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Ronald E. Alford

Performing Artist: Composer

Composer Ronald Alford brings together the fields of music and computer science in an experimental approach to music. With the electronics created to react to my wheelchair movements, I am able to cause my laptop to generate sound as I roll across a performing space, either outside or on a stage.

Brian Belet

Performing Artist: Composer, Musician, Sound Designer

Brian Belet lives in Campbell, California (USA), with his partner and wife Marianne Bickett. He performs with the ensemble SoundProof using Kyma, viola, and bass. His music is recorded on the Centaur, Capstone, IMG Media, Innova, Frog Peak Music, and the University of Illinois CD labels; with research published in Contemporary Music Review, Organised Sound, Perspectives of New Music, and Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. To finance this real world Dr. Belet works as Professor of Music at San Jose State University (SJSU). Some more formal facts, for those who want more data: Belet earned the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990, with an emphasis on algorithmic composition and software synthesis, a published dissertation on the music of James Tenney, with a minor emphasis on the history of tunings and temperaments. His compositions, for acoustic and electro-acoustic media, have been widely performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia (including several ICMC, SEAMUS, EMM, and SCI conferences). Prior to joining the SJSU faculty in 1994, Dr. Belet held faculty positions at Clark University (Massachusetts, 1990-94), Black Hills State University (South Dakota, 1987-89), and Arizona State University (1985-86).

Kui Dong

Performing Artist: Composer

Born in Bejing, China, Kui Dong’s compositions span diverse genres and styles and include ballet, orchestral and chamber works, chorus, electro-acoustic music, film scores, and multi-media art and free improvisation. Dong graduated with B.A. and M.A. degrees with honors in theory and composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1989, where she was trained in Western and Chinese classical music, as well as Chinese folk music. Between 1988-1990, she worked as a free-lance composer for film, TV and commercials, as well as composer in resident for the Central Ballet Group of China and composed a 3-act full length ballet (co-author with composer Duo Huang) “Imperial Queen Young.” In 1991, She moved to United State and obtained a doctoral degree in composition from Stanford University. Her works written in US increasingly show a unique synthesis of influences from Avant-garde experimental, jazz, electro-acoustic and other ethnic music. In other cases she has incorporated traditional Chinese instruments and musical concepts into contemporary settings. She also occasionally performs free-improvisation on piano with her Dartmouth colleagues Christian Wolff and Larry Polansky and currently teaches music composition, theory, improvisation and contemporary music at Dartmouth College. Among the honors and awards she has received, most notable are commissions from The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation, the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, Meet The Composer/USA Commissioning Program, The Jerome Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and China’s new national theatre, ISCM international composition prize, Rockefeller’s Bellagio Residency, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Italy’s Val Tidone Composition competition, Austria’s Prix Ars electronics (Honorary), ASCAP Award for Young Composers, Alea III International Composition Competition and China National Dance Music. Her compositions have been presented in music festivals and concerts in Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico, Spain, the United States and Uzbekistan. Dong has recently completed a string quartet for Arditti Quartet, and a double chorus work for Volti (a mixed chorus) and Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. Her music, including three full length CDs, can be found on New World Records and Other Minds Records.

