The Team

Leadership

Guy Mendilow

Founding Artistic & Artistic Director 

Guy Mendilow was raised in a multicultural immigrant family steeped in conversation: Exploring experiences and ideas from a variety of perspectives, albeit from different fields — from literature and political science to Montessori education and, in Mendilow’s case, music and story. 

Mendilow’s heroes include his parents and grandparents because of their curiosity, societal contributions and courage to experiment, evaluate and change.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • Mendilow began touring domestically and internationally with the American Boychoir at age ten, with 200+ annual concerts in venues from Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall to remote rural churches.

    Mendilow is Artistic Director of Guy Mendilow Ensemble (GME). GME weaves inspiring stories through live riveting scores, narration blending memoir and poetry, and theatrically projected sand animation. GME’s productions center on real-world tales of choices people make as they negotiate thresholds, personal or historical. GME is especially intrigued by decisions animated by generosity and grace in the face of upheaval. Formed in 2004, GME is a recipient of multiple funding awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Boston Foundation and the New England Foundation for the Arts on the basis of artistry, cultural preservation and the strengthening of communities through the arts. 

    Since 1996, Mendilow has designed and facilitated residencies in communities ranging from the Navajo Reservation and rural Midwest to performing arts organizations (Celebrity Series of Boston), business schools (Babson College), universities (Harvard), urban K-12 schools and communities of faith (interfaith antiracism initiatives with Temple Israel of Boston/Bethel AME). 

    Mendilow earned his Masters of Music and International Dalcroze Certification from Longy School of Music and is candidate for the highest Dalcroze degree achievable in the USA with the Dalcroze School of the Rockies.

    A citizen of Israel, UK and USA, Mendilow has called Boston home since 2003.

Julia Torgovitskaya Levitan

Business Manager

Julia Levitan cultivates environments of trust, co-creating teams and platforms for building organization around nascent ideas and new projects. Her expertise is in guiding projects from concept to impactful launch, motivation, empowerment, and team dynamics. A trained opera singer and published author, Julia earned a Master of Science in Executive Leadership from the University of San Diego after earning degrees in Music, International Relations, and Russian and East European Studies with High Honors at Tufts University. 

 

  • Julia is founder and CEO of Cadenza Artists, an innovative management and booking agency specializing in curating bold artistic experiences in partnership with leading arts presenters and institutions, diverse communities, and creative spaces globally. Julia brings complex visions to life, drawing on expertise with leadership, international relations, cultural studies and opera performance, together with the humane art of listening. 

Regie Gibson

Residency Designer & Leader
Co-Direction, Co-Writing, Narration for Radio Play(s) series; Co-Writing, Narration for Heart of the Holidays: Tales of Light

Regie Gibson has lectured and performed widely in the US, Cuba, and Europe. In Italy, representing the US, Regie received both the Absolute Poetry Award (Monfalcone) and the Europa en Versi Award (LaGuardia di Como). He has also received the Walker Scholarship, a Mass Cultural Council Award, a YMCA Writer’s Fellowship, the Brother Thomas Fellowship from the Boston Foundation and two Live Arts Boston (LAB) grants for the production of his first musical, The Juke: A Blues Bacchae. (In The Juke, he uses Euripides’ tragedy to explore African American music and spirituality.)

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • Regie has served as a consultant for the NEA’s “How Art Works” initiative and the “Mere Distinction of Colour” — a permanent exhibit examining the legacy of slavery and the U.S. Constitution at James Madison’s Montpelier home in Virginia. He is the author of Storms Beneath the Skin, and the creator of the Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy — a theatrical, literary-musical performance focusing on William Shakespeare. Regie has performed with, and composed texts for, the Boston City Singers, the Mystic Chorale, and Handel+Haydn Society. He was a poet-in-residence at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and is poet-in-residence at Lexington’s Cary Memorial Library.

    Regie is currently the creative lead on a team of scientists and members of the Red Cross-Red Crescent Climate Center (Hague, Netherlands), helping to craft language regarding issues of climate change. He teaches at Clark University in Worcester.

    Learn more at regiegibson.com

Elsa Mosquera

Director

Elsa Mosquera is Founder and CEO of Ágora Cultural Architects, a Latinx cultural production and consulting firm in Boston specializing in Latino arts organizations, artists, and audiences.

Ágora Cultural Architects envisions a world where thriving Latinx cultural expressions are broadly celebrated. A community-driven, artistically diverse organization, Ágora supports the visibility and development of Latinx arts and culture across Boston, New England, New York and Puerto Rico through:

  • ● Affordable, culturally nuanced public programming focused especially on music and theater from distinct diasporic communities of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil and Cuba;

    ● Holistic support for cultural creators including career development, proposal writing and project design consultancy;

    ● Multi-faceted collaboration with cultural and community-development organizations.

