Meet the Artists
Artists
- Merrill Collins
- Yvon Chausseblanche
- Pope Flyne
- Charles Moselle
- Joseph Hebert
- Mary Sano
- Chris Ray Collins
r, keyboardist, producer Merrill Collins began writing and performing music in early childhood, with the encouragement of a familiy of artists, musicians and inventors. She earned her Master's Degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on a full scholarship. Merrill's career has expanded from concert performances to multimedia pieces and humanitarian projects.
Through her music, Merrill's heartfelt voice for global harmony and humanist evolution has touched many thousands of listeners around the world. She has produced performances of original music for many major events and broadcasts, including the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations (1995) (Toward a Global Ethic), Airlift to Africa (1986), In Concert Against Aids (1989), Human Rights Day (1987) (Human Rights for All Creation, the predecessor to Every Man, Woman, and Child), World Habitat Day (1988); and anniversary concerts for Amnesty International and The United Way. Other major performances include "Licht ins Dunkel" (1991, Austria), "Terra Vitae" (1992, Berkeley), and "The Web" (1996, Berkeley). She has written, produced and recorded Public Service Announcements based on the Global Ethic. Global Ethic ceremonial music on the same themes are available for worldwide multimedia events and performances, which was performed at the World Religions conference in Capetown, South Africa in December, 1999.
Although Merrill's inspiring compositions serve far-reaching international purposes, she is happy to provide music for private events around the San Francisco Bay Area. As senior musician in the Center for Theatre Arts at the University of California, Berkeley, she is vitally involved with musical celebrations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Send e-mail.
"An artist who is responsive to her world." -- Today's Artists
"By all accounts moving and inspiring. . . ."
-- United Nations Center for Human Rights.
Yvon Chausseblanche
Photographer/Videographer/Events documentationYvon Chausseblanche photographed all the instruments in We Declare!, as well as the gorgeous roses on the Blossoms album. He provides media support services for Spiraling Music Artists products and website.
Yvon is married to Merrill Collins.
Pope Flyne
African Drummer
Pope Flyne teaches a type of African dance to schoolchildren of all ages, 1-12, called "Kuntum" (pronounced Kundum). Kuntum is a traditional combination of songs, drumming, and dance of the Nzimah Tribe of the Republic of Ghana. Once a year, they celebrate the Kuntum festival, which is a time for healing, repairing broken promises, friendships and marriages, and rejuvenating the strength of the people.
Pope has toured the U.S. and Canada as a drummer, and has recorded several cross-over CDs. He has produced albums of his unique drumming and song, which are distributed through Digital Synergy Enterprises. Pope now resides in Oakland, teaches drumming, and performs around the Bay Area.
Mary Sano
Mary Sano, director of the Mary Sano Studio of Duncan Dancing, is a protegé of Mignon Garland, founder of the Isadora Duncan Heritage Society (IDHS) in San Francisco. A native of Japan, Sano began to study dance with Garland in San Francisco in 1979, and established the Japanese branch of the IDHS in 1983. In the Bay Area, Sano received her MA in Dance from Mills College in 1991.
Continuing her authentic Duncan style dancing, she choreographed and danced in new collaborative works such as KaChoFuGetsu, Toward a Global Ethic, and Rainbow Wish. She has been performing in the Bay Area as well as abroad over a decade. Her performances include a televised dance on NHK, a nationwide broadcast in Japan, and an invited work at the Duncan house inaugural ceremony in Athens, Greece.
The Mary Sano Studio of Duncan Dancing is dedicated to preserving the art of Isadora Duncan, and exploring the contemporary relevance of Duncan's art. Sano teaches, performs internationally, and produces The Dionysian Festival, an annual dance and music event which celebrates Duncan's birthday (May) and A Terpsichorean Celebration (November).
Phone/Fax: 415-357-1817 Top
Joseph Hébert
Cellist, Vocalist, Composer, Conductor, Teacher
Joseph Hébert is a versatile artist, at home in musical genres from opera to jazz. An active performer, he is frequently heard in solo and ensemble concerts in the Bay Area and beyond, including recent tours to Japan, Europe, and Hawaii. At age 24, he was the winner of the highly competitive Minority Orchestral Fellowship Competition for the Oakland East Bay Symphony orchestra, of which he is still currently a member.
As a representative of American musicians, Mr. Hébert performed at the welcoming reception on the first visit of Mikhail Gorbachev to America. He has shared the concert stage and recording studio with renowned artists from the classical and popular music worlds. Artists with whom Joseph has performed with include: Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Natalie Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Linda Ronstadt, Barry White, Harry Connick Jr., Jesse Norman, Marilyn Horne and many others. As a member of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, Mr. Hébert's soundtrack credits include: Star Wars, Back To The Future, Predator 2, Soapdish, Jennifer 8, and Cop and A Half. His orchestra affiliations include: Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Ballet Orchestra, San Francisco Pocket Opera and California Symphony. As quoted by the Oakland Tribune, "he is one of the most eloquently expressive cellists in the area".
His talents as a composer and jazz musician have given rise to many imaginative programs and exciting collaborations including theater and dance. He is currently a touring artist with the Ira Stein Group chamber jazz trio, with recordings on Windham Hill and Narada Records. Joseph lectures and performs for young audiences in local schools, having performed for over 11,000 children in over 50 schools this year alone. Mr. Hébert is also the choir director of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton, directing the adult and children's choirs; last year they recorded and released a CD, "Share The Gift" under his direction, which has already sold more than 2500 copies.
For the past twelve years, Mr. Hébert has been on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley where he teaches cello, conducts the String Ensemble, and the advanced Vocal Ensemble in the Young Musicians Program. It is a program that provides scholarships for disadvantaged Junior and High School students who are highly gifted in music. Joseph Hébert has released his own album entitled "JOBÉRT" on which he wonderfully expresses the various styles of his unique talent for the cello. Joseph studied music at Stanford University, California State University at Hayward, and the University of California at Berkeley. Top
Chris Ray Collins
Drummer/Vocalist/Producer/World Traveler/ExpressionistChris Ray Collins began performing world music at the age of 5, as part of the Social Awareness via the Arts program at the YMCA. AT the age of 7, he played a leading role in "Everybody's Everybody," a musical written by the children to raise money for children affected by the famine in Ethiopia.
As a young adult, he co-produced We Are Interdependent - ethno-trance dance for the Council for the Parliament of World Religions conference in December, 1999 in Cape Town Africa, where the Artists Toward a Global Ethic presented Gifts of Service to the World. He played a key role in the development of Human Rights for All Creation (the first incarnation of Every Man, Woman, and Child), and Artists Toward a Global Ethic. He is the vocalistand drummer on many of the We the Peoples PSAs, and other Spiraling Music CDs.
Now residing in Bay Area, Chris Ray is practicing accupressure. His goals for the future include producing more tracks of world music, and dancing his way around the globe again.
