I Want You To Meet

Mary Boissel Corcoran is an educator and more! She grew up in Ireland in a liberal family and her college education in Dublin led to a BA in Psychology /English and a BA in French Language, completing her academic goals with a with a Masters in Pastoral Care. Throughout her educational and professional career, Mary received diplomas in Community Development, Marketing, and Setting up Businesses. Mary’s international life led her to live and work in many places, including Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Russia and Croatia. She returned to Ireland in 1996 and worked as a French/Latin teacher for almost 20 years teaching bright 13 year old boys.

Mary has also worked as a chambermaid, bar maid, apple tree pruner, cashier, English language teacher, in Sales, marketing , as a sales manager and as head of PR for a 5 star Intercontinental hotel in Gabon. Mary’s incredible accomplishments continue with work as an Account executive for L’Union newspaper in Gabon and a volunteer at a children’s hospital in Zagreb as well as President of International Women’s Association in Zagreb. Mary has loved all of her many jobs and careers, and everywhere she worked she was an inspiration, a teacher, and a learner. Mary is a mother of 3 and in post-retirement has founded “Getting There” in 2016, an organization which assists retirees look for part time, temporary jobs., a gratifying service that she is passionate about.

Mary is a powerful character featured in “The Last Sandstorm: A Memoir” by Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson. In this podcast episode, discuss the book, the relationship between student and teacher, and the challenges of teaching and learning in the midst of cultural differences.

Hailing from Norway, Kent Olaf is one of the top Michael Jackson impersonators around today. He became a fan of Michael Jackson in 1987, practicing the dance moves and mastering the art since 1994. Studying and observing the choreography of the King of Pop, Kent Olaf transformed himself into a top level dancer. In 2005 fans of Michael Jackson got a first glimpse of Kent Olaf when he performed at the 2005 European Jackson Event. Soon after, he became known in the fan community for his perfected dancing skills.

Kent Olaf has performed on national TV, toured Norway with big production tribute shows, and thrilled thousands of people with his MJ tribute show.
Kent Olaf continues to perform as MJ and teaches children the art and magic of the legendary Michael Jackson dances.

Chenoa Murphy was born and raised in Memphis, TN. At the age of two, Chenoa attended her first classical music concert given by the Japanese violin students of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. This sparked her interest in music and she was enrolled in the Suzuki Violin Method a year later.

Demonstrating her love and enthusiasm for music, Chenoa continued to develop her natural ability and trained gift in violin and vocal studies throughout her childhood and teenage years. She attended the Overton High School of Performing Arts, summer music camps such as Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Sewanee Music Center, and the Governor’s School of Performing Arts and the Colour of Music Festival. She has achieved both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as well as 4 years of Doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. Her principal teachers during these earlier and formal years of study were Yuko Honda, Pak-Chung Cheng, Katherine Wolfe, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay, and Dr. Won-Bin Yim.

Besides being a former violin and viola private teacher, Chenoa is also a highly sought-after educator, guest lecturer and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator for various music organizations and college campuses. Her online courses: Introduction to Black Classical Composers and Musicians and Black Classical Musicians: The Journey Onward highlight the contributions and achievements of classical music composers of African descent. Her article “Black Representation in Classical Music Matters” was featured in the Summer 2020 edition of the American Suzuki Journal.

Currently, Chenoa Murphy resides in Springfield, IL where she is a member of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and is a mother of two beautiful children, Victoria, and Jonathan. Chenoa is married to the love of her life, Victor who resides in Glasgow, Scotland. Chenoa has been interviewed by CNN, NPR Illinois, and Huffington Post. Her podcast, “Black, White & In Color,” can be heard on all platforms.

