Aaron Jonah Lewis is a multi-instrumentalist with experience teaching all ages and skill levels. He is well versed in many styles, especially traditional American music: bluegrass, old time, ragtime, country, blues, jazz, etc.
br>One of his students wrote, "I enjoy his style and temperament. He's patient, knowledgeable and prepared with numerous skill building and developmental activities... He's a well-rounded folk musician who can help people at various stages of learning to play instruments."

He also has experience teaching group classes and workshops as well as more specialized lessons for advanced students. He has taught classes and workshops at schools and festivals in the US and UK, including the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the English Folk Dance and Song Society in London.

He has won many awards including First Place Neotraditional Band in 2008 and 2015 at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival in West Viriginia, First Place Bluegrass Fiddle in 2007 at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention in Virginia (the oldest fiddlers convention in the country), and First Place Fiddle at the Wilson County Fair in Tennessee (biggest fair in the state) in 2015.

He has also performed at major festivals from the US to the UK and from Italy to Finland and he has appeared on dozens of recordings from bluegrass and old time to swing jazz, modern experimental and Turkish classical music projects. He also plays and teaches banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass and is currently based in Detroit.

Renaissance and Colonial music multi-instrumentalists, Anne and Rob Burns, make early music fun.

Annie Chapman Brewer is a hornist, instructor, and entrepreneur based in mid-Michigan. She owns and operates a home studio where she teaches private lessons on horn, brass, ukulele, and music theory, while also holding culinary classes and operating a side photography business. Before she moved back to Michigan from Iowa, she was a guest clinician for the horn studios at University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa, sharing her knowledge on natural and modern horn performance practices. She also performed throughout the eastern region of Iowa through the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo-Cedar Fall Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Iowa. Currently she performs in mid-Michigan orchestras, churches, and chamber ensembles, including the Marquette Symphony Orchestra in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she studied with Rick Seraphinoff, and received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University under the tutelage of Dr. Bruce Bonnell. In her free time, you can find Annie adventuring on new trails with her husband Rick, and enjoying a cup of Oolong tea.

Ara Topouzian is an Armenian American musician whose proficiency on the kanun has made him a nationally recognized artist. The kanun is a traditional Middle Eastern lap harp with more than 76 strings. Topouzian is an artist and producer dedicated to recording and preserving world music. He has performed in concerts, music festivals and many celebrated venues across the United States with top musicians in the Middle Eastern music industry.

In Akan languages of West Africa, the word Biakuye means unity. While rooted in the African traditions from which the group takes its name, Biakuye directly combines these traditions in innovative ways with American musical concepts. The group’s American members, Mark Stone and Roger Braun, trained in contemporary percussion through U.S. universities and have extensively studied the music of West and East Africa, the Caribbean, and Brazil.

What makes a Blackthorn show unique is the variety of tunes, tempos and textures. Each member of the band plays multiple instruments, including wooden flute, accordion, tin whistle, five string banjo, cittern, bones and more. These instruments complement the lead vocal of Belfast native Richard McMullan and the band’s tight blend of four part harmony.

The Blue Water Ramblers sing extraordinary folk music- the folk song of Michigan, America and YOUR life. We perform wherever people want to celebrate: Folk festivals and concerts, paddle wheelers and lake ships, in cities and out in the woods, on stages and around campfires, at church gatherings and traditional dances.

The BBBC will provide low brass and percussion master classes to schools within a 90 mile radius of Battle Creek, Michigan. Individuals or small groups of musicians are available to teach master classes at the high school level. Master classes must take place during the school day on a Thursday or Friday prior to a regularly scheduled BBBC concert series. Master classes should conclude before 1 p.m. to allow BBBC musicians time to travel back to Battle Creek, Michigan for their scheduled rehearsal time.

Each of the four members of the Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet is impressive, award-winning musicians on their own, and is show-stopping as an ensemble. The four guitarists include West Michigan residents Andrew Bergeron, David Martin, Brian Morris and Michael Stockdale. For the past five years, The Grand Rapids Guitar Quartet has received an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences at sold-out performances at colleges, universities, art centers, chamber music series and community concert series. The Quartet presents programs including a variety of transcriptions and masterworks, Latin music and original compositions, along with entertaining, informative and often humorous explanations about the music.