Tom Heasley

Performing Artist: Composer

Tom Heasley is in possession of – or possessed by – a very distinctive musical persona. He is an internationally-acclaimed composer, performer and recording artist whose music creates “a rich and sonorous aural experience that flies in the face of all the dumb cliches about what tuba music is” whose work achieves a unique synthesis of composition and improvisation. Heasley conjures music of great individuality, originality and power, which is deceptively meditative, calm and tranquil. His music speaks to a wide variety of listeners, as diverse as conservatory students at Oberlin and inmates of San Quentin. He is a true “father of invention,” who finally turned his albatross – the tuba – into a strength through the development of a unique musical voice. Heasley has recorded for Tzadik, Leo, Hypnos, Innova, Music and Arts, New Albion, Old Gold and Farfield Records, among others. With the release of his first solo CD, Where the Earth Meets the Sky (Hypnos 2001), Mr. Heasley brought the tuba into the 21st Century. On his second CD, On the Sensations of Tone (Innova 2002), Heasley continued to redefine one of the world’s least appreciated instruments. His music has been featured on National Public Radio, BBC Radio 3, Public Radio International, Carl Stone’s Ears Wide Open, Kalvos and Damian’s New Music Bazaar and many other radio programs throughout the world, from Silicon Valley to Siberia. In 2001, Mr. Heasley toured North America for three months, performing over 30 solo concerts. In 2002, he toured the East Coast, concentrating on New York City, where he performed at Roulette, the Knitting Factory and CBGB’s, as well as making an appearance on John Schaefer’s long-running New Sounds program on WNYC. In 2003, Heasley relocated to Los Angeles and made an appearance at the CEAIT Festival at Cal Arts. His summer/fall tour that year began with Two Meet The Composer concerts – in San Francisco and Brooklyn – and included The American Composer’s Forum’s Sonic Circuits Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as concerts throughout the south. In the summer of 2004, Mr. Heasley was invited to London by the BBC, where he recorded a live session and interview for the BBC Radio 3 program Mixing It. Since that time, Mr. Heasley’s music has been licensed for a BBC documentary currently in production for a fall release. That one appearance brought Heasley many new fans in the UK. Following a recent appearance on KPFK radio in Los Angeles, film directors, choreographers and others have begun to approach Heasley regarding potential projects. This fall, Heasley will be a visiting artist at Cal Arts. Heasley’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Composers Forum, Meet The Composer, the McKnight Foundation and ASCAP. In 2002 the Arts Council of Silicon Valley awarded Tom Heasley an Artist Fellowship in Musical Composition. In the past, Mr. Heasley has enjoyed collaborating with many artists of note, including Charlie Haden, Wadada Leo Smith, Malcolm Mooney, Eugene Chadbourne, Bobby Bradford, Alvin Curran, Don Preston, Daniel Lentz, Pauline Oliveros, Frederic Rzewski, Glenn Spearman, Gerry Hemingway, Stuart Dempster and many others. Most recently, he brushed two years of dust off of his collaborator hat in order to be a featured musician for Anne LeBaron’s new opera, WET. Heasley performed on tuba, didjeridu and voice, and created real-time loops for the workshop production, which will have its full premiere in December 2005 at REDCAT in Los Angeles. Heasley recently premiered his latest work for tuba, Dream of Zatoichi, at a Meet The Composer concert in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Heasley’s third solo recording – DESERT TRIPTYCH – was released in 2005 by Southampton-based Farfield Records. It is his first recording to feature the didjeridu, along with voice and electronics. Tom’s music was used extensively throughout a documentary produced for BBC Television in “Tough Kids, Tough Love” (2005), directed by Lynn Alleway. Western Sky is used twice and Ground Zero once in the 60 Min. film. It has played at a number of festivals in Europe.

