ARTISTS’ PROFILES

Tina Finkelman Berkett, Artistic Director, BODYTRAFFIC

Tina Finkelman Berkett, Artistic Director and a founder of BODYTRAFFIC, is an influential dance leader and community builder, producing original, compelling repertoire and sharing a new vision of dance across the U.S. and around the world. Berkett’s professional dance career began at Aszure Barton & Artists, a contemporary dance company where she quickly became a featured dancer and then Barton’s assistant, teaching both in the U.S. and abroad. A true highlight of her career was being a founding member of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and touring internationally alongside Mr. Baryshnikov himself. Berkett found an interest in arts administration when she served as the company’s dancer liaison. In 2007, she relocated to Los Angeles and launched BODYTRAFFIC with Lillian Barbeito. Now serving as the company’s sole Artistic Director, Berkett is focusing on re-envisioning and revitalizing BODYTRAFFIC. With her deep commitment to taking the company to new heights, she is curating and discovering exciting choreographers and programming challenging programs that audiences enjoy, seeing incredible dancers doing their best work.

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BODYTRAFFIC uses the creative spirit of its Los Angeles home to fulfill its mission of delivering performances that inspire audiences simply to love dance. Founded in 2007, its repertory includes the works of renowned contemporary choreographers like Kyle Abraham, Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, Victor Quijada, Arthur Pita, Fernando Magadan, and Micaela Taylor. BODYTRAFFIC made its 2016 Hollywood Bowl debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is currently company-in-residence at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Beyond

LA, the company has performed at prestigious venues throughout the U.S. in such places as New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Arizona, and on an extensive tour to more than 20 cities abroad including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and The Hague. In 2015 the Obama Administration selected BODYTRAFFIC to be U.S. cultural ambassadors to Israel and Jordan through DanceMotion USA, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department. BODYTRAFFIC also served as cultural ambassadors of the United States in South Korea (2016), Algeria (2017–18), and Indonesia (2018)

Brooklyn Rider

Johnny Gandelsman, Colin Jacobsen, violins ; Nicholas Cords, viola ; Michael Nicolas, cello; Mathias Kunzli, percussion

Brooklyn Rider is known for playing unusual and contemporary repertoire, and for collaborating with musicians from outside the classical music sphere. The quartet founded the Stillwater Music Festival in 2006 to serve as a place to unveil new repertory and collaborations, and have completed residencies at several universities. The GRAMMY-nominated quartet has performed at the Schwartz Center (Atlanta), the Kimmel Center, the Cologne Philharmonie, American Academy in Rome, Spoleto Festival USA, and Malmö Festival in Sweden. In 2010, they played at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, which was also broadcast live on NPR—the only classical performers to have been invited to play at the festival to date. Brooklyn Rider made their Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall debuts in 2011. They recently collaborated on different projects with Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, and in 2022–23 launched a major new commissioning venture, The Four Elements, an exploration of the four classical elements of earth, air, water, and fire as metaphor for both the complex inner world of the string quartet and the current health of planet Earth.

The Colburn School

fafw A performing arts institution located in the heart of Los Angeles, the Colburn School trains students from beginners to those about to embark on professional careers. The academic units of the school provide a complete spectrum of music and dance education united by a single philosophy: that all who desire to study music or dance should have access to top-level instruction. Each year, nearly 2,000 students from around the world come to Colburn to benefit from the renowned faculty, exceptional facilities, and focus on excellence that unites the community. colburnschool.edu

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Founded in 1994 by Master Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and the legendary Desmond Richardson, Complexions has presented an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement on five continents, in over twenty countries, to more than 20 million television viewers, and to well over 300,000 people in live audiences. The company has received numerous awards, including The New York Times Critics’ Choice Award. It has appeared throughout the US, including the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts, Paramount Theatre in Seattle, The Music Center in Los Angeles, Winspear Opera Housein Dallas, and Music Hall in Detroit, The Bolshoi Theater, The Kremlin, The Mikhailovsky Theater, and the Melbourne Arts Center. The Company has appeared at major European dance festivals including Italy’s Festival of Dance, the Isle De Dance Festival in Paris, the Maison De La Dance Festival in Lyon, the Holland Dance Festival, Steps International Dance Festival in Switzerland, Łódź Biennale, Warsaw Ballet Festival, Kraków Spring Ballet Festival, and the Dance Festival of the Canary Islands. In addition, Complexions has toured extensively throughout the Baltic Regions, Russia, Serbia, Korea, Japan, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, New Zealand, Bermuda, Jamaica, and Australia.

