Jonathan matis - guitar

Jonathan Matis has been composing and performing many types of music professionally since 1993. His interest in combining improvisation and composition led him to graduate studies in composition at the Hartt School of Music where he studied with Robert Carl and David Macbride. In March of 2006, he was invited to Philadelphia to compose and perform as part of a residency with Pauline Oliveros and her Deep Listening Band. In the summer of 2005, he was selected for participation in the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. He has been leading his own genre-bending ensembles for over fifteen years, and has performed in venues across the country; as diverse as the Kennedy Center and CBGB's. Jonathan has been collaborating with a variety of choreographers for the past several years, and has generated many pieces for dance. He has been a finalist for the Metro DC Dance Award in music composition for two consecutive years. Jonathan leads the DC Improvisers Collective, a free jazz ensemble; the Low End String Quartet, a re-imagining of the classical standard; and Eigenvalues, a duo project exploring the possibilities of spoken-word and electronic processing.

Jon's blog »

daniel barbiero - bass  

A native of New Haven, CT, Daniel Barbiero has been involved in creative improvised music in the Baltimore-Washington area for several years as a performer, composer, and sometime bandleader. He has worked in a variety of contexts, including modal and post-bop jazz, free improvisation, and world fusion drawing on the Indian classical and Middle Eastern musical traditions; he also backed Blue Note recording artist Greg Osby on a recent DC date.

In addition, he has arranged and performed contemporary composed music, including playing in the premier of composer Robert Carl's "Changing My Spots". His solo music has been used as a setting for dance and movement. Daniel performs on occasion with the DC Improvisers Collective, and is featured on their CD, "Meme and Variations."

Marvin P. Vernon of Freealbumsgalore.com has said: “Daniel Barbiero is a bassist whose music is quiet, intelligent, and has elements of jazz, third stream and avant garde.”

Dan's Website »

Jodi beder - cello

 
Jodi Beder is a member of the National Philharmonic, the Folger Consort, and Washington Musica Viva, and principal cellist with the Princeton Symphony. She is a committed interpreter of new music, frequently collaborating with composers, and has been a specialist in microtonal music. She also frequently plays Baroque cello with period-instrument ensembles. Always happy to blur the lines between styles, she collaborates with dance and theater groups, and, with her famous cello Zizi, is a regular member of the cabaret-rock ensemble Zen for Primates (their sixth CD, "Mary Ann's Dead Husband Was My Stella Novagratz," was released this summer). She premiered her looping piece “The Which” at the Kennedy Center in September 2004. She regrets knowing very little about jazz, but is always trying to learn; she has worked with the Sun Ra Arkestra in Philadelphia, recently recorded with area jazz singer Grace Chung, and is currently studying jazz privately. She has also been the solo cellist for a synagogue in NYC for over 20 years. She holds a Ph.D. in music from CUNY Graduate School and University Center, and attended the Professional Studies Program at Mannes College of Music, where she studied cello with Paul Tobias; she has also studied cello with Nancy Streetman and Fred Zlotkin.

andrea vercoe - violin

Andrea Vercoe, violinist and violist, has been performing for over twenty years in orchestras, weddings, and small ensembles. Born to composer parents, she grew up in the rich musical environment of the Boston area. Her principle violin studies were with Robert Koff of the Juilliard String Quartet and Greg Fulkerson at Oberlin Conservatory. She has performed abroad in Germany, Canada, Austria, France, and Russia. Ms. Vercoe participated in such summer festivals as Greenwood Music Camp, Kinhaven Music Camp, Charles Castleman’s Quartet Program, AIMS in Graz, and the National Orchestral Institute, and once performed for Pope John Paul II with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. In the D.C. area, she has worked with Fairfax Symphony, Arlington Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Prince William Symphony, and Alexandria Symphony. She has recorded CDs with Fairfax Symphony and Virginia Symphony, with whom she performed at Carnegie Hall in 1999. Andrea enjoys breaking out of the classical mold and is a founding member of the Great Noise Ensemble, a WAMMIE-nominated contemporary group.

An avid world traveler and multilinguist, Ms. Vercoe naturally expanded her repertoire to include various types of world music. In 2006, she performed at the Kennedy Center with the Enchanted Strings, a Persian music ensemble. She is currently obsessed with the maqams and expressivity of Arabic music, and this year, attended Hicham Chami’s Heartland Seminar for Arabic Music in Wisconsin and Simon Shaheen’s Arabic Music Retreat at Mount Holyoke College. She is also working with Zhandalo, a rhumba/flamenco band.