Roots of Rhythm

Clarinetist and saxophonist Lynne Hart has performed in the orchestras for a myriad of national touring shows including A Chorus Line, The Full Monty, City of Angels, State Fair, Mame, Annie, Grand Hotel, My Fair Lady, Peter Pan, 9 to 5, and Chicago. She has performed with national artists The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Wayne Newton, Johnny Mathis, and Lorrie Morgan, as well as jazz icons Louie Bellson, T.S. Monk, Clark Terry, and Buddy Defranco. In addition to Roots of Rhythm, Hart also performs with numerous Iowa groups including Bossa Maior, The Manny Lopez Big Band, Thelonius Assault, The Iowa Vanguard Jazz Collective, Orchestra Iowa, and The Five Seasons Chamber Trio. She regularly performs classical recitals, the annual Variety Club Telethon, has served in the pit orchestras for many Theatre Cedar Rapids musical productions. Hart holds a degree in Music Theory/Composition from University of Minnesota – Duluth, MFA in Woodwind Performance from the University of Iowa, and is a music department adjunct faculty member at Luther College. She resides in Cedar Rapids.
Double bassist and electric bassist Richard Wagor earned his degree in music from the University of Iowa and MM from Manhattan School of Music. Wagor has played orchestrally as a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Dubuque Symphony, as well as a substitute bassist in orchestras across the country. In addition to classical and jazz, he has played a multitude of music genres with artists/productions including Bobby McFerrin, Foreigner, Sutton Foster, Sachal Vasandani, Love is Here to Stay: A Gershwin Experience, Five by Design, Jennifer Lee, Tim Daugherty, the Yale Repertory Theater, NOWIS, the Bill Shepherd Big Band, the Rod Pierson Not-So-Big Band, Ben Schmidt, Peter Hart, and the Bernemann Brothers Band. Wagor has taught music at the University of Northern Iowa, Coe College, and Cornell College. He is also founding member and board member of area festival the Five Seasons Chamber Music Festival (Cedar Rapids), and resides in Cedar Rapids.
Guitarist Pat Smith studied at Coe College and Cornell College, earning a degree Music. Mr. Smith played on the west coast for many years, accomplishing two albums with the Penguin Jazz Quartet, as well as Brazilian band Nossa Bossa that was featured by renowned audio company Bose Speakers to debut a line of speakers. He also composed music for the Red Cedar Chamber Group and the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Moving back to Iowa in 2008, Smith formed a duo with Richard Wagor, where they created the album “Iowa Duets” with influences of jazz, folk, and classical music, played for several years with 9-piece band Brass Transit Authority. He currently teaches at Grinnel College and Marion Music Academy. Smith resides in Cedar Rapids.