Acclaimed singer and songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound, as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound.

Adrian Dunn is an a critically acclaimed singer, composer, and conductor. His most recent composition, Emancipation a PBS Special was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards in 2023 featuring The Adrian Dunn Singers & Dunn’s Rize Orchestra.

Founded in 2016 by award-winning artist Jeremy McQueen, The Black Iris Project (BIP) is an Emmy® award-winning ballet collaborative and education vehicle which creates new, relevant classical & contemporary ballet works that celebrate diversity and Black history. . www.blackirisproject.org

An award-winning actor, singer, and writer, Daniel Koa Beaty’s critically acclaimed plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, Breath & Imagination, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest - Paul Robeson, have been performed at venues ranging from the Public Theater and Lincoln Center to the White House and maximum-security prisons.

As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien LeChateau Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, Denyce Graves, Lawrence Brownlee, and many others.

Helen H. Cha-Pyo is currently in her sixth season as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. Under her leadership, Wharton Arts has flourished into an organization serving nearly 2,000 students from 13 New Jersey counties.

The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, Inc. was founded by Bettye Franks Forbes in 1979 for participation in the re-opening celebration of the renovated James Memorial Chapel at Union Theological Seminary of New York City. Ebony has become an intergenerational ensemble passing their love of music and the message of the African American Religious Experience for 40 years, throughout the Tri-State area, the country, and abroad.

Founded in 1979, the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) is a tiered orchestra program that offers ensemble education for students in grades 3–12 across New Jersey. NJYS has grown from one orchestra of 65 students to more than 500 students in 15 different orchestras and ensembles, including the internationally recognized Youth Symphony. NJYS ensembles have performed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Joseph Joubert’s talents as a pianist, arranger, orchestrator, Broadway conductor, and music director have taken him around the world. Mr. Joubert was music supervisor and orchestrator for Classic Stage Company’s Carmen Jones starring Anika Noni Rose. His Broadway orchestration credits include The Color Purple 06-19 Juneteenth 2023 (ISA).indd 34 6/9/23 11:05 AM (Drama Desk nomination), Disaster!, Violet (Drama Desk nomination), Leap of Faith, and Caroline, or Change.