Contributing Artists
Andy Georges
Stringed Instruments
Andy has been recording with Richard and Jay for many years. He and Richard were the founding members of the rock project Tiger and the Helix that toured Europe and Eastern Canada in the mid-nineties. Andy does a lot of film score and session work in southern CA and produces his own rock project ‘The Beggarwoods‘
George Bernardo
Stringed Instruments
George met Richard in the Tampa Bay area, and became part of an acoustic offshoot of the Tiger and the Helix project before moving to southern CA at the beginning of the ‘Twirl’ sessions. He is extremely active in the southern CA live music scene, studio production, and tours internationally in with the band Cash’d Out. George is one of the busiest musicians we know.
Doug Lunn
1954-2017 (bass)
Doug was one of Southern California’s most seasoned bass players, and his reputation as a consummate artist is well established. He was the music director for Peter Buffett’s ‘Spirit Dance‘ project, and in 2011 put out his solo album The Doug Lunn Project, featuring Vinnie Colaiuta, Dimitris Mahlis and George Bernardo. Doug was a tremendous asset to all the projects he contributed to, and his influence goes beyond music as one of those rare humans, whose example and integrity spoke volumes.
Li Hsuan Wei (Taiwan)
In 2024 AO Music released their seventh studio album, featuring children’s choirs from Wales, UK and Asheville, NC. Li Hsuan Wei is introduced on this release playing handpan on the song ‘Nata Ire Pan’. The album also features Varijashree Venugopal and Smitha HM from Bangalore.
Nadishana (Siberia)
multi-instrumentalist
Richard invited Nadishana to record on several AO Music tracks. He is one of the world’s finest ethnic fusion artists and can be heard on his own project The Nadishana Trio. Read our 2017 feature on Nadishana here.
Julie Fowlis (Scottish Highlands)
vocalist
Julie appeared on AO’s 2017 album release “Asha” performing one of her own compositions, and her vocal renditions of Scottish traditional music are melting hearts around the globe. She is also a wicked Celtic whistle player. Read our 2017 feature on Julie here.
Varijashree Venugopal (Vari)
Jazz vocalist and bansuri player
Vari is a Jazz vocalist and bansuri player. She has toured with amongst others legendary Jazz bass player Victor Wooten, and Texas-bred/New York-based quasi-collective and multiple Grammy Award winner Snarky Puppy. Vari appears on numerous cuts on the album Kutumba.
Smitha H M:
violinist and vocalist
Smitha is a violinist and vocalist in the Carnatic genre. One of India’s finest Carnatic violin prodigies, she is the granddaughter of Veteran Violinist Sri. A V Venkatanarayana. Smitha performs the violin on “Little Watchers”, track 2 on the album Kutumba.
Sujay Harthi
vocalist
Sujay is the lead vocalist for one of south India’s most prominent fusion bands, Bangalore-based Pepal Tree. Sujay performs on track 8, “Kai Holo” on the album Kutumba.
Neha Kakkar (Mumbai)
vocalist
Neha was invited by Sandeep Chowta to perform on the track that he brought to the AO drawing board – “O Re Piya” from our 2013 album release “Hokulea”. Her vocal performance with Miriam Stockley on that track received wide international acclaim.
Sang Ding Duo Jie “Sunny” (Yushu, China)
vocalist
We discovered this amazing Tibetan singer while recording children high in the Himalayas of Yushu for our 2017 album release “Asha”. His vocal ability is mesmerizing, and we’ll be recording a lot of him in the future. Read our 2017 feature on Sang Ding Duo Jie here
Sonu Kakkar (Mumbai)
vocalist
Sonu (Mumbai, India) was invited to Sandeep Chowta’s studio during the Aomusic Mumbai sessions in 2004. She is featured singing solo on the verses of ‘Obayo’ from our 2009 song collection ‘Twirl’.
Ashwin Srinivasan
Indian flutes
Ashwin (Mumbai, India) is one of India’s legendary instrumentalists, introduced to us by our astute colleague Sandeep Chowta. He is featured in several AO Music cuts, and you can read our 2017 feature on Ashwin here.
Kimba Arem
Didgeridoo
Kimba (Boulder, CO) tours internationally and uses her talent as a means to transform and heal. She is featured on all AO Music album releases since 2009, and is involved in some very interesting and important projects, which you can read about in our 2017 feature on Kimba here.
Emily Tessmer
Vocals
Emily (Lake Taho, CA) is a wonderfully authentic artist, and her healing music style continues to inspire hearts around the globe. She has since put her musical passion into world music, and her current award-winning group Orenda Blu has two albums on the Paradise Music label.
Mark Holland (St. Louis, MO)
Native American Flute
Mark is one of several true artists preserving the Native American Flute tradition today, and his first contribution to the music of AO was on our 2017 album release “Asha”, where he performed on the song “Quixote”. Read our 2017 feature on Mark here
Al Jewer and Andy Mitran (Ohio)
Native American flute, percussion, mallets
Al and Andy are a talented duo and veterans at producing music for relaxation and healing. They lent their mastery to the track “The Inbound Trail” on our 2017 release “Asha”. Read our 2017 feature on Al na Andy here
Peter Mayer
acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Peter (Nashville, TN) is an extraordinary artist and prolific song-writer. He tours his own project and is Jimmy Buffett‘s guitar player. Peter is featured in the songs ‘Chameleon Makebelieve’ and ‘Those Eyes’ from our ‘Grow Wild’ album
Michael "Piper" Cooney
Irish pipes and whistles
Mike (Tipperary, Ireland) has been winning national piper championships in Ireland since he was a boy. He is featured in ‘Ena Na Lena’ from our “…and Love Rages On!” album. In Richard words; “Nowhere have I found a more gracious and authentic artist”.
Susan Craig Winsberg
flutes
Susan (Los Angeles, CA) is a classically trained session musician on the US west coast, and is featured in “Little Dove’s Reel” from our 2000 debut album, “Grow Wild”. She also performs locally as her own Celtic ensemble.