TIM MESSINA, Music Director and woodwinds, studied at the Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. He also studied privately with clarinet virtuoso Eddie Daniels and saxophonist George Coleman. In addition, he had the good fortune to work with Dizzy Gillespie. Tim has recorded with Tony Bennett, Prince, U2 and Bob Dylan, various film soundtracks and has played in the pit orchestras for numerous shows on Broadway including Cabaret, Grease, Guys and Dolls, Dream Girls and Sophisticated Ladies. Tim currently tours with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and many other artists.

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JOE ROTONDI, pianist, began studying piano with his father, Joe Rotondi, Sr., at age five. A Grammy Award winner, he has toured internationally and with many Latin jazz greats: Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Poncho Sanchez, Paquito D’Rivera, Alex Acuna, Nestor Torres and with renowned Salsa artists Celia Cruz, Israel “Cachao” Lopez and Giovanni Hidalgo. Joe was the regular pianist on the Paul Rodriguez TV show. He has performed with Doc Severinsen and with pop acts, Jose Feliciano, Vikki Carr, and Ricky Martin. His recording credits include CD’s with Herb Alpert, master congero Francisco Aguabella, Tolu, KLON Latin Jazz All stars, Latin jazz violinist Susie Hansen and Pete Escovedo. Joe recorded two albums with the famous Mexican composer, Armando Manzanero, is featured on Linda Ronstadt’s Grammy Award winning album, Frenesi, and can be heard on the soundtracks of Dirty Dancing and Mambo Kings.

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JARDINE WILSON, plays acoustic bass, electric bass and chapman stick. He has studied extensively with highly regarded instructors Bill Rene, Roberto Miranda and Paul Edwards of the group Kittyhawk. Jardine has performed and recorded with Thelma Houston, The Fifth Dimension, Johnnie Otis and Coke Escaveto. Currently he plays with various artists in local jazz clubs in the L.A. area and works as a sound engineer.

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CHRIS BLONDAL, drummer, was born in Calgary Alberta Canada. His training began at age seven in Vancouver where he was exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. He studied with the principal percussionist for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and performed with several junior orchestras, and small percussion ensembles. Chris has extensive tour experience in cruise ship entertainment, performing with jazz and show bands. In Los Angeles he studied with Joe Porcaro, Alex Acuna, David Garabaldi, Richard Wilson and Carlos Vega and has performed with jazz artists David Gafield, Mark Isham and Phill Upchurch. Chris has recorded on film scores and sound tracks including: Fight Club, Nurse Betty, and The Slums of Beverly Hills and maintains a career as a performer and educator.

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BOB FERNANDEZ, is a world percussion musician who has performed and recorded music from his Cuban heritage and music from the 20th century western classical repertoire since the early 1970’s. He has received degrees from CalArts, USC and has studied Latin and Afro-Cuban music with master Pedro Orta and Francisco Aguabella in the United States and traditional and contemporary styles of Cuban percussion in Havana with Maestros Changuito, Angel Bolanos and Julio Guerra. Bob composes, performs and records in various groups in California, is presently on the faculty at California State University, L.A. and has authored a book The Afro-Cuban Tradition: Folk Musics of Cuba. He has worked with John Cage, John Adams, Frank Zappa and did a three-year world tour with Barry Manilow. His grants and awards include: American Composers Forum/Artist Residencies, Composer’s Suitcase Pilot Series, National Endowment for the Arts Consortium Commission and a California Arts Council touring grant.

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MONTI ELLISON, is an accomplished percussionist/drummer, composer and performer. He has performed worldwide as a soloist with Harry Belafonte, Stephanie Mills, Lonnie Liston Smith, Little Steven and others. As a dance musician he spent 15 years at the Alvin Ailey School in New York where he was head staff musician and currently he is an accompanist and faculty member at CSU, Long Beach, Loyola Marymount, Orange Coast College and St. Joseph Ballet. He has composed numerous scores including Judith Jamison’s Divining for the Ailey company, percussion score for the New York based Urban Arts Corps’ production of Alice in Wonderland directed by Vinette Carroll and choreographed by Talley Beatty; J5A6Z7Z8 for jazz choreographer Jose Meier; Riptide, FOIL/Copper, Zinc, Brass, Dat’s Right, Espiritu, Stroke of the Oarsmen and Deciduous Dances for Rhapsody In Taps plus many compositions for the Monti Ellison Percussion Ensemble. Monti also teaches African dance and drumming.

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ARTHUR DUNCAN*, is a tap dancer, vocalist and actor who has performed throughout the world. He was a featured personality in the movie, "Tap," starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. and toured in the Broadway show "My One and Only" with Tommy Tune. Arthur joined Bob Hope on several tours, performed both at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His television credits include guest appearances in "Diagnosis of a Murder" with Dick Van Dyke, "Columbo" with Peter Faulk, and was a regular on the weekly "Lawrence Welk Show," to name just a few. Arthur is a dedicated mentor and shares his experiences through lecture demonstrations and master tap classes.

*Arthur Duncan is available on a limited basis for guest appearances with Rhapsody In Taps.

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FRED STRICKLER, has been dancing professionally since 1961, including concert tours in seventeen countries as well as four film/video documentaries aired on PBS, NBC, Bravo and Britain's Channel 4 Television. A founding member of the Jazz Tap Ensemble, Eyes Wide Open Dance Theatre and his own group, Fred Strickler & Friends, Fred has also been a featured dancer with Rhapsody in Taps (1992-2003) and the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company. Since 1983 he has performed his very own version of the Tap Dance Concerto with many orchestras, including a concert with the National Symphony in front of the U.S. Capitol for an audience of 70,000. An active choreographer, Strickler has created original works for tap, modern and ballet companies and has received numerous fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. As a touring artist/educator, he has conducted hundreds of workshops and master classes throughout the U.S. and abroad. He was a Distinguished Professor of Dance at U.C. Riverside, where he taught for more than 40 years.
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STEVE ZEE, has danced with many noted tap dancers including Gregory Hines and the Nicholas Brothers. He has been a member of Rhapsody In Taps, a featured soloist in the Jazz Tap Ensemble, an artist in residence at the Chicago Human Rhythm Project and has performed and taught across the United States, Canada, Brazil and Germany. Steve edited the Oral History/Biography of tap master Stan Kahn, which is on file at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum and he has made three instructional tap videos. As a theater artist, Steve trained at UCLA, the Sorbonne/Universite de Paris III and with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. He is currently on faculty at Cal State Long Beach, the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and is the Artistic Director of LA Ironworks, a new nonprofit arts organization for young aspiring tap dancers.

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LEO CHELYAPOV, composer and clarinetist, graduated from the Moscow College of Musical Arts and immigrated to California in 1992. As a klezmer musician he is devoted to infusing pure, traditional Jewish folk music into the fabric of American pop culture. Leo was commissioned to arrange "Klezmer Dances" for the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, which they recorded with him in 1998. He has recorded two CD's with Hollywood Klezmer and was interviewed for Yale Strom's published book on klezmer music. Leo's crossover endeavors into jazz music include concerts with jazz luminaries Buddy Collette, Abe Most, Herb Jeffries and Bobby Rodriguez as well as performances at the 2002 Playboy Jazz Festival with his Hollywood Klezmer Jazz Quintet. In 2004, he performed the world premier of David Stern's Clarinet Concerto with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Leo's commercial work includes performances on the film soundtrack for "Private Parts," with rock bands The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Porno for Pyros, and performances on MTV, Late Night with David Letterman, and at Madison Square Garden.
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