Stanley Rodriguez, member of the Kumeyaay Santa Ysabel Band of the Iipay Nation is an educator, language teacher, and tribal singer. He is an advocate for his community’s culture and traditions and serves in a number of advising and teaching roles in the San Diego and Native Kumeyaay communities. He has held the elected position of legislator for the Santa Ysabel Tribe of the Iipay Nation. Stanley is a US Navy veteran, has an MA in Human Behavior worked as a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselor and now teaches full time, having just completed his PhD in Higher Education from UCSD.

Stan Rodriguez learned from his Grandmother and other Kumeyaay Elders the methods and culture. Rodriguez sits on the board of a group whose vision is to strengthen language and cultural revitalization, known as the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival. Rodriguez has been teaching Kumeyaay language classes at Kumeyaay Community College on the Sycuan Reservation since 2000. The college is open to Native and non-Native students. Rodriguez does this work in an effort to bring Native American culture to any willing to learn. He has taught workshops at the Northwest Indian Language Institute, and he has been supported by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts in his efforts to learn traditional song cycles, such as Wild Cat, from master artists. Rodriguez regularly performs and provides demonstrations of tribal songs, games, traditional tool making, and structure building.

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, teacher and performer on the Japanese koto based in Oakland, CA, grew up listening to and learning how to play from her mother who was also a koto teacher.

Shirley received her Shihan koto teaching credentials with Yushusho (top score) honors, and DaiShihan masters credentials from the Chikushi Kai in Japan. Shirley has performed and taught the koto for over 60 years. Expanding the repertoire of traditional koto music through collaborations, arranging and compositions, Shirley plays the koto in various styles and genres. Shirley researched Japanese traditional performance arts in the World War II American concentration camps. In 2012, her project received a National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites grant to turn her decades-long research into the documentary film, “Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Performance Arts in the World War II Internment Camps (2014).” The film aired on public TV and PBS stations in the U.S. and has been shown at universities around the world.

Shirley was inducted into the Bunka (Japanese cultural arts) Hall of Fame in 2012, and has trained 4 advanced students to expertise through the Apprenticeship Program from The Alliance for California Traditional Arts. As part of the Golden State of Song program administered by Freight and Salvage, Shirley is educating 4th graders in the Berkeley Unified School District about the history and the music of the WWII American internment camps. Since 2023, Shirley teaches a summer program koto class at the Morikami Museum and Gardens in Florida to students youth to adult.

The narrative which came from 120,000+ Japanese and Japanese Americans imprisoned in WWII American concentration camps was that Japanese Americans were not considered “American” even if they were born here. The result was the cutting off cultural practices in order to quickly assimilate into American life. They were ashamed that people did not trust them just because they were of Japanese heritage. Because of this, very few of us cultural practitioners of Japanese arts are left. It’s imperative that traditional artists strive to keep the arts alive in our communities. It’s part of our identity, to understand who we are.

One of the leading Arab violinists in the U.S., Sami Abu Shumays is internationally known as a master of the maqam system. He is co-author of the acclaimed book Inside Arabic Music (Oxford University Press 2019), and his passion for teaching and oral tradition is also expressed through his YouTube series “Maqam Lessons,” the website www.maqamlessons.com, and his contributions to www.maqamworld.com. Co-founder and director of the NYC-based Arabic music and dance ensemble Zikrayat, Sami released his first solo album Circles in 2023, available on all streaming platforms. In 2024 he was named a master folk artist through the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. Sami has led Zikrayat since 2005, which has been featured at GlobalFEST, numerous venues in New York City and nationwide. Zikrayat has recorded two albums: Live At Lotus (which won a 2008 Independent Music Award) and Cinematic.

A second-generation Palestinian-American, Sami originally studied Western music before traveling to the Arab World to reconnect with his roots. He studied with Alfred Gamil in Cairo; Mohamed Qasas, Abdel-Basit Bakkar, and Abdel-Minaim Senkary in Aleppo; and Simon Shaheen and Yusuf Kassab in New York. Sami has a bachelor’s degree in Western music theory and composition from Harvard University, several years of graduate work in composition and ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and received a Fulbright Fellowship to study Arabic music and language in Cairo, Egypt.

