WEEKLY PERFORMERS
Minnesota is home to a diverse and vibrant music scene and the Arts@MSP Program is proud to bring over 1000 live music performances per year to MSP travelers. The Performing Arts Roster is composed of 19 local performing artists bringing a wide range of performances including classical, soul, R&B, jazz, Greek, Turkish, folk, Latin, and more. Whether you need a boost or a break during your travels you can catch nearly 20 live performances every week at MSP across both Terminals 1 and 2, post-security.
NATHAN BARCLAY
Nathan Barclay, aka the “Master of Keys”, is a self-taught musician with a developmental disability. Nathan started playing the piano when he was just 5 years old. He doesn’t read music, but he knows more than 100 songs by ear, which he learns by watching YouTube videos and matching the sound. Nathan enjoys sharing his talent with others and is lucky to be able to showcase this talent through his employment. Nathan has stated, “I strongly believe everybody can in fact work, no matter what your disability is.”
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JANIE BECKER
Pianist Janie Becker is a native of Southwestern Minnesota. She has been an active composer, performer, church musician and private instructor in the Minneapolis area since her graduation from the College of St. Benedict. Janie has been arranging, and composing original music for piano, since 2000. She currently has two Christmas collections, Angels and The Holly and the Ivy, a collection of American favorites entitled HeartSong America, a collection of Irish favorites entitled HeartSong Ireland and three collections of original piano solos, Ports of Call, Forever Friends, and Echoes of Love.
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DAVID BILLINGSLEY
Billingsley is a versatile and extremely talented keyboardist, composer, bandleader, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, and educator. A Racine, Wisconsin, native living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Billingsley is founder and executive director of The Billingsley School of Music and Arts, an academy that offers K-12 students access to arts education. Billingsley also tours the World as Keyboardist and Background Singer for Stokley formerly of Grammy Nominated R&B Group, Mint Condition.
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PAT CARLSON
Pat Carlson, is an accomplished pianist and harpist. In 2007, after a very successful 42-year career as a flight attendant with Northwest Airlines, she retired. At that time, she pursued her life long ambition to become a professional harpist/pianist, song writer, composer, and recording artist. She presently has five beautifully creative CDs available for your easy listening enjoyment. Her harp and keyboard music have been used as relaxing background music by numerous national businesses. Her music has been featured in several documentary films.
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RYAN CHARLES CIHLAR
After several trips to Europe, Ryan fell in love with classical music and the elegant sounds of the Old World. These adventures inspired Ryan to pick up the vintage accordion that he inherited from his grandfather, who brought it home from Germany during his tenure in World War 2. Since then, Ryan has devoted himself to revitalizing the sounds of this fascinating instrument that has all but disappeared from mainstream music. Today Ryan provides a blissful escape to those who wish to experience the same music that has been so transformative in his own life.
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STEVE CLARKE
Steve is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and educator, playing a variety of wind instruments including Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone saxophones, Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, and Bass Clarinet. He has 11 Minnesota Music Awards, 3 Grammy nominations, and hundreds of recordings in multiple genres including jazz, blues, RnB, rock, folk, new age, world, funk and soul under his own name and with local, regional and national artists. Steve has appeared in Downbeat magazine and is endorsed by Antigua Winds.
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NATE HANCE
Pianist and composer Nate Hance spreads his joy and love of music through his versatile and extensive repertoire, unique arrangements, and passion for sharing music with diverse communities. Whether he’s playing at weddings, corporate events, MSP airport, senior living communities or schools, Nate brings live music to any location that craves it! He ensures that everyone hears songs that evoke cherished memories and happily accepts song requests from any era or genre.
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TAYLOR JAMES DONSKEY
Taylor James Donskey plays classic American styles music, sharing everyday tales from everyday people. From subdued and gentle to the energetic and frenetic, he traverses the worlds of folk, alt-country, classic rock, and indie rock with every step he takes. He is deeply connected to the Minneapolis and St.Paul music scene working as an educator, side-man, session musician and organizer.
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GREG HERRIGES
Greg Herriges plays a mix of original and traditional “progressive world music” on guitar and bouzouki (Greek lute), with a unique approach honed by his studies of Asian, Middle Eastern, and other international styles. An award-winning composer and performer, his music and writing have found international recognition. Integrating Eastern and Western sounds, he spins new webs out of everything from Indian ragas and Turkish dances to Japanese folk and American surf-jazz. He is also a theater/film soundtrack artist and author of music books, but performing is his lifeblood. He is equally at home playing with cross-cultural ensembles or “letting one guitar play him.”
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CHRIS HOLM
Chris Holm is a country blues musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A fingerstyle guitar picker and harmonica player, Chris channels the high-spirited liveliness of Charley Patton, thumping on his suitcase drum, attacking his guitar strings with abandon, and shouting along in a gravelly howl, later to channel the lonesome sounds of a weeping slide guitar and a blue yodel.
Despite his Northern Minnesota roots, Chris’ has formed in intimate connection with the music of the American South. Born and raised in the small community of Clearbrook, population 580, near the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, the river’s musical heritage has made a strong impression on Chris throughout his life. Raised on the music of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, The Beatles, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, he eventually dug into the heroes of his own heroes and discovered a deep appreciation for country blues and hillbilly country music. Sprinkles of his Scandinavian heritage add a unique flavor to his music for a sound that’s both old and familiar yet fresh and original.
