Resonance

Resonance is an acoustic chamber Jazz ensemble, consisting of woodwinds, strings and rhythm section(piano, double-bass and drums). As an octet, Resonance performs original and arrangements in the areas of Jazz, Classical and other various genres.

Nancy Bien: Cello
Nancy is a California native who grew up in the bay area. She began taking piano lessons when she was 6 years old, was handed a cello three years later and never looked back. After getting both a BA and an MA in music (performance), she taught and played on the east coast for a few years before moving back to the bay area to launch a career as a freelance cellist. She is the assistant principle cellist of the Marin Symphony, principle cellist for the Berkeley Left Edge Opera (formerly Berkeley Opera), is a member of the Berkeley Symphony, and often performs with other orchestras and small ensembles throughout the bay area. A few years ago she was hired to play in the backup band for a jazz soloist and found a new musical passion! She has been playing in the Berkeley Jazz Workshop since January, 2009. Nancy is also a painter -canvases of vibrant, energetic figures (mostly). And a mom of three exceptional people: April, Frank, and Carter.

Laura Austin Wiley: Piccolo, C-Flute, Alto Flute, Vocal
Laura grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where she took flute and voice lessons from faculty members of the I.U. School of Music. As an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York , she participated in musical theater productions both as a singer/actress and as a flutist in the pit orchestra. After graduation, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she pursued graduate musical studies at Holy Names University . She has studied flute privately with Paul Renzi of the San Francisco Symphony and Stephen Schultz of Philharmonia Baroque. She has played with many local ensembles, including the Woodminster Amphitheater Orchestra, the Alameda Light Opera Orchestra and the Holy Names University Orchestra. In addition to playing with Resonance, she plays flute in several jazz ensembles. She has recorded two flute and piano CDs.

Michele Walther: Violin
Michele performs in symphony orchestras and small groups, including classical, jazz, world music and tango. She has performed with Ian Anderson /Jethro Tull, Joe Lovano, Mark Feldman, Gloria Estefan, John Cage, Mathias Ruegg (Vienna Art Orchestra), The Boston String Quartet, and many others. For many years she was a member of the Basel Sinfonietta in Switzerland, a symphony orchestra dedicated to perform music of the 20th century. Ms Walther received her MA at the Basel Conservatory in Switzerland, majoring in violin performance and education. Later, she graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a major in jazz violin. Currently she is a faculty member of the Community Music Center in San Francisco and the New Mozart School of Music in Palo Alto.

Georgianna Krieger: Soprano, Alto and Baritone Saxophones
Georgianna began playing saxophone at age 9 and just kept playing. Influenced by college radio, Gerry Mulligan and a North Texas State University philosophy professor, Georgianna sees a connection between jazz improvising and drawing but is unlikely to ever bring it up. While studying figurative sculpture, she earned a bachlors degree in Jazz and Commercial music at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. When she's not playing saxophone, sculpting or parenting Georgianna dreams of summer and loose leaf tea.

Michelle Mastin: Viola
Michelle Mastin holds her BM from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati and her Masters from the Eastman School of Music in New York. She has also received the Professinal Studies Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory as a student of Jodi Levitz. While at CCM, Michelle was a student of Masao Kawasaki and Dr. Catherine Carroll, and then a student of George Taylor at Eastman. She spent three summers at the Aspen Music festival in Colorado and one summer in Lucca, Italy at the Opera Theatre and Chamber Music festival. She has also played for the BASOTI Opera Fesitval and Workshop in San Francisco, and has spent two summers as a fellowship student at the PACO chamber music camp. Michelle has been an active performer on both violin and viola working with orchestras such as the Rochester Philharmonic, the Erie Philharmonic, the Kentucky Symphony, and the Santa Cruz Symphony. She also enjoys chamber music and spent two years working with the Eastman Chamber Society, as well as two years as a fellow and coach for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. She is currently active with the Altair Trio, the St Peter’s Chamber Orchestra, and the California Pops Orchestra.

Ted Burik: Double-Bass
Ted has performed jazz and classical music for over 30 years in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area. To best capture the deep sonic possibilities found in the bass, he focuses on performing modern and traditional jazz on bo