- BAND BIOS - BRIAN BENDER (Trombone, Vocals, Melodica, Piano, Bandleader)     Brian Bender has performed Klezmer music at Carnegie Hall, the Presidential Inauguration     of Bill Clinton and throughout the United States. He has also performed Klezmer music in     Israel, Alaska, Egypt, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, the UK, Reggae music in the Cape     Verde Islands, Latin music in Holland, and Jazz in Germany and France. Brian has formerly     performed with O.J. Ekemode and the Nigerian All-Stars, Kotoja (African World-Beat),     Ibrahima Camera, Black Rebels (African Reggae), La Perfecta (Salsa/Merengue), Lucky     Seven (Ska) and the Berkshire Bateria Escola de Samba (Brazilian). He currently performs     with the Pangeans (World Beat), the Wholesale Klezmer Band, Di Bostoner Klezmer and     Big Bandemonium (Celtic). Brian also teaches a Klezmer Ensemble at the Jewish Community     Center of Springfield, MA.     CHRISTINA CROWDER (Accordion)     Christina Crowder started playing accordion in college at the behest of her Finnish     grandmother. After being swept off her feet by an exuberant Hungarian Czardas in 1990,     she lived in eastern Europe for almost 10 years performing with the world renowned     Budapest-based klezmer ensemble Di Naye Kapelye and spent two years doing field work     on contemporary and archival Jewish music in Romania as a Fulbright scholar from 1999 to     2001. Christina also plays Old-Time banjo (claw-hammer style).     MIAMON MILLER (Fiddle)     Miamon Miller has 35 years experience as a professional musician and has played on     numerous recordings, films and commercial sound tracks. With a B.A. in composition and an     M.A. in ethnomusicology (both from UCLA), he has successfully combined academic and     creative interests.         Miamon has made several trips to Eastern Europe, including a 10-month stay to Romania     on a Fulbright scholarship to study the folkmusic of that country. He taught for more than     15 years at the East European Folklore Center's summer workshops and has appeared     as a soloist and a teacher at major folk festivals throughout North America.         Miamon moved from Los Angeles, CA to Vermont in 2007. In Los Angeles, he was associated     with the Aman Folk Ensemble and held a variety of positions including Music Director and     Artistic Director. Miamon founded the eclectic folk band "Fuge Imaginea" and currently     performs with his group Bucovina Klezmer as well as the Golden State Klemzers, the Mesto     Orchestra as well as other ensembles. He has worked as a professional musician and     composer in Southern California. His arrangements and compositions have been used in     both film and television and include projects as diverse asTales from Arab Detroit, Dr. Quinn     Medicine Woman, Pancho Villa (HBO movie) and Keeping Up With the Steins.     JIM GUTTMANN (String Bass)     For over 30 years bassist Jim Guttmann has performed in a wide range of venues from     smokey dives to Carnegie Hall. He joined the Klezmer Conservatory Band at its inception in     1980 and as a member of the band has performed and recorded with Itzhak Perlman and     Joel Grey. In addition to working with KCB he is currently performing klezmer music with,     among others, Andy Statman, Alicia Svigals’ Klezmer Fiddle Express and Frank London. He     is a founding member of the Really Eclectic String Quartet and has worked with nationally     renowned entertainers and musicians, including Eartha Kitt, Mark Murphy, Johnny Shines,     James Cotton, Matt Glaser, Russ Barenberg and the Artie Shaw Band. For many years he     performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra; in 1999, he premiered Gunther Schuller’s     duet for trumpet & contrabass “Fantastical Colloquy.” He also served as the musical director     and bassist for the Tufts University Jazz Festival's Soul to Soul: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin.         Mr. Guttmann has studied performance with Edwin Barker and Dave Holland, harmony     with Richard Cornell and techniques for improvisation with Charlie Banacos. He is a Grammy     Award Nominee and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study the     arco solo tradition in jazz bass playing.     GRANT SMITH (Drums, Dumbek, Riqq, Percussion)     Grant Smith is involved in many world music, jazz, classical, and dance projects in Boston     and New York. His theatre credits include the American Repertory's "The King Stag", and     "Shlemiel The First", as well as Joel Grey's "Borscht Capades". Mr. Smith has toured globally     from Crakow to Thailand and New Zealand. He has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma,     Don Byron, the Violent Femmes, Garrison Keillor,Jane Wang and the Green Bay Packers,     among others. A member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Klezperanto, Grant has     performed on many stages from Radio City, Wolf Trap, and Tanglewood, to the Hollywood     Bowl, MU in Budapest, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.                      -- ADDITIONAL BAND MEMBERS --     SRULI DRESDNER (Clarinet, Accordion, Drums, Vocals)          LISA MAYER (Fiddle, Vocals)          DENA RESSLER (Clarinet)     Dena (Dobe) Ressler performs frequently in concerts and simkhes throughout New England.     She is an instructor at Living Tradition's 'KlezKamp' and has taught at the summer Klezmer     Institute at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She has also taught seminars     on Klezmer history.     DAVID TASGAL (Fiddle, Clarinet, Cello, Bass, Piano)     David Tasgal has performed in string quartets, marching bands, jazz ensembles, symphony     orchestras and rock groups. Originally from Springfield, MA, David studied clarinet, piano     and cello, and later learned bass and violin. He now teaches stringed instruments and leads     and composes music for youth orchestras.     YAEKO MIRANDA ELMALEH (Fiddle)     Yaeko Miranda-Elmaleh grew up in Cambridge, MA and has played the violin since she was three.     A finalist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra youth competition and First prize winner in the Arlington     Philharmonic competition. She graduated from New England Conservatory in 2002 having studied and     performed in the Jewish Music ensemble under the direction of Hankus Netsky. She currently performs     with the Klezmer Conservatory Band and freelances in the Boston area.
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