Brent Heisinger

Performing Artist: Composer

San Francisco Bay Area composer, Brent Heisinger (1937), was born and raised in Stockton, California, began piano study at five and trombone lessons at seven. He and his physician brother Dale received musical training from their father, an exceptional band director, and both were highly influenced by their mother, a patron of literary and musical arts. At the age of 16, he studied piano at the Music Conservatory of College of the Pacific where his father was Director of Bands. After his schooling in the Stockton public schools where he played trombone in bands and orchestras, he attended Stockton Junior College (now San Joaquin Delta College) and transferred to San José State University where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. As an undergraduate, he continued his piano and trombone studies, formed a quartet to play for dances, and arranged for the marching band. He began serious composition studies with Frank Erickson and Stanley Hollingsworth during his graduate years there. After teaching music in elementary and secondary schools for four years, he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stanford University where he studied composition with Leland Smith and Humphrey Searle. He joined the music faculty at San José State University and during his tenure conducted choral and wind ensembles, taught trombone, piano, conducting and composition, and served as Theory/Musicianship Area Coordinator. Heisinger also was active as a clinician, speaker, and consultant for the Contemporary Music Project (funded by the Ford Foundation and the Music Educators National Conference), which promoted the idea of comprehensive musicianship; he authored several articles and three textbooks on the topic. Among his most significant writings are the articles “American Minimalism in the 80s” published in The Journal of American Music and “Compositional Devices in Steve Reich’s Octet” which appeared in Ex Tempore. While at San José State University, he was presented the School of Humanities and Arts Certificate of Distinction, selected as a Teacher Scholar, named Outstanding San José State University Music Alumnus, nominated for the Carnegie Foundation United States Outstanding Professor Award, and awarded the distinguished President’s Scholar Award. Influenced by the likes of Stravinsky, Bartók, Gershwin, Lou Harrison, Steve Reich, and great jazz performers, Heisinger says about his music, “My works bounce from one palette to another. I have no desire to own a style.” This is evidenced in the diversity of his music much of which has been published and performed throughout the world. Nubes Aztecas (Invocación y Canto) commissioned by The Choral Project of San José, received performances in Mexico and Costa Rica, Essay for Band and March for Timpani and Brass are popular in western Europe, Eklektikos— In Five Pieces, has seen performances throughout the U.S., and by French pianist Voya Toncitch in Israel, Finland, Taiwan, Brazil, Singapore, Manila, and India. Also, A Walk Within Winter (composed for pianist Donna Stoering) has been heard in Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, England, Brazil, and Germany. Heisinger’s Concerto No.2 for Piano and Wind Ensemble has received two first prize awards and 2nd prize at the 5th International Composition Competition (“Coups de Vent”) in Le Havre, France. Both the United States Air Force and Navy Bands have performed his symphonic band music. In a new direction involving considerable improvisation, Ekta (“oneness”), commissioned by the San José Chamber Orchestra and scored for solo piano, jazz rhythm section, tabla, string orchestra with two percussionists, was premiered in 2005. The unusual integration of an Indian raga and tals, American jazz in a “classical” setting, was enthusiastically received. Soulscape, his most recent work, (2010) was commissioned and premiered by The Ohlone Wind Orchestra of California. As Emeritus Professor of Music, Brent Heisinger is active composing and supporting the San José State University School of Music and Dance and oversees his own HBH Publishing. He and his wife Barbara reside in San José and enjoy the families of their three sons Dean, Doug, and Kurt.

Melissa Hui

Performing Artist: Composer, Musician

Melissa Hui was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She received her D.M.A. from Yale University and M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts. Her mentors include Jacob Druckman, Earl Kim and Mel Powell. Initially inspired by the haunting music of the African pygmies and Japanese gagaku court orchestra, she strives to create a personal music of ethereal beauty, intimate lyricism, and raucous violence. Her commissions include works for the Oregon Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Kronos Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, New Millennium Ensemble and Essential Music (NYC), Ensemble Antipodes (Switzerland), Dogs of Desire (of Albany Symphony), Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, New Music Concerts (Toronto), the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec (Montréal), Melody of China/Citywinds (San Francisco), Tapestry New Opera Works, and a soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated documentary, Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square. Her works have been performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, including performances by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, California EAR Unit, Esprit Orchestra (Toronto), Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and at International Gaudeamus Music Week (Amsterdam), ISCM festivals in Switzerland and Croatia, Théatre de la Ville (Paris), Festival Sons d’Hiver (France), Merkin Hall, Focus Festival, and Music at the Anthology in New York City, Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Spoleto Festival, and L.A. Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series, among others. She is a founding member of the Common Sense Composers Collective. Her compositions have been released on CRI, UMMUS, Santa Fe New Music, Nisapa and Centredisc, including a CD of her solo and chamber works in 2006. Current projects include commissioned works for Ensemble Sospeso (NYC) and an oratorio based on a Cree myth with librettist Tomson Highway for Soundstreams Canada. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship (1997) and a Fromm Foundation commission (2000) as well as numerous grants and awards that include the Grand Prize of both the CBC and du Maurier/WSO Young Composers Competitions in Canada and finalist at the International Gaudeamus competition in Amsterdam. Now living in Montreal, she was a member of the composition faculty at Stanford University from 1994-2004.

