Samora Pinderhughes

Michel’Le Baptiste

“I was born and raised in the Greater Houston area – MO City, to be specific!! At a very young age, I decided to follow in my dad’s footsteps and become a drummer. Throughout my childhood, I received multiple awards for my work as a young musician including a Baylor College Musicianship Award, a University of Houston Outstanding Musician Award, a North Texas State Solo Award, and a Conrad Johnson Award. I‘m a proud alumna of Willowridge High School, class of 2008. I went to Texas Southern University for two years before transferring to Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition scholarship. In 2014, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Professional Music. My studies focused on film scoring, music therapy, and performance. After a year of working in Boston, I took a leap of faith and moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 2015. Over the past four years, I have been beyond blessed with opportunities straight from the Lord Himself! I’ve served as a drummer for Beyoncé, Fifth Harmony, Normani, Chloe x Halle, and more. Going forward, I want to continue to uplift my fellow female musicians. I wish to inspire others through my work and encourage them to take pride in their most authentic selves.” - MB

Nasia Thomas & Abdu Hytrek

NASIA THOMAS; Caroline, Or Change, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, Little Eva in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. National tour: Beautiful. Regional: Last 5 Years (Out of The Box Theatrics), Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations (Berkeley Rep, Kennedy Center, Center Theatre Group, Mirvish Toronto), Beauty and the Beast (TUTS), Hairspray (Muny). BFA MT Elon ’15, The Governors School for the Arts ’11. DGRW. • ABDU GARMAZI HYTREK was born and raised in the best city in the world Chicago Illinois. He hopes to use theater as a tool to enlighten viewers on a myriad of stories and experiences they don’t normally have access to. Abdu just finished a new workshop of the musical “Borders” at the York Theater and before that, played Nino in Amelie at the Chaberlee theater. He wants to give a shoutout to his mom, brother, and rest of his family, he wouldn’t be where he is without them.

Mark Joseph

New York born-Boston raised,  MarkJoseph has been passionate about music since he can remember and has taken every and any opportunity to be consumed by it from day one. He officially accepted that music was his purpose in life when he happened to come across a couple of his Pre School report cards one day. One report stated, Mark didn’t seem to like naps and wasn’t the best when it came to sharing toys, but that he was always overcome with joy whenever it was “music time”. This moment validated his passion. Mustering up the confidence his senior year of high school, Mark  decided to audition for the world-renowned Berklee College of Music and was pleased to find out he had gotten in. His time at Berklee was fortunately very eventful, as he tirelessly collaborated with his peers as a vocal performance major and as a member of the  college’s premier co-ed a cappella group Pitch Slapped-winners of the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella in 2014.  One of these many collaborations led to a viral video on Youtube. In December 2013, there was a video uploaded of Mark  singing “Oh Holy Night” in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts with Berklee’s Loft Sessions Music. This video would go on to make a gigantic buzz, being shared all over the web and getting major news coverage (NPR, Boston.com, Huffington Post, Boston Globe, Yahoo.com, Boston Magazine). This was the final boost of confidence that Mark needed. The rest is history. Now in LA pursuing his dream full-time, this is MarkJoseph. Mark’s inspiration is his mom who lost her battle with cancer in February 2020. “She raised 3 children on her own-in America-as a Haitian woman who did not have English as her first language. She is superwoman to me whether she is here or not. Her work ethic and will to win is my inspiration. Everything I do is for her.”

Samora Pinderhughes

Samora Pinderhughes is a composer/pianist/vocalist known for striking intimacy and carefully crafted, radically honest lyrics alongside high-level musicianship. He is also known for his use of music to examine sociopolitical issues and fight for change. He has collaborated and performed with many artists across boundary and scene including Sara Bareilles, Glenn Ligon, Daveed Diggs, Lalah Hathaway, Herbie Hancock and many more. A Sundance Composers Lab fellow, Samora scored the award-winning documentary “Whose Streets?” and the Field of Vision film Concussion Protocol. He is a member of Blackout for Human Rights, the arts & social justice collective founded by Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, and was musical director for their #MLKNow and #JusticeForFlint events. Samora is currently getting his PhD at Harvard University in the Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry program under the direction of Vijay Iyer.