Katsuko Teruya
Katsuko Teruya began studying kutuu (Okinawan koto, a stringed instrument), at the age of 18 under master Nae Kochi of the Naha Koyokai in Japan. Katsuko moved to Hawai'i in the mid-1950s, and earned a Senior Teaching Certificate in 1965. In 1975 she established the Hawai'i chapter of the Teruya Shokyoku Kenkyukai. She has served [...] Dong Suk Kim
Dong Suk Kim plays and teaches the kayagum, a Korean zither-like, 12-stringed instrument. Born in North Korea, Mr. Kim moved to South Korea when he was a year old and began his studies in kayagum, folk music, court and folk dance. After graduating from Seoul National University in music theory and composition, he came to […]
Manoochehr Sadeghi
Manoochehr Sadeghi began to study classical Persian santur (a 72-string hammer dulcimer) in Tehran when he was seven years old under the master Ustad Abol Hassan Saba. When he was 17, he joined Saba’s orchestra, and enjoyed many years as a master performer and teacher in Iran before coming to the U.S. in the late […]
Mai Lee Vue
Mai Lee Vue was born in Laos. She is a master of kwv txhiaj (pronounced "kew tsee ya"), the sung poetry of the Lao-Hmong, and also performs on the hmoob raj or Hmong flute. Vue learned the flute at age eleven from her mother. Both her grandmother and mother were famous in their village for [...] Jorge Lechuga
Jorge Lechuga is the founder and lead singer of the Wildhorse Singers and Dancers, a Native American northern traditional pow wow ensemble that performs and tours throughout Southern California, the United States and internationally. Mr. Lechuga began singing and playing the traditional Native American drum over 25 years ago with the help of other community […]
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro received a Diploma of Arts in classical dance from the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1988, and served on the faculty there for three years before immigrating to the United States in 1991. She is among a small number of artists who survived the purges of the Khmer [...] Ian Whitelaw
Ian Whitelaw plays the Great Highland Bagpipe, an instrument deeply embedded in Scottish culture. His teachers include Andrew Wright, president of the Piobaireachd Society, and Robert Nicol, former piper to King George VI. Whitelaw has performed for many film and television programs, and has performed with the Chieftains at the Hollywood Bowl, at the Mormon [...] Tom Sauber
Tom Sauber is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who is teaching traditional Southern fiddle. In the 45 years that Mr. Sauber has devoted to playing traditional music, he has performed with extraordinary musicians in old-time, bluegrass and Cajun music. He is particularly known for his long-time partnerships with Oklahoma fiddler Earl Collins and North Carolina banjo […]
Francisco Aguabella
Francisco Aguabella is one of the world’s most respected drummers. Born in Matanzas-Cuba, an area well-known for the richness of its African traditions, Aguabella immigrated to the U.S. in 1957. He is recognized as a high priest of the religious Afro-Cuban bata percussion, which has its roots among the Yoruba people of West Africa. He […]
Sergio “Checo” Alonso
Sergio "Checo" Alonso is a master of the Mexican folk harp traditions from the southern coast of Veracruz and the western states of Jalisco and Michoacan, the jarocho and mariachi traditions, respectively. Alonso began studying and researching Mexican folk music in 1993 in the ethnomusicology department at UCLA, studying with Jesus Guzman of Mariachi Los [...]