Lukas Ligeti

Performing Artist: Composer, Musician

Transcending the boundaries of genre, the Austrian, New-York-City-based composer-percussionist Lukas Ligeti has developed a musical style of his own that draws upon downtown New York experimentalism, contemporary classical music, jazz, electronica, as well as world music, particularly from Africa. Known for his non-conformity and diverse interests, Lukas creates music ranging from the through-composed to the free-improvised, often exploring polyrhythmic/polytempo structures, non-tempered tunings, and non-western elements. Other major sources of inspiration include experimental mathematics, computer technology, architecture and visual art, sociology and politics, and travel. He has also been participating in cultural exchange projects in Africa for the past 15 years. Born in Vienna, Austria into a family from which several important artists have come including his father, composer György Ligeti, Lukas started his musical adventures after finishing high school. He studied composition and percussion at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and then moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University before settling in New York in 1998. His commissions include Bang on a Can, the Vienna Festwochen, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, Colin Currie and Håkan Hardenberger, the American Composers Forum, New York University, ORF Austrian Broadcasting Company, Radio France, and more; he also regularly collaborates with choreographer Karole Armitage. As a drummer, he co-leads several bands and has performed and/or recorded with John Zorn, Henry Kaiser, Raoul Björkenheim, Gary Lucas, Michael Manring, Marilyn Crispell, Benoit Delbecq, Jim O’Rourke, Daniel Carter, John Tchicai, Eugene Chadbourne, and many others. He performs frequently on electronic percussion often using the marimba lumina, a rare instrument invented by California engineer Don Buchla. His first trip to Africa, a commission in 1994 by the Goethe Institute to work with musicians in Côte d’Ivoire, embarked him on an exploration of cross-cultural collaboration that continues to this day. In Abidjan he co-founded the experimental, intercultural group Beta Foly which led to the release of his first CD as a bandleader, Lukas Ligeti & Beta Foly in 1997. He has worked with Batonka musicians in Zimbabwe; collaborated with Nubian musicians in Egypt which culminated in a concert at the Cairo Opera; and composed a piece for musicians from various Caribbean cultures which premiered in Miami Beach. In 2005, Lukas was featured at the Unyazi festival in Johannesburg, the first electronic experimental music festival in Africa, and in 2006, he was composer-in-residence at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Lukas traveled to Uganda in 2007 to collaborate with the music/dance/theater group, the Ndere Troupe. In 2008, he taught composition at the University of Ghana at Legon (Accra), and in 2010 he collaborated with musicians in Lesotho, focusing on the lesiba, a rare traditional instrument that is in danger of extinction. Lukas’ band Burkina Electric, based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, combines African traditions with electronic dance music and has been touring internationally, with recent performances at the BAM Next Wave Festival and central Park Summerstage in New York, the Luminato Festival in Toronto and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Burkina Electric’s debut CD, “Paspanga”, was released in 2010 on Cantaloupe Records. Lukas most recently toured in the midwestern U.S. and Canada in support of his electronic percussion solo CD Afrikan Machinery (Tzadik Records), performing at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, and the Music Gallery in Toronto. Prior to that tour, he gave solo concerts in the UK, performing at the London Jazz Festival. He also completed a month-long curatorial project at The Stone in NYC and an American Composers Orchestra commission and world premiere of “Labyrinth of Clouds” at Carnegie Hall with Lukas on solo marimba lumina. Lukas also recently received the 2010 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music.

