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Ron Onesti is president and founder of St. Charles, Illinois – based Onesti Entertainment Corporation, producing over 200 concerts, corporate events, casino shows and festivals annually all over the United States.
Won three Emmys for “The Happiness Club,” a PBS special highlighting the singing, dancing and choreography by inner city kids against drugs and violence.
Hosts PBS WTTW Channel 11’s on air pledge drives
Produces over 200 live shows a year at the historic Arcada Theatre, with major acts such as Mickey Rooney, Pat Benatar, Toto, Joan Rivers, Bret Michaels, Luke Bryan, Jerry Lewis, Martin Short and Kevin Costner.
Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of three medals recognized by Congress
Writes a weekly column, “Backstage with Ron Onesti,” in the Daily Herald, one of the publications most read and shared features
Produces. outdoor Italian festivals annually all over the United States, each drawing thousands of visitors who experience live Italian entertainment, authentic food, and Italian merchandise to celebrate Italian culture and tradition
Serves on the Board of Directors at the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau, longtime leader in the Italian American community, serving the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA), which serves as a congress for the Chicagoland Italian American organizations and represents the community on a local, state, national and international level, The Chicago Italian American Charitable Organization (CIACO), a charitable organization that annually gives thousands of dollars in scholarship to deserving entry level college students of any race, gender, religious affiliation or national origin, Columbus Day Queen pageant committee and annual Columbus Day Parade committee; event emcee for Anderson Animal Shelter Annual Gala and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), fundraisers.
President, CEO and Founder of Onesti Entertainment Corporation, with more than 100 employees and three venues.
Frequent contributor to television’s ME-TV, WGN, PBS, and radio’s The Mancow Show, and WGN’s Bill and Wendy show.

As drummer for Vanilla Fudge, Carmine Appice set the grooves for the groundbreaking band‘s 1967 psychedelic debut, inadvertently inventing Stoner Rock in the process. The Fudge had no precedent. The band was totally unique. No rock group, up until that point, had ever so lugubriously s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out well-known pop tunes like the Beatles “Eleanor Rigby” and “Ticket To Ride,” Curtis Mayfield‘s “People Get Ready,” Sonny & Cher‘s “Bang Bang” Rod Argent‘s “She‘s Not There” and, most famously, The Supremes‘ Motown classic “You Keep Me Hangin‘ On” to such hippie heights. With Mark Stein‘s mysterioso wash of Grand Guignol keyboard theatrics, Tim Bogert‘s amazing and trippy bass runs, and guitarist Vince Martell‘s era-happy soloing, Appice boomed like no other drummer in rock history. Their debut album still stands today as a Hard Rock classic. Vanilla Fudge went on to tour with Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and even had Led Zeppelin as an opening act.

Post-Fudge, Bogert and Appice formed Cactus (seen as an influence on King‘s X and Van Halen). Post-Cactus, the rhythm section found Grammy-winning Guitar Hero Jeff Beck to form the first supergroup: Beck, Bogert & Appice (BBA).

One of the premier showmen in rock, Appice became known worldwide for his astonishing live performances, in addition to becoming a highly sought-after session drummer, recording with countless artists throughout his career. In ‘76, he joined Rod Stewart‘s band, touring, recording and writing two of Stewart‘s biggest hits, “Do Ya Think I‘m Sexy’ and “Young Turks.’ He left Stewart to record his first solo album, “Rockers’, and tour Japan and North America with an allstar band. . In the early 80’s, he toured with OZZY Osborne ,Ted Nugent . In the mid 80’s, he formed King Kobra for two Capitol albums and international touring And in the late 80’s, Carmine played on a Pink Floyd record “Momentary Lapse of Reason’ and formed Blue Murder with Whitesnake‘s John Sykes and The Firm‘s Tony Franklin. In the early 90s, he pounded away soul-style for The Edgar Winter Group.

As an educator, Carmine was the first to legitimize rock drumming with his landmark book, The Realistic Rock Drum Method, selling over 400,000 copies (now in video format). He was the first Rock Drummer and Rock Musician to conduct instructional clinics and symposiums around the world.
He is credited with influencing later rock drummers including Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain, Aerosmith's Joey Kramer, Roger Taylor of Queen, Phil Collins of Genesis, Rush's Neil Peart, Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Richard Christy, Chris Grainger,[3] David Kinkade, Ray Mehlbaum, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Anvil's Robb Reiner and Eric Singer of Kiss.

