Composer and violinist Mer Boel has a B.F.A. in jazz vocal performance with a minor in violin from City College of New York, where she studied and performed with John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Matt Glaser of Fiddle Fever and the Berklee School of Music, and Ron Carter. She co-founded The Daughters of Sweden and original music group Cymbidium, and has written string arrangements for Karen Beth, Tom Knight, the Crow Greenspun Band and the Sim Redmond Band.
As a youngster she played in the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, later played with bluegrass bands The High Street Boys and The Purple Mountain Cowtippers, as well as performing solo. She has sung with the Gerald Wolfe Singers and the Robert Dale Chorale. Her composition "Meditation" for handbell choir received its premier performance in Ithaca, NY in February of 2000, and she received a "Meet the Composer" grant for the commissioned vocal chamber piece Mountains Swimming, which was performed by Women's Works with the 171 Cedar Arts Chorale in 2004. She presented a lecture recital on women in jazz music at the Festival of Women Composers in Pittsburgh, PA in 2004, and in 2005 three of her Name Music pieces were performed at the inaugural concert of the Grassroots Festival Chamber Orchestra. Her orchestra piece featuring French horns, Celebration of the Deep, was commissioned by the Ithaca Community Orchestra under the leadership of Cayenna Ponchione, and premiered in 2010.
Mer has composed underscores for the Kitchen Theatre Company and the Vermont Stage Company, most notably for the production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams directed by Rachel Lampert, Two Rooms by Lee Blessing directed by Rachel Lampert and The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl directed by Sarah Lampert Hoover.
Cellist Hank Roberts, whom Jazz Express magazine calls “One of the most respected improvising cellists on the international scene,” has toured extensively in Europe, Canada, Japan, and the U.S., leading his own ensembles playing avant-garde jazz. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, Roberts initially made his name in the 1980s legendary New York Downtown scene alongside such frequent collaborators as Bill Frisell, Tim Berne, Marc Ribot and John Zorn, finding a second home at the famed Knitting Factory. Currently a member of Bill Frisell’s group, Harmony, he has been a regular touring partner and recording artist on many of the celebrated guitarist’s projects since 1985, and was featured on his Grammy award winning recording, Unspeakable.
Over his nearly five-decade career, Hank Roberts has forged a compelling original voice as a cellist, vocalist and composer, encompassing jazz influences, abstract improvisation, soulful folk melodies, intricate new-music compositions and vigorous rock songs. He is considered a major innovator as a cellist. http://www.hankrobertsmusic.com/
Hank has shared stages and recording studios with some of the most celebrated musicians in the world. He’s recorded 10 albums as a leader and co-leader on the ‘Winter & Winter’ label, along with numerable self-released recordings. His 2008 CD Green, with drummer Jim Black and guitarist Marc Ducret, won that year’s German Recording Critics’ Award in the Jazz category. His trio recording, featuring Jacob Sacks and Vinnie Sperrazza, Congeries of Ethereal Phenomenon was released on Newvelle Records in 2019. His most recent recording with the Hank Roberts Sextet, Science of Love, was released on Sunnyside Records in July 2021.
Violinist Ruth Roland grew up playing Eastern European folk music with her father’s band. She has a bachelors’ degree in music from Michigan State and a masters’ degree in violin performance from the University of Minnesota. Before moving to Baton Rouge, LA, she was a member of the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra. She was a founding member of Women's Works, an annual celebration of women composers, was a visiting instructor at Cornell University, and has performed with artists such as George Benson, Smokey Robinson, and the Moody Blues.
Ruth has conducted and arranged for orchestra, including string arrangements of several of Water Bear’s Name Music pieces, and is also a published poet and performed playwright. Her opera After her stroke just before her 38th birthday, she re-taught herself to play violin and piano again, and maintains a full teaching schedule using concepts and exercises that worked well for her in her recovery. She performs regularly in the Opera Louisiane orchestra, and has played onstage with Nashville legend Brian White and in two productions of Always, Patsy Cline. https://ruthviolin.weebly.com/
Bassist Tim Reppert studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and has worked as a studio session musician in New York City, Boston, and Ithaca. As a recording engineer and producer Tim is known for his unique conceptual vision and masterful expertise when it comes to producing award winning audio for radio and television advertising as well as for films and corporate programs. He created REP Productions in the late 1980's in NYC as a freelance Recording Engineer for Jingle writers. Working with Mambo Music, Feldstein Music, Easy Writer, and Debbie McDuffie. He co-produced for clients such as L'Oreal, Coke, Coors Light, Hertz, and General Motors.
In 1991 Tim designed, built and opened REP Studio in Ithaca, which was an outgrowth of his many talents, and has become a creative environment that continues to support local artists such as the Sim Redmond Band, the Ithaca Community Chorus, the Burns Sisters, Wingnut, and Samite. Tim has recorded for diverse clients such as Sly Stone, Whitney Houston, The Beastie Boys, Grand Master Flash, and Kool & The Gang. For 11 years Tim was a resident Sound Designer for the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY creating over 80 sound scores and compositions for the Company's wide range of productions. His sound design skills have also reached to Vermont Stage for Syringa Tree and to NYC for an off-Broadway production of The Soup Comes Last.
Tim is currently living in Boston and working as a freelance Sound Designer/Mixer for clients like Progressive Insurance, BMW, Wrangler, ZipCar, TJ Maxx, MIT, Carl's Jr, Hannaford, Siemens, ADP, IBM, WB Mason, Capella, Frontier Cellular, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Iron Mountain, Citi Cards, Liberty Mutual, HBO, Showtime, NBC, The History Chanel, EPIX, as well as custom music/jingle creation for Network Health, Floor Trader, Royal Caribbean, 1 800 Contacts and others. https://www.treppert.com/