He traces his heritage to a royal African family called "Mama Beka," meaning "Prophet of the Royal Court." He settled in Seattle, Washington in 1994 and was a member of the percussion ensemble, Bakra Bata, before forming his own band and production company, Show Brazil. His group performs and offers workshops all over the Pacific Northwest, including Bumbershoot, the Northwest Folk Life Festival, the Seattle International Children's Festival, and many others.

Eduardo Mendon�a provided a musical welcome to Pope John Paul II when the pontiff visited Brazil in 1980. He also played for Nelson Mandela's visit to Seattle in 1999. Mendon�a was featured in Paul Simon's 1991 documentary, "Born at the Right Time." In 2007, he was named Outstanding Brazilian Male Singer Based in the United States. We' re fortunate to have such talent on our team!

  

Gary Wenet, Ph.D. is the most recent addition to the CMF Board of Directors.  This is a second tour of duty for Gary, as he was a huge factor in helping us fund and build the First Note music program that is being enjoyed by so many of our youngest learners today. With a 25-year career advising executives from privately and publicly held companies and with a doctorate in psychology, Gary brings a breadth and depth of experience in the formation and development of high performance management teams and facilitation of large organizational change. 

 

Gary coauthored the book, Leadership as a Habit of Mind (Amacom, 2000), and has served on the teaching and training faculty at the University of Washington and on the faculty of American Management Association. He has had long standing relationships with companies as diverse as RealNetworks, Amazon, Chiron Corporation, Yellow Mountain Stoneworks, Novartis, FibroGen, Snohomish County P.U.D., and Todd Pacific Shipyards.

  

Lastly, Gary is an avid music lover with a personal passion for children, and enjoys seeing them experience themselves and others through music and the arts. Glad to have you back!