Folksinger and author Carl Behrend brings to life true stories and legends from a wealth of Great Lakes history for the enjoyment of contemporary audiences. His ballads tell the tales of ships and sailors lost, true loves found and the great lighthouse beacons that guard the rocky coast.

Dunuya Drum and Dance is a global drumming collective presenting music and dance from Africa and the Diaspora. The group moves easily from traditional West African choreography and rhythms through Middle Eastern medleys, Garifuna songs and social dances, Brazilian samba and Caribbean music styles, including bembe, rumba, Puerto Rican bomba and more. Following the heritage of these traditions, programs include extensive use of call-and-response and audience participation, making the five-member Dunuya Drum and Dance a performance that is appealing to broad demographics.

For the 20 years, Chamber Music Society ensembles have visited classrooms in schools all across Southeast Michigan: from Central Detroit to the suburbs, from Pontiac to Downriver communities. Now reaching as many as 20,000 children each year, the Chamber Music Society of Detroit has become Metro Detroit's single largest provider of in-school classical music performances, taking great professional music-making to places where students actually live and learn.

Copper Tom is a full time children's music songwriter, performer & storyteller who specializes in shows for schools & libraries.

In addition to prewsenting his music- much of it original compositions from his award-winning CDs or new material, he also tells wonderful stories in a way that can be readily understood by listeners of all ages. His current featured story is called "The Sea of Gold". It is a Japanese folk tale of human kindness & understanding triumphing over fear & closed-mindedness. It has been aclaomed for being spell-binding, surprising and inspirational!

Dan has been a featured instructor at many institutions, festivals, music events and conferences. Through his forty plus years of experience in the music industry, he has put together a carefully constructed program of instruction that is useful for songwriters of all levels of experience from the absolute beginner to the very experienced writer. Workshops and courses can be custom designed to fit into particular schedules and events. Dan has presented workshops that range from a one hour seminar to a complete two week course. Both fun and challenging, these workshops are highly interactive and involve a large degree of participation by those attending.

Construct a DoodleBass! Build a Cigar Box Banjo! Make a Kazoo, or How about a Janglestick? The Pickles will show you how to build and play these zany, multicolored music-makers. Start your own homemade band and lead the parade.

These workshops have been a hit at festivals, parades, pediatric hospitals and community centers around North America, bringing the joy of music to thousands of children and adults.

DCWS is committed to offering quality activities in schools, from pre-K through college. The institution has developed an array of programs that span the educational spectrum.

In addition to its curriculum-based elementary-school programming, DCWS provides coachings, master classes, open rehearsals, and informal performances for middle and high school students. The organization has ongoing partnerships with schools in Troy, Birmingham, Dearborn, and Pontiac. Other schools that have benefited from educational services include University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Berkley, and Detroit Country Day

Contact Anne Ruffley, Grants and Outreach Manager, at 248-559-2095 or
[email protected].

Double Play flute and tuba has been active as a performing/touring ensemble since 1989. Although based in Farmington Hills, MI; this husband and wife team travels the country extensively each year, entertaining and educating audiences of all ages in a variety of venues from concert halls to classrooms. Performances include the music of “Bach to Broadway,“ accompanied by a variety of humorous and historical anecdotes.

Equinox has traversed the state to share their American-seasoned Celtic music and song with the people of Michigan. Adding bagpipes, hand drums, bass and guitar to traditional Irish whistles, flute, fiddle and concertina, Equinox ignites the stage with all of the passion and joy Celtic music can inspire. With their crisp vocals and diverse instrumentation, this ensemble has been featured in such venues as fundraising cruises for public radio, a Farmington Hills church concert, a Thumb eco-fair, a farm wedding, an outdoor library performance and many music and folk festivals. Also offers workshops.

The beats and melodies of the Civil War era continue into the 21st century with the 5th Michigan Regiment Band, the official State of Michigan Sesquicentennial Civil War Band. The talented ensemble brings history alive through the historical recreation of the Civil War.

Violinist.