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Rick Karr contributes reports on the arts to NPR News. He is a correspondent for the weekly PBS public affairs show Bill Moyers Journal and teaches radio journalism at Columbia University.

Devan Jaquez is currently the Principal Flutist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Devan received a Master of Music Degree in 2019 studying with Jim Walker. He received his Bachelor’s Degree of Art in Music Performance in the spring of 2017 from UCLA where he also received the Presser Scholar Award and studied with Sheridon Stokes.

While growing up in Pontiac, Michigan, John Habel was an avid listener to R&B, soul, rock and jazz on local radio. In 1980, when he and his wife, Dottie, moved to Knoxville, he continued his career as a special education teacher and therapist, working with emotionally disturbed children. In 1998, while completing his doctoral studies at UTK, and still a lover of music and of local radio, John leapt at the opportunity to become a jazz host at WUOT. In 1993, after four years at Pellissippi State Technical Community College in Knoxville, John joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Western Carolina University (WCU) in Cullowhee, NC, a position from which he retired in 2016. While at WCU, John lived and worked in Cullowhee during the week and spent weekends, holidays, and semester breaks with his family in Knoxville.

Taber Gable brings as many influences to the piano as possible. Gable at a young age started enjoying and applying many different styles which include Jazz, Gospel, Classical, Pop, R&B, Soul, Neo Soul and a variety of other genres. Taber started playing piano at the age of 9 in church and has gone on to receive a Bachelor’s in Jazz Studies from The University of Hartford where he had the opportunity to study with Andy LaVerne, Steve Davis, Rene McLean, Javon Jackson, Nat Reeves. He recently graduated The Juilliard School with his Masters in Jazz performance where he studied under Kenny Barron, Wynton Marsalis, and many more notable teachers.

Katharine Emlen first fell in love with world music when she was 11 years old and lived in Nakuru, Kenya. The daughter of a wildlife biologist, she lived in a small field station with no running water or electricity. Elephant, giraffe and zebra roamed freely outside her window and bats slept over her bed. She went to school with Kikuyu and Masai children who shared their stories an songs with her. This experience led to a life long love of cultures, travel and world music.

Emma Peaslee is a 2020-21 Kroc Fellow. Before coming to NPR, she reported for Atlanta's member station, WABE. She covered public forums about toxic chemicals leaking into neighborhoods, the world's largest 10K race, and the federal government's plan to resume executions. Peaslee has a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where her work received the 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for best student newscast. She is a Minnesota native.

A Knoxville native, Todd began working at WUOT in 2006 as jazz coordinator now serves as program director and host of Studio 865/Flipside, Improvisations and Changing Course. Todd's newest podcast is Improvisations to Go. Todd got his start in radio at WUTK, where he served as both news and music director while earning his undergraduate degree in journalism at UT. He later earned a master’s degree in education from UT and worked for several years in Programs Abroad. Todd was inducted into the East Tennessee Writer's Hall of Fame in 2023. He was also recently honored with the UT School of Journalism and Media2024 Alumni of the Year Award.

You can reach Todd at steed@wuot.org

Steve Newborn is WUSF's assistant news director as well as a reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.

Victoria Hansen is our Lowcountry connection covering the Charleston community, a city she knows well. She grew up in newspaper newsrooms and has worked as a broadcast journalist for more than 20 years. Her first reporting job brought her to Charleston where she covered local and national stories like the Susan Smith murder trial and the arrival of the Citadel’s first female cadet.

Arditi joins RIPR after more than three decades as a reporter, including 28 years at the ProJo, where she has covered a variety of beats, most recently health care. A native of New York City, she graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in government and has worked as a staff writer for The Center for Investigative Reporting in Washington, D.C. and as a reporter for the former Holyoke Transcript-Telegram in Massachusetts.