Musical Ambassadors
Musical Ambassadors are the essence of IGE Music and Art Immersions. IGE honors Ambassadors for unusual commitment over careers to musical, educational and broader communities. These eminent master musicians embrace cross-cultural, multi-genre collaboration as they contribute to the dynamic synergism at the core of the Immersion experience. It is around Musical Ambassadors, against the backdrops of historic Venice, Italy and now, magical Barcelona, Spain that Immersions coalesce and unfold. Ambassadors orchestrate Immersions as they perform in rehearsed and spontaneous ensembles.
Below is a list of past and present musical ambassadors.

John Kadlecik Continued...
John Kadlecik is a singer, songwriter, and musician who can play most string instruments but is primarily known for being a guitar-slinging sideman to Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir in the band Furthur.
Also an original co-founder of the group Dark Star Orchestra, John has been performing improvisationally-oriented shows regularly since the late 1980’s and touring nationally for the last 20 years.
His work also includes several studio releases of original music, and he is currently touring with his own group, The John Kadlecik Band.

Peter Rowan Continued...
Grammy-‐award winner and six-‐time Grammy nominee, Peter Rowan is a singer-‐ songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of Bluegrass veteran Bill Monroe, to his time in Old & In the Way and breakout as a solo musician and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through a solid stream of records, collaborative projects, and constant touring.
Born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family, Rowan learned to play guitar
from his uncle. He spent his teenage years absorbing the sights and sounds of the Hillbilly Ranch, a legendary Country music nightclub in Boston frequented by old-‐ time acts like The Lilly Brothers and Tex Logan. In 1956 Peter Rowan formed his first band, the Cupids, while still in high school.
Following three years in college, Rowan left academia and decided to pursue a life in
music. Rowan began his professional career in 1963 as the singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter for the Bluegrass Boys, led by the founding father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. “One thing I started to like about the Monroe style was that there was a lot more blues in it than other styles of bluegrass,” reflects Rowan. “It was darker. It had more of an edge to it. And yet it still had the ballad tradition in it, and I loved that.”
The late ‘60s and early 70’s saw Rowan involved in a number of rock, folk and bluegrass projects, including Earth Opera, Sea Train, Muleskinner, and the Rowans, where he played alongside brothers Chris and Lorin Rowan. After the Rowan Brothers disbanded, Rowan, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements and John Kahn formed a bluegrass band christened Old & In the Way. It was during this incarnation that Rowan penned the song “Panama Red,” a subsequent hit for the New Riders of the Purple Sage and a classic ever since.
Rowan subsequently embarked on a well-‐received solo career in the late ‘70s, releasing critically acclaimed records such as Dustbowl Children (a Woody-‐Guthrie style song cycle about the Great Depression), Yonder (a record of old-‐time country music in collaboration with ace dobro player, Jerry Douglas) and two
extraordinarily fine bluegrass albums, The First Whippoorwill and Bluegrass Boy, as well as High Lonesome Cowboy, a recording of traditional and old-‐time mountain music with Don Edwards and Norman Blake. Rowan’s recent releases-‐ Quartet, a recording with the phenomenal Tony Rice and Legacy with the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, coupled with a relentless touring schedule have further endeared Peter Rowan to audiences around the world.
Following on the heels of the celebrated album “Crucial Country: Live at Telluride” Peter recorded his second album for Compass entitled “Old School” with memorable new songs such as “Doc Watson Morning” , “Drop The Bone” and “Keepin’ It
Between The Lines (Old School)” with members of the current Bluegrass Band plus Chris Henry, Michael Cleveland, Bryan Sutton, Ronnie, Robbie and Del McCoury and
more. Since then the prolific singer songwriter has recorded and released Peter
Rowan’s Twang an Groove Vol. 1 on There Records and Dharma Blues on Omnivore
Records.
Internationally, Rowan often performs as a solo singer-‐songwriter, while stateside he plays in three bands: the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, a quintet featuring Keith Little, Chris Henry, Blaine Sprouse and Paul Knight; Big Twang Theory and its Texas Cousin Twang n Groove and rock band The Free Mexican Air Force.