His best-selling drum instruction book The Realistic Rock Drum Method.[4] was first published in 1972 and has since been revised and republished as The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method.[5] It covers the basic subjects of rock rhythms and polyrhythms, linear rudiments and groupings, shuffle rhythms, hi-hat and double bass drum exercises.

Appice took up the drums at the age of nine, taking lessons from the same teacher as his brother Carmine Appice. When he was sixteen, Appice and his band BOMF met John Lennon at Record Plant Studios. Lennon took a liking to the group and used them as a backing band in several performances, including the final one before his death. He moved on to record with Rick Derringer on Derringer (1976), Sweet Evil (1977), and Derringer Live (1977), before forming his own band Axis and recording It's A Circus World (1978).

Appice joined Black Sabbath during the tour in support of the Heaven and Hell album in 1980. He was quickly brought in to replace original drummer Bill Ward, who quit the band mid-tour due to personal issues. Appice arrived for his first show with Black Sabbath at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii with his entire drum kit packed into the back of a car.[2] He was forced to learn the band's songs on stage, using hastily written crib notes for each unfamiliar song. A sudden rain storm made the ink run on Vinny's notes. According to an interview conducted at NAMM in 2012, Vinny stated that at the end of the show during the bows he tossed the notebook into the crowd. Appice subsequently appeared on the Black Sabbath albums Mob Rules (1981) and Live Evil (1982).

In late 1982 he left Black Sabbath along with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and formed the band Dio. They recorded Holy Diver (1983), The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Intermission (1986), and Dream Evil (1987). In December 1989 Appice left Dio and briefly teamed up with Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson in the band Flesh & Blood.

After joined World War III in 1990, in 1992 he returned to Black Sabbath for the Dehumanizer album and tour. "I like Vinny – he's a nice chap," Tony Iommi reflected to the Sabbath fanzine Southern Cross. "Vinny was asked to continue with the Sabbath thing, but he didn't. I like Vinny's playing."Appice rejoined Dio and they recorded Strange Highways (1994) and Angry Machines (1996).

Prior to the 1996 tour, Appice played drums for Las Vegas–based guitarist, Raven Storm, on his album The Storm Project, which also involved long-time Dio engineer and producer, Angelo Arcuri. Arcuri was also a childhood friend of the Appice brothers.

In 2005 Appice appeared on a rap recording by Circle of Tyrants, whose lineup included Necro, Ill Bill, Goretex, and Mr Hyde, also collaborating with Alex Skolnick. Appice played two shows in Las Vegas with the Sin City Sinners in October 2009. Appice rejoined his Black Sabbath bandmates Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi in 2006 as Heaven & Hell, touring and releasing one studio album, The Devil You Know, before Dio's death in 2010.

In 2006 he recorded the CD Dinosaurs, together with Carl Sentance, Carlos Cavazo and Jeff Pilson. The CD was produced by guitarist-musician Andy Menario (leader of Martiria band) and featured lyrics written by Italian poet Marco Roberto Capelli, who is also Martiria's lyricist.

He is currently participating in "Drum Wars" shows with his brother Carmine, which feature a guest appearance from vocalist Paul Shortino.

Appice formed the band Kill Devil Hill with former Down and Pantera bassist Rex Brown, guitar slinger Mark Zavon and lead vocalist Dewey Bragg. Kill Devil Hill's self-titled debut album was released May 22, 2012, via Steamhammer/SPV and landed at No. 9 on the Billboard Top New Artist Albums (HeatSeekers) Chart, No. 41 on the Top Hard Music Chart and No. 50 on the Independent Album Chart.

Following the death of Dio frontman Ronnie James Dio in 2010, the original lineup of Vinny Appice on drums, Jimmy Bain on bass, Vivian Campbell on guitar and Claude Schnell on keyboards reunited along with vocalist Andrew Freeman to perform covers of Dio songs they originally recorded.

