City Hearts team member since 2013

Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter, and Producer, Calvin Banks has collaborated, performed, and recorded with notable Artists such as Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers, and Big Mountain. In addition to his Artistic endeavors, Calvin is a passionate Teaching Artist sharing his knowledge and inspiring the next generation of musicians by connecting rich grassroots and traditional musical history with powerful social and literary context.

Calvin has established himself as a universal and dynamic performer within the industry. Calvin has released several albums that showcase his unique style and musical prowess, captivating audiences with his soulful melodies and intricate guitar work. Not limited to the music scene, Calvin has also ventured into film, lending his musical expertise to movie credits. His compositions and performances have added depth and emotion to cinematic experiences, further highlighting his Artistic versatility.

City Hearts team member since 2009

Karen Furno is an accomplished Actress, Singer, Dancer, and Teaching Artist. She has worked extensively as a Performer, Director, and Choreographer acting in television shows, commercials, and movies and performing nationwide, from summer stock to touring companies to repertory theatres. She last appeared onstage as Sarah in the Man Who Came to Dinner at the Actors Co-op. She played Dora in Equus at the Chandler Studio Theatre, which won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Revival and was a web series regular in Starz's The Hollywood Acting Studio. Her directing expertise has been seen in La Cañada Flintridge with the elementary schools' large-scale year-end performances at Lanterman Auditorium as well as with the National Tour of 1940's Radio Hour, which she also choreographed. Since 2009, she has taught various online and in-person Creative Dramatics classes for students of all ages with the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center and City Hearts.

City Hearts team member since 2023

Ayda is an Iranian-American Painter and Photographer. Her work explores the notions of displacement and impermanence in relation to the urban landscape. Aside from her Art practice, which has been exhibited internationally, Ayda has worked as an Art educator at LACMA and the Hammer Museum, mentoring Art teachers and young students across underserved communities in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from California State University, Northridge, and her M.F.A. from the University of Oxford.

City Hearts team member since 2022

Trained in Afro-Cuban and Modern Salsa Fusion styles by teachers worldwide, Erica Hyska educates with a great emphasis on fundamentals, technicality, and body movement. She has experience performing and assisting some of the top Salsa Dance teachers in Los Angeles. She has been supporting Salsa LA style On1 for the past four years. She also currently teaches New York-influenced Salsa from beginner to intermediate levels. She has professionally competed and performed at many Salsa Congresses and Festivals around the United States. She has prior experience as a certified yoga instructor, which helps her students develop body awareness. Erica is dedicated to helping her students grow, encourages asking questions, and values constructive feedback. Her passion is to share the knowledge she has gained with those who wish to learn this beautiful form of dance.

City Hearts team member since 2023

Quinlan Lewis-Mussa is an accomplished interdisciplinary Visual Artist and Musician with a focus in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking. Born in San Diego as the eldest of four daughters, she was raised to value creative expression, to be fair and be compassionate to everyone she encounters. In early high school, she was invited to attend Interlochen Arts Academy, the nation's premiere Arts boarding school, providing her the opportunity and resources to flourish and win awards in nationwide competitions such as YoungArts and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She went on to attend UCLA and participate in several gallery shows, most notably her solo exhibition entitled “Almost Magic.” Through the years, Quinlan’s Artwork has explored racial identity, an endless desire to belong, and the dichotomy between recognizing a need for change and simultaneously resisting it. She holds her B.A. in Art from UCLA.

City Hearts team member since 2022

Zharia O'Neal (she/her/hers) is a poet, playwright, and multi-medium storyteller from the British Virgin Islands. O'Neal is the William S. Yellow Robe Jr. Playwright-in-Residence at Sound Theatre, a 2023 Artist-in-Residence at Headlands Arts Center, and an International Artists' Fellow. She has worked in association with the Ojai Playwrights' Conference, Lobby Theatre, RealTime Productions, Playwrights' Arena, and City Hearts. Her works include roost (Semifinalist, 2023 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference), the blood of a hibiscus, Seven Stage Circle, and the poetry collection rottincrop. In 2022 she earned her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing at the University of Southern California.