Tim Bluhm Continued...
Best-known as the lead singer and songwriter of California band the Mother Hips and keyboardist/guitarist/producer for Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Tim occasionally collaborates with other artists.
He demonstrates his passion for songwriting by giving the songs the space to speak for themselves. Sometimes personal, often topical and historical, his songs are smart, subtle and economical. There is no “show,” just emotion, allegory and dry humor.
Tim has performed extensively with members of the Grateful Dead. He is able to infuse any music with his unique California personality while remaining a solid supporting player.

Scott Law Continued...
Multifaceted artist Scott Law is an accomplished guitar master, songwriter, vocalist and solo recording artist operating at the very highest level of his craft. A not so secret weapon sought after for his distinctive ability to elevate the potency of any stage collaboration, Law is a fearless improviser circulating with legendary Bluegrass, American Roots, Rock and Jamband luminaries including Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), The String Cheese Incident, Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, The Travelin’ McCoury’s and many others. Scott’s original music and guitar style comes straight from the heart of psychedelic Americana, granting him the creative latitude to constantly push the envelope and help create singular, unforgettable musical experiences for audiences worldwide.
Discover more at: http://www.scottlawmusic.com/

Ross James Continued...
Born in New York, Ross James is a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been living and breathing music since he picked up his first guitar as a 9 year old living in the frozen tundra of Fargo, North Dakota. Ross was a founding member of the band American Jubilee, and has shared the stage with many greats including Phil Lesh, John Scofield, Chris Robinson, Warren Haynes, Stanley Jordan, John Mayer, and more.
He currently plays regularly with Scott Law & Ross James’ Cosmic Twang & Communion ft. Phil Lesh. He can usually be found a few nights a week performing at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA. Aside from being a regular on stage at Terrapin, Ross is also the musical director for the venue.

Arthur Steinhorn Continued...
Arthur has his undergraduate degree in Percussion from the University of Maryland. During the late 1970’s and early 80’s Arthur performed with various east coast regional touring bands, the most popular being Milton Freewater, a band that performed mostly San Francisco rock and had developed quite a following along the mid-east coast.
His first cross-country touring began during the mid-80’s with Rounder Records artists, Cowboy Jazz, a western swing band which included Barry Sless on pedal steel and guitar. Arthur went on to tour with the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Kingfish, Dead Ringers, and eventually forming and touring with the David Nelson Band for its first 8 years in the 90’s. You can tell from the albums and recordings that Arthur understands and embodies the multitude of grooves and stylings that make up this genre of music, as much, if not more than most of the drummers playing this music.
His strength is balanced by a fluid nuanced style which allows the music to breathe as well as provide a powerful dance foundation. Arthur took a break from performing to raise a family during the first years of the millennium, put was pulled back to the stage in 2008.

Fillipo Arlia Continued...
Filippo Arlia is an Italian pianist, conductor and soloist. Graduating with honors from the Conservatory F. Torrefranca in Vibo Valentia at the age of 17 with Maestra Antonella Barbarossa, he has performed as a soloist and conductor with the most prestigious orchestras in Italy and abroad including De Tineret de Cluj Orchestra, Sinfolario della Lombardia Orchestra, Cukurova State Symphony Orchestra of Adana, M. Jora of Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony of Vladivostok and many others. Since 2012 he is the artistic director and conductor of the Orchestra Filarmonica of Calabria and works as a soloist with internationally prestigious artists such as Giacamo Prestia, Sergei Krylov, Ramin Bahrami with concerts in Italy, Romania, Lituania, Turchia, Russia, Tunisia, New Zeland and the United States. In addition, Mr. Arlia teaches piano at the Superior Institute for Music Studies P.I. Tchaikovsky in Nocera Terinese (CZ).

Olga Suarez Paz Continued...
Olga Suarez Paz is a talent of tango who been praised by the critics for the “high quality” of her dancing and “stunning vocal performance” (Mike Telin, Cleveland Classical). She studied classical dance and theater and made her debut as a tango dancer with Andrea Misse’s Tangodanza. She performed with Opus Cuatro and the show at the historic Café de Los Angelitos in Buenos Aires before partnering with Leonardo Suarez Paz in 2009. Since then, Olga Suarez Paz has been featured at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (2011, 2012, 2013), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Flipside Fesitval (UK), with the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, and Latin star Luis Miguel in Argentina, among others.
She was featured dancing on Fox 5 Good Day New York, at the National Museum of Dance in the United States, representing Tango Pasion company and in the Argentine documentary Circo de Arrabal, about Grammy-winning composer Carlos Franzetti. She is a principle dancer of Romance de Tango and Cuartetango Music & Dance Company since 2009, and since 2012, the Assistant Artistic Director of the above companies, which have been featured at the Teatro Colon Opera House, Teatro Alvear, Buenos Aires Tango Festival, on PBS, Fox 5, Ebru TV, in films and at the Latin Grammy Awards live, following a double Latin Grammy nomination.

