Palo Alto World Music Day

Palo Alto World Music Day was started by an initiative of Palo Alto residents Claude Ezran & Olana Khan

Claude Ezran
Claude Ezran, a high-tech executive, has been a resident of Palo Alto for the past 18 years. He has long been involved in the PTA and the community, and currently serves as a member of the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission. Several years ago, while vacationing in France, Claude had the opportunity to witness World Music Day (known there as Fête de la Musique) in the country where it originated. He enjoyed the musical diversity and the contagious enthusiasm of the crowds and musicians so much that he decided to bring this fantastic idea back to Palo Alto. Claude’s musical preferences include: classical music, opera, tango music, and music from around the world.

Olana Hirsch Khan
Olana Hirsch Khan is a proud Palo Alto citizen and parent. She is currently serving an appointed position as a Human Relations Commissioner, and also participates in several citizen committees around Palo Alto. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York where every day is considered World Music Day on the street and in the subway. She loves the dancing to the Wiggles with her son and enjoys a personal range of music from the Symphony to Hip Hop and East Coast Rap.

Aodh Og O'Tuama and Christy Martin aka Four Shillings Short : www.fourshillingsshort.com
Aodh Og O'Tuama of Cork, Ireland has been a resident of Palo Alto since 1983. He did his Graduate work in Medieval and Renaissance performance at Stanford University, co-founded the folk music group Four Shillings Short in 1985, worked as resident Sound Designer for Theaterworks in Palo Alto for 14 years and worked for the City of Palo Alto at the Lucie Stern Theatre and for the Brown Bag and Twilight Concert series.

Christy Martin of San Diego has lived in Palo Alto since 1995. She trained in North Indian Classical music on the Sitar with a student of Ravi Shankar.
She also plays hammered dulcimer, mandolins, banjo and many other stringed instruments and is a songwriter.

Since 1995 Four Shillings Short have been touring in the US and Ireland performing Celtic, Folk and World music on over 20 instruments.

Kris Yenney:
Kris Yenney, cellist at large and Director of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra’s “SuperStrings” and Prep divisions, has been making music in Palo Alto since first receving a half-sized cello and private lessons with Irene Sharp at the age of eight. Since then, she has traveled the world, performing and studying both European Classical and Traditional musics from many lands. As a sought-after concert-cellist, Kris has worked with many diverse Artists and Organizations locally, from San Francisco’s Left Coast Ensemble, San Jose’s Symphony, Chamber Orchestra and Opera Orchestras, the Midsummer Mozart Festival, West Bay Opera and TheatreWorks. She has shared stages and more intimate venues with Yo-Yo Ma, Terry Riley, Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart and Lyle Lovett.

In her capacity as Director of both orchestras and choirs (she directs an adult chamber choir, the “M’EarthTones,” as well as the PACO ensembles), Kris has performed locally, and in Ashland Oregon, Potsdam, Prague, Budapest, Leipzig & Vienna. With the locally grown Celtic - Medieval Band “Broceliande”, the Irish trio “Biddy Early’s Bottle”, the Cello/Piano Duos “A Capriccio”, “Trio Con Brio” and “Equivox”, Kris can be seen and heard regularly singing, playing her cello, and sundry stringed instruments from her growing collection.