On November 25, 2013, it was announced that Appice had formed a new band called WAMI, which features vocalist Doogie White, bassist Marco Mendoza, and 16-year-old Polish guitarist Iggy Gwadera.[5] On February 12, 2014, the upcoming album title was revealed to be Kill the King, due for release in the spring.[6] On February 25, the album cover and track listing were revealed.

On March 10, 2014, it was announced that Appice had left Kill Devil Hill, and that former Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly was his replacement.

Last in Line began recording tracks for a new album of original material in April 2014, followed by the release of a snippet of the new track "Devil in Me" in June. The album, produced by former Dio bassist, Jeff Pilson, was announced to have an expected release date in early 2016.

In early 2014 Appice joined hard rock band Hollywood Monsters where he played on the album Big Trouble (on 8 tracks out of 11) which was released in 2014 on Mausoleum Records. The album features Steph Honde on vocals and guitars, Tim Bogert on bass, Don Airey on keyboards and Paul Di'Anno on lead vocals on the bonus track. The same year, Appice was a guest performer on Eli Cook's album, Primitive Son.

In 2015, it was announced that Appice will appear on the EP "Mainly Songs About Robots" by Australian progressive rock band Toehider, to be released in September 2015.[11] One week later on 17 November, Last in Line released a music video for their premiere single "Devil in Me", and announced that their debut album, entitled Heavy Crown would be released on 19 February 2016. The band will release a studio album of original material without Schnell. The same year, Appice was invited to play drums for a new project of Whitesnake and former Night Ranger guitarist Joel Hoekstra, called Joel Hoekstra's 13, with an album called Dying to Live, released on October 16.

On September 30, the new Resurrection Kings band was announced. The band is formed by Appice with former Dio guitarist Craig Goldy, Sean McNabb on bass and Chas West on vocals.

On January 18, 2017 Vinnie was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History for his contributions to Heavy Metal drumming.

Rich Jorn comes from a theatre background, with a bachelor of fine arts in theatre from Arkansas State University, and has worked several positions within the performing arts/entertainment industry.
“Pretty much any job that happens in a theater has been my responsibility at some point in my career"
He is an experienced Artistic/Executive Director with a demonstrated history of success in the entertainment industry. Skilled in Talent Buying, Venue Management, Tour Management, Stage Lighting, Production Management, Musical Theatre, and Concert Production. Rich is currently the Executive Director of The RiverPark Center in Owensboro KY

Kristin Cobb has been a leader in the presenting arts world for fifteen years. She brings her own performance background, and love for live theatre to the table as well as a career in broadcast journalism. Having worked as an entertainment reporter and producer, fronted a small cover band, and toured with a national children's theatre company, Cobb understands the many sides to the business. She is currently the executive director for Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC. A state-of-the-art venue with a smaller intimate setting perfect for music and dance performances. She continues to be named one of the Top Power 50 in the Midlands by The Free Times; a Post and Courier Company that has been covering news, politics, arts and entertainment in Columba since 1987.

Michael Moran has been part of the Arts and Entertainment landscape in Stamford, CT for over 30 years! Mr. Moran has been with Stamford Center for the Arts-Palace Theatre over 20 years and currently serves as that organizations President and CEO. Prior to that Mike was Director of Operations with Trans-Lux/Crown Theatres for 13 years.

Michael brings a unique perspective and understanding to the business having started as the Box Office Manager and has been promoted through the organization. Mike believes collaboration is critical to success.

Mike understands that performing arts centers make good communities great communities. Stamford Center for the Arts is a nonprofit performing arts center with the mission to Entertain, Educate and Enrich! The Palace, built in 1927 is committed to presenting world class entertainment like Chicago, Tony Bennett, Steve Martin & Martin Short to name a few.

In addition Mike is a 2020 Westfair Communications C- Suite award recipient, serves at the President of the Consortium of Eastern Regional Theatres, is a member of the Connecticut Arts Alliance, the International Entertainment Buyers Association, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and is a commissioner on the City of Stamford’s Arts and Culture Commission.

