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Bruce Warren is assistant general manager for programming of WXPN in Philadelphia. Besides serving as executive producer of World Café, Warren also contributes to Paste magazine and writes for two blogs: Some Velvet Blog and WXPN's All About The Music Blog.

Tom is a jazz saxophonist. He is also a composer, music educator, piano teacher for students with autism, musical director for the Big Sky Project Dance Company, and jazz radio host.

Deborah Simpkin King, Ph.D., is a choral conductor, new music advocate, and master teacher. She plays an active role in the vibrant Manhattan choral scene and serves the national and international music community through her guest conducting and body of published work.

Ryan James Brandau brings to the podium broad experience conducting a variety of choral and orchestral ensembles. He is the Artistic Director of the Amor Artis, a 35-voice chamber chorus and orchestra in New York City. He is also the Artistic Director of Princeton Pro Musica and the Monmouth Civic Chorus. In addition, Dr. Brandau serves on the faculty of Westminster Choir College, where he has prepared the Westminster Symphonic Choir for performances with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Formerly, he was Director of Choral Activities at Santa Clara University and Artistic Director of the Santa Clara Chorale and Choirmaster of the acclaimed all-professional choir of Christ Church, New Haven. He has worked with a variety of other professional, community, collegiate, children’s and church ensembles. As a professional singer, Ryan has been heard with ensembles in the US, Europe, and Asia, including the American Bach Soloists, the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, the Arcadia Players, Yale Schola Cantorum, and the Choir of Clare College Cambridge. He remains active as a choral arranger, composer, and clinician. His arrangements and compositions have been featured by choral ensembles across the globe.

Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.

Gabriel Crouch is Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer in Music at Princeton University. He began his musical career as an eight-year-old in the choir of Westminster Abbey, where he performed a solo at the wedding of HRH Prince Andrew and Miss Sarah Ferguson. After completing a choral scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was offered a place in the renowned a cappella group The King's Singers in 1996. In the next eight years he made a dozen recordings on the BMG label (including a grammy nomination), and gave more than 900 performances in almost every major concert venue in the world.

Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.

Ella Taylor is a freelance film critic, book reviewer and feature writer living in Los Angeles.