Free Planet Radio, based in Asheville, NC is becoming one of the most exciting partnerships in world music today.
Their world-jazz-classical fusion is a trans-cultural canvas that is at times deeply reflective and at other times rhythmically mind-bending.

This ensemble is composed of River Guerguerian, Armenian-Egyptian born in Canada, an award-winning multi-percussionist / composer whose lyrical percussion style earned him a long-standing tenure with Turkish flutist virtuoso Omar Faruk Tekbilek; Eliot Wadopian, a two-time Grammy-award winner, proficient on string and electric basses, a 17 year member of the Paul Winter Consort. He’s also worked with Hal Galper, Glen Velez, and Eugene Friesen; Chris Rosser, an accomplished pianist, composer / producer, renown for his outstanding performances on a variety of indigenous stringed instruments. He studied under the master Ali Akbar Khan.

Downloadable Bio & Info
http://www.freeplanetradio.com/FPRbio.pdf

Selected Venues these Artists have performed individually:

Carnegie Hall
Sydney Opera House
Lincoln Center
Edinburgh International Arts Festival, Scotland
Hong Kong International Arts Festival
Moscow New Music Festival
Los Angeles Sacred Music Festival
Madrid International Jazz Festival
Miyazaki International Music Festival, Symphony Hall Tokyo, Japan
Red Sea Jazz Festival, Eilat Israel
Spivey Hall, Atlanta, GA
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Duke Farm, NJ
Kennedy Center, Washington DC

Workshops:

European Frame Drummers Meeting, Barcelona, Spain  
Aaron Copland School of Music, CUNY
Western Carolina University, NC
University of Lecce, Italy
University North Carolina - Asheville
Montclair State University, NJ
University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem
Mentone Men’s Conference, GA (w/ Robert Bly)
Elysian Fields Yoga Center, St. Simons Island, GA
Columbia University-NY
Southern Utah Songwriting School

Chris Rosser is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer and producer. As a solo performer, he tours nationally playing at festivals, clubs and listening rooms, and has shared stages with folk and pop luminaries such as Nickel Creek, John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Tom Rush and more. Chris has released three recordings , Hidden Everywhere (2006), The Holy Fool (2000), and Archaeology (1997). and has won songwriting contests at the Rocky Mountain Folks and Merle Watson festivals. With the help of a 1999 WNC Regional Artists grant, he continued his studies of Hindustani classical music and the sarod (a 25-string fretless Indian lute) with world famous Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan in San Rafael, CA. Rosser earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Miami School of Music where he studied jazz piano and studio recording on a full scholarship. He owns Hollow Reed Studio in Asheville and was awarded a songwriter/composer fellowship from the NC Arts Council. He has also begun touring as the keyboardist in the ensemble of master Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Visit him at www.chrisrosser.com.

River Guerguerian (Multipercussionist/Composer/Educator) was born in 1967 in Montreal, Canada to Armenian-Egyptian parents and received his Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory in 1989. For over 25 years, he has been performing internationally with such groups as the BBC Concert Orchestra, New Music Consort, Grammy and Oscar winning composer Tan Dun, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tibetan Singing Bowl Ensemble, Talujon Percussion Quartet, Chuck Berry, and Ziggy Marley/Gipsy Kings project. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by chamber ensembles, universities, modern dance companies, and new music festivals throughout the U.S.
Guerguerian has performed in concert halls in New York, Berlin, Moscow, Edinburgh, Rome, Sydney, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, London, and has recorded on over 100 albums and film soundtracks.  In 1994, River sold all possessions, left civilization, and lived in a wildlife sanctuary in the Himalaya Mountains.  River conducts rhythm and sound exploration workshops throughout the country.  Visit him at www.ShareTheDrum.com

Grammy Award–winning bassist Eliot Wadopian has been a professional musician for more than twenty seven years. He began his studies at the Berklee College of Music and has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and the Orient with many professional ensembles. Eliot has held the bass chair for such artists as Paul Winter and the Paul Winter Consort, David Wilcox, Eugene Friesen and Paul Halley, Donald Harrison, Jon Faddis, Glen Velez, Mark Lavine, Gene Bertoncini, Paul Sullivan, Oscar Castro-Neves, Judy Collins, Yo Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, the Cab Calloway big band, and Davy Spillane, to name a few. As an educator, Eliot teaches privately, as well as on the current faculties of Western Carolina University and Mars Hill College. He also performs regularly in several bass sections of many regional mid-Atlantic symphony Orchestras. Visit him at www.eliotwadopian.com.

Photos: Lisa Shenouda