Nkeiru Okoye (pronounced: in KIR roo oh KOY yeh) is a composer whose works have been performed on four continents, in concert halls, educational forums and recording studios. Her artistic creativity encompasses the symphonic field of contemporary classical music and the family/education arena. Her music is noted for its appeal to diverse audiences, cultural and stylistic blending and infusion of popular music genres. The Moscow Symphony and Prague Radio Orchestras have recorded her music and the Oxford University Press has published it. Among her best known works are The Jorney of Phillis Wheatley, a narrated cycle from her folk opera on Tubman, African Sketches, a piano suites and Voices Shouting Out, an orchestral short. She earned a master' and doctorate degrees in composition and theory from Rutgers University.

Awadagin Pratt, a distinguished pianist is acclaimed for his musical insights and intensely involving performances. He has played numerous recitals around the country, including New York's Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He has appeared with orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony and has toured with the Dedalus String Quartet. As a conductor he has led orchestras in the United States and Japan. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, he was the first student in the conservatory's history to receive diplomas in piano, violin and conducting. He is currently assistant professor of piano and artist-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Alfred Duckett is a distinguished orchestral conductor and college administrator. He warned a master of music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a doctorate degree in musical arts from Catholic University of America. He has held a variety of positions, including professor of music and director of orchestral studies at Southern Illinois and Syracuse Universities, founding music director and conductor of the Atlanta University Center Orchestra and chairman of the Department of Visual and Performing Art and associate professor of music at St. Augustine's College. His conducting career also includes leading the Kaiserslautern Chamber Orchestra (Germany) and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. He is currently a professor of music at Cameron University (Oklahoma).

Herb Smith, a trumpeter, is at home performing jazz or classical music. He is third trumpet in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and heads his own jazz quartet. The Eastman School of Music graduate, also provides trumpet lessons there. His musical sphere also encompasses teaching, arranging and composing. He has played with notable performers such as Natalie Cole and Wynton Marsalis and other orchestras. He has written music for silent films and in 2006, his composition for baritone, trumpet and piano, The Twelve Tones of Christmas, was premiered at Carnegie Hall. He composed Fanfare for this year's Gateways Music Fesitval.