Leonardo Suarez Paz Continued...
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina is known for his uncommon talent as a singer, a career he began at the age of 6, a tango dancer and an artist who “possesses a unique spirit and is a virtuoso extraordinaire on the violin” (Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York). Leonardo made his debut as a violinist at age 14 and at 16, he became the youngest member of the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón Opera House in Buenos Aires. As a classical musician he recorded with Placido Domingo, accompanied Alfredo Kraus, Aaron Rosand, was a soloist for Julio Boca’s Ballet Argentino and concertmaster for Savion Glover’s Classical Savion tour. He was the featured on the Grammy-winning albums 100 Años de Mariachi with Placido Domingo, Tango, with Carlos Franzetti and Ruben Blades, Amarte Es Un Placer with Luis Miguel and performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Spoleto and Umbria Jazz Festivals in Italy and others. His Jazz credits include working with Stanley Jordan, Cody Moffett, Steve Kuhn and Jim Hall; as well as arranging for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Leonardo is a 4th generation Tango artist, who grew up along side and was mentored by composer Astor Piazzolla and has worked with most of Tango’s legendary figures including Mariano Mores, Horacio Salgan, Atilio Stampone, Nestor Marconi and others. He currently directs his music and dance company, Cuartetango which appeared from the Teatro Colon Opera House in Buenos Aires to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and at the Latin Grammy Awards live, following a double Latin Grammy-Award nomination in 2012 for his album on which he is featured as composer, arranger and violinist. Leonardo Suarez Paz serves as Artistic Director of IGE, since its inception in early 2015.

Nikki Bluhm Continued...
“Our music definitely hearkens another era,” says Nicki Bluhm, “but at the same time, we want it to be contemporary. Reflective of now even though it nods to other times. We want it to be vintage modern.”
With Loved Wild Lost, Little Sur recording group Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers fully affirm a current place in the long winding continuum of the California Sound, born of folk, rock, country, psychedelia, blues, and pop, as ageless, adventurous, and ever-adaptive as the Golden State itself. The album – which follows the Bay Area-based band’s eponymous 2013 debut – sees Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers teaming with producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse, Josh Ritter), their first time working with an outside collaborator. The result is the critically acclaimed band’s most compelling collection thus far. The richly layered sound forms the ideal foundation for Bluhm’s remarkable voice and resonant lyrical gifts. Added color is provided by San Francisco’s Magik*Magik Orchestra (Death Cab for Cutie, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Walkmen), whose multifarious string arrangements amplify the album’s sound.
Three years of new experiences and nearly non-stop roadwork has had a powerful effect on The Gramblers, spurring creative growth and personal reflection. Songs like “Love Your Loved Ones” explore life’s seismic shifts, what Nicki describes as “the struggle to retain the energy and optimism of youth as life becomes more complex.”
Read more at http://www.nickibluhm.com/bio/

Martino Coppo Continued...
Starts playing virtual guitar at age 5, on a tennis racket, and more seriously (albeit self-taught) at age 13, inspired by the acoustic sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.
In 1981 he joins the popular Italian bluegrass band Red Wine on mandolin and lead vocals, and the band starts playing regularly all over Italy, Europe, and, from the mid-’90s, in the USA as well, with many appearances at festival and venues all over the country (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco CA, Grey Fox Festival in Oak Hill NY, ROMP Festival in Owensboro KY, Bill Monroe Bluegrass Jamboree at Bean Blossom IN, Station Inn in Nashville TN, just to name a few), and several times as a showcasing band at the IBMA WOB (International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass)
With Red Wine has released 1LP, 3 tapes and 5 cd’s.
He also regularly performs with blues/folk guitar player Paolo Bonfanti, with whom in 2014 has released the cd “Friend of a Friend”.
He has also been touring and playing with Italian and American artists such as Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Kathy Kallick, Chris Jones, Kathy Chiavola, Jim Hurst, Russ Barenberg, Barry & Holly Tashian, Beppe Gambetta, Carlo Aonzo, Roberto Dalla Vecchia, New Trolls, Vittorio De Scalzi e La Rosa Tatuata.