The Palestinian and Arab Communities in the U.S. are subject to prejudice, discrimination, and the silencing of our voices and narratives; in that context, it is incredibly meaningful to be validated as an artist -— to be given an opportunity to raise a Palestinian voice in a cultural way, to uplift our arts, culture, and basic humanity.

I feel deeply honored to be in this cohort of folk artists doing such important work for cultural transmission. All our communities carry deeply rooted traditions in danger of being wiped out, homogenized, or watered down. I see my fellow Taproot Artists as heroes and warriors for cultural survival and independence, and I am humbled to walk among them.

Roy Hirabayashi, co-founder of San Jose Taiko (SJT) in 1973, recently celebrated 50 years of composing and playing taiko and the shinobue (Japanese drum and bamboo flute). For years of community-building through SJT, he and his wife, PJ, were awarded the 2011 National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. Roy has also received the SV Creates Legacy Laureate, San Jose Arts Commission Cornerstone of the Arts, and has been a mentor in the Alliance for California Traditional Arts Master Program. In 2017, he performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Library of Congress Noontime Series and continues to perform and conduct workshops internationally.

Roy’s influence extends far beyond his local community. He is a respected figure in the national arts community, having served on the boards for Western Arts Alliance, Japantown Community Congress of San Jose, School of Arts & Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza, and SVCreates. As a founding member of 1st ACT Silicon Valley, the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute, and the Taiko Community Alliance, he has left an indelible mark on the arts landscape. He is currently on the California Arts Council. His leadership has been recognized with the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley John W. Gardner Leadership Award and in the 2017 US-Japan Council Japanese American Leadership Delegation. In 2023, he received the California Arts Council Legacy Individual Artist Fellowship, and the Japanese government bestowed upon him the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays, a testament to his global impact.

PJ Hirabayashi is a pioneer of the North American taiko movement. She is a practitioner, teacher, performer, and culture bearer of Taiko, the Japanese drum. She is the Artistic Director Emeritus and an original performing member of San José Taiko, the third taiko group to form in the U.S. in 1973. Her home is in San José Japantown on the unceded lands of the Muwekma Ohlone. It is one of the last three remaining historic Japantowns in the U.S. that has embraced taiko as a cultural expression of the community. PJ is a community-builder and a catalyst in amplifying the visibility, preservation, and vitality of San José Japantown.

Her signature composition “Ei Ja Nai Ka” is performed throughout the world; it commemorates immigrant life through taiko drumming, dance, and song. In 2008, she founded “TaikoPeace”, a movement to spread the kinetic energy, spiritual vibration, and pure joy of Japanese taiko drumming to inspire positive social change and a peaceful world. “Peace” is her acronym for “Partnerships, Empathy, And Creative Empowerment”.

PJ shares her work and passion for taiko with her husband, Roy Hirabayashi. In 2023, they celebrated their 50-year milestone for their taiko work. Together, they have been honored for their dedication and leadership in the arts in receiving lifetime achievement awards: “Artist Legacy Laureate” from Silicon Valley Creates, “Cornerstone of the Arts” from the City of San José, and the “National Heritage Fellowship for Traditional and Folk Arts” from the National Endowment for the Arts.

As Taproot artists, we will live through the cultural expression and vibrant, transformative energy of Taiko to remember and pass on the history, knowledge, and wisdom of our ancestors (indigenous and diasporic) to future generations with the values of respect, humility, integrity, perseverance, empathy, and gratitude. Foster well-being, personal/collective empowerment, connection, and community. And support the power of our cultural arts to come together in the spirit of celebration and healing of our humanity and place of Being and for co-creating a healthy planet and world.

Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-born, San Francisco-based vocalist, composer, cultural strategist and former refugee, known for her electric performances and vibrant cultural activism. Her Ethio-Jazz music has reached the top of world music charts across the US and Europe and been featured by the New York Times, BBC, NPR, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, and many more. Meklit’s latest EP, Ethio Blue, was released this past March. She has performed on four continents, and is a household name in her home country of Ethiopia, where her music videos air daily on national television.

Meklit straddles her creative practice with her passion for cultural activism. She is the former Chief of Program at YBCA (2020-2022), former co-director of the Red Poppy Art House, co-founder of the Nile Project, and a featured voice in UN Women’s theme song. Meklit has given talks on multiple TED Stages, at the UN, and at the National Geographic Storytellers Summit.