    Latina founded and led, Ágora launched in 2019, operating from Boston with a multinational Latinx workforce. The organization is inspired by the vitality of Latinx artists in expressing and defining the often-overlooked lived experiences of Latin-American individuals and communities. By facilitating widespread inclusion and understanding of these experiences, dreams and aspirations, Ágora broadens definitions of the common good and promotes efforts towards individuals’ and communities’ greater thriving.

    Ágora presents music, theater, dance and literature from diverse Latinx cultures in the historic Arlington Street Church’s Tiffany-windowed sanctuary and in its self-managed 200-capacity venue, CROMA

    Ágora’s Mellon Foundation-funded Bori-Corridor aims to develop a sustainable “cultural corridor” connecting Island-based Puerto Rican artists with diasporic communities in the mainland. In the project’s initial phase, 5 Puerto Rican Music/Dance/Theatre ensembles will tour in Boston, Hartford, CT and New York, NY.

Artists, Designers, & Crew

Broadband Collaborative

Associate Producer, The Forgotten Kingdom

Founded in 2019, BroadBand collaborates with artists, educators, and institutions to expand possibilities. Deeply rooted in context, values and imagination BroadBand strategizes, incubates, produces, and disseminates powerful performances, events and professional development opportunities. BroadBand is passionate about artistic work that illuminates the intersection between local experience and the global world, broadens perspectives, and instigates and deepens connections and understanding between people.

photo credit: Cristin Canterbury Bagnall

  • Cristin Canterbury Bagnall, Production Lead

    Creative producer Cristin Canterbury Bagnall is passionate about artistic projects that expand and shift understanding. She developed her point of view over two decades of collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma, as a member of the founding team of Silkroad, and has served as strategic consultant to cultural institutions including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Chris Baum

Violin on The Forgotten Kingdom, Radio Play(s) Series, Around the World in Song Series, Heart of the Holidays: Tales of Light

Chris Baum is a contemporary violinist, composer, and educator who “ushers the violin into fresh sonic territory” (NPR). A pioneer of modern string technique, his strength lies in his versatility, consistently pushing boundaries while molding his playing to fit ensembles and genres often deemed unsuitable for the instrument. The Boston Globe calls him “viciously talented… teemed with color and creativity.”

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • Trained in a demanding classical environment, Baum expanded his musical vocabulary at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with honors with a degree in film scoring and composition. Baum’s list of credits includes collaborations with Bent Knee, The Dear Hunter, Leprous, Ben Levin, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Amanda Palmer, Dropkick Murphys, Richard Henshall, Symmetry, Art Decade, Jherek Bischoff, and the Video Game Orchestra.

    Learn more at chrisbaummusic.com.

Andy Bergman

Woodwinds, Jaw harps, Thumb Pianos on The Forgotten Kingdom, Around the World in Song Series, Heart of the Holidays: Tales of Light

Grounded in classical technique, multi-instrumentalist Andy Bergman’s musicality is informed by work with a wide range of ensembles, from orchestras and musical theater pits to bands playing rock, folk, afropop, and reggae. Bergman has toured extensively in Europe and North Africa with the poet/singer Iyeoka, and appeared at countless festival and club stages across the US and Canada.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • He contributed sound design to Kinodance's modern dance work “Denizen”, and has composed horn arrangements for various artists including: Iyeoka, Aloud, Dammien Alexander, and The Doped Up Dollies. Other credits include ongoing collaborations with Kotoko Brass, Sawaari, The Macrotones, and Flying Vipers.

    Learn more at andybergman.com.

Alison James

Script Co-Writer for The Forgotten Kingdom

Alison James has been writing and translating books for children since 1990, when her first novel, Sing for a Gentle Rain came out to awards and rave reviews. Since then she has published a novel, two picture books, and translated over 150 books for children. Her latest will be published by Neal Porter in 2023.

photo credit: Anika Wistar Jones

  • James’ awards include the highest honor for fiction award (Society of School Librarians International), Young Adults Choice selection (Children's Book Council/International Reading Association), Book for the Teen Age honour (New York Public Library ) and the Christopher Medal for translation of The Rainbow Fish. James has lived around the world, Japan, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan and Pakistan. In 1992, she founded Kindling Words with Mary Lee Donovan (Candlewick.) Alison James and her husband run a forest school for young wizards, and live in a grass-roofed cottage in Vermont.