Caroline Pearsall Continued...
Caroline was born in Southampton, England, to musical parents.
She studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Philippe Graffin, Peter Thomas (CBSO), David Angel (Maggini Quartet) and Rohan de Sarum (Arditti Quartet). Her curiosity and fascination with new timbres and techniques on the violin led her to working with the contemporary music groups Ensemble Multilaterale, Ensemble Alma Viva (with guitarist Pablo Marquez) and Ars Nova.
Having studied with Juan José Mosalini at the Conservatoire of Gennevilliers and Gustavo Beytelmann at Codarts in Rotterdam after winning a Leverhulme Trust Scholarship, Caroline has developed professionally in the Argentinean tango milieu since 2003. She has performed with numerous groups including Daniel Melingo, the Grand Orchestra of Juan José Mosalini, Quinteto El Despues, Tango Orquesta Imperial, La Chicana, Linea Tigre, Amelitar Baltar, Les Fleurs Noires, and Orquesta Silbando. With these different formations she has been on tour in over 20 countries.
In 2006 she won a bursary from the Stephen Arlen Memorial Award to go to Buenos Aires to take lessons with famous tango violinists like Pablo Agri, Ramiro Gallo, Leonardo Ferreira and Mauricio Marcelli.
In 2009 she founded the London Tango Orchestra, the first traditional orquesta tipica in the UK, with whom she took part in a BBC documentary 2012, appeared in Mr Selfridge II (ITV) and performed at the South Bank Centre, Kings Place and Royal Albert Hall Ignite Series.
She received a Masters in Ethnomusicology (contemporary tango music) from the Royal Holloway University of London in 2011. In the summer of 2014 she won a Winston Churchill Fellowship to go to Argentina for 2 months to interview tango violinists (Fernando Suarez Paz, Pablo Agri, Leonardo Ferreyra…) doing research for a book.
She also performed with the Orquesta Escuela in the Usina del Arte for the Buenos Aires Tango Festival 2014.
She loves teaching and has given tango music workshops in Holland, France and the UK.