Dwight Rhoden, Co-Founder Co-Artistic Director Principal Choreographer

Dwight Rhoden has performed with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz De Montreal, and as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1994, Rhoden and Desmond Richardson founded COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet, and have brought their unique brand of contemporary dance to the world for over two decades. Rhoden’s choreography has been the lynchpin of the development of COMPLEXIONS repertory. Since 1994, he has created more than 80 ballets for COMPLEXIONS, as well as for numerous other companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arizona Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Colorado Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO!, Mariinsky Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Washington Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. Rhoden has also directed and choreographed performances for shows across a range of media, including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment’s Tribute to Style, Amici, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity, and he appeared in the feature film One Last Dance. He has collaborated with or created work for a number of celebrated artists, including Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson, The Drifters, Paul Simon, Billy Strayhorn, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, U2, and Patrick Swayze. Rhoden is a recipient of various honors and awards including The New York Foundation for the Arts Award, The Choo San Goh Award for Choreography, and The Ailey School’s Apex Award.

Desmond Richardson, Co-Founder Co-Artistic Director

Desmond Richardson was the first African-American principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway cast of Fosse and deemed a standout in the Tony Award-winning production After Midnight . Richardson has appeared on celebrated stages across the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Kennedy Center, Paris Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, the State Kremlin Palace, Teatro Massimo, and Teatro alla Scala. He has been a member and invited guest of prestigious companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Frankfurt Ballet, Royal Swedish Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, to name a few. Richardson, a Young Arts Finalist and Presidential Scholar, has received numerous awards including the Dance Magazine Award, Capezio Award, Ailey Apex Award, L.A. Ovation Award, “Bessie” Award, YoungArts Alumni Award, and most recently the Roosevelt “Rosey” Thompson Award presented by the Presidential Scholars Foundation. He has been a celebrity guest performer and choreographer for productions such as the American Music Awards, the Academy Awards, City Center’s Encores! series, Italy’s Amici, and international franchises of So You Think You Can Dance. Richardson has been featured by Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Elton John, and Aretha Franklin, and appears in celebrated films such as the Academy Award-winning Chicago, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe, and the recent independent film Fall to Rise. He is currently a guest artist-in-residence at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

David Doubilet

David Doubilet has a long and intimate view of the sea. As a photographer he has spent five decades exploring and documenting the far corners of the world from beneath interior Africa, remote tropical coral reefs, rich temperate seas and recent projects beneath the polar ice. His personal challenge is to create a visual voice for the world’s oceans and to connect people to the incredible beauty and silent devastation happening within the invisible world below. Doubilet is a contributing editor for several publications and an author of twelve titles including the award-winning Water Light Time. His numerous photographic awards include Picture of the Year, BBC Wildlife, Communication Arts and World Press. He is a member of the Academy of Achievement, Royal Photographic Society, International League of Conservation Photographers and International Diving Hall of Fame. Doubilet was named a National Geographic Contributing Photographer-in-Residence in 2001. He is the recipient of the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award and Lennart Nilsson Award for Scientific Photography.

Michael Gerdes, lecturer

Michael Gerdes is Director of Orchestras at San Diego State University, where he conducts the San Diego State Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Bachelor of Arts

Degree in Philosophy from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Selected by the San Diego Union-Tribune as one of three “Faces to Watch in Classical Music” during his first year as Director of Orchestras, Gerdes is focused on creating a thriving orchestral community at San Diego State University.

