	Sandra James studied Afro-Cuban and Latin percussion at AMLA's Latin Music School and has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Temple University. She traveled to Cuba to study percussion, song and dance in 1997. She studied electronic music synthesis with Dr. Maurice Wright at Temple University and has attended the electronic music composition seminar at the Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique (IRCAM) in Paris. She has performed in Philadelphia and Innsbruck, Austria with classical and popular musicians. As a member of the ensemble "Los Rumberos de la Cinco", she played with Larry Harlow and Sonny Fortune in the annual Tribute to John Coltrane. She currently is a member of the Cachaça Ensemble and studies batá drumming with Elizabeth Sayre and Michael Spiro.
Patricio Acevedo Okónkolo and Itótele	Patricio Acevedo holds a degree in music theory from the University of Chile, and has studied classical guitar and conducting. In addition,  he specializes in Latin American stringed instruments such as the Andean charango, the Venezuelan cuatro, the Brazilian cavaquinho, and the Colombian tiple . Before coming to the U.S. in 1991, he dedicated himself to teaching children classical guitar and music theory and appreciation. By integrating other arts in his work he later co-produced, acted in, and composed songs for numerous short plays for children. Now a beloved music teacher at Penn Treaty Middle School in Kensington, Patricio is a featured guitarist, singer, percussionist, composer, and arranger with Philadelphia groups Páramo (Chilean nueva canción) and Alô Brasil.
Venissa Santi Voice	Venissa Santí was born in Ithaca New York of Cuban parentage. She grew up singing and loving music, theater, and art, and was nurtured in her community to pursue these crafts. After high school and a few rock bands, she left the nest to pursue music at Philadelphia's University of the Arts, where she earned her B.A. in jazz vocal performance. Venissa is a lover of the jazz standard repertoire and writes her own jazz arrangements which she occasionally plays out with jazz players in and around Philly. After growing in Jazz and Classical music she had a great desire to explore her roots by immersing herself in Latin music. Living and playing in Philly lead her to sing with Philadelphia's mostly female Latin jazz group Ellas. Ellas plays all over the city including a regular spot at Zanzibar Blue. Through connections in the Latin community she began to teach voice lessons at the Asociación de Músicos Latinos Americanos (A.M.L.A.) in North Philly. There she continues to teach classical vocal technique, jazz styles, and Latin styles to the community. Venissa traveled to Cuba for the first time August of 2001 and plans to study in Cuba yearly. You can catch Venissa with Ellas, sitting in at Ortleib's, and with Afro Cuban folkloric group Iré. Currently she is helping to mount a Philly based 13 piece Latin ensemble that will premiere at the Painted Bride next winter.
Benjamin Blazer Bass	Benjamin Blazer, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, began studying the double bass privately at the age of seventeen with Wes Fisher of the Reading Symphony. In 1999, Benjamin graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and Performance. While attending Temple as an undergraduate, he studied with Anne Peterson of the Opera and Ballet Companies of Philadelphia and John Hood of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Currently, Benjamin is a radio morning show producer in Philadelphia and an active music educator throughout the Philadelphia area. He teaches strings for the Philadelphia School District, double bass and music theory for the Temple Community Music Scholars Program and provides private instruction on the double bass. He has performed with various local ensembles including the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony, Bucks County Symphony, Lower Merion Symphony, University of Pennsylvania Orchestra, Princeton University Orchestra, Haverford College Orchestra and numerous chamber groups. Benjamin is also pursuing his Masters of Music Composition at Temple University.