Mike Musick has worked in the theatre and entertainment industry as an actor, musician, stage manager, writer, set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, sound designer, carpenter, producer, camera operator, event coordinator, director, booking agent, administrator, teacher and consultant. Musick holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre from Kansas State University, and a Master’s Degree in Arts Policy and Administration from The Ohio State University.

Artistic Director of The American Theatre and The Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center in Hampton, Virginia – part of the historical and beautiful Coastal Virginia. In Virginia, Richard presents over 50 artists each season in the historic American Theatre including Jennifer Holliday, Manhattan Transfer, Branford Marsalis, Sandra Bernhard, Darlene Love, Debby Boone, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, DeeDee Bridgewater and many more. Richard has been a professional theater director, presenter and producer for over 30 years. He began his career as Artistic Associate to the Tony-Nominated and Obie-Award winning Gerald Freedman (Artistic Director) and Victoria Bussert (Associate Director) at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. He spent several years in Philadelphia as Assistant Producing Artistic Director to Bernard Havard, at the internationally recognized Walnut Street Theatre and then later as Associate Artistic Director and Acting Artistic Director for the Prince Music Theater. As a director, he is a multiple nominee for the Philadelphia Barrymore Award for Dreamgirls, The Glass Menagerie and The Big Bang. He most recently directed Fiddler on the Roof for Virginia Repertory Theatre, which received 10 nominations for the Richmond Critics Circle Awards, including Best Director. His production of Dessa Rose at the Firehouse Theater Project, in Richmond won the 2013 Peoples Choice for Best Production. For several years, Richard was the Executive Director of CenterStage Foundation & Richmond CenterStage, central Virginia’s premiere Performing Arts Center. Nationally and regionally, he has served on several peer panels for Theatre Communications Group (TCG), National Alliance for Music Theatre (NAMT), APAP, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Massachusetts Arts Council, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. He holds a BFA from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio with an emphasis in Directing and Arts Administration and is a fellow of Leadership Philadelphia and a graduate of the PEW Charitable Trusts Emerging Arts Leadership program.

Jordan Cowan is a figure skater, cameraman and cinematographer, who specializes in filming figure skaters both on and off the ice. He has filmed on the ice for live televised skating shows and competitions. In the past, Jordan represented Team USA at international competitions and competed six times at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. He also competed and taught professionally as a ballroom dancer for four years.

Jordan’s passion for skating videography began after performing in a produced-for-TV skating show. He noticed the need for a ‘skating cameraman’, with trained eyes and abilities to gracefully compose figure skating to video. Jordan uses his experience as a dancer and an athlete to give him an edge over other trained camera operators, whether on or off the ice. His online videos, labeled as “On Ice Perspectives,” have over 100K followers across social media and receive millions of views a month.

Professionally, Jordan has filmed for ITV’s ‘Dancing On Ice’ in the UK, as the first ever skating camera operator for a live televised competition, skating with a bespoke broadcast rig for over 7 million viewers. Other camerawork includes filming for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s ‘The Thank You Canada Tour’, IMG’s 'Stars On Ice’, Bell Media’s ‘The Sports Network’, PBS’s ‘The World of Ice Dance International’, Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Crystal’, and many more. He has filmed for documentaries like GO FIGURE: The Randy Gardner Story, Nathan Birch’s The Next Ice Age, and an untitled documentary centered around LGBTQ figure skaters in New York. Elsewhere, Jordan has filmed personal projects with Olympians such as Michelle Kwan, Adam Rippon, Papadakis/Cizeron, and multiple World Champion synchronized skating teams. Other videography credits include Naadam Co.’s Spring 2018 Fashion Video Shoot and various dance classes for New York City dancers and choreographers.

Bryan Zellmer is currently the director of KU Presents! at Kutztown University and vice president of Pennsylvania Presenters. In addition to earning an MBA in marketing and Bachelor of Arts in theater, he’s been an arts administration professional for over twenty years with various organizations, covering four different states and with venues ranging in capacity from a small casino lounge to a ten thousand seat amphitheater. Bryan and his wife, a retired professional ballerina, are raising four school-aged children and manage a performing arts school together that they’ve owned for the past eighteen years.