Aaron Lington

Performing Artist: Composer, Musician

Grammy Award-winning baritone saxophonist and composer Aaron Joseph Lington (b. 1974) received his BM in music education from the University of Houston, Moores School of Music, and both his MM in jazz studies and DMA in saxophone performance from the University of North Texas where he studied with James Riggs. His performing and compositional credits include collaborations with the University of North Texas One O’clock Lab Band, the San Francisco Symphony, Maynard Ferguson, the BBC Radio Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, Bo Diddley, Joe Lovano, Jamie Davis, Tommy Igoe, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, and many others. In addition, he has won awards for both his playing and writing from Downbeat Magazine, ASCAP, and was the 2003 recipient of the Sammy Nestico Award. He was named the 2011 “Jazz Educator of the Year” by the California Music Educators Association, and has been recognized multiple times in the both the Downbeat Magazine Critic’s Poll and Reader’s Poll. The San José Mercury News praises Dr. Lington’s playing as “revelatory…he obviously relishes the beautiful, blustery bark of his instrument…” and that he possesses a “…finely honed melodic sensibility…” Josh Davies from the International Trumpet Guild states that Lington “…[shows] a true command of his instrument with a very studied and soulful essence.” Cadence magazine declares “Lington and compatriots come up with a wonderful and totally American jazz sound, [resulting in] a solid mainstream set based on some sweet melodic improvisation.” In addition to his position as professor at San José State University where he serves as Coordinator of Jazz Studies, Dr. Lington is also a member of the faculty at the Texas Music Festival Jazz Institute, hosted by the University of Houston. Aaron Lington is a Saxophone Performing Artist for Selmer Saxophones and is a D’Addario Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Rico Reeds.

Janis Mattox

Performing Artist: Composer, Musician; Visual Artist: Computer Arts

Janis Mattox, composer and pianist, is a native of Minnesota and graduate of the University of Minnesota (BA) and Northwestern University (MA) in Evanston, Illinois. She began creating multi-media works merging live performance, dance, film, and interactive digital music technologies at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in the early 80’s. Her music-drama “Shaman” (1984) became the subject of a feature article in Smithsonian Magazine by Alan Rich. She was co-producer with Loren Rush and Elliot Mazer of “The Digital Domain” (1984-Elektra), a best selling classical CD which became an audio standard in the industry. Her video ballet “Book of Shadows” (1992) received over a dozen first-place awards and over fifty international screenings. Her most recent work is “Solombra” (SunShadow) – a song-cycle based on Brazilian poetry which premiered in 2005. Awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA fellowships and several grants from the Ross McKee Foundation for her “Music for Kids by Kids” music education project (see Links page). Mattox is co-developer with Loren Rush of The Enhanced Piano in Just Intonation and GoodSound Virtual Acoustics – music technologies featured on “Solombra”

Valerie Mih

Educator; Performing Artist: Composer; Visual Artist: Animator, Filmmaker

Valerie Mih is an animated filmmaker with a wide range of both studio and independent production experience. Commercially, she has animated for Pixar Animation Studios (Toy Story II, Geri’s Game, A Bug’s Life), Lucas Learning Limited (Star Wars Math), WildBrain (Hershey’s Kisses) and game companies (Electronic Arts, Rockstar San Diego). She has independently produced/directed animated shorts for PBS and the festival circuit (Paper Peace, Harmonize, The Pet’s Zone), as well as a half-hour animated documentary (EINSTEIN, awarded best animation at the International Festival of Cinema and Technology). A committed educator, she has taught animated filmmaking at the undergraduate and graduate levels for over ten years. Prior to joining the faculty at ACM, she served as the faculty lead for the M.F.A. program in Computer Animation at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco. Valerie has received grant support from the Silicon Valley Arts Council, CPB/PBS Producers Academy, Center for Asian American Media and the Independent Television Service. Her independent work currently focuses on exploring the storytelling mediums of interactive books and films through her digital publishing imprint, See Here Studios. A trained classical and jazz musician, she often composes the music for her productions. Valerie holds an M.F.A. in animation from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where her student film PETS was awarded a student Emmy, and a B.A. in American Studies from Stanford University. She is currently Assistant Professor at University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media. https://myspace.com/valeriemih