Jennifer Hayes

Jennifer Hayes is a contributing photojournalist and speaker for National Geographic Partners. She is an aquatic biologist who has directed her focus to photojournalism specializing in natural history, conservation, and the documentation of freshwater and marine environments. She has descended beneath Botswana’s Okavango Delta, explored the world beneath oil and gas rigs, documented remote and wild Cuba, and submerged into Greenland’s fjords choked with icebergs. Hayes’ academic passions led to graduate degrees in marine ecology and zoology. Her research focused on shark finning and commercial landing in the western Atlantic and the population dynamics and movements of the ancient fish sturgeon. Hayes has translated her love of science into storytelling, working with scientists around the globe to share their stories. She is an award-winning photographer, contributor to numerous global publications, and author/contributor to books on marine environments. She is a trustee of the Shark Research Institute, an Explorer Club fellow, editorial board advisor for Ocean Geographic, and recipient of the President’s medal for contributions to the natural world.

Magos Herrera, vocalist

Jazz singer, songwriter, producer, and educator

Magos Herrera was born in Mexico City and is currently based out of New York City. She is known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her singular bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with IberoAmerican melodies and rhythms singing in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Herrera has recorded ten albums and appeared as a guest artist on several others. She has performed in international venues including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Círculo de Bellas Artes in

Madrid, Union Chapel in London, Duc des Lombardes in Paris, Kamani Auditorium in Delhi, and Palau de la Musica in Valencia, and has been part of the lineup of some of the most memorable jazz festivals around the world, including Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Festival Internacional Cervantino. Her awards and recognitions include a GRAMMY nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for her album Distancia (2009), and she is the only female artist to have received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award. She is known for championing women’s causes and has served as spokesperson for UN Women.

Daniel Hope, violin & music director

British violinist Daniel Hope has been recognized with a string of honors including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the 2015 European Culture Prize for Music. Besides undertaking solo recitals, chamber concerts, and concerto collaborations with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, Hope directs many ensembles from the violin, succeeding Roger Norrington as Music Director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in 2016 and becoming Music Director of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra two years later. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2007, he has an award-winning discography and is also a popular radio and television host who recently anchored the award-winning streaming and TV series Hope@Home. In 2019 he completed his sixteenth and final season as Associate Artistic Director of Georgia’s Savannah Music Festival and became Artistic Director of Dresden’s Frauenkirche Cathedral. In 2020, following in the distinguished footsteps of Kurt Masur and Joseph Joachim, Hope started his tenure as President of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. His more than 30 albums have been recognized with awards including the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or of the Year, the Edison Classical Award and the Prix Caecilia. Hope plays the 1742 “ex-Lipínski” Guarneri del Gesù.ics.

Kristi Brown Montesano, lecturer

Chair of the Music History Department at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, Kristi Brown

Montesano is an enthusiastic “public musicologist.” She is an active lecturer for the LA Philharmonic, the Opera League of Los Angeles, the Salon de Musiques series, and Mason House Concerts. Her book, The Women of Mozart’s Operas (UC Press, 2007), offers a detailed study of these fascinating roles; more recent scholarly interests include classical music in film, women in classical music, and opera for children.

Molly Puryear, interviewer

Molly Puryear brings passion for dance and nonprofit administration to her position as Executive Director of Malashock Dance. Puryear has worked with Malashock Dance since 2006, and previously served in the role of Education Director. She strategically aligns artistic and educational efforts to create a dynamic relationship between programs, the communities they serve, and the organization’s valuable funders. Puryear is committed to serving the San Diego community through the development and administration of vibrant dance programs. She believes that dance is an avenue for personal expression that engages people from all walks of life.

New Century Chamber Orchestra

gdwgdywqgdgqwudqwgdOne of only a handful of conductorless chamber ensembles in the world, New Century Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1992 and includes 19 string players from the San Francisco Bay Area as well throughout the US. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment from the musicians and concerts of remarkable precision, passion, and power. British violinist Daniel Hope was appointed beginning in the 2018–19 season as the ensemble’s Music Director; previous music directors of the ensemble include Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (2008–17), Krista Bennion Feeney (1999–2006), and Stuart Canin (1992–99). In addition to performing beloved masterworks from the chamber orchestra repertoire, New Century commissions important new works, breathes new life into rarely heard jewels of the past, and frequently performs world premieres. Its numerous recordings are critically acclaimed and award-winning. Beyond regular season concerts in the Bay Area, New Century has toured nationally including performances in the Midwest, East Coast, and Southern California and an eight-state national tour. In June 2019, the orchestra embarked on its first European tour, the largest and most ambitious artistic undertaking in the organization’s history, with appearances across Germany and Poland including the acclaimed Leonard Bernstein-founded SchleswigHolstein Music Festival and Philharmonie Essen.

