Akim Angulo, is a master of the shakuhachi flute. His career centers around meditation, chamber and jazz music. He has worked profusely with organizations such as the International Anthroposophic Christian community and Amnesty International through Spain, Scandinavia, Germany, South Africa, etc.
Ariel Llamas is a singer, musician, and songwriter. He has authored over 150 songs. He plays 13 musical instruments with varying degrees of ability and has been improvising music for dancers for more than 10 years, most commonly at REAson d'etre dance's weekly dance jam. He is an avid Contact dancer; he also attends and deejays ecstatic dances. he has also created two songs for Kathleen Rea's 2017 Men Circle dance-theatre production. www.myspace.com/thedulleyedllamashttps://youtu.be/-SsSGDNvVa8
Charles James is a bassist, pianist, vocalist, composer, and educator based in Toronto who has has been in high demand on the Canadian music scene since graduating from Jazz Studies at Humber College in 2008 . Equally adept on electric and upright bass, his musical versatility has allowed him to share the stage with acclaimed artists across a wide variety of genres, and made him a fixture in some of Canada's most reputable recording studios. His emotional depth and melodic approach to the bass & piano have thrilled audiences all across Canada and the United States, as well as Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, and Australia. Over the past decade, he has had the opportunity to play/record with a number of renowned acts such as Jim Cuddy, Skydiggers, John McDermott, Snowblink, Michelle Willis, Alejandra Ribera, New Country Rehab, Jaron Freeman-Fox and King Creosote.
Cellist Cheryl O has been improvising ever since a sudden breeze blew her music away while busking in Spain. Cheryl has been part of the improvising scene in Toronto, beginning as a guest of the Planet of the Loops ensemble and soon becoming a regular performer at The Ambient Pingseries. A 2008 participant in the Banff International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music, Cheryl had opportunities to work with Dave Douglas, Wayne Krantz, Hugh Marsh, and Thomas Morgan. With a Bachelor of Music in Performance (UFT), and studies with Matt Brubeck and Ted Quinlan, Cheryl has studied music from early Baroque to Contemporary prior to her current focus of on improv. Using her cello and looping technologies, Cheryl creates textures, rhythms, and soundscapes over which she layers her cello, creating washes of sound and colour, as well as her trademark soaring melodies. https://open.spotify.com/artist/0iM6BoAoCjeeNAuPcOKoYb
David Sait is a professional guzheng musician based out of Brampton, Ontario. David’s first guzheng was found in a used instrument store under a pile of old guitar cases. The look of this intriguing zither led to an impulse purchase, and conversion to full-time guzheng player. 20 years later, David has developed a unique voice on an instrument with a 2,000-year history through a collection of contemporary techniques & tunings.
David's father was a 40-year veteran jazz musician/composer/arranger from Liverpool, England who led an 18-piece big band and played with musical greats: Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Ray Charles, & more.
David has performed as a solo artist, in small & large improvising ensembles, and re-occurring duets with John Oswald, Friendly Rich, Nobuo Kubota, Michael Keith & more. He enjoys collaborating with visual artists & has been a musical guest for the REAson d’etre Contact Dance Jam since 2007. This is his 10,000-hour journey! Combining influences of African/ Asian stringed instruments with elements of Alt-Country, Classical, and other hybrid styles.
Check back soon for a biography
Janice Jo Lee is a dynamic artist. She is a second-generation Korean-Canadian settler based in Toronto, Ontario. She is a folk-soul-jazz singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound designer, spoken word poet, theatre maker, and arts and anti-oppression facilitator. Lee’s artwork has always been one with her activism. Her artistic works are immersed in issues of gender empowerment, community, climate change, the environment and antiracism. With her guitar, looping pedal, trumpet, Korean janggu drum, disarmingly funny candour and poetically-rich lyrics, Lee commands the stage. She conjures warm energy, asks questions about our times, and leaves audiences rejuvenated and aglow.
Lee has toured with her music and poetry. Highlights include Philadelphia Folk Festival, PacRim Diversity Conference (Hawaii), Hillside (Guelph), Saskatoon Poetic Arts Festival, In The Soil (St Catharines), TaiwanFest (Toronto), Toronto Korean Fest, ArtsWells (Wells, BC), Verses (Vancouver), Victorious Voices (Victoria, BC), and perverse/cite (Montreal). Her album Ancestor Song launches this year. http://janicejolee.ca and http://instagram.com/janjolee
Email: janjolee[a]gmail.com
Jim Gelcer is a recording artist, producer, songwriter, educator, and band leader performing with the who's who of Canadian jazz. An accomplished film composer, he is also renowned in the yoga world for his meditative mantra music recordings.
Leah The Earthwalker, is a vocal-based singer-songwriter and live-looping artist from Brantford, Ontario. She draws inspiration from the earth as well as humanity’s evolving relationship with it. Her energizing, tribal, free-spirited harmony-focused sounds are intended to spark a remembrance in listeners of a greater unity with the planet.
Litian Wang is a classically trained musician with over 10 years of formal training in piano, known for her ability to evoke emotion and tell stories through music. Having solo-traveled to over 20 countries, Litian draws inspiration from diverse cultures and experiences, which influence her artistry and deepen her creative expression. Beyond music, Litian is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller, actively working as a writer and director in film, as well as exploring painting and pole dance. Her passion for self-expression shines through all her creative pursuits.
Michelangelo Iaffaldano lives and works in Toronto. He is active in drawing, painting, puppetry, theatre, and both traditional and experimental music as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and instrument inventor.
Nilan has been active locally, nationally, and internationally for 35 years as a musician/composer/improviser, journalist, organizer/activist (in musician and media circles), conceptualist, zen Buddhist, and visual artist. He’s played with the famous, not famous, and infamous, ran activist radio stations, organized musicians collectives, and in his spare time loves to garden, bow hunt, and generally made a pest of himself. He is now a Happy Dad, a garden-collective member, and still working on the concept of art in as many forms as possible.
Susanne Maziarz (she/her) is the Music Director at NUUC. She has accompanied a variety of dance and movement classes and events around Toronto. Susanne co-leads a monthly Circle Music session at Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation (NUUC) -- a drop-in, PWYC event where joyful, spontaneous music is practiced through improvisational singing. It's a practice of being tuned into the moment, collaborating, listening, laughing, singing, moving, and playing.
Tamara Williamson is a captivating storyteller. A published author (Mirror Horse, Douglas & McIntyre 2023), award-winning playwright (Break-Up Diet, Adams Award) Major/independent label touring musician (BMG, Aporia) and successful painter. Front person for TORRANCE a four-piece original alt grunge band experience. She effortlessly weaves her creativity into various art forms. Blending her immense passion for creativity with wavering dedication. Tamara has had an amazing career from standing on the stage at Maple Leaf Gardens opening for the Tragically Hip to singing opera at the Ricov Center while a dressage horse piaffes beside her. She was born and raised in London, England where she grew up in a stable. Her father was the well-documented King of Redonda and owned a tall ship. Tamara moved to Canada in 1991, where she resides with her son Angus.
