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Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is a singing, songwriting, Illinois-born, Nashville-based clawhammer banjo player. She is every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, and every bit as attuned to the global as she is to the local. Abigail pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody’s ever heard before. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a duo with her husband Béla Fleck.
Having toured the world, Washburn is also armed with Chinese language ability and profound connections to culture and people on the other side of the Pacific. Washburn is one of the few foreign artists currently touring China independently and regularly.
Maddie Witler
Maddie Witler is a musician currently living in Baltimore, MD. Known mostly for her mandolin playing with groups like Della Mae and the Lonely Heartstring band, she can make meaningful and impressive music on a variety of string instruments. While she has been celebrated as a “shredder” at times, it is her ability to find the gaps in music, and leave space when needed, that gives her a subtle yet deliberate presence in any musical situation. With a deep knowledge and respect for bluegrass, and an awareness of the world and music she grew up around, she synthesizes a sound true to herself, at once traditional and contemporary. Maddie's 2022 debut solo album "Astronaut" showcases her songwriting, singing, and individual style of instrumental arranging.
Maddie also loves coffee and has worked as a barista, as well as competed in the 2023 and 2024 US Brewers Cup Competitions. In 2023, she was a member of the Glittercat Barista program where she received training and education from leaders in the coffee industry, focused on the brewer's cup (pour over) competition.
Paola Vera
Paola Vera is a singer songwriter from London, based in France. Paola’s music blends her passion for jazz with a modern edge; a fresh take, which she infuses into her own song writing and a new slant on old songs. She first started singing and playing the piano at the age of 13, later going on to continue her musical education at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and The Royal Academy of Music after receiving the Elton John Scholarship in London. In 2007 Paola was awarded a Yamaha Jazz Award for outstanding young Jazz musicians. She has since gone on to receive several awards as a singer and pianist, including recieving an ARAM for her contributions to music from the Royal Academy of Music, London. She has performed with many greats of the jazz scene all over the world.
Paola is also a highly sought after educator and vocal coach, currently working with several higher-education institutions across Europe and the UK. She is a vocal and songwriting tutor for Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London on the BAMPI degree program and Assistant professor of Jazz Voice at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels. Paola is a certified Estill Master Trainer (EMT) and is among few bilingual French speaking coaches delivering Estill courses in French and English across Europe. She is also a vocal coach for Disney in Paris, France.
Elizabeth Ziman
Elizabeth Ziman, who performs as Elizabeth and the Catapult, is a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn. She's toured with the likes of Sara Bareilles and Kishi Bashi; collaborated with Esperanza Spalding, Gillian Welch, Blake Mills and Ben Folds; scored, with Paul Brill, a variety of international award-winning documentaries including "Trapped," a Peabody winner; and won an Independent Music Award for Songwriting. Her songs have been featured in national television campaigns for Google and Amazon. She composed music for Sara Bareille’s new apple tv show, “Little Voice”. Always writing, Elizabeth narrowed her vast collection of previously unrecorded material down to her fifth full-length studio album "Sincerely, e”, which she self-produced at home and released on Compass Records in March 2021. One of the singles off that album, "Together Alone", made it onto NPR's All Songs Considered 10 best songs of 2021 list.