Join Yasi and Steven, along with Athletes and the Arts co-founder Randy Dick, as we talk to the quintessential Athlete and Artist, Tim Cunningham. He turned down a chance to play in the NFL to pursue a career as a professional jazz musician. Thirty years later, after recording 8 albums and touring all over the world, he is still going strong. He talks about the difficulty playing Division 1 football, maintaining his passion for music over the years, and staying healthy while playing the sax.

Tim's website: www.timcunninghammusic.com

Instagram: @tim.cunninghamsaxophonist

Facebook: @TimCunninghamMusicPage

Bio: When Tim Cunningham was faced with the choice between the football field or the musical stage, fortunately he chose the latter. Having played the saxophone for over half his life, Tim spent his college years at Michigan State splitting his time between playing defense and playing music. And although a football scholarship saw him through school, his passion for the sax has carried him well beyond, as he passed up an NFL contract and eventually pursued a career in music.

For decades the words "smooth , sultry, cool & funky" have been used to describe Tim's high energy and emotional stage show as his sexy blend of smooth jazz and soulful R&B connects with people of all ages, races and genres of music. This unique and versatile style has earned Tim the pleasure of opening for jazz greats Dave Koz, Norman Brown, Brian Culbertson and George Benson. On the flip side, his bumpin' R&B flavor has on occasion paired him with Earth Wind & Fire, Cameo, Boyz II Men, Patti Labelle, Frankie Beverly, Jeffrey Osborne, and the late Luther Vandross.

Signed to Atlantic Records in 1994 Tim's first major label release, "Right Turn Only," featuring the efforts of Will Downing, Brian Culbertson, Kevin Whalum, and Bobby Lyle was released in 1996. It's featured single, "This is the Life," hit #19 on the Smooth Jazz Chart and received much international airplay. Tim's additional CD credits include "Sax Change Operation", "A Change in Altotude", "Waiting For Love", "Inner Peace", and "Manchester Road" which was picked up by Nite Breeze Music/Universal in 2008. His 2011 release entitled "Reflection", features a cool collection of original tracks packed with smooth grooves and emotional ballads. In 2012 Tim recorded and released "Tim Cunningham Live" where he covered a collection of some of his favorite songs.

In 2019 Tim hosted and performed in the 1st Annual Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land in St. Louis. This inaugural festival featured Brian Culbertson, Eric Darius, Grace Kelly and Erin Bode and was produced by Entertainment Cruises Productions and producers of the Smooth Jazz Cruise.

Tim's experiences bridge beyond the live stage to TV as he co-wrote and performed the theme song to 20th Century Fox's "Bertice Berry Show". He also appeared in the movie, "The Ghost Who Walks" as Officer Taylor, three episodes of "The Untouchables" TV series as The Saxophonist, BET's "Jazz Central and a commercial spot for Budweiser. In 2021 "Smile" co-written with Al Caldwell from Tim's "Waiting for Love" CD was featured in the movie, "The Job" written, directed and produced by Randy J. Goodwin.

In October 2022, after nearly a 10 year recording hiatus "Freedom" was released, with his new single, "Enough Said" (remix) climbing the Smooth Jazz Network , Radio Wave and Smoothjazz.com charts.

Yasi and Steve join Athletes and the Arts Founder Randy Dick in welcoming opera singer Leslie Bickle onto the show. Leslie discusses her journey from Canada to the UK, performing for the late Queen Elizabeth II, working with performers to overcome performance anxiety, and becoming a yogi and yoga's value in singing and performing.

Leslie's website: http://www.lesliebickle.com

Athletes and the Arts website: http://www.athletesandthearts.com

Bio: Leslie Bickle is an opera singer and Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher specialising in vinyasa, mandala, yin and restorative yoga. She has an eclectic background as a music teacher, a ballet dancer, and she has played many different instruments including violin, cello and flute.

Originally from Canada, Leslie’s performing career has taken her across the globe. Recent role highlights include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Micaëla (La Tragédie de Carmen) and Ilia (Idomeneo). She was a National finalist with the Canadian Music Competition and National semi-finalist/Regional finalist with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre. She received the Catherine Osbourne Opera Award, and was a recipient of the Philip Hattey Scholarship and the Dame Eva Turner Scholarship. She also had the immense pleasure of meeting and singing for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

To date, Leslie has had the privilege of working with various companies in her native country of Canada and in Europe. This has included Opera Atelier, Muskoka Opera Festival, Amersham Festival of Music, Tapestry Opera, the Berlin Opera Academy, Canadian Stage Company, Toronto Opera Collaborative, Oakville Chamber Orchestra and the Toronto New Music Festival. In additional to her extensive singing background, Leslie is the founder of Yoga with the Breath, a health and wellness yoga start up company that provides education, classes and resources for performers, organisations and institutions. Leslie works with her clients to provide customised support to meet individual needs. She has a particular interest in optimising breathing and helping people manage performance anxiety. Leslie recently gave private and group yoga sessions and customised support for athletes at the Vitality 10km race with Our Parks UK.

Leslie is also a speaker and supporter of health and wellness for elite performers. She was invited to speak at the MHPC22 conference in Oslo Norway in the autumn of 2022. The MHPC22 international conference was for physicians, athletic trainers, therapists, and music and performing arts students and professions, who seek to improve the performance, health and well-being of musicians and performing artists within all genres. Most recently, Leslie was invited to speak at the international conference PAMA, where she gave a talk on performance anxiety and conscious breathwork.

Leslie is a graduate from the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and the prestigious Royal Academy Opera programme at the Royal Academy of Music, and she currently resides in London, England.

Our topic today is resilience in performance, overcoming obstacles to make it in the performing arts. Tasi and Steven talk with up-and-coming star Anna Dreslinski, a singer/dancer who is currently performing in the opera Ainadamar at the Met in New York. She straddles the worlds of opera and musical theater, performing in shows such as West Side Story, Amadeus, and others, but she’s had to overcome many different issues along the way. This includes hip surgery, injuries keeping her out of rhythmic gymnastics, and abuse at the hands of Dr. Larry Nassar, the imprisoned US Gymnastics physician. Her life lessons are inspirational, and you won't want to miss this episode.

WARNING: This episode discusses sexual abuse, and although no graphic detail is described, the topic may be sensitive for some of our audience, so we want to issue this warning in advance.

For Anna's page with the Met Opera, go to: https://www.metopera.org/discover/artists/soprano/anna-dreslinski/

Instagram @adreslinski

For more on Athletes and the Arts, go to http://www.athletesandthearts.com