Yale Strom Continued...
“An award-winning musician, author, filmmaker and scholar, this maverick does so many things with such great skill and vision that he’s in a league of his own.”
– George Varga – Music Critic of the San Diego Union-Tribune
“Through his art, Strom has brought back his spiritual Klezmer ancestors”
-TIME magazine
“Yale Strom is a klezmer whirlwind.” – The Valley Advocate – Northhampton, MA
“Like a Yiddish Indiana Jones, Strom continues to dig up artifacts of Jewish music, introducing audiences to something they might have missed.” – San Diego Jewish Journal
“Strom and his band hot klezmer, kenetic energy flaying in all directions.” Time Out – NYC
Yale Strom (violin, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, playwright) is a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Rom communities. Initially, his work focused primarily on the use and performance of klezmer music among these two groups. Gradually, his focus increased to examining all aspects of their culture, from post-World War II to the present. From more than 3 decades and 75 such research expeditions, Strom has become the world’s leading ethnographer-artist of klezmer music and history.
His klezmer research was instrumental in helping form the repertoires of his klezmer band, Hot Pstromi in New York and San Diego. Since Strom’s first band began in 1981, he has been composing his own New Jewish music, which combines klezmer with Khasidic nigunim, Roma, jazz, classical, Balkan and Sephardic motifs. These compositions range from quartets to a symphony, which premiered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He composed original music for the Denver Center production of Tony Kushner’s The Dybbuk. He composed all the New Jewish music for the National Public Radio series Fiddlers, Philosophers & Fools: Jewish Short Stories from the Old World to the New, hosted by Leonard Nimoy, as well as numerous film and dance scores. His two newest Jewish “classical” pieces he has composed are his string quartet “In The Memory Of…” based upon lost cantorial music Strom found in an abandoned synagogue in Carei, Romania and his solo violin piece “Bessarabia Suite” he composed for violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine. Strom is also one of the only top composers of Jewish music to carry on the tradition of writing original songs, with Yiddish lyrics, about humanitarian and social issues. His fifteen CDs run the gamut of traditional klezmer to “new” Jewish music. Some of his Cds are: “Borsht with Bread Borthers” (Arc Music), “Absolute Klezmer Vol. 2” (Transcontinental Music) “The Devil’s Brides (Arc Music) and the newest Cd “The City of the Future: Yiddish Sing from the Former Soviet Union (ARC Music) Strom has performed with many world renowned musicians including Andy Statman, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Mark O’Connor, Lulo Reinhardt, Alicia Svigals, Mike Block, Salman Ahmad, Samir Chattergee et al.
Yale Strom was the first klezmer violinist to be invited to instruct master classes at both the American String Teachers Association and the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp. Strom was also the first klezmer musician to perform at the United Nations General Assembly. Strom’s research has also resulted in photo documentary books, documentary films, as well as CD recordings. He is the author of The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore ( 2002)” is a 400 page history with original photos and sheet music gathered by Strom during his sixty-plus ethnographic trips to Central and Eastern Europe. A Wandering Feast: A Journey Through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe written in collaboration with his wife, Elizabeth Schwartz, is part cookbook, part travelogue (2005). He is also the author of The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook (2006). His photo-documentary books for middle-grade and young readers have received rave reviews and his first children’s book based upon a true klezmer story The Wedding That Saved A Town was published in September 2008 and was chosen as “Best Children’s Illustrated Book” by the San Diego Book Association 2009. He wrote the first biography on the “Benny Goodman of klezmer clarinet “Dave Tarras: The King of Klezmer published by Or-Tav Music Publications, and his latest SHPIL! The Art of Playing Klezmer (Scarecrow Press).
New York’s Jewish Week writes: “He’s a gifted photographer and author, a talented documentary filmmaker and has his own klezmer band… Strom’s multifaceted career is a wonder, and his work schedule is downright fiendish.” He has directed eight award-winning documentary films (At theCrossroads, The Last Klezmer, and Carpati: 50 miles, 50 Years. L’Chaim Comrade Stalin! and Klezmer on Fish Street, A Man From Munkacs: Gypsy Klezmer, A Great Day on Eldridge Street, A letter to Wedgwood: The Life of Gabriella Hartstein Auspitz) and has composed music for countless others. He was the first documentary filmmaker in history to be given his own run at Lincoln Center’s prestigious Walter Reade Theatre, where The Last Klezmer broke previous box office records; this record was only exceeded by Carpati’s run there. The Last Klezmer was short-listed for an Academy Award, Klezmer on Fish Street won the 2003 Palm Beach International Film festival’s Special Jury Selection award. He directed the documentary A Man from Munkacs: Gypsy Klezmer for Hungary’s Duna Television, and is production on a new out in 2016 American Socialist: Eugene Victor Debs.
His solo photo exhibit The Rom of Ridgewood, about Gypsy communities in Queens, New York,was mounted at the Queens Museum of Art; Fragments: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe 1981-2007 opened at the Anne Frank Center in NYC (fall 2014) and is traveling the country. He has had numerous solo and group photo exhibits (depicting Jewish and Roma life) throughout the U.S. and Europe. His photos are part of many collections including Beth Hatefusoth, The Skirball Museum, The Jewish Museum of NYC, The Frankfurt Jewish Museum and The Museum of Photographic Arts.
Strom ‘s original stage play . . . from man. . . to beast… to crawling thing, was given a fully-staged workshop in June of 2001 by the Streisand Festival (La Jolla, California). His new play The Education of Hershl Grynszpan was workshopped by the San Diego Rep, North Coast Rep as well as in New York City, Connecticut and Los Angeles. Yale was featured in the May 31, 2004 issue of Time Magazine for this play, and the scholarship behind it. Strom’s newest theatrical project is a play about the life of the artist Chagall.
Strom has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Europe and taught at NYU for the 4 years, where he created the course “Artist-Ethnographer Expeditions”. He is on the advisory board of the Center for Jewish Creativity, based in Los Angeles. At present he is Artist-in-Residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University.
Strom was the guest curator for the Eldridge Street Project’s A Great Day on Eldridge Street– a musical and photographic celebration of the newly restored Eldridge Street Synagogue that took place in October 12-14, 2007. A Great Day on Eldridge Street is now an iconic photo of capturing some of the greatest Yiddish singers and klezmer musicians ever gathered in one spot.