Henry Mollicone

Performing Artist: Composer

As a resident of San Jose California, Mr. Mollicone has worked actively as a free-lance conductor of opera, symphonic, and new music ,while holding various university teaching posts. Music composed during this period include the operas HOTEL EDEN (premiered at Opera San Jose, and later produced in New York and Baltimore), and COYOTE TALES (premiering at Lyric Opera of Kansas City with a subsequent production atOverlin Conservatory), several orchestral works, songs, cantatas, and chamber works, and the music for the Studs Terkel musical LEGACY (with composer Jeff Langley), and lyrics by Ronnie Gilbert (The Weavers). His one-act operas have received several productions during this period, often with the composer as music director/conductor.. He has also been a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow from l997, and has been on various panels and onsight visits for The National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Mollicone and librettist William Luce completed a new opera, GABRIEL’S DAUGHTER, commissioned by the Central City Opera, premiered in July, 2003. Mr. Mollicone composed BEATITUDE MASS (mass for the homeless), with Latin texts and additional English texts by William Luce, based upon interviews with homeless people in California, for the San Jose Symphonic Choir. More recent commissioned works include three large choral pieces: MISA DE LOS INMIGRANTES (mass for the immigrants) for the S.J. Symphonic Choir, A SONG FOR OUR PLANET (celebrating the earth) for Seattle First Baptist Church and Plymouth Church in Seattle, and ALL GOD’S CHILDREN for Vancouver Singers USA. New piano works include LA CENERENTOLA: FANTASY FOR PIANO, FIVE BAGATELLES, and MISTERIA. The opera CHILDREN OF THE SUN was commissioned by Notre Dame de Namur University (piano and voices) and the University of Texas San Marcos (small orchestra versiion). In addition, for the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco, Mr. Mollicone composed FANTASIA NOSTALGICA, and most recently for a benefit concert, a new song cycle, SUENOS DE ESPERANZA, which consists of four songs with texts based upon true stories of four Mexican immigrants and their experiences in crossing the border to California. A feature documentary film was released by NEWPORT CLASSIC LTD in 2013: THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR: THE POEM, THE PLACE, THE OPERA, largely based upon the 26 minute opera which played each summer in Central City, Co. for 33 consecutive seasons.

