John Marshall
John Marshall, is an award winning Master Percussionist and Teacher, who performs on hand drums including the West African djembe, North African dumbek , Afro-Cuban conga, frame drums from around the world, and North Indian tabla John performs on concert stages, radio, television, and film both nationally and internationally. His music has been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Echoes, Hearts Of Space, PBS Television and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Some performances include Centro y Exposiciones in the Dominican Republic, The New Jersey Chamber Music Society, Taos Chamber Music Group, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Tidewater Guitar Festival, Sacred Music Festival, Paradise Island, Bahamas, Yale Guitar Extravaganza, Music Mountain, Paul Halley's Soulstice Celebration, Chorus Angelicus, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and the United Nations. John is a recipient of the national Jubilation Foundation Grant which will fund a trip to India for study of the North Indian tabla later this year.
Mark Ingram
For thirty five years Mark Ingram has been a virtuoso of the kalimba family of traditional African musical instruments. These instruments are the Kalimba, M'bira,Sanza,Rhumba Box (and the African-American Marimba Brett. As soloist and ensemble member, he has performed in concert halls, museums, schools, colleges and learning centers of all kinds. Mark has studied traditional balafon music with Chris Ibe' of Nigeria and studied balafon with Abo Sylla, who performed with Bola Afrique and Les Merveilles D'Afrique. For seventeen years Mark has handcrafted and performed on the ancient Afro-Asian styled bamboo flute. Along with John Marshall, Mark Ingram was a member of the seminal percussion trio, Rhythm Exchange which performed extensively in the Northeast and released recordings featuring Mark's original compositions.
Andrew Parker
Andrew Parker, a member of the Torrington Symphony Orchestra, began playing the drums at age seven and studied music at Springfield College performing in the Jazz Combo and chamber group. He was selected for the All New England, Berkshire and Northern Regional Bands and has appeared with The Litchfield Player's Pit Band as well as Breachway and Slush 7. Along with his prowess as a drum kit player, Andrew enjoys performing on West African percussion instruments, conga, frame drums and Arabic tambourine.
Randy Steward
Randy Steward plays djembe, congas, bongos, cajon and frame drums, as well as all manner of small hand percussion. He first began hand drumming in 2006 and was a member of the percussion group, The Offbeats. He performed with the Thomas Underwood Band, then joined the Salisbury Hand Drummersin 2010, where he can still be heard drumming most Tuesday evenings. Randy can be heard on several CD recordings featuring The Salisbury Hand Drummers, and he has appeared as both soloist and ensemble member in several concerts in Northern Connecticut, including performances at the Ive's Center, the Thomaston Opera House, Music Mountain, Infinity Music Hall and the Bridgewater County Fair.
Rick Quintanal
Rick Quintanal majored in music at the University of California at San Jose, studied drums with Maestro Eugene Graves, Anthony Cirone, principle percussionist with the San Francisco symphony, and Chuck Brown, leading S.F. Bay area teacher whose students include Terry Bozzio and David Garibaldi. Rick was assistant teacher in Chuck Brown's studio for 5 years and has been teaching for over 30 years. He has performed and toured with The Don Ellis Orchestra, George Duke, John Klemmer, Kenny Rankin, and Jorge Santanas' Malo, and has worked in both the L.A. and San Francisco recording scene with various artists. He is currently performing in Connecticut with Crystal Cymbalogy, Otis and the Hurricanes, along with Terra Coda.