Nabin and Bijay Shrestha
Jesse Manno
Strings and vocals
Composer and multi–instrumentalist Jesse Manno was born into a performing arts family in New York City in 1966 and grew up in New York and Colorado. He received his first commission in 1982 and has since created over eighty original scores for dance, theatre, film and multimedia productions, including twenty evening–length pieces. His work has been supported by Meet The Composer, Inc. (a division of the NEA), KRMA Denver PBS TV, The National Guild of Organists, Montgomery Watson Inc., Bates Dance Festival, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, among others, and has been presented all across the USA, as well as in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.
Jesse received a B.A. in Asian Studies from The University of Colorado at Boulder, where he has been music director of the C.U. Dance Department since 1991. In 2002 he became a part–time instructor, teaching one music course per semester. He loves working with many instruments and genres of music, and often incorporates interesting sound environments he has recorded during his travels into his work. He also composes and performs with The Buzz Band (new music on ancient instruments with a characteristic buzzing sound), and more often with Şherefé Balkan/Middle Eastern Ensemble, performing regularly in Colorado, California, and New Mexico.
Recent projects include a stint at BAM in New York with David Dorfman Dance and composer Sam Crawford, a percussive score created on a tower of used car parts for choreographer Gabriel Masson at the Bates Dance Festival, a contemporary ballet soundtrack based on five of Colorado's native birds with Ballet Nouveau Colorado, two works for David Taylor Dance Tours: the "Underwater" and the Persian Atash with local Iranian Musicians.
Several Cds and digital albums of his work are available: Sea Spirits, Music from Theater of the Vampires, Lazer Vaudeville, Rainforest, and others.
Dr. Tahra Eissa
Qanun, microtonal lap harp
Tahra Eissa is a Denver-based musician originally from the Chicagoland area. Born to an Egyptian-Armenian household, she was surrounded by music of the Middle East but was originally taught in the Western music tradition on piano, flute and voice. Tahra discovered the joys of performing Middle Eastern music during her undergraduate studies when she took up qanun- the Middle Eastern lap harp. She has since participated in numerous classical ensembles including the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble and University of Chicago Middle Eastern Music Ensemble as well as a diverse set of takhts ranging from Balkan and Persian music to bluegrass, rock, and gypsy jazz. She has worked under the direction of artists such as Simon Shaheen, AJ Racy, Wanees Zarour, Issa Boulos, Jim Stoynoff, and Ronnie Malley. Currently, she is also involved in the Naghma Fusion Project and North African Al.
Her breathtaking composition, Longing, debuted at Tarab Retreat 2020..
Meg York
Auroroa Global Fest with Zuruna
Mercury Cafe Klezmer party with Hadgaba.
Meg York frame drum
Film score recording for Wadi Rum with El Yesfi Samir
Mizel Museum Denver Klez Fest with Hadgaba