Seághan McKay

Theatrical Projections Design, Scenic Design

Seághan McKay is a Boston-based projection designer, production manager, and educator. His projection design work has been showcased in many of Boston’s premiere performance venues, including The Boston Opera House, The Shubert Theater, Boston Symphony Hall, The Paramount Theatre and The Huntington Avenue Theatre.

photo credit: Leslie Chiu

  • McKay’s designs have earned him six award nominations from the Independent Reviewers of New England. McKay received the 2017 IRNE Award for Best Projection Design for the Lyric Stage production of Sondheim on Sondheim and the 2018 IRNE Award for Best Projection Design for the New Repertory Theatre production of Golda’s Balcony. Highlights include The Boston Ballet Swan Lake, The Boston Lyric Opera La Boheme, The Flying Dutchman, The Boston Pops Gershwin Spectacular: Promenade, SpeakEasy Stage Company Big Fish, Carrie: the Musical, Next To Normal, Nine, Striking 12, [title of show], and Jerry Springer: The Opera, Florida Rep Best of Enemies, TheatreSquared All The Way, Merrimack Repertory Theater The Heath, Little Orphan Danny, Memory House. A full-time faculty member at the Boston University School of Theater since 2014, McKay lectures and leads master classes at universities across the US, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brandeis University and Emerson College to The University of Arkansas, and the Production Managers Forum Fall 2012 Meeting. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA 829, which represents theatrical designers and scenic artists across the United States.

    Learn more at seaghanmckay.com

Ashleigh Gordon

Viola on Radio Play(s) series

Described as a “charismatic and captivating performer,” Ashleigh gordon has recorded with Switzerland's Ensemble Proton and Germany's Ensemble Modern; performed with Grammy-award winning BMOP and Grammy-nominated A Far Cry string ensemble; and appeared at the prestigious BBC Proms Festival with the Chineke! Orchestra.

photo credit: Robert Torres Photography

  • Comfortable on an international stage, Ashleigh has performed in the Royal Albert and Royal Festival Halls (London), Konzerthaus Berlin and Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Gare du Nord and Dampfzentrale Bern (Switzerland), Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Lee Hysan Concert Hall (Hong Kong), and throughout Sofia, Bulgaria as part of the multi-disciplinary 180 Degrees Festival.

    Ashleigh is co-founder, Artistic/Executive Director and violist of Castle of our Skins, a Boston-based concert and educational series devoted to celebrating Black Artistry through music. In recognition of her work, she has presented at IDEAS UMass Boston Conference and 180 Degrees Festival in Bulgaria; has been featured in the International Musician and Improper Bostonian magazines as well as the Boston Globe; and was awarded the 2016 Charles Walton Diversity Advocate Award from the American Federation of Musicians. She is a 2015 St. Botolph Emerging Artist Award recipient, a 2019 Brother Thomas Fellow, a nominee for the 2020 "Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities,” and named one of WBUR’s “ARTery 25”, twenty-five millennials of color impacting Boston’s arts and culture scene.

    Learn more at castleskins.org.

Mpho Molikeng

Cultural Consultant, Collaborator (musical bows, vocals), Around the World in Song Series

A Lesotho-born multi-faceted artist, Mpho Molikeng specializes in a host of African indigenous musical instruments including musical bows. He now lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • He was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he studied with legendary musicians and educators Manuel “Egui” Castrillo, Jamey Haddad, Tito De Gracia, David Rosado, and Mark Walker. Ogawa works with Snarky Puppy, Bokanté, Banda Magda, Yo Yo Ma, the Assad Brothers, Clarice Assad, Golijov, Charlie Hunter, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra among others and was named Ambassador of Tourism of his Hometown, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan.

    Learn more at keitaogawa.com

Bill O’Donnell

Bill O’Donnell has devoted years bringing projections to life at theatres around the Greater Boston area including The American Repertory Theatre, The Merrimack Repertory Theatre, The Huntington, and Arts Emerson. In addition to his video credits he also brings additional prowess in rigging, carpentry, and electrics, making time over the summer to design and build power grids for Burning Man. Bill earned his Bachelor’s in Theatre from New England College in Henniker, NH and is pursuing a second Bachelor’s in Information Technology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Keita Ogawa

Percussion on The Forgotten Kingdom, Around the World in Song Series, Heart of the Holidays: Tales of Light

Hailing originally from Sasebo city, Nagasaki, Japan, Keita Ogawa is a three-time Grammy Award winner and one of the most versatile and sought-after percussionist and drummer in New York City. Ogawa’s drumming career began at age 15 with regular Tokyo performances.