Yasser Al-Ghaslan is a Saudi journalist, and media personality. A graduate of King Saud University, in Riyadh with a major in journalism and media. In 1990, Yasser began his journalistic career as a press correspondent with the RAI (the national public broadcasting company of Italy) covering the second Gulf War. Early in his career, he joined several of the most prominent Saudi and Arab newspapers, including Riyadh Newspaper, where he worked as a reporter in the local news department with many contributions in the departments of culture and social investigations. He later joined the editorial staff of the newspaper’s economic section as one of its first journalists. He also worked in Okaz newspaper as a reporter in local affairs in the Riyadh office before transferring  to work in “Al-Hayat” newspaper as an economic journalist in the newspaper’s regional office in Riyadh.

In 2006, he was appointed managing editor of the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat and director of its offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He interviewed the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, and Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Since 2011, he has become a weekly opinion writer in a number of Saudi newspapers such as Al-Bilad, Al-Iqtisadiah and Al-Watan, in which he has been writing since 2013, in addition to his participation as a writer in a number of specialized news sites such as CNN in Arabic. His articles appear on well-known websites Such as Al Arabiya Net and Elaf website and several other websites.

Yasser’s work includes time as a media advisor and member of several important committees and events, including the saudi Ministry of Labor and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, the Media Committee in the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, the advisory committee for the “Our Home is a Trust” campaign, the Committee for the Kingdom’s Participation in the Venice Biennale, and currently a member At the National American Press Club in Washington DC.

Yasser is a published author. His books include “Information.com": An Attempt to Reveal the True Color of the Red Line by Dar Al-Rayes in Lebanon, "Back to the Front" The Search for so called Saudi uniqueness by the Arab Science House publishers in Lebanon, and his most recent book, Pillars of the Triangle .. Saudi Arabia, America and the War on Terror published by Dar Difaf in Lebanon in 2018.

Founder and President of the Arab Center for American Studies based in Washington, DC, where he has lived for the past five years.

Monica Peabody grew up singing in family hootenanies and square dancing at granges in the sandhills of Nebraska. She plays and teaches clawhammer banjo and loves to travel, especially touring with her old time band, Yodelady. She works at the Olympia Food Co-op and loves collectives, food justice and community building. She's on the Board of Directors at POWER (Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights). She commutes mostly by bicycle.

A prolific composer, Hanneke writes music from personal experiences of love and loss as well as to commemorate the joys and sorrows in the lives of loved ones. Hanneke’s latest release, Trip to Walden Pond, features traditional Scottish and Cape Breton tunes and seventeen new pieces composed in the Scottish idiom. While her lively style is very much evident, this new album carries a deep, soulful sound with songs of celebration and farewell. Produced by Finnish musician Antti Järvelä (FRIGG, JPP, Baltic Crossing), the album showcases long-time musical collaborators cellist Mike Block, guitarists Keith Murphy and Christopher Lewis, fiddler/violist Jeremy Kittel, and pianist Dave Wiesler. Antti Järvelä contributes guitar and piano to a couple of tracks and piper Samppa Saarinen is featured on the uilleann pipes. Trip to Walden Pond, similar to Hanneke’s five previous albums, offers mellifluous arrangements of traditional fiddle music and original tunes that evoke humor and heart. This latest album also includes several compositions penned by Hanneke as commissions to benefit Many Hopes, a children’s education nonprofit based in Kenya that she avidly supports.

A native of Port Orford, Oregon, Hanneke started out as a Texas-style fiddler and went on to win the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, which awarded her the opportunity to study with Alasdair Fraser and introduced her to fiddle camps and the folk community -- both of which continue to play an integral role in her life. Hanneke teaches regularly at Fraser’s Valley of the Moon and Sierra Fiddle Camps, the Mike Block String Camp (run by her husband, acclaimed cellist Mike Block), Harald Haugaard’s International Fiddle School, and the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School. She has served as a guest instructor in the American Roots department at Berklee College of Music, where she received her Bachelor’s of Music in Violin Performance.

