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Michael McLaughlin is a pianist, accordionist, arranger, and composer for the Klezmer ensemble Shirim and the experimental Klezmer group Naftule's Dream. Performances on such stages as the Berlin Jazz Festival ('99), the Texaco Jazz Festival ('97, '98) as well as the Ashkenaz New Jewish Music Festival ('96, '98). Michael holds an MM in Composition from Tufts University ('99) where he studied with John McDonald, and a BM in composition from Berklee College of Music in 1993. He is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grand Award in composition for 2001.

Ellen Kushner is a novelist, performer and public radio personality who unites her talents as host of WGBH Radio's series, *Sound & Spirit*. A weekly series of hour-long radio programs produced by WGBH Radio Boston and distributed by Public Radio International, *Sound & Spirit* explores the human spirit through music and ideas. Bringing an intellectual openness, a keen ear, a lush voice and a genuine enthusiasm to each show, Kushner has deftly crafted *Sound & Spirit* into what Bill Moyers calls "the best program on public radio, bar none." *Sound & Spirit* weaves history, myth, and spiritual traditions together with music to take listeners on a journey around the world and through the ages. Ellen Kushner as a fiction editor for New York publishing houses and later as a freelancer. She relocated to Boston and joined WGBH Radio in 1987, creating an eclectic music mix for *NightAir*, keeping overnight audiences entertained with an unusual blend of classical and contemporary music. On Sunday afternoons she hosted *Caravan*, a mix of folk and world music. Ellen's national radio debut came when she was cast as the irreverent host of the *Nakamichi International Music Series* of classical concert music. Ellen then created three award-winning Jewish radio specials for PRI that quickly became listener favorites. In April 1996, Ellen and her team first launched *Sound & Spirit* on the national airwaves.

Howard Dean served as governor of Vermont from 1991 until 2003, and was a Democratic candidate for president in 2004. Dean had previously worked as a physician; he earned an undergraduate degree from Yale in 1971 and a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. He then moved to Vermont and opened a medical practice with his wife, Dr. Judith Steinberg.

James A. Baker was appointed Secretary of State on January 22, 1989, and served until August 23, 1992. Baker brought almost two decades of experience in politics, both behind the scenes and in key administration positions with him to the State Department. As Secretary of State, Baker successfully oversaw United States foreign policy during the end of the Cold War, as well as during the First Persian Gulf War. Born in Texas on April 28, 1930, Baker attended prep school in Pennsylvania, and went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1952. Following a two-year active rotation in the United States Marine Corps from 1952 to 1954, Baker received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1957. He practiced law at the firm of Andrews and Kurth, but it was not until the early 1970s that he became involved in politics. Through the influence of his first wife, Baker became involved in the Republican Party and began a long political relationship with George H.W. Bush. Baker chaired Bush's unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1970. In 1971 Baker became the Finance Chairman of the Republican Party and played a significant regional role in President Nixon's reelection. During the Ford Administration he was appointed Under Secretary of Commerce. During the second Reagan Administration, Baker simultaneously served as Secretary of the Treasury and as Chairman of the President's Economic Council. Baker served as Secretary of State in George H.W. Bush's cabinet from January 22, 1989 until August 23, 1992, when he was appointed Senior Counselor and White House Chief of Staff for President Bush. Baker continues to be active in politics and U.S. foreign policy.

Joan Baez was born in Staten Island, New York. She grew up in New York and California, and when her father took a faculty position in Massachusetts, she attended Boston University and began to sing in coffeehouses and small clubs. Bob Gibson invited her to attend the 1959 Newport Folk Festival where she was a hit. In 1960, Vanguard Records signed Baez and released her first album, *Joan Baez*. Baez was known for her soprano voice, her haunting songs, and, until she cut it in 1968, her long black hair. Early in her career she performed with Bob Dylan, and they toured together in the 1970's. Subjected to racial slurs and discrimination in her own childhood because of her Mexican heritage and features, Joan Baez became involved with a variety of social causes early in her career, including civil rights and nonviolence. She was sometimes jailed for her protests. Early in her career, Joan Baez stressed historical folk songs, adding political songs to her repertoire during the 1960s. Later, she added country songs and more mainstream popular music, though always including many songs with political messages. She supported such organizations as Amnesty International and Humanitas International. Joan Baez continues to speak and sing for peaceful solutions to violence in the Middle East and Latin America.

In 1961, George Geesey became the first manager of WAMU-FM in Washington, DC. He brought this network experience with him when he became the Director of Operations (and Engineering) at National Public Radio. In 1976, he was assigned to the Satellite Interconnection System Project Office (SISPO) as Radio Coordinator.

Edmund Barry Gaither is the founding Director and Curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA), an organization that he developed from a concept to an institution with collections exceeding three thousand objects and a thirty-two year history of exhibitions celebrating the visual arts heritage of black people worldwide. Gaither is also Special Consultant at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston where he has served as curator for eight exhibitions including a ground breaking show in l970, Afro-American Artists: New York and Boston. A world-wide traveler, Gaither has studied and lectured in Europe, Africa, Russia and the Caribbean. He has published many articles and essays and has been a leader In the Museum field. He was the first president of the African American Museums Association. Gaither headed the national committee that commissioned the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. and has consulted to the National Endowment for the Arts. Gaither was educated at Morehouse College, Georgia State University and Brown University. Among his many honors is the Commonwealth Award for Organizational Leadership, Massachusetts’ highest award in the arts. Gaither has received honorary doctorates from Northeastern University, Framingham State College and Rhode Island College.

President Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, three months after his father died in a traffic accident. When he was four years old, his mother wed Roger Clinton, of Hot Springs, Arkansas. In high school, he took the family name. Clinton was graduated from Georgetown University and in 1968 won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1973, and entered politics in Arkansas. Clinton was elected Arkansas Attorney General in 1976, and won the governorship in 1978. After losing a bid for a second term, he regained the office four years later, and served until he defeated incumbent George Bush and third party candidate Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential race.