Elizabeth Continued...
Elizabeth Schwartz is an internationally renowned klezmer vocalist, performing with Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a solo artist. Her first recording of Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino vocals for the Naxos World label, “Garden of Yidn”, debuted on Canada’s Mundial Top World Music poll. It was hailed as “a landmark in modern Yiddish song” (Sing Out! Magazine). Her vocals can be heard on the soundtrack for the documentary film “L’Chayim, Comrade Stalin!”, as well as on the acclaimed Naxos World releases “Garden of Yidn” and “ Café Jew Zoo”, ” Dveykes (Adhesion)”, with Yale Strom, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Diane Moser and Benny Koonyevsky (Global Village Music) “The Absolutely Complete Klezmer II” (URJ), “Borsht with Bread, Brothers”, “The Devil’s Brides” and “City of the Future” (ARC Music UK).
Schwartz was the first woman in history invited to sing in New York City’s 125 year-old, landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue, breaking their ban on women singing in public. She performs regularly across North America and Europe in venues ranging from jazz clubs to concert halls (including Carnegie Hall), as well as synagogues and festivals. She has recorded and been a featured performer with Hungarian group Muzsikas , Tsimbl maestro Kalman Balogh , Romanian panflutist Damian Draghici , guitar legend Lulo Reinhardt, Marta Sebestyen, fiddle legend Mark O’Connor, Andy Statman, violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine and others. She is the subject of the documentary film, “Rumenye, Rumenye: Searching for Schwartz”, directed by acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Radu Gabrea.

Paolo Bonfanti Continued...
Born in Genova, Italy in 1960, Paolo started playing guitar in 1975 after studying classical piano. He graduated in music semiotics at University of Bologna.
From 1985 to 1990 he has been leading BIG FAT MAMA, one of the most important italian rock bands, with whom he recorded 3 LPs.
From 1990 to 1992 played with some British Blues legends such as sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith (Colosseum, J. Mayall) and drummer Mickey Waller (J. Beck, Rod Stewart) in a band named DOWNTOWN.
He is currently playing as a solo act and with his own band all over Italy and Europe and in the U.S. a few times (Austin, Tx “South By Southwest”, Winfield, Ks. Acoustic Music Festival); collaborated also with some of the best rock and blues musicians such as Roy Rogers (J. Lee Hooker’s guitarist and producer) and John Popper (Blues Traveler).
He is also a guitar/music teacher and three guitar manuals has been published over the years, “Country-Rock Guitar” (together with italian flatpicking guitar wizard Beppe Gambetta), “Bottleneck Guitar” and “Electric Guitar According to P. B.”.
In February 2014 cd “Friend of a Friend” with Martino Coppo, one of the best bluegrass/country mandolin players in Europe, has been issued.
Paolo’s latest cd “Back Home Alive” (2015), is a sort of “live” retrospective of his career including completely new versions of some of his old songs.
The cd has been produced by Steve Berlin (Blasters, Los Lobos), mixed by David Simon-Baker (Los Lobos) and mastered by David Glasser (Grateful Dead 50 years box sets).

Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi Continued...
Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi passionately play country blues and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 20’s and 30’s.
They like to keep this precious musical heritage alive faithfully reproducing its original sound whilst playing it a modern twist.
Using strictly acoustic instruments such ukulele, washboard, kazoo, resophonic guitars and doublebass their passion for this music is perfectly represented on their last CD “OLD STORIES FOR MODERN TIMES”, that also sees contributions by other leading musicians and friends, Sugar Blue (a legendary harmonica player in the past with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Dixon and Frank Zappa) and the world master of resophonic guitar, Bob Brozman.
The album is an overview of the American popular music from the early years of the last century with the Red Wine Serenaders reinterpreting great songs by artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Sidney Bechet, Lucille Bogan, Bo Carter, Delmore Brothers in their own unique style.
With their trio called “Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders” they won the European Blues Challenge 2013, an important international contest, giving them the opportunity to perform at the prestigious Notodden Blues Festival in Norway and the Lucerne Blues Festival in 2014.
Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders performed in Usa, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Spain, Germany, England, Italy and Poland.
The duo is actually promoting the new upcoming album “The Mexican Dress”, produced indipendently, with no recording label involved. Some tracks have been recorded in Tacoma (WA) and tracks will include for the first time a number of original compositions, partly written in collaboration with our American friends “The Nite Café”.
Band:
VERONICA SBERGIA: lead vocals, ukulele, washboard, kazoo
“Good time blues is alive and well and residing in… Milan, Italy. A band with a mission” – Folk & Roots Magazine
MAX DE BERNARDI: vocals, National resophonic guitars, mandolin, acoustic guitar
Website: www.redwineserenaders.it
Contact: info@redwineserenaders.it