John Santos

Educator; Performing Artist: Composer, Musician

Five-time Grammy-nominated percussionist and US Artists Fontanals Fellow, John Santos, is one of the foremost exponents of Afro-Latin music in the world today. Born in San Francisco, California, November l, l955, he was raised in the Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean traditions of his family, surrounded by music. The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped his career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music have included several trips to New York, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil and Colombia.He is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music, and has earned much respect and recognition as an educator, composer, and record and event producer. He’s been a prolific performer, composer, teacher, writer, radio programmer, and record/event producer whose career has spanned over 35 years. John has worked with acknowledged, multi-generational masters such as Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Bebo Valdés, Max Roach, Eddie Palmieri, Patato Valdés, Lázaro Ros, Bobby Hutcherson, Chucho Valdes, Chocolate Armenteros, John Handy, Billy Cobham, Zakir Hussain, George Cables, Rene Lopez, Generoso Jimenez, Joe Henderson, Francisco Aguabella, John Faddis, Ed Thigpen, Giovanni Hidalgo, Steve Turre, McCoy Tyner, Batacumbele, Poncho Sanchez, Omar Sosa, Mel Martin, Ignacio Berroa, Danilo Perez, Los Pleneros de la 21, Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana, Armando Peraza, Pancho Quinto, Tootie Heath, Jacqueline Castellanos, Malonga Casquelord, CK Ladzekpo, Pancho Terry, Yosvany Terry, Dafnis Prieto, Oscar Castro Neves, Mark Murphy, Larry Coryell, Lázaro Galarraga, Regino Jimenez, Luis Daniel “Chichito” Cepeda, Pedrito Martinez, Jerry Medina, Orestes Vilató, Paquito D’Rivera, Larry Vukovich, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres, Anthony Carrillo, Paoli Mejías, Raul Rekow, Andy Gonzalez, Jerry Gonzalez, Jovino Santos Neto, Lalo Schifrin, Pete Escovedo, Claudia Gómez, Maria Márquez, Jon Jang, Ray Vega, Chembo Corniel, Wayne Wallace, John Calloway, Mark Levine, Elio Villafranca, Bruce Forman, Linda Tillery, Charlie Hunter, Joyce Cooling, Bobby Matos, Mark Weinstein, Jackeline Rago, Roberto Borrell, Sandy Perez, Jesus Diaz, Roman Diaz, Pablo Menendez, Yma Sumac, and Carlos Santana. John is widely respected as one of the top writers, teachers and historians in the field and was a member of the Latin Jazz Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. He is currently part of the faculty at the Jazz School Institute (Berkeley, CA) and the College of San Mateo (CA). He has conducted countless workshops, lectures and clinics in the US, Latin America and Europe since 1972 at institutions of all types including the Adventures in Music program of the San Francisco Symphony, the Berklee School of Music in Boston, UCLA, Yale, Stanford, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Michigan, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State East Bay, the University of Colorado, Yakima Valley Community College, the Afro-Cuban Drumming and Dance Program at Humboldt State University (CA), Cal State Sonoma, Cal State Sacramento, Cal State San Jose, Tulane University of Louisiana, Jazz Camp West, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Los Angeles Music Academy, the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco), he Lafayette Summer Music Program (CA), Skidmore College (NY), and La Universidad Inter-Americana in San Germán Puerto Rico. He has contributed to the international magazines Percussive Notes, Modern Drummer, Modern Percussionist, and Latin Percussionist. John was the director of the Orquesta Tipica Cienfuegos (l976-1980) and the award-winning Orquesta Batachanga (1981-1985). He was founder and director of the internationally renowned, Grammy-nominated Machete Ensemble (1985-2006), who released nine CDs with special guests from Puerto Rico, Cuba, NY, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, mostly on John’s Machete Records label. He currently directs the John Santos Sextet, Latin jazz ensemble. Their second CD, Perspectiva Fragmentada, released in October 2008, was nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association (NY), and by Cubadisco (Cuban Grammys) as one of the top Latin Jazz releases of the year, and selected as one of the five top Latin Jazz CDs of 2008 by New York’s All About Jazz magazine, among many honors. John’s Afro-Caribbean Folklóric Ensemble, El Coro Folklórico Kindembo, has produced three full length CDs since 1994, two of which were Grammy-nominated including the most recent, La Guerra No, in 2009. John’s work has been recognized and supported by the California Arts Council, United States Artists, the Zellerbach Family Fund, the Fund for Folk Culture, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the East Bay Community Foundation, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the Creative Work Fund, and the City of Oakland. The San Francisco Bay Area community in which he still lives and works has presented him with numerous awards and honors for artistic excellence and social dedication. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation declaring November 12, 2006 John Santos Day. And on October 9th, 2012, in a ceremony at City Hall, he received the 2012 San Francisco Latino Heritage Arts Award from the Mayor’s office. It came with a Certificate of Honor signed by Mayor Edwin Lee, and Certificates of Recognition from the State Assembly signed by Speaker Pro Tempore Fiona Ma and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Certificate of Recognition from the State Senate signed by Senator Mark Leno, a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the US House of Representatives signed by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and a glass plaque from the City and County of San Francisco. John is an endorsee of Latin Percussion instruments, Remo drumheads, Sabian cymbals, Engelhart Metal Percussion, and Fat Conga Cajones.

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