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TBF Orchestra 2023
The TBF Orchestra is comprised of some of the finest early-music players in the Pacific Northwest. Its members include players from the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Pacific MusicWorks, and the Portland Baroque Orchestra and they have played at some of the leading early-music festivals around the world.
Christine Beckmann, baroque violin
Christine Wilkinson Beckman is a baroque violin specialist living in Olympia, WA. She enjoys performing throughout her native Northwest with early music ensembles large and small and appears regularly with such groups as the Portland, Seattle, and Pacific Baroque Orchestras, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Pacific MusicWorks. Christine began her studies on baroque violin with Ingrid Matthews, and she graduated in 2013 with an MA from the Historical Performance Practices program at Case Western Reserve University where she studied with Julie Andrijeski. She received her BM in Violin Performance from St. Olaf College. In addition to performing, Christine teaches Suzuki violin to a busy studio of young musicians in Olympia. When not performing or teaching, Christine enjoys baking, reading about linguistics and the natural sciences, drinking tea with lots of milk and sugar, and listening to the rain with her husband and young children.
Meg Brennand, , baroque cello
Cellist Meg Brennand enjoys an eclectic musical life in Seattle. She has been cellist with the critically-acclaimed Onyx Chamber Players since 2001, at Town Hall Seattle and now ensemble-in-residence at First Church Seattle and with whom she has performed throughout the Northwest and on KING-FM. She is also cellist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle, and she will be part of the second NYC tour in February 2016. Meg serves on the cello faculty at Seattle Pacific University, and she maintains an active cello studio, where she teaches privately and coaches chamber music ensembles. As a member of the period-instrument community in Seattle, Meg performs on baroque cello with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Pacific Music Works.She has performed as solo cellist and with small ensembles on Gallery Concerts Series and with the Cosi Quartet. Past seasons have included performances with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver, BC. Meg is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music.
Mary Manning, baroque violin
Mary Manning performs as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and soloist throughout the Puget Sound region. For over 20 years she served as Principal Second Violin of Northwest Sinfonietta, Tacoma and Vashon Opera Orchestras. She has been a member of several baroque orchestras and festivals performing on period instruments. She has recorded for Wildboar, Centaur, Virgin Veritas, and Reference Recordings. Mary began playing the violin in the 4th grade while attending the Tacoma public schools and in high school studied with University of Puget Sound professor Ed Seferian and Pacific Lutheran University professor Ann Tremaine. Her degree is from Oberlin Conservatory where she studied both modern and baroque violin with Marilyn McDonald. In masterclasses and auditions she has played for Monica Huggett, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Jascha Heifetz, and Dorothy Delay. Mary has been a private instructor for thirty years and coached chamber music at many camps and festivals. She taught violin at Pacific Lutheran University and was a member of the faculty string quartet from 2008-2019. She lives in Gig Harbor with her partner, John, an inventor and sometimes accordion player.
Ross Gilliland, bass
Ross Gilliland performs regularly on modern and baroque bass instruments throughout the pacific northwest. He performs locally with period ensembled including the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Byron Schenkman & Friends chamber music series, Epiphany Parish, and Seattle Bach Choir. He also performs regularly on modern bass with the numerous ensembles including the North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO), Seattle Modern Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Auburn Symphony, and Northwest Symphony Orchestra. He is also active freelancing in theater and studio sessions, recording soundtracks for feature films, pop, bluegrass, video games, and other ‘attractions’. A Madison, WI native, Ross has been a long-time and continuing performer with the Madison Bach Musicians, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, collaborating closely with famed composer John Harbison, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society. He has been a featured soloist with Seattle's Mostly Nordic concert series and live on Wisconsin Public Radio. Mr. Gilliland holds degrees in music performance, physics, and environmental policy.
Lindsey Strand-Polyak, baroque violin, viola
Praised for her “rococo gracefulness”, Lindsey Strand-Polyak is active throughout the West Coast as a baroque violinist and violist. Nationally, she performs with ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists, Baroque Music Montana, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Pacific MusicWorks and Bach Collegium San Diego, and Austin Baroque Orchestra; and has appeared at the Oregon Bach Festival, Twin Cities Early Music Festival, and the Fringe Series of both Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals. In her home base of Southern California, she can be heard with her own group, Ensemble Bizarria, as well as Musica Angelica, Con Gioia Early Music Ensemble, Tesserae, and Concordia Clarimontis. Dr. Strand-Polyak was the assistant director for the UCLA Early Music Ensemble from 2011-2015, and is artistic director of Los Angeles Baroque—Southern California’s first community Baroque orchestra. Lecture-recitals include McGill University, University of Texas at Austin, Northern State University of Louisiana, and national meetings of the American Musicological Society. She has served on the faculty of the Colburn School and the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA, and currently serves as adjunct professor of baroque violin and viola at Claremont Graduate University.
Laurel Wells, baroque viola
Laurel Wells is known for her work on both baroque and modern viola and violin. She studied chamber music at the Banff Centre in Canada and performed extensively under the guidance of the Vermeer Quartet. Laurel was a member of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, holding the position of principal viola. She is currently a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra and performs often with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, and at the 5th Avenue Theater. In the early music world, Laurel plays with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Pacific MusicWorks, and with her quartet, Opus 20, in the Gallery Concert Series. She has also participated in the Whidbey Island Music Festival, and the EMG’s Early Music Fridays. Laurel has recorded with Seattle Baroque, for NPR, and the Wild Boar and Centaur labels.