Christine Brebes Continued...
A native to California, she began her musical journey with the piano at age 5 and the violin at age 8, and was recruited as her church organist at 12. She was fired from every non-musical job. She has performed in Philharmonic orchestras in California, Iowa, Missouri and Nevada. Her interest in argentine tango began in 1999 when she and Beau Bledsoe formed Tango Lorca in Kansas City, Missouri. She moved to Buenos Aires in 2002 to participate in the 3rd annual formation of the Emilio Balcarce Tango Orchestra School. She has toured to Japan (Tango Dreams 2003, Tango Fire 2015) and Italy and London (Tango X 2 2004, Roberto Herrera 2009-10, Tango Fire 2015), and has performed and recorded with many ensembles. Her favorites include Owen Cox Dance Group, Duo Lorca, Aca Seca Trio, Diego Schissi Quintet, Demoliendo Tangos, Guillermo Fernandez, La Orquesta Tipica Sans Souci, Alejandro Dolina, Sexteto Mayor, Ramiro Gallo & La Orquesta Archetipica, Pablo Motta Quintet+1, Andres Beeuwsaert Grupo and Duos Breves. Currently, she performs with Elena Roger and Charly Garcia & The Prostitution, and returns to Kansas City whenever possible to play with her dearest and most talented friends and colleagues.

Roberto Bongianino Continued...
Roberto Bongianino is an Italian accordionist and multi-instrumentalist (bandoneon, guitar, bass).
Born in 1973, Roberto began his musical life at the age of 5 with classical studies. Then he started to develop his own style conceived of deep interest in improvisation, American and folk music.
In 30 years of activity, he recorded several albums and toured in Italy and Europe with folk, blues, rock, jazz, tango, r&b and gospel bands. Today he performs regularly with Paolo Bonfanti Band (one of the most prestigious blues/roots rock band in Italy), Animalunga (acoustic jazz trio) and a folk-jazz duo with guitarist Maurizio Verna.

Cesare Chiacchiaretta Continued...
Born in Chieti, Italy, Cesare devoted himself to the study of the accordion at a very early age, later taking up the bandoneon. He studied under the tutelage of Claudio Calista at the Music Academy of Pescara, graduating with distinction at the Niccolo Piccinni Conservatory of Bari in 1995. He subsequently perfected his skills under distinguished masters including Max and Christiane Bonnay, Vladimir Zubitsky and Mogens Ellegaard and has appeared as a soloist with chamber music ensembles in Italy and abroad, including the in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Academy Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. He is a recipient of numerous awards and international competitions, including the Citta di Castelfi dardo international competition, where he won first prize in 1993. He was chosen to be the only Italian representative a the Annual World Accordion Championship (International Confederation of Accordionists) organized by UNESCO in 1991 and in 1993 represented Italy at the 43rd Accordion World Trophy in Setubal, Portugal. In addition to his work as a chamber musician he is a professor at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma.

Enrico Corapi Continued...
Enrico Corapi received his bachelor’s degree in double bass and II level with highest honors from the Conservatory “S. Giacomantonio “of Cosenza. From 2001 to 2007 he served as 1st double bassist of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “Giuseppe Verdi”. Over the years he has collaborated with various institutions, including the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo di Catania “Vincenzo Bellini”, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, the Orchestra of the Theater of Cagliari, the International Orchestra, having the opportunity to work with conductors and soloists such as Riccardo Chailly, Rudolf Barshai, Vladimir Jurowsky, Wayne Marshall, Claus Peter Flor, Yuri Temirkanof, Martha Argherich, Krystian Zimerman, Salvatore Accardo, Ramin Bahrami, Mischa Maisky, Michel Camilo, Juan Diego Florez, Placido Domingo, Vadim Repin, Joshua Bell, Sayaka Shoji, Sarah Chang, Massimo Quarta, Anna Tifu. Currently he is the principal bassist of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Calabria, under the Artistic Director Maestro Filippo Arlia and teaches at the Institute of Musical Studies “P. I. Tchaikovsky” of Nocera Terinese.