John Joseph Legaspi, Artistic Director
Founder
John was born in Brooklyn N.Y. in 1951 and entered the New York School of Music in 1963. In 1968 he met his mentor Joseph DelliCarri, Director Associate Professor of Music at Lehman College and Conductor of the Brooklyn Opera Company.
While majoring in Liberal Arts at Queens Community College John enrolled in The New School in 1973, a private research university in New York City founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with schools including Performing Arts, Music, Drama, Jazz and Contemporary Music where he studied under Professor William A.C. Zerffi, a laryngologist specializing in functional vocal skills and an associate of the New York Metropolitan Opera. At the same time, he began performing with regular professional engagements at New York City’s Plaza Hotel, Waldorf Hotel and Essex House; and at benefits for hospitals, senior centers and veterans’ organizations.
In 1979 John moved to San Francisco and discovered the City’s local cabarets and clubs. He began making regular appearances at Trinity Place, Sutter Mill, Belden 22, Buckley’s Bistro and later at Octavia Lounge where, according to at least one reviewer, he was known to “command the room.”
There was a classified ad in the Sunday Chronicle that read: Auditions – Cole Porter’s Anything Goes Phelan Theatre, with a date and time. Phelan Theater (now named Diego Rivera Theatre) is located on the campus of City College of San Francisco. Anything Goes ran with an ensemble cast for two years in 1979 and 1980. John’s other musical theater and stage credits include Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Anything Goes and Funny Girl and concert performances as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and the Emcee in Cabaret.
As a member of the popular San Francisco R&B revue, John helped The Fabulous Dumonts earn their first “engagement” in 1981 at the Off-Union Saloon after the group took over an “open mike” one night. Gigs followed at local venues including the historic Hotel Utah, Valencia Rose in the Mission, Nightbreak on Haight Street, and The Stone, Mabuhay Gardens and the On-Broadway in North Beach. The group’s five-year run ended with two consecutive, extraordinary performances at the Castro Street Fair in 1985 and again in 1986 before 200,000 friends and fans and a few visitors in the neighborhood.
John graduated from one of the first STEM high schools in the country in 1968 receiving a degree in Engineering and at the age of seventeen he began work for American Express Company at the corporation’s headquarters building in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village and while working there he enrolled at The New School.
Upon moving to San Francisco in 1979, John was hired at AT&T. He joined a small, private San Francisco law practice in 1985 where he learned to be a legal assistant and was introduced to a local realtor who also happened to be the owner of Cable Car Charters; the original motorized cable car tour company to operate in the City. John was enlisted by the San Francisco realtor turned tour operator in 1989 and was initiated into San Francisco’s convention and tourism industries.
In 1993, John met and was hired by Barbara Cappa, owner of Cappa & Graham, Inc., a San Francisco based Destination Management Company also operating in conventions and tourism. During this time, John produced and appeared in performances at the Great American Music Hall, Fillmore Auditorium, and the Presidio Officers Club. By 1998 John created and produced the live entertainment and show for the Opening Session of the 25th Congress of the International Association of Applied Psychology at Moscone Convention Center. The production employed and featured dozens of local artists who were introduced by keynote speaker Mayor Willie Brown to an audience of over 2,000 international congress attendees and visiting dignitaries.
As SFAPA Artistic Director, John conceives and develops programs working closely with the Director of Organizational Development creating strategies to promote SFAPA Artists and Events in print and electronic media, direct mail marketing and community outreach; artist recruitment and benefits programs as well as financial and revenue generating strategies. He selects material content, directs productions, works with creative artists in assessing and selecting performance material, and engages new artists. The Artistic Director serves as the official spokesperson for the SFAPA continuing to bring visibility and to cultivate and maintain professional relationships with diverse organizations, associations, and cultural agencies commissioned in the support and advancement of the SFAPA Mission.
Anas Hamadeh Alkhayat, M.D., M.A., Director
Organizational Development, Founder
Adam is an independent consultant to industry and organizations including public, non-profit, academic, community and health.
Adam received his M.A. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Golden Gate University, San Francisco in 2016 and Anas is a member of SIOP, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology which represents division 14 of the American Psychological Association.
Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology was designated as an applied discipline as one of sixteen recognized specialties by the American Psychological Association in 2018.
Industrial and Organizational Psychologists are scientist-practitioners who have expertise in the design, execution and interpretation of research. They apply their findings to help address human and organizational concerns including identifying training and development needs; formulate and implement training programs; provide individual coaching; and develop criteria to evaluate the performance of the organization. Specialized knowledge and training include in-depth knowledge of organizational development, career development, decision theory, human performance factors.
The specialty of Industrial and Organizational Psychology requires knowledge of ethical considerations, statutory, administrative, and case law and executive order related to activities in public, non-profit, academic, community and health industries and organizations.
Adam worked with Golden Gate University’s own Human Resources Department; Alameda County Transit as an Instructional Designer in Training and Development, and with the San Francisco Symphony as Human Resources Coordinator staffing local and overseas candidates and focusing on global cultural awareness.
Adam received his M.D. from Damascus University in Syria in 2010 and served as an Anesthesiology Resident Doctor at Ibn Al-Nafees Public Hospital, Damascus, Syria and at Abd Al-Qader Shoukfeh Army Hospital, Homs, Syria as a General Surgery Resident.
He served as a volunteer case worker for Amal Al-Ghad a charitable care organization in Syria where he visited children with special needs and educated their families on medical conditions through one-on-one counseling and participated in distributing financial and other means of charitable aide working with diverse communities as liaison between the charity and its beneficiaries.
Adam is a founding member of the San Francisco Association of Performing Artists. As an artist, he conceived and designed the SFAPA logo. His photographic work featured on this site and will soon be introduced online and in print in a photo essay album and companion book as well a specialty line of casual wear sponsored by and supporting SFAPA.
Adam came to the United States in 2011 upon invitation from the University of Oklahoma Medical School. He moved to San Francisco in 2013, became a citizen of the United States in 2019, and is fluent in English and Arabic.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF LEADERSHIP
- Oversee the governance of the Association by establishing policies and priorities for carrying out the organization’s mission of promoting SFAPA, Artists and Programs.
- Formulate policy and set goals;
- Maintain the fiscal viability of the organization;
- Determine the Association’s position on materially relevant issues;
- Represent the Association issues appropriate to government and the community.
- Establish Support Your Local Artist networking resources, programs and services and base philosophies focused on the needs, wellbeing, and the personal and professional development of the SFAPA and its Community.