Alice Sara Ott, piano

Echoes Of Life, Alice Sara Ott’s tenth album on Deutsche Grammophon, had its world premiere at London’s Southbank in November 2021, followed by dates at Paris’ La Seine Musicale, Munich

Prinzregententheater, Lucerne KKL, Budapest MUPA, Antwerp de Singel, Klavierfest Ruhr, and Lille Piano Festival, plus a tour in Japan in spring 2022. Echoes Of Life follows on from her albums Nightfall, Wonderland, and The Chopin Project, taking her total number of album streams to over 150 million. In 2021–22 Ott performed with the Borusan Philharmonic, KBS Symphony in Seoul with Christoph Eschenbach, and with Camerata Salzburg. She performed Ravel’s Left Hand Concerto on tour with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. She has worked with conductors at the highest level, including Gustavo Dudamel, Pablo HerasCasado, Edward Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Sir Antonio Pappano, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Osmo Vänskä, Myung-Whun Chung, and Robin Ticciati. She continues to perform with ensembles such as Berliner Philharmoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bergen

Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and Wiener Symphoniker. Also an illustrator and designer, Ott created a signature line of bags for the German premium fashion brand JOST, was global brand ambassador for Technics, and has collaborated with the French luxury jewelry house Chaumet.

Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

Enriching the medium as America’s first all-female mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles brings sensitivity, beauty, warmth and vivacious spirit to the historic art of mariachi, blazing the trail for female mariachi musicians. In a musical landscape where songs are often written by men, from male perspectives, Reyna has created its own history. Established in 1994, the group had a strong beginning thanks to the mentorship of Lola Bertran, “La Reina de La Musica Ranchera.” In these early days, Maestro Jóse Hernàndez saw the potential in this all-female ensemble and fostered the development of the group. Reyna de Los Angeles has since gone on to record three albums, sharing the stage with world-renowned musicians like Vicki Carr, Guadalupe Pineda, and Lucha Villa, and perform for some of the world’s highest-profile celebrities including Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, and President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama.

Guzmán Rosado, Associate Artistic Director, BODYTRAFFIC

Guzmán Rosado started dancing at the International School of Dance of Carmen Roche Scaena in Madrid on a scholarship sponsored by the Ministerio de Cultura de Madrid. Rosado danced with Ballet Joven de Carmen Roche until 1999, when he was offered a scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet (SAB). After his time at SAB, Edward Villella invited him to dance with Miami City Ballet. From 2002 to 2007, Guzmán danced with Companhia

Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo. In 2007, with André Mesquita and Teresa Alves da Silva, Guzmán cofounded Tok’Art, a cultural platform. He has performed extensively as a guest artist throughout Europe. He teaches ballet, yoga, and movement workshops. Guzmán joined BODYTRAFFIC in 2012 and is also currently the company’s resident filmmaker, winning awards for his film work.

Villalobos Brothers

The Villalobos Brothers are acclaimed as one of today’s leading contemporary Mexican ensembles, performing throughout Latin America, India, Russia, Canada and in more than thirty states across the US. They have performed at historic venues and events including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Latin GRAMMY Awards, Davies Symphony Hall, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ford Theatre in Hollywood, the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, the New Victory Theatre on Broadway, San Jose Jazz Fest, Celebrate Brooklyn, the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City, the Blue Note Jazz Festival, and the Apollo Theatre. In 2018, they joined forces with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra for the “Fandango at the Wall” project. This ambitious undertaking, produced by Kabir Sehgal, united legendary international musicians for a live concert at the Tijuana–San Diego border wall which resulted in a live album and documentary film by HBO Max, released in 2019. The Villalobos Brothers recently premiered their Symphonic Project, performing soldout concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, Sun Valley Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, and Yakima Symphony orchestras. The ensemble has collaborated with legendary musicians including GRAMMY winners Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Antonio Sánchez, Regina Carter, Eduardo Magallanes, Dan Zanes, Sierra Hull, and Ana Tijoux.