Hanneke is a sought-after performer who has graced stages across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. She has been featured at Celtic Connections (Glasgow, Scotland), KVMR Celtic Fest (Grass Valley, USA), Milwaukee Irish Fest (Milwaukee, USA), Celtic Colours (Cape Breton, Canada), WGBH Christmas Celtic Sojourn (Boston, USA) and the National Celtic Festival (Port Arlington, Australia). The Hanneke Cassel Band features Mike Block on cello and alternating guitarists Keith Murphy and Christopher Lewis.

Black History Month series

Black History Month series

Briar is a singer of vintage jazz, blues and original music. By blending a powerful voice with stories about the history and origins of her music, she shines a light on singers and tales that have been forgotten by the country that created them. Raised in the small community of Chimacum, Washington, Briar uses her music to help explore her unique background as a black woman from the rural Pacific Northwest.

Whether belting Bessie Smith numbers or crooning original songs about Sherlock Holmes, her performances are defined by her combination of grace and playfulness, elegance crossed with down-home bravado.

In addition to her regular engagements as a singer and ukulele player, Brair teaches music for Seattle JazzEd, is a leader of the Rhapsody Project,  and is currently pursuing a degree in environmental science from Olympic University.

Tune played: Keep It To Yourself (Briar, vocals - Joe Seamons, guitar - Sunpie, accordion) 

More info:

Maz Jobrani is a comedian, actor and host of his own podcast, BACK TO SCHOOL WITH MAZ JOBRANI on the All Things Comedy Network. His new standup comedy special PANDEMIC WARRIOR is now available for streaming on PeacockTV.

As an actor, he was most recently seen playing the loveable “Fawz” on the CBS comedy SUPERIOR DONUTS. He has made many appearances on television’s most popular shows including GREY’S ANATOMY, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BETTER OFF TED, LAST MAN STANDING, and SHAMELESS. He has also been a regular guest on THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT AND THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN. Maz starred as the title character in the award-winning indie comedy, JIMMY VESTVOOD: AMERIKAN HERO, a feature which he co-wrote and co-produced. He has co-starred in many additional films, including Sydney Pollack’s THE INTERPRETER, Disney’s DESCENDANTS and Ice Cube’s FRIDAY AFTER NEXT.
Maz’s other standup comedy specials include IMMIGRANT, which was filmed at the prestigious Kennedy Center and is a NETFLIX original, as well as 3 additional solo specials on SHOWTIME: BROWN AND FRIENDLY, I COME IN PEACE, and I’M NOT A TERRORIST, BUT I’VE PLAYED ONE ON TV.

In the Spring of 2016 he performed at the White House where he had the privilege of introducing Michelle Obama. As a UC Berkeley alum, Maz gave the keynote speech to the graduating class of 2017.

Maz served as the host for the 45th International Emmy’s in New York. He was a founding member of THE AXIS OF EVIL comedy tour, which aired on Comedy Central. He is a regular panelist on NPR’s WAIT WAIT DON'T TELL ME and has given 2 TED Talks. His LA Times Best Selling Book, I’M NOT A TERRORIST BUT I’VE PLAYED ONE ON TV, was published by Simon & Schuster. Maz executive produced EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE, a documentary about his sister’s battle with breast cancer which is currently available on iTunes.

Annie Barrett is a Bilingual Educator, Certified Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coach, Yoga Health Coach, Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher and Trainer.​

Samira is a Fresno native that lived in Texas for several when she later moved to the Bay Area with her two bi-racial sons .  She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Technical Management.  As a hyphenated American (Iranian-Muslim) woman, she is passionate about people and celebrating diversity.  She is an award winning Program Manager and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) champion.  She is also the co-founder of several DEI initiatives that focus on intersectionality and organizational accountability.

Ali is a Bay Area native having spent most of his time between Richmond and Oakland. Both his parents are from the south and moved to the Bay Area when they were young. Ali is a proud father and has 3 other siblings. He went to North Carolina A&T State University which is a historically Black university and majored in Finance. He has worked on both the east and west coasts and is a co-founder of several DEI initiatives that focus on intersectionality and organizational accountability.