City Hearts team member since 2022

Lester Purry is one of the country's most highly respected stage Actors. He has performed in regional theatres across the country, including a national tour as Othello in Othello at the world-famous Guthrie Theatre. He is a company member of Penumbra Theatre and has performed all across the country with other prestigious Theatre companies such as Baltimore Center Stage, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Playhouse, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Los Angeles Performing Arts Center, and the South Coast Repertory Theatre. Lester also has taught Acting and Theatre for nearly four decades at Pierce College, the Penumbra Theatre Company, Illusion Theatre, and the Freedom Theatre. His wide range of subjects taught include Voice, Improv, Character Analysis, Monologue, and Scene Study. He was recently seen in a riveting one-man show as Thurgood Marshall in the play, Thurgood, at the Portland Playhouse

City Hearts team member since 2001

A triple threat, Gwendolyn Oliver has extensive training and teaching experience in Dance, Acting, and Choir. As a Dancer, Gwendolyn trained with numerous noted Dance teachers, such as Yahuda Moar of the San Francisco Ballet and Ehud Krauss of the Zohar School of Dance. Her previous teaching experience includes being a Master Teacher/Choreographer at the San Jose High School for the Performing Arts, a Ballet/Jazz instructor at the "Dance Etc. and Dance Affair" dance studios in the Bay Area, and choreographing numerous Musical Theatre productions for children and adults including West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Wizard of Oz, and Music Man. Gwendolyn's singing talent (mezzo-soprano) was nurtured at home, in church, in high school and community Musical Theatre productions, and by her voice coach, Dan Saunders. As a working Actress, Gwendolyn has appeared in numerous television shows, feature films, and commercials. Her City Hearts drama classes have performed improv, short plays, and full-length productions such as Twelve Angry Men, Oliver, and The Wizard of Oz.

City Hearts team member since 2022

Angélica Ruiz (she/her) is a Visual Artist, Educator, and Digital Content Producer born and raised in the Greater Los Angeles area. As the daughter of working-class immigrant parents, she is passionate about working with youth from similar communities and fostering their creative skills. Her various Art disciplines include Drawing, Painting, Digital Art, and Printmaking. She currently works in Digital Media and Production when not devoting her time to Arts and STEAM education and outreach. Angélica holds degrees and certificates from Mt. San Antonio College, UCLA, and Cal State Fullerton, having studied Fine Art, Art History, and Art Education.

City Hearts team member since 2017

Tyee Tilghman is an Actor, Filmmaker, and Teaching Artist. He is a storyteller and a lover of language, with linguistic voices ranging from the classical brilliance of Shakespeare, the earthy undertones of Zora Neale Hurston, the quick wit of Aaron Sorkin, and the strength of street knowledge demonstrated in the lyrical calculus of Black Thought. He has designed and created workshops like Demystifying Shakespeare, a class for professional actors in Los Angeles built to “take the fear out of Shakespeare.” Additional teaching credits include C.S. Arts San Gabriel Valley, Identity School of Acting: Los Angeles, Denver Center Theatre Academy, Living History & Neighborhood Bridges (also through DCTA), A Noise Within, P.S. Arts, B.R.I.D.G.E. Theater Project, and InterAct Story Theatre. Mr. Tilghman holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre and a B.F.A. in Drama from West Virginia University.

City Hearts team member since 2023

Roy is an accomplished Actor, Writer, and Director who has worked on successful Film, Television, and Theatre projects. Upon graduation, he studied Acting at Truthful Acting Studios, Orlando's top Acting Conservatory for Film and Theatre, where he received a certificate in the Meisner Acting Technique. He has over 35 film and television credits, including work on N.B.C., A.B.C., C.B.S., Netflix, Hulu, and B.E.T. A firm believer in passion projects, Roy has produced his own short films and has also appeared in many shorts and independent films to support up-and-coming Filmmakers. Roy received his degree from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL.