2012 SPAE Artists Biographies
Brian
McNeill is a virtuoso on fiddle, viola, mandolin, cittern,
bouzouki, guitar, bass, concertina and hurdy-gurdy.
Brian was the founder of the Battlefield Band in 1969, one of
Scotland’s best known folk ensembles.
He is a leading writer of Scottish song, has numerous
recordings – solo and with other leading Scottish traditional
musicians. In 2010, he
released his twelfth solo album of original material.
He has produced recordings for many new and well-known folk
artists, and has published 2 original mystery novels.
He was Head of Scottish Music at the Royal Scottish Academy
of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow, Scotland from 2001-2008.
Brian is a Master Teacher, able to motivate audiences and
students of all ages.
www.brianmcneill.co.uk
Caroline Pugh is a singer from Edinburgh, Scotland, and
currently lives in Belfast, Ireland. She performs traditional folk
music and her own original material around Northern Europe and the
USA, and will be doing a house concert tour of California in 2012.
She currently teaches voice at Queen's University Belfast, and has
led vocal workshops at Northumbria University, The Lyric Theatre
Belfast and the RSAMD. She was awarded a Distinction for her Master
of Music degree from Newcastle University in 2010, and she also got
a Scottish Music honours degree from the RSAMD in 2007.
www.carolinepugh.co.uk
Anna Murray,
Gaelic singer and piper, was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis.
Sh
e
has recorded with her own band, with Calluna and sings on the
“Gaelic Women” CD. She
is also an actor and has appeared on Scottish TV and the BBC in all
three roles. On BBC she
has presented in a range of Gaelic programs including a pre-school
children’s programme, “Dotaman” and “The Year of the Prince” for the
Around Scotland schools history series.
She presented the first series of Grampian’s “Iobalag Obalag”
magazine for older children and Eala Bhan/STV’s light entertainment
series “Bi-Beo”. In
addition, she currently teaches piping in the schools on the Isle of
Lewis.
Shirley LeFlore
is a native of St. Louis, poet/performing artist, psychologist and
educator. She is a
published writer and recording artist veteran poet who, in
collaboration with national and
international
musicians and dancers, was one of the first consummate artists to
preserve the sanctity of the Oral Tradition with the inclusion of
multiple arts disciplines.
She is also a former member of the historic Black Artists
Group (BAG) of St. Louis.
Mrs. LeFlore was the first poet to present educational
workshops in the St. Louis area schools (1970s) and went on to teach
extensively in New York and New Jersey before returning to St.
Louis. In Aug. 2011,
The Missouri History Museum presented RIVERS OF WOMEN, a
collaborative work showcasing Shirley’s poetry set to music and
dance. MO History
Museum will bring back this program in Jan. and Feb., 2013.
Jessi Cerutti,
St. Louis visual artist, explores personal memory and local history
through printmaking and fiber arts.
She earned her BFA
at UM St. Louis in 2005 and MFA at Southern Illinois Un.,
Edwardsville in 2011.
She merges ink and fiber to create objects that illustrate an
accumulation of time, change and memory.
Exhibits include INTANGIBLE RIVERS:
A SUBJECTIVE HISTORY at the Zeigenhein on Cherokee Street in
2011. She has had
exhibits in Chicago and Cleveland.
She teaches workshops, does adjunct teaching in the St. Louis
area and is co-founder and VP of Rock n’ Roll Craft Show.
Her website is:
www.jessicerutti.com.
