MARCY MARXER is a multi-instrumentalist, studio musician, performer, songwriter and producer with 30 years of experience and a shelf of impressive awards. She has played acoustic music on Emmy Award winning National Geographic specials, platinum shipping Eva Cassidy CD’s and on over 50 recordings and instructional materials created with her partner, Cathy Fink.
Bass clarinetist/composer Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus their work primarily on the bass clarinet.
Though use of bass clarinet in jazz typically leans heavily towards avant-garde and free-jazz styles, Marcus’ straight-ahead playing has carved out a unique voice for the instrument in modern jazz. His music swings hard with both a fiery and introspective intensity but also maintains a strong lyrical sensibility.
Born and raised on the island of St. John, Virgin Islands, Victor Provost is internationally recognized as one of today's leading voices on the steelpan. Praised by The New York Times as a "serious jazz improviser" and lauded by Downbeat Magazine as "a rarity" in the jazz ecosystem, Victor blends Bebop roots, contemporary jazz sensibilities, and Caribbean traditions into a dynamic and original sound.
Brent Taylor
Brent Taylor (°1982, Baltimore, United States) makes paintings, photos, media art and mixed media artworks. With a conceptual approach, Taylor touches on various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matters can be recognized, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation, and the investigation of the process of expectations.
Performance Poet, Writer, Percussionist, Storyteller, Picture Maker, Workshop Facilitator Linda Joy Burke is a 2002 Distinguished Black Marylander Award recipient for Art from Towson University’s Office of Diversity, a 2004 Poetry for the People Baltimore Legacy Award recipient, a 2013 Howard County Women’s Hall of Fame inductee and a 2018 Women’s Giving Circle Young Women Journey Camp Leadership program, “Stand Up” award recipient and a 2021 Howard County Women’s Giving Circle (S)hero nominee.
Alif Laila is one of the few internationally performing female sitar players of the world. She was trained in Indian classical music through sitar in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By Mir Qasem Khan, nephew of legendary maestro, Allauddin Khan. During her final years of training, she attended the College of Fine Arts in Dhaka, where she graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree and received several awards for her watercolor painting.
Ollie L. Jefferson (Ph.D., Howard University) is a Producer, Playwright, Professor, Publisher, and the Founder/President and Chief Executive Officer of Timeless Visual Works – The Inspirational Film, Theater & Publishing Co. She formed the collegiate communication, culture, and multimedia organization with extensive experience in the arts and education. As a professional teaching artist, Dr. Jefferson designed Masterclasses at Timeless Theater Academy. She has a proven track record in educating and training film, television, and theatre professionals to compete in a global market.
Mary Amato is the author of over 25 books for children and young adults. Her work for adults also includes poems, plays, essays, and short fiction. Amato's fiction has been translated into foreign languages, optioned for television, and produced onstage. She teaches workshops in creative writing, songwriting, and the creative process around the country and is a frequent presenter in Maryland schools. She is a former classroom teacher and also teaches a weekly online class for adults and teens who are serious about writing.
Dr. David Hildebrand is a specialist in early American music. He performs and lectures at museums, historical societies, and universities, solo and more frequently with wife/music partner of 35 years Ginger Hildebrand. David holds a B.S. from Dickinson College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. (both in Musicology) are from George Washington University and The Catholic University of America. He teaches American music history at the Peabody Conservatory and is an author for the Johns Hopkins University Press. David consulted on the PBS series Liberty!