Abigale Reisman

Violin on Radio Play(s) series

Abigale Reisman is a violinist, composer, improviser, and educator. She is a co-founder of Thread Ensemble, an world-hopping experimental trio that creates music out of interactions with their audiences. She is a member of Tredici Bacci, featured in Rolling Stone's “10 Artists You Need to Know: November 2016” and a founding member of the International Jewish Music Festival Award winning Klezmer ensemble, Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band.

photo credit: Mark Wylie Photography

  • Reisman earned her Bachelor's degree at The Manhattan School of Music in Classical Violin Performance and her Master's degree at The New England Conservatory in Contemporary Improvisation. She has toured the world performing klezmer, classical, pop, and experimental music. Reisman has had the privilege to share the stage with great musicians such as Father John Misty, David Krakauer, Amanda Palmer, Jeffery Zeigler, Sarah Jarosz, Hankus Netsky, and Anthony Coleman.

    Learn more at abigalereisman.com.

Karen Perlow

Lighting Design

Karen Perlow has designed over 200 productions including work at: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Merrimack Rep, Speakeasy Stage, Lyric Stage Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Central Square Theater, New Rep, Boston Playwrights’ Theater, and Shakespeare & Company. Karen has taught Lighting Design at MIT and Northeastern University and has been a guest designer at several New England colleges and universities.

  • She is proud to serve as the treasurer of the Theater Community Benevolent Fund. She is the recipient of three IRNE Awards for Best Lighting Design, and a NYC SOLO Fest Award in 2013. Karen is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA 829, which represents theatrical designers and scenic artists across the United States.

photo credit: Robert Torres Photography

Fabio Pirozzolo

Percussion on Around the World in Song Series

Fabio Pirozzolo is an Italian drummer, multi-percussionist and singer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from Terracina, Italy, he started his career as a folk percussionist, playing Italian frame drums tamburello and tammorra, in one of the most famous folk groups in his area.

  • This experience gave him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, playing concerts and giving lectures on regional Italian frame drum techniques. A summa cum laude Berklee College of Music graduate, he is co-founder of the world music ensemble Sawaari and Grand Fatilla and Italian folk music ensemble Newpoli. Fabio’s credits include performances and recordings with Herb Reed’s Platters, Mario Frangoulis, George Perris, Jon Butcher and Petroloukas Halkias.

    Learn more at fabiopirozzolo.com.

Kseniya Simonova

Sand animation on The Forgotten Kingdom, Radio Play(s) Series, Around the World in Song Series

Winner of Ukraine’s Got Talent (with 40 million+ views for her semifinal video), and Golden Buzzer winner on both America’s Got Talent: The Champions and Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions, Kseniya Simonova has astonished audiences in over 40 countries with her remarkable sand storytelling. 

  • Simonova developed her sand animation technique by sifting volcanic sand through her hands over a lightboard. During her performances she creates, obliterates and morphs her images to create a flowing narrative.

    She is a graduate of the Artistic School of Yevpatoria, the Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University and the Ukrainian Academy of Printing. In 2009, she  catapulted into international fame when she won Ukraine’s Got Talent — an unexpected victory for a humble artist who had no expectations of grandeur. Unlike more upbeat competition entries, Simonova felt compelled to use sand to tell the story of Germany’s destruction of Ukraine during World War II, as experienced through the eyes of a young couple.

    Since then, Simonova has been featured on Eurovision, has recorded with artists from Esperanza Spalding to the YouTube Orchestra and is invited to share her stories before presidents, heads of states and royalty. Simonova lives and works in Yevpatoria, Ukraine.

    Learn more at simonova.tv.

Rich Stein

Percussion

Originally from Virginia Beach, VA., Rich Stein has been playing drums and percussion since he was nine years old. He began studying hand percussion during his time at Berklee College of Music under Joe Galeota and Jamey Haddad, and he continued his studies in Ghana, West Africa with Emmanuel Agbeli and Alhaji Abubakari Lunna as well as in Chennai, South India with Guru Karaikudi R. Mani.

photo credit: Mary Jo Verruto

  • Rich’s primary interests in music lie in finding the spaces in between styles and genres, and bridging the gaps between the traditional and the non-traditional. As a result, he has been fortunate enough to share the stage and studio with a wide variety of artists over the years, some of which are: Lila Downs, Richard Stoltzman, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Samir Langus, Haleh Liza, Slavic Soul Party, Raya Brass Band, Brian Marsella, Priya Darshini, Max ZT, The Epichorus, Clare and the Reasons, Big D and the Kids Table, Marco Benevento, and Kane Mathis.

