Bios

Artist

Artist John K. Lawson was born in Birmingham, England in 1962. He first came to America as part of a student exchange program in engineering at Louisiana State University. There his artistic abilities were encouraged and eventually Lawson was drawn back to the Deep South. He soon became a part of an underground art culture in New Orleans that included working in tattoo, T-shirt and mural designs long before these mediums became mainstream. Lawson also became well known for his unique drawing style and creations using discarded Mardi Gras beads. Since Hurricaine Katrina, Lawson divides his time between his studios in New York City and New Orleans.

Filmmaker/Photographer

Jonathan Vitagliano studied film and video production in Philadelphia at Drexel University. He has worked for Robert Deniros NYC-based production company "Tribeca productions," and as an additional cinematographer for "Gates of the Arctic," a documentary filmed throughout the Brooks range of Alaska. He currently he works as an editor for Superfad, a graphics and live action production studio in New York. Most recently he has worked on projects for UNICEF, MTV, and the BET award promotions featuring Usher.

Composer

Christopher Marianetti is a composer, producer and educator living in New York City. From producing electronic house music in Milan to the creation of a sound/art installation for eight cars and dancers at the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art, Marianetti’s music continues to cross genres. In 2006 his chamber work, “Third Tongue” (based on the Emmy award winning poetry of Adriel Luis) premiered at the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art (MASS MoCA). His piece for piano and percussion “The Dream Diaries of Oliver Leslie” was a 2008 ASCAP Foundation/Morton Gould Young Composer Award finalist. Marianetti’s latest work, a solo piece for piano and mouth-percussion premiered in May 2008 at Merkin Concert Hall. He was also a participant in the 2008 NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in Memory of Buddy Baker. Marianetti studied composition and electronic music at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan and received his Master’s in Music Composition from Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.

Musicians

Craig Woodward: Wine Glasses, Metal Bowls, Percussion
Composer and percussionist Craig Woodward’s recent performances include the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall staged premiere of Hamlet, a multi-genre show at Galapagos Art Space (Brooklyn), and the premiere of his sextet Guggenheim (Ziggurat) by the Rutgers Helix Ensemble. An active performer, organizer, producer and grant writer for new music concerts, Craig is the Artistic Director of ArtsXMusic and a founding member of Fraseggio. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University, where he studies with Gerald Chenoweth and Charles Fussell.

Joe Bergen: Vibraphone, Percussion
Specializing in contemporary music, Bergen is a founding member of several ensembles including Kyklos, Mantra Percussion Quartet, and Transit, and has performed with the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, the S.E.M Ensemble, and newband, among others. Mr. Bergen has had the opportunity to work regularly with many composers  in New York and abroad, appearing in numerous new music concerts and festivals at venues such as the Kimmel Center, the Stone, the Japan Society, and Tenri Cultural Institute, to name a few. He has studied percussion with John Ferrari, Tom Kolor, Mike Werner, and Gordon Gottlieb and was a fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Institute in 2006.  Mr. Bergen can be heard on Shch’k LLC and Atma Classique Labels.

Sam Ryder: Soprano Saxophone, Wine Glasses
As a creative force, tenor saxophonist Samuel Ryder is always looking for ways to adapt himself and his talent to various styles of music. Ryder was a featured artist with the Hudson Valley Youth Jazz Orchestra and was also a member of the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band Classic where he performed alongside Jimmy Heath and Slide Hampton at Carnegie Hall. He has also had the opportunity to perform with such renowned jazz artists as Joe Lovano, Cecil McBee, Rufus Reid, and Billy Hart. In May 2007 Ryder graduated from Manhattan School of Music (MSM) and was awarded the William H. Borden Award for outstanding accomplishment in Jazz. He is currently working on a Master’s Degree at MSM and studies with David Liebman and Steve Wilson.

Chris Marianetti: Wine Glasses, Percussion
See bio above.