Fabiola Méndez
Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola Méndez began playing the cuatro, a 5-double string traditional guitar of Puerto Rico, when she was 6 years old.
She was a student at the Hogar del Cuatro Puertorriqueño, the Humacao Musical Institute, the Antonio Paoli School of Music in Caguas, the Conservatorio de Artes del Caribe, and Berklee College of Music, where in 2018 she graduated as the first student to play the Puerto Rican cuatro as principal instrument.
She has worked with organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Celebrity Series of Boston, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance in Chicago, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, among many others. She has collaborated with artists such as the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Totó La Momposina, Pedro Capó, Andy Montañez, Victoria Sanabria, Cucco Peña, Decimanía de Puerto Rico, Danny Rivera, Chicago Philharmonic, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.
Her list of recordings include: the Banco Popular Special Eco (2008), Fabiola Méndez and Herencia Criolla (2009), Ready for Departure (2014), Cuatro Sinfónico (2019), Al Otro Lado Del Charco (2019), and Afrorriqueña (2021), the last three being cataloged as part of the best 20 productions of 2019 and 2021 consecutively, according to the National Foundation for Popular Culture. In 2022, she produced her first documentary "Negrura", showcasing Afro-Latinx stories in topics around colorism and discrimination within our own communities.
In recent years, she’s had the honor of receiving recognition such as the Quincy Jones Award, ambassador for the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC, a motion from the PR House of Representatives as the first cuatro player to graduate from Berklee, the Brother Thomas Fellowship 2021, the Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship 2022, and the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award 2022.
Currently, Fabiola and her trio present her original music nationally and internationally. She is an artist in residence for the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, a fellow for Whippoorwill Arts, and a composer for children's animated series, including PBS Kids shows Alma's Way and Work It Out Wombats, and HBO Max's Mecha Builders, produced by Sesame Street.
LISA COOPER HOLMES is the Proprietor, Queen, and “Choco Boss” of the fabulous Haute Chocolate in downtown Montgomery. Lisa’s journey into chocolate began in 1979 here in Cincinnati, when her quests to make the perfect brownie and to put a unique spin on chocolate truffles converged. Thus began her chocolate boutique in Cincinnati, opening with just two products: brownies and truffles. Lisa and her elves have been tempting Cincinnatians for more than 30 years, marketing over 60 unique products of her exquisite creation throughout the country. For those who inquire, the logo for Haute Chocolate features a pig – named Reginald. He was inspired by the “truffle pigs” in Europe who sniff out the best truffles for culinary preparation.
Michael Collins is a White House correspondent for USA Today. He has been a Washington-based reporter for over 20 years, first with Scripps Howard News Service, where he covered Congress and other issues for Scripps' papers in Ohio, Kentucky, California, and Tennessee. He has been with USA Today for eight years and covered the White House for the past five years. As a White House correspondent, he has reported from France, Italy, Poland, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Before arriving in the nation’s capital, Collins was a reporter for The Cincinnati Post and its sister paper, The Kentucky Post in Covington. He spent five years in Frankfort, Ky., as The Kentucky Post’s state capital bureau chief, where he covered the governor and the legislature. He also served as night city editor and editorial writer. A native of Whitesburg, Ky., he is a 1984 graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and served as editor of the student newspaper, the College Heights Herald. He is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and the recipient of the 2019 College Heights Herald Award for outstanding contributions in journalism.
Maryanne Zeleznik came to 91.7 WVXU in 2005 from WNKU where she served as News and Public Affairs Director for 20 years. At WVXU, she is responsible for all news and public affairs programming, hosts 