MARÍA SAN MIGUEL

Beginning the violin at age three, Maria developed a passion for the instrument as well as a true vocation for music. She pursued her studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Valladolid and finished her music studies in University at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León. Her interest in trying to complete her music education brought her in touch with other music styles, eventually collaborating with the Edu Soto Plan Renove Band, Mariachi Guerrilla and more. Her new-found fascination for other culture´s music and its origins guided her to Scottish folk music which woke up her curiosity for the Castillian folk music being played in her own culture. Simultaneously her passion for teaching and pedagogy specialized in infants, learning from the musician and pedagog Paulo Lameiro, let her put together part of what is becoming a world-wide trend: Music Workshops for Infants. She has conducted these workshops to great success in both Spain and Germany. Currently, she continues her classical and folk music studies, taking classes from Alasdair Fraser, Natalie Haas, Diego Galaz, Begoña Riobó, Casey Driessen and belongs to the acclaimed European folk bands, “Atalantic Folk Trio”, “Brigantia” and “Dahvar”.

GALEN FRASER

Galen Fraser is an accomplished fiddle player, composer, engineer and producer from the foothills of Northern California. Best known for his modern take on celtic traditional music, he tours with the praised Spain-baised Atlantic Folk Trio and the original duo María San Miguel & Galen Fraser.

Galen has performed at The Mandavi Centre, The Palace of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall in Boston, Ma, with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and many other esteemed venues in the United States and Europe.

Season 2 Finale with Comedy stage and impersonations icon Dean Edwards.

Dean has been in the business for a minute, from Saturday Night Live to Spiderman 3, his versatility is unmatched. If you don’t like laughing, stay away from Dean, not just on stage, but his personality will light up a room.

The concept of organizational justice is based on the idea of fairness. How an environment that is built on healthy balance, equity and justice can affect employees, and how the lack of such environment can equally and negatively impact the well being and performance of employees.

Today I want to focus on one particular organization that is doing just that.
TOGETHER! is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that serves youth and families in the South Sound with a mission to advance the health and well-being of all young people. They offer direct service youth programs, mobilize communities through coalitions, advocate for healthier laws, norms and systems and promote health through community and individual education.

My guest is Kahlo Flores, the director of the Clubhouse Dual Language - before and after school program branch of together, and her insights as to how implementing the fundamentals of organizational justice have in a short time transformed the two schools that she oversees.
Kahlo was born in a small town in Mexico. Her family moved to Wenatchee Washington where she grew up and played varsity soccer for the Wenatchee Panthers, as well as, playing trumpet for the High school's popular mariachi group known as Mariachi Huenachi. She moved to Western Washington and worked for the Senate and the Commission on Hispanic Affairs located at the state capitol. Kahlo obtained her bachelor's degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia and is now currently enrolled in Evergreen's master's in public administration program. Kahlo has focused on educational equity, social justice, community outreach, and Latinx issues. She joined TOGETHER! a Thurston county non-profit in 2016 starting as a volunteer through Evergreen and is now the Cohort 16 Club House and Dual Language Director. Through TOGETHER! she directs two after-school programs for the North Thurston School District serving 120 students daily grades 1st-5th.

Aparna has been a student and practitioner of Ayurveda on various levels for almost 20 years. Trained as an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor through the American Institute of Vedic Studies, she is also a student of New World Ayurveda as a Consciousness Mentor. Aparna has studied Ayurvedic Cosmetology with Vyoma Ayurveda in India. She is a mother to two beautiful children, an Ayurvedic postpartum doula and author.

From Aparna’s website: A former chef of the Chopra Center for Well-Being, in San Diego, I have been a Vedic Chef for nearly 20 years and have author of three cookbooks. I have been a postpartum doula in the Ayurvedic tradition for over 15 years and have served mothers in Ann Arbor, Mi, as well as Encinitas and Santa Barbara, Ca. I am the creator of Pure Ishvari, an Ayurvedic skincare line that uses only pure organic Ayurvedic herbs in products while using ancient Ayurvedic preparation techniques. I am certified Heart-Based Meditation instructor and Spiritual Mentor. I am also a certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor and panchkarma therapist. A mother of two beautiful children, I am a yogini and classical Indian dancer. I love gathering with people to celebrate the cycles of life and death.

