Dan Biederman
Piano, Synths & Vintage Keyboards


I was born in Boston, MA (USA) in 1977. My love for music developed early with the discovery of my parents' record collection. Bob Dylan and Beethoven in the same old red chest, the gates of heaven.

I studied piano, guitar and music theory from a very young age. I went to college at Arizona State University's Herberger School of Music where I earned my B.A. in Fine Arts, Music. My experiences at university were extremely diverse. ASU didn't let any subjects slide. Though I was in the Jazz school, I still had a progressive Classical piano instructor for 50 minutes a week drilling me on Bach and Beethoven; it was fantastic (though I may not have thought so at the time.) Along with piano lessons came history, ear training, LOTS OF THEORY, combos and consorts, all music, all the time. It was wonderfully overwhelming.


Mariana Batkhan
Voice & Piano


At age 5 Mariana was studying ballet. During break time she asked permission from the accompanist to improvise on the piano. After she finished playing, the accompanist offered Mariana an invitation to study piano at the Saint-Petersburg State Music School for gifted and talented children. Unknown to Mariana, the accompanist was the head of the piano department. 9 years later Mariana graduated from the State Music School with honours. She has since graduated from the Saint-Petersburg State Musical College and State University of Art and Culture with honours where she earned her Bachelor of Music Teaching and Bachelor of Music Theatre Directing and Performing.

Mariana plays piano, guitar, accordion, recorda and Russian folk instruments domra and balalaika. From 1989 she has taught piano, guitar and voice. She has conducted and accompanied choirs, and has extensive performing, directing and composing experience for live theatre. She has performed as a singer and an actress in plays such as Medea, Snow Queen, Misfortune from an Affectionate Heart, Tartuffe, Maria and her Sisters, Snow White, Thumbelina, etc.

Most recently Mariana accompanied the St Scholastica's College Choir at Angel Place. Mariana is currently working on her latest world music album, Ethnodelica. Give it a listen!


Bronston Ashford
Guitar


I began playing guitar at age 13. After completing high school I sought out to further my education in music. I completed certificates 2 & 3, and Diploma in Music throughout various TAFE's around Australia. At the age of 18, one of my teachers introduced me to the world of 'shred guitar' (Paul Gilbert, Racer X, Yngwie Malmsteen etc). From then on I got heavily into developing my technique. Following in the foot steps of my then idol Paul Gilbert, I enrolled in the famous guitar program Musicians Institute, Hollywood L.A, and left for the U.S.A in 2008. I spent a year learning from world class musicians, living and breathing guitar, branching out into other genres. My interests range from all the 80's shred masters to Jazz and Classical.

You can check me out on YouTube here, brono25.


Josephine Lumanau
Violin & Viola


Josephine studied Bachelor of Music Performance at the Australian Institute of Music. She began playing piano at the age of 4 then moved to violin at the age of 13. She expanded her musicality by studying viola for her bachelor in 2008. Josephine has played in numerous places throughout Sydney as a soloist and an orchestral player. She is also an experienced teacher for AMEB exams, theory, aural or playing just for fun.



Floor van der Holst
Voice & Piano


I was born in Groningen, the Netherlands, in 1989. After studying classical piano for 12 years (6-18) and classical singing for 7 years (11-18), I started studying Musicology at the University of Amsterdam, having classical singing lessons at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam and touring with the Dutch National Youth Choir. In that year I also started teaching music theory, sight-reading and repertoire to the children of the National Children’s Choir.

During that first year of living and studying in Amsterdam, I met a lot of jazz musicians who initiated and encouraged my love for jazz. I decided to audition for the music college of jazz and flamenco in Barcelona (Taller de Musics), where I then studied for one year. In the meantime I finished the Musicology degree, taught classical music and jazz to children and adults, picked up the trumpet and kept performing jazz and my own music in both Barcelona and Amsterdam. In July 2011 I moved to Sydney where I am currently in the process of recording my album (due out Dec 2011) and performing as much as possible.

As I have a lot of experience being taught in a wide range of musical styles, instruments and teaching methods, I learned to be a creative teacher myself. I aspire a feeling of comfort and an open mind towards music whilst working on certain aspects of technique and interpretation.