Free Planet Radio

Free Planet Radio consists of Chris Rosser, exploring melody on a variety of Indian and Turkish stringed instruments, guitar, piano and melodica; River Guerguerian on an extensive array of global percussion instruments including Middle Eastern frame drums and doumbek, Latin American cajon, and Western drum set; and multi-Grammy award-winning bassist Eliot Wadopian on electric and string basses, leaping effortlessly between rhythm and melody.

These artists emerged from three of the country's finest conservatories, and each has established himself in concert halls and studios, appearing on over 250 recordings and in 30 countries. Their immense individual talents have garnered worldwide recognition in performances from Carnegie Hall to the Hong Kong World Music Festival; from the Kennedy Center to the Madrid International Jazz Festival. These versatile musicians now unite their expansive talents, instruments, harmonies and rhythms to create their shared world vision; a phenomenal blending and harmony of global traditions in music.

?When I first received the CD I listened to it 20 times in a row, I found the music very joyful and uplifting?
- Omar Faruk Tekbilek (Master Turkish Musician)

"World music supergroup"
- Mountain XPress


Chris Rosser is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer and producer. As a solo performer, he tours nationally playing at festivals, clubs and listening rooms, and has shared stages with folk and pop luminaries such as Nickel Creek, John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Tom Rush and more. Chris has released three recordings , Hidden Everywhere (2006), The Holy Fool (2000), and Archaeology (1997) and has won songwriting contests at the Rocky Mountain Folks and Merle Watson festivals. With the help of a 1999 WNC Regional Artists grant, he continued his studies of Hindustani classical music and the sarod (a 25-string fretless Indian lute) with world famous Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan in San Rafael, CA. Rosser earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Miami School of Music where he studied jazz piano and studio recording on a full scholarship. He owns Hollow Reed Studio in Asheville and was awarded a songwriter/composer fellowship from the NC Arts Council. He has also begun touring as the keyboardist in the ensemble of master Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek.

River Guerguerian (Multipercussionist/Composer/Educator) was born in 1967 in Montreal, Canada to Armenian-Egyptian parents and received his Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory in 1989. For over 25 years, he has been performing internationally with such groups as the BBC Concert Orchestra, New Music Consort, Grammy and Oscar winning composer Tan Dun, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tibetan Singing Bowl Ensemble, Talujon Percussion Quartet, Chuck Berry, and Ziggy Marley/Gipsy Kings project. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by chamber ensembles, universities, modern dance companies, and new music festivals throughout the U.S. Guerguerian has performed in concert halls in New York, Berlin, Moscow, Edinburgh, Rome, Sydney, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, London, and has recorded on over 120 albums and film soundtracks. In 1994, River sold all possessions, left civilization, and lived in a wildlife sanctuary in the Himalaya Mountains. River conducts rhythm and sound exploration workshops throughout the country.

Two time Grammy Award winning bassist Eliot Wadopian has been a professional musician for more than thirty five years. He began his studies at the Berklee College of Music and has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and the Orient with many professional ensembles. Eliot has held the bass chair for such artists as Paul Winter and the Paul Winter Consort, David Wilcox, Eugene Friesen and Paul Halley, Donald Harrison, Jon Faddis, Glen Velez, Mark Lavine, Gene Bertoncini, Paul Sullivan, Oscar Castro-Neves, Judy Collins, Yo Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, the Cab Calloway big band, and Davy Spillane, to name a few. As an educator, Eliot teaches privately, as well as on the current faculties of Western Carolina University and Mars Hill College. He also performs regularly in several bass sections of many regional mid-Atlantic symphony Orchestras.