Taki Telonidis has been media producer for the Western Folklife Center since August of 1998. He is currently collaborating with leaders of the Zuni Indian tribe of New Mexico to record and produce a CD featuring traditional music and storytelling, the first-ever compilation of its kind.

Telonidis came to the West from National Public Radio in Washington DC, where between 1994 and 1998 he was Senior Producer of Weekend All Things Considered. In 1995 the show was awarded the Overseas Press Club Award for Breaking News.

Between 1986 and 1994, he was associate producer and director for Morning Edition, a two-hour daily news magazine with an audience of 10 million. He also was field producer for NPR's coverage of several foreign news stories including the war in the former Yugoslavia. Telonidis has received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold and Silver Awards.

A first generation American, Telonidis maintains close ties to Greece, traveling there frequently and speaking the language fluently.