Meklit is a National Geographic Explorer, and a TED Sr. Fellow, and has collaborated with world renowned musicians, such as Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the legendary founder of funk music, Pee Wee Eliis. Meklit is host and co-founder of Movement, a podcast, radio series and live show uplifting the songs and stories of immigrant musicians, airing to nearly 3 million listeners as a nationally syndicated feature on PRX’s The World. Meklit’s five year old son is one of her greatest musical inspirations.

Being a Taproot Artist is an incredible support, which I am so grateful for. I *especially* appreciate the fact that this is general operating support, and that so much care and cultural sensitivity has gone into every step of designing the program. This fellowship is based in trusting artists who are on a lifelong path to do work that blooms from community practice. We feel it. I am also so excited to have the opportunity to further invest in my community through this fellowship.

King Khazm is an emcee, producer and community organizer who has become a prominent figure in the Hip-Hop community within Seattle and around the world. His work to engage and empower communities is demonstrated through over 25 years of music, art and community service.

King Khazm has performed all around the country and world including the World’s Fair & Expo (Dubai), The IBE (Netherlands), Galpao Aplauso (Brazil), Festival de la Juventud (Guatemala), and Strictly Street (Malaysia), Folklife Festival (Seattle), sharing stages with the likes of Naughty By Nature, Zion I, Aceyalone and collaborating as an emcee and producer with artists such as Abstract Rude, Afu-Ra, Def-I, Gabriel Teodros, Killah Priest, Planet Asia, Sadat X, and Sean Price.

Khazm serves as a board member of paralysis support organization The Here & Now Project, board member of King County arts funding agency 4Culture, manager of the historic venue Washington Hall and executive director of Hip Hop community organization 206 Zulu.

To belong to an association of lifelong artisans and culture bearers such as the Taproot Fellowship is profoundly meaningful, one that nurtures and inspires my practice, projecting me further towards my artistic goals and broader service to my culture and community.

Juan Longoria Jr., inspired by the musical influences of his father, Juan Longoria Sr., and his uncles, “Los Halcones Del Valle,” co-founded the musical groups “Los Potrillos” in 1998 and “Conteño” in 2008 with his brother Federico Longoria. “Conteño” is representative of the harmonious balance of styles distinctive to regional Texas-Mexican music including the genres of Conjunto, Tejano and Norteño.

Grupo Conteño, hailing from the border town of Brownsville, Texas, has a signature style that is an explosion of upbeat, modern rythms rooted in traditional sounds. These unique characteristics have created a faithful fan base in the Rio Grande Valley and throughout the state of Texas. Juan has received various individual awards throughout his professional career as an accordionist. Juan was named the 1st place winner at “The Big Squeeze” accordion competition held by Texas Folklife in June 2007 and was subsequently featured in Hector Galan’s documentary, “The Big Squeeze,” released in 2008. In the fall of 2012, Juan was given the opportunity to found a new conjunto music program at Los Fresnos High School in Los Fresnos, Texas. The conjunto program has blossomed over the last eleven years and now accounts for about 100 students yearly receiving fine arts credit as part of the program. In May 2017, the Texas State Senate issued Senate Resolution 670 to the Los Fresnos High School Conjunto at the State Capital in Austin, Texas in recognition of their preservation of Texas folk music. In 2016, Conteño was selected to participate in the national folk festival circuit including performances and workshops at Montana and Richmond Folk Festivals.

Juan has continued to support the preservation and promotion of traditional Texas-Mexican conjunto music through participation in various apprentice, consulting and educational programs with various educational and folk organizations in the state of Texas and across the nation.

Being a Taproot Fellow is an honor that I share with my family, friends, and community. I perform and teach accordion-based conjunto music not only because I love music, but because of the way this music strengthens the bond of families and communities. The recognition of being a Taproot Fellow helps support and promote the rich musical culture of my Mexican-American heritage and allows conjunto music to be recognized on a national scale. I learned this music through my father, uncles, and friends, and being a Taproot artist gives me a sense of assurance that I will be able to continue to foster the legacy I have inherited through my students, community, and the nation.

Jontavious Willis is an African-American blues musician from the American South, raised up in the Black church. He embodies traditional blues music, along with gospel and other Black traditional musics, and has fostered relationship with elders of the genre like himself. Jontavious has also created festivals and other opportunities for Blues musicians and fans alike. He has been awarded many awards in his field, and is one of the leading young Bluesmen.