Alasdair Fraser is one of the greatest carriers of the Scottish fiddle music tradition, a fiddler whose warmly expressive playing, mastery of his instrument and deep understanding of his native music as a venerable and continually evolving art is an inspiration to generations of musicians on both sides of the Atlantic.

Alasdair was born in Clackmannan on May 14, 1955 and began taking classical violin lessons at the age of eight, enduring much teasing and leg-pulling from fellow school pupils at a time when carrying a fiddle case around was considered far from cool. Undeterred, he persevered and found a love of and natural aptitude for the violin which he applied to the Scottish music that he heard at home – his late father, Bob, and his brother, Iain, both being musicians.

In his teens Alasdair played with dance bands and began gathering the compositions of great fiddling forebears including Niel and Nathaniel Gow, William Marshall and James Scott Skinner into a repertoire that is now vast. Twice winner of the Scottish National Fiddle Championship, he also began to notice the connection between speech patterns and musical expression, especially among Gaels and the Doric speaking players in the north-east, and incorporated this into his fiddle style.

Inclined towards science as well as music at school, Alasdair went on to work as a petrophysicist with British Petroleum, a post that took him to California in 1981 and the realisation four years later, while writing out a fiddle tune during office hours, that he was in the wrong job. He decided to concentrate on music and passing on his passion and skills through programmes such as the Valley of the Moon fiddle camp, which he founded among the Californian Redwoods in 1984 and still directs, the fiddle course that he’s run on the Isle of Skye since 1987, and the more recently established Sierra Fiddle Camp, near his home in California.

As a fiddler equally capable of playing haunting Gaelic airs and rumbustious dance tunes and improvising endless variations on traditional themes, Alasdair has worked in a variety of successful partnerships, including his duos with pianist Paul Machlis and guitarist Tony McManus and his acclaimed band Skyedance. He has also guested with The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Itzhak Perlman and Los Angeles Master Chorale, appeared on innumerable broadcasts including A Prairie Home Companion and CBS TV’s Kennedy Center Honors and performed on film soundtracks including The Last of the Mohicans and Titanic. His compositions have featured in works by the Richmond (Virginia) Ballet and Shiftworks Dance Ensemble and his commissions include Fettercairn Suite.

Since 2003 Alasdair has featured in a duo with cellist Natalie Haas, restoring the wee fiddle and big fiddle partnership that flourished in eighteenth century Scotland to contemporary prominence at the cutting edge of tradition-rooted creativity. Their debut album, Fire and Grace, was voted Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2004, adding to Alasdair’s North American Independent Record Distributors award for his Dawn Dance album in 1996, and they continue to thrill audiences internationally with their virtuosic playing, their near-telepathic understanding and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.

Beth Doglio is a State Representative, community organizer, climate leader, mother of two, and candidate for the House of Representatives in Washington’s 10th District.

Throughout her career, Beth has worked for a thriving, sustainable, just and compassionate future for all. In Congress, she will be a champion for working families, seniors, veterans, and our environment – bringing years of advocacy and leadership to a political system in need of new and energetic collaborative approach.

Serving in the Legislature since 2017, Beth is one of Washington’s foremost leaders on the environment, housing, gun safety, and issues facing working families. She has helped lead the passage of groundbreaking legislation to empower workers through higher wages and improved protections; to make Washington a leader in the fight against climate change; and to provide more resources to address homelessness.

As Vice Chair of the Capital Budget committee, she has secured millions in funding for infrastructure projects throughout the 10th Congressional District. She is a member of the LGBTQ Caucus, and a co-founder of Win With Women, a political organization that encourages women to run for office and elect them at all levels of government. In the legislature and in the community, she has fought for representation and equal opportunity for women, including young women, women of color, and LGBTQ women.