Mike Rivard

Basses, Sintir on The Forgotten Kingdom, Around the World in Song Series

Bassist Mike Rivard finds himself at home in an array of settings: From the low-rock of Mark Sandman and Morphine, to the mountains of Morocco with local Berber musicians, with side trips into the Broadway pits of The Lion King and Wicked, and sessions with Medeski Martin & Wood.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • After graduating from the Berklee College of Music and mentoring with Jazz legend Dave Holland, Rivard picked up the Moroccan sintir (three-stringed bass lute), under the tutelage of Hassan Hakmoun and Maalem Mahmoud Guinia. Rivard puts his instrumentation and knowledge to use in Club d’Elf, a jazz-world-dub-electronica collective he founded. Club D’Elf collaborators include John Medeski, Mark Sandman, Hassan Hakmoun, Ryan Montbleau, Marc Ribot, DJ Logic, and Marco Benevento.  Rivard is a member of the Indo-jazz group Natraj, the Duke Levine Group, the Boston Pops Orchestra and is a founding member of Sawaari, whose music explores the nexus of Indian taals, Arabic maqams, and trance music from North Africa and Italy.

    Learn more at microvard.com.

Valerie Thompson

Cello on Radio Play(s) series

Boston-based cellist/composer/songwriter/improviser Valerie Thompson performs nationally and internationally in rock bands, string quartets, chamber folk ensembles and as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department. A cellist versed in multiple genres, Valerie tours with the indie-folk-pop band, Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards and is a founding member of the MIDI-Marimba and cello duo, Goli.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • Valerie earned her Bachelors of Music in Music Performance from the Berklee College of Music and Masters of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory. When not on tour she teaches at the Brookline Music School and maintains a private cello studio in Cambridge, MA. Fun Fact: Valerie can also be seen in the 100th episode of WB’s Gossip Girl.

    Learn more at valeriethompson.com.

Sofía Tosello

Voice on The Forgotten Kingdom, Around the World in Song Series

From Córdoba, Argentina, vocalist Sofía Tosello draws on her expertise in Latin American Cancion traditions like Tango, Chacarera, Bolero, Son and Zamba to bring GME vocals alive with bold colours.

photo credit: Elizabeth Friar Photography

  • Part of an exciting group of young transnational artists advancing change in Latin American song, Tosello performs and records worldwide with artists like Latin Grammy Winner Pedro Giraudo, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Glamour Tango and Polly Ferman, Marta Gomez, among others.  She is a teaching artist at performing arts organizations like NY’s Carnegie Hall and Webop Music Program at Jazz at Lincoln Center and has been on the music faculties of Reed College, Swarnaboohmi Academy of Music in Chennai, India and New Jersey City University, where she is currently a professor of Jazz vocal studies.

    Learn more at sofiatosello.com.

Courtney Swain

Piano, Voice on Radio Play(s) Series, Around the World in Song Series

A native of Japan, Courtney Swain began her music career in 2008 when she landed in Boston, MA. Most recognized as the singer and keyboard player of Boston band Bent Knee, she has released five albums with the group, in addition to four albums under her solo project.

photo credit: Rich Ferri Photography

  • In the last decade, touring and performing has taken her many times around North America, across the Atlantic to Europe, and to her native country, Japan. As a vocalist she has been featured in Mortal Kombat 11, as well as in collaborations with HAKEN, Car Bomb, Childish Japes, Gatherers, Apartment Sessions, Jocie Adams, Ben Levin Group, Elder Flux, Video Game Orchestra, Guy Mendilow Ensemble, and more. Based in Rhode Island since 2015, Courtney was recently selected for a prestigious fellowship with the Rhode Island Foundation. She actively writes and performs in many genres. Though her work with Bent Knee is rooted in rock and experimental music, her solo material is a mélange of styles in indie, singer-songwriter, folk, and electronic. Recently she has written and recorded contemporary classical pieces for chamber ensembles, and she is also a familiar face in the Rhode Island/Southern Massachusetts musical theater scene as a pit orchestra keyboardist and music director. Wearing the many hats of touring musician, composer, voice teacher, and accompanist, Courtney also entertains many non-musical interests: yoga, biking, meditation, mystery novels, cat mom, cooking, photography, drawing, watercolor, home fermentation…and the list goes on.

    Learn more at courtneyswain.com.

Aysha Upchurch

Host, Around the World in Song Series

Aysha Upchurch, the Dancing Diplomat, is an artist and educator who creates, facilitates, and designs for radical change. She is a Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she pioneered courses on Hip Hop and embodied learning as necessary tools of transformative education.  Whether on stage or in a classroom, as a US State Department cultural envoy or professor, Aysha is making moves and demonstrating how to be D.O.P.E. — dismantling oppression and pushing education.

photo credit: Juliet Biagi Photography