It means everything to me. This is why I do it; to be able to help. Blues is a community music — it always has been.

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Jesús M. Cepeda Brenes, a renowned folklorist and folklorologist, is the son of the Patriarch of Bomba y Plena, Don Rafael Cepeda Atiles, and Doña Caridad Brenes (R.I.P.). He is an expert in all aspects of this major art form within Puerto Rican folklore. Jesús has distinguished himself as an educator both within and outside of Puerto Rico, training expert musicians, researchers, music students, and the general public. He has delivered lectures at universities, high schools, and elementary schools on the fundamentals of Bomba and Plena. His artistic education is deeply rooted in the traditions passed down from parents to children and grandchildren over more than a century, creating a classic folklore within the native musical line, with a particular emphasis on Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena.

Jesús was a member of the Ballet Folklórico de la Familia Cepeda, a group that serves as a representative sample of Puerto Rican folklore, recreating the Bomba and Plena in their performances without losing the authentic flavor of our grandparents’ dances. His work has transcended the borders of Puerto Rico, bringing his presentations to many countries, including France, England, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has performed in numerous cities, universities, and venues across the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Central Park in New York City, Tampa, Chicago, Connecticut, and California.

Maestro Jesús Cepeda is the president of Fundación Folclórica Cultural Rafael Cepeda, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to educating future generations and preserving the Rafael Cepeda House Museum. Watching Jesús Cepeda perform is an immersive experience, delving into the legendary language of sound signs brought from Africa and listening to the voices of ancient cultures brought to the Caribbean on slave ships. His performances capture centuries of spiritual beliefs, mythologies, struggles, and remote stories, all expressed through the sounds of his ancestral Bomba drum.

Don Jesús Manuel Cepeda Brenes, Maestro de la Bomba, is the heir to the Bomba music and dance tradition, the most visible and powerful expression of Puerto Rico’s African heritage. He is the recipient of a cultural and folkloric legacy that spans more than four generations.

Being a Taproot artist means being deeply rooted in my artistic practice and community. It signifies a connection to the essence of creativity, growth, and authenticity. As a Taproot artist, I see myself as a source of inspiration and nourishment, providing sustenance for both my own artistic journey and the community around me. It’s about delving into the core of my creativity, drawing strength from my roots, and branching out to contribute meaningfully to the artistic ecosystem that surrounds me.

Gertie Lopez Is from the Chuichu Village, on the Tohono O’odham Nation and has become a prominent public figure and a leading force in the performance and preservation of Tohono O’odham culture and Waila music. She Is affectionately known as the “Queen of Waila” and was recently inducted into the Tucson Musicians Museum’s Hall of Fame. Gertie is the only female band leader on the Tohono O’odham Reservation. She has traveled to New York, Washington D.C, Caborca Mexico, and many places in the United States to share her Waila Music.

Gertie has been recognized for many awards. In 2012, she was nominated for the Governors Award as a musician Artist. In 2014, she played at the FinnFest USA in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2016 Gertie received “A Life-Time Achievement Award” from the Cultural Sounds of Tucson. In 2017, Gertie received a “Master of Apprentice Award” from the Southwest Folklife Alliance in Tucson, AZ. In 2020, she played a Waila Concert at the Aura Jamboree in Aura, Michigan. Gertie has taken 1st place in 7 battle-of-the-band events and has also received best accordion trophy. Gertie has also taken her Waila music Career into theater with playing her accordion in many shows with Borderland Theaters. She has 10 CDs recordings, including a Christmas CD.

Gertie’s lifelong mission has been to preserve and share the traditional Waila music of the Tohono O’odham with the youth and to educate all people of the beauty and joy of Tohono O’odham Waila music, language, and culture. She proudly represents the Tohono O’odham Nation and the State of Arizona.

A Taproot artist embodies a sacred obligation to nurture cultural and traditional arts that will enrich our communities with enduring health and well-being benefits for generations to come. I am overwhelmed with appreciation and honor to be considered a Taproot artist because it amplifies my passion as a cultural knowledge holder to preserve and advance Tohono O’odham way of life, culture, language, and Waila music through meaningful engagement with my community.