You may also catch Chris fronting his roots rock & roll band The Fattenin’ Frogs and psychedelic blues rock duo Heatwave & Landman.
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PAVEL JANY
The diversity and eclecticism in Pavel Jany‘s guitar playing have no boundaries, and his long musical journey encompasses many different genres from classical to jazz, Latin music, Gypsy jazz, bossa nova, and more. Pavel has been known to Minnesota audiences as a soloist and as a band leader of several local groups (Talking Strings, Ticket To Brasil and World Jazz Collegium) for nearly two decades, and his versatility is reflected in numerous collaborations with many local and international musicians. He has opened for such renowned artists as American jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson, Brazilian singer Cibelle, and the popular Grammy-nominated Brazilian Trio. In addition to a number of recordings with his groups, he had produced and released two solo albums.
Pavel Jany‘s music has been continuously featured on local radio stations Jazz 88 KBEM FM and KFAI Fresh Radio, and in several MN Public TV productions. Minnesota audiences can frequently enjoy Pavel‘s live performances at many local music venues, concert series and festivals.
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JAMES JOHNSON
James is a talented young man who was diagnosed with classic autism at age 2. By 4, James showed an interest in music and began piano lessons the following year. His first teacher identified him as having absolute (perfect) pitch. Even with this ability, James has required many hours of lessons, daily practice, and support to become a public performer. By age 16, he began volunteering his piano playing at local senior homes and hospitals. Since completing high school in 2018, James has been playing weekly at the MSP airport, a hospital, chapels, and many senior homes. He has also been attending a community college to improve his musical skills. In addition, since 2019, James has become an owner of the business AbiliKeys in Autism, advocating for those, like him, on their abilities.
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HEIDI NASBY
MSP travelers tell us that Heidi “makes a piano sing”, “brings such life to those keys”, and “makes the ordinary sound beautiful”. As an active composer and arranger of both contemporary and classical works, along with being a church musician, Heidi creatively reimagines cover songs in a variety of genres, and cites Jim Brickman, Lorie Line, Yanni, Philip Wesley, and Chad Lawson, along with Chopin and Debussy as her major influences. Primarily self-taught with only three collective years of formal instruction, Heidi learned to watch others play and listen well with perfect pitch to copy what they did and develop her own style. Heidi has transcribed music from professional recordings for vocal groups to perform and has recently published fourteen classical hymn arrangements for solo piano, with variations as piano duets with cello, violin, flugelhorn, and trumpet. New this Spring, Heidi has released her first choral work for SATB choir and piano, now available online along with her 2 albums: Classical Reflections, and Here I Am.
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HOLLY NELSON
Holly Nelson is an award winning artist who has shown in over fifty solo and group exhibitions throughout the Midwest. Her drawings and paintings are included in both public and private collections including the Bakken Museum, Health Partners, Hennepin Healthcare, Marriott Corporation, Minneapolis Veteran’s Administration and the University of Minnesota. She earned her art degree at the University of Minnesota.
Alongside her studio practice, Ms. Nelson has engaged with the community as a teaching artist for more than twenty years. She currently teaches drawing and painting to children in the Pediatrics department at Hennepin Healthcare, older adults who residing in care centers and low income apartments, and adults with developmental disabilities. Holly has also taught drawing and painting for many years at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. She loves working with a wide range of learners and guiding the growth of their art skills and creativity.
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DAN SCHWARTZ
Dan Schwartz is a Minnesota musician who plays roots-based, melody-driven tunes on harp guitart and lap steel. Dan earned a degree in American Finger-Style Guitar Performance from The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee where he dove deep into the works of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke. Dan has written and released nine CDs and has been featured on several internationally released acoustic guitar compilations including Narada Records Masters of Acoustic Guitar. His recordings have earned him a nomination for guitarists of the year (Minnesota Music Academy) and Folk/Roots album of the year (Mpls. St Paul Magazine). While Dan does enjoy sharing his music center stage, some of his favorite musical moments have been as a side-man for friends and folk heroes Neal and Leandra, Peter Mayer, and Dan Navarro (Lowen and Navarro). Dan’s latest recording, High Plains Gospel, is a collection of finger-style guitar tunes played on harp guitar and acoustic lap steel.
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JOEL SHAPIRA
Guitarist Joel Shapira is an internationally acclaimed musician residing in St. Paul/Minneapolis MN. He’s a leader and/or member of multiple top Twin Cities’ jazz ensembles, as well as a master of the demanding
discipline of solo guitar. He performs regularly with world class musicians, has over a dozen recordings to his credit, and is an artist featured on the NYC record label Unseen Rain Records.
In 2017, with the release of his first solo guitar recording In Essence, Shapira has received glowing accolades from critics in Vintage Guitar magazine, The Jazz Police, The Villager newspaper, as well as national radio airplay.
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JIM STEVENS
Jimmy Stevens is a native of Chicago who grew up listening to his father’s accordion and record collection of popular Polish and American music. Jimmy’s early music experiences took him from accordion to rock-n-roll organ and then finally to piano. His passion for the piano continues to this day through the different venues of performance, composition and arranging, and peer collaborations. Jimmy enjoys the challenge of playing arrangements that demonstrate the styles of extraordinary pianists of the past like George Shearing, Art Tatum, and Eddie Duchin. Hear him do exactly that on his 2019 CD titled, Gems of Their Treasure in My Hands.
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