Combining physical tricks with extreme memory skill, Sal has learned to understand the minds and reach of the tricks of the world’s best cheaters. Sal has taught his own brain to memorize a sequence in a deck of cards instantly. Give him a date from the 19th century, and he will be able to immediately tell you what day of the week it was

The iconic old school hip hop duo Tag Team released their debut single “Whoomp! There It Is.” in a historic Atlanta blizzard weeks ahead of Freaknic in the spring of 1993. Not too long after that, DC (The Brain Supreme) Glenn and Steve (Rolln) Gibson were #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and at the top of the Billboard sales charts. They took up residence there for the next 2 years shattering several Billboard records at the time. Next thing you know the childhood friends from Denver, CO now living in Atlanta, GA where on top of the music industry and traveling the world. They have become pop culture icons and ambassadors across every continent bringing worldwide attention to booty shake music from the south.

Richard Feldman is Vice President and General Manager, having joined the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina staff in 1998 as Operations Manager and moved into the Vice President/General Manager position in 2000. Feldman is responsible for scheduling and managing the facility, overseeing theatrical series, contracting venue rentals, coordinating the outreach festival series and booking and managing the presenting artist series. He has supervised casting & artistic contracting for the Arts Center for over 110 productions at the Arts Center.
Feldman has extensive experience in theater operations, including 10 years as stage manager of Atlanta's 800-seat Alliance Theater, as well as a variety of theaters all over the east coast, including the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., the Acting Company in New York, the Long Wharf Theater Company and the Hartford Stage Company, both in Connecticut. He also was the production manager for Theater of the Stars, a major regional musical theater company performing at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and the MUNY in St. Louis and Tim Barrett Designs, a design firm specializing in the film, television and music industries. Feldman was also stage manager for a number of events during the 1996 Olympics, including the Norwegian Arts Festival, Celebrate Africa, Caribbean Stage Mexico and Blues for an Alabama Sky.
He holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in stage management from the University of North Carolina School for the Arts, is a member of Actors Equity Association. He has taught producing & Audition workshops at Coastal Carolina University, The Growing Studio in New York and the South Carolina Theater Association. He was also the board chairman for the South Carolina Presenters Network and on the board of Congregation Beth Yam.

“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.” – Mark Twain
Who is Joyce Maddox? Joyce Maddox is an Independent Contractor with her own company Gia Marie Consulting in Los Angeles California. Maddox's most recent position was Cultural Arts Manager for the City of Redondo Beach, California. Maddox has a passion for the Arts and has worked at East West Players Theater, Los Angeles Theatre Center, William Grant Still Arts Center and Wilshire Ebell in Los Angeles California, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Dallas Texas, and Miramar Cultural Center, Miramar Florida. Maddox's love for the Arts started at age five while attending the Musical, Hello Dolly with the legendary Pearl Bailey at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. Maddox's career in the Arts started while interning at the Inner-City Cultural Center under the Direction of the late C. Bernard Jackson where she had the opportunity to work with Artists such as Glynn Thurman, Ted Lange, Bea Richards, Denzel Washington, Mako, and more. Maddox has worked on great projects in Film, Television, and Stage in the capacity of Stage Manager, Production Manager, Second AD, Script Supervisor, Director and Arts Administrator. Maddox loves classical music, Ed Sheeran, Dance, and Musicals. Maddox is the proud mother of two Doggie fur babies Tootsie and Lucy. Her hope for the future “May the Arts once again flourish and become the Rhythm of our Hearts”.

Ms. Mendoza identifies talent, contracts with performers
and agents, collaborates with other arts presenters in block booking arrangement, and coordinates set-up and
presentation of performance events. While teaching theater to high school and college students for over 20
years, Christy understands the technical requirements of visiting artists as well as the characteristics of
available venues, and is able to bring talent and technical support together to produce optimal results in
audience participation and enjoyment. A New Mexico native, Ms. Mendoza has been the artistic director for
the Cultural Arts Series since its inception in 2000, and has earned the gratitude and respect of Cultural Arts
Series advisory board members, patrons, and sponsors. She is a member of the Association for Performing
Arts Presenters, New Mexico Arts Presenters Alliance, and has served as a panelist for New Mexico Arts in
other funding categories.