Kevin Choice, an Oakland native, has toured the world as a professional keyboardist/pianist for over ten years, incorporating his classical and jazz background into various genres of popular music. He started off taking piano lessons in Oakland at Westlake Junior High School. His teacher recognized his gift and recommended he audition for the Young Musician's Program at U.C. Berkeley, where he was accepted and attended for 3 years. He continued on his early music education at Skyline High School in Oakland where he participated in the Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra.

He received his Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance from Xavier University of Louisiana, where he earned a scholarship. He placed high in many piano competitions and was named "Most Outstanding Music Major" his senior year. He then received a fellowship to attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he received his Master's Degree in Piano Performance. During his education he focused on classical repertoire while also devoting a considerable amount of time to jazz studies and composition. He played in his University Jazz Ensemble and took Jazz Composition and theory courses to further enhance his playing and improvisation skills.

As a professional, Kevin has performed and toured with a wide variety of artist locally and nationally. He did his first tour with San Francisco based band "Michael Franti and Spearhead", traveling to over 15 countries and appearing on "Late Night with David Letterman." He also has toured with numerous R&B/ Soul artist including local songstress "Goapele" and was musical director for Grammy Award winning artist "Lauryn Hill" in 2007. He has also played and toured with a long list of recognizable artist including Dwele, Too Short, Zion I, LyricsBorn, D.J. Quik, Ledisi, and Martin Luther. As an artist and producer himself, Kevin has garnered recognition being named, "Best Musician" by The EastBay Express in 2009, and "Most Multi-Talented Instrumentalist" in 2008. He was also nominated "Best Soul/Funk/R&B Artist by SF Weekly 3 years in a row.

There is nowhere else in the Bay Area where students can learn such dances as Dinhe, of the Korekore; Muchungoyo of the Ndebele; and Mbakumba, Mbira and Mhande of the Shona people. We know of no other Zimbabwean man in the Bay Area or Western United States with the experiences and artistry that Mr. Daliyo brings, allowing for this unique teaching experience. Mr. Daliyo will continue to teach and perform, not just in the Bay Area, but in Boulder, Colorado; Cedar Crest, New Mexico; and throughout other parts of California (Sacramento, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara). His present dance and music students are very much looking forward to continue experiencing the deep traditions and culture of Zimbabwe as only presented in his classes, workshops and performances.

Mr. Daliyo’s teaching and performances have facilitated the bridging of African and Western cultures. As guest artist with the Chinyakare Ensemble, his presence has enhanced group members’ development as artists and deepened their connection with Zimbabwean tradition. In the past, the Chinyakare Ensemble members have had the opportunity to travel to Zimbabwe to immerse themselves in the cultural experience and in music and dance as taught by the artistic director’s, Julia Chigamba’s family. Mr. Daliyo has brought that experience to the Chinyakare Ensemble’s rehearsals that take place three days each week. Mr. Daliyo’s tutelage has allowed the Chinyakare Ensemble to showcase what is uniquely Zimbabwean at such performances as the Annual Collage des Cultures Africaines at the Berkeley Community Theater, the largest Pan-African gathering of musicians and dancers on the West Coast, the Berkeley World Music Festival and the World Music and Dance Festival in Sacramento.  

Hector has a Masters in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, where he has also done substantial doctoral work in the political sociology and cultural history of Latin America and the Caribbean. Presently, he leads Son Borikua, a seven piece ensemble, dedicated to creating original music inspired in the Puerto Rican folklore. He is co-director of the Bomba and Plena Workshop at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, and a percussion instructor with the Oakland Youth Chorus’ Music of Our World program.

From 1991-94, Angela was a California Arts Council Artist in Residence, during which time she designed and implemented a Jazz Studies Curriculum for Cole Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School in Oakland, CA. In 1997, she was awarded a Master’s degree in Music Education from theEastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. She subsequently returned to the Bay Area, and served as the Education Director for the Oakland Youth Chorus where she developed award-winning community music education programs.

Ms. Wellman is a recipient of national, state, and city Arts awards and fellowships for performance study and music education. Among these awards is the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Study Fellowship to study with trombonist Steve Turre.

Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Ms. Wellman was nurtured in a musical family, and is a third generation jazz musician and music educator. She grew up listening to the stride piano style of her grandfather, her father's swinging ballad & blues piano, and the soul-stirring songstylings of her mother, Jyene Baker. Angela inherits her passion and understanding for the preservation of musical traditions through education from her uncle and mentor, Eddie B. Baker, Sr., founder of the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation & Academy for Performing Arts and the International Jazz Hall of Fame. Angela's initiation into the world of Jazz as a player began while hanging out at sessions at the famed chitlin' circuit Local 626, the once–Black musicians' union in Kansas City, and now sanctuary for the spirits of jazz pioneers such as Ernie Williams (The Last of the Blue Devils), Count Basie, Charlie Parker, and countless others who got their start in that very place.

In 2005 she founded the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music to provide high quality, affordable music education for Oakland citizens. Angela divides her time between Oakland and Madison, WI where she is pursuing doctoral studies in Education/Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin. She also performs and teaches throughout the United States. Her band, New Roots, performs spirited, contemporary music, creating new forms, styles, and roots in the Jazz tradition.