The daughter of public school educators and the granddaughter of coal miners, Beth grew up in Kankakee, a small town in Illinois. There she learned the importance of service and good government from a young age, joining her mother, a leader with the local League of Women Voters chapter, in encouraging voters to create a public health department.

After graduating from Indiana University, Beth moved to Washington state in 1987, serving as a community organizer.

Beth’s environmental leadership in our state began nearly three decades ago as the founding Executive Director of Washington Conservation Voters (WCV). Under Beth’s leadership, WCV became one of the state’s most prominent environmental organizations: developing 15 chapters, creating a robust voter education program, and playing a key role in shaping policy to protect Washington’s natural resources and environment.

Following her time at WCV, Beth worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including at the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) and Audubon Washington, where she continued to fight for progressive, environmental, and community priorities. She also volunteered at the Noel House Homeless shelter and served on the Board of Director of Solid Ground, giving her keen insight into the homelessness and affordability challenges facing our region today.

Beth moved to Olympia in 1999, and after the birth of her second child in 2004, focused her energy on being a full-time mom – but she didn’t stop organizing or giving back to the community. Beth co-chaired Olympia’s Parks and Sidewalks ballot measure, worked with Washington Toxics Coalition to reduce the use of pesticides in local parks and school playgrounds, and volunteered at Roosevelt Elementary School, later serving as Roosevelt PTA President.

In addition to her role in the state legislature, Beth has worked at Climate Solutions since 2007 working to pass federal, state and local climate policy and serving as the director of the Power Past Coal campaign since its inception – making her an expert and a leader in efforts to defeat climate change and develop a clean energy economy.

Cayley Miranda Schmid is a teacher, performer, and event organizer who has been based in Bellingham, WA for twenty-five years. She runs the Bellingham Folk Festival and Bellingham Irish Festival, teaches individual and group lessons for fiddle players of all ages, and performs with bands, Polecat and Giant’s Causeway.

Cayley has accomplished many impressive projects and has achieved this by following a simple formula: putting her interest at the center of her curiosity and building upon that "interest foundation" a remarkable outcome that, not only serves her personal and professional growth, but serves the artistic evolution of the many who study with her as well as the community that engages in the various events she organizes.

To know more Cayley's projects, check out:   

Season One Finale.

Natalie is one of the most sought after cellists playing traditional music today. She and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser have toured as a duo for twenty years, wowing audiences at festivals and concerts worldwide with their unique sound. Their first album together, Fire & Grace, was awarded Best Album of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards 2004. Natalie has also toured with Mark O'Connor as a member of his Appalachia Waltz Trio. She and O'Connor premiered his double concerto for violin and cello, ¨For The Heroes¨, with the Grand Rapids, East Texas, and San Diego Symphonies. As a studio musician, Natalie has been a guest artist on over 50 albums, including those of Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster, Irish greats Altan, Solas, and Liz Carroll, and Americana icon Dirk Powell.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with cellist Fred Sherry, Natalie discovered the cello at age nine. In addition to having extensive classical music training, she is accomplished in a broad array of fiddle genres. Her music journey found purpose when she fell in love with Celtic music at the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School at age 11. Inspired and encouraged by director Fraser, she began to investigate the cello's potential for rhythmic accompaniment to fiddle tunes, and to this day, the two continue to resurrect and reinvent the cello's historic role in Scottish music.

Natalie's skills as an educator make her one of the most in demand teachers at fiddle camps across the globe. She also teaches privately and in a workshop setting, and holds an associate professorship at the Berklee College of Music. Natalie now makes her home in Boston, where she is an active member of the traditional music scene.

In this episode Jasmin introduces the idea and intention of this podcast, and addresses the need to view the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the global social unrest as an opportunity to create positive and needed change in the world, right now.

Jasmin is a writer, speaker, podcaster and blogger.