|   |   |   |   |   |

Michael Montes began teaching himself to play the piano at the age of seven and later dropped out of medical school in order to make composition his life's work. In 1995 he began the Zoar project in order to explore the dark side of our fading planet with keyboards, guitar and cello. He has also composed scores for several independent films including Joan Stein's One Day Crossing which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001. His String Quartet No. 1 has recently been recorded along with Sonata for Piano and Cello. String Quartet No. 2 and a new set of works for chamber orchestra entitled Six Pieces for Anselm Kiefer are in preparation. Peter Rundquist walked away from a promising Wall Street career to pursue music full time. Prowling various NYC music studios he began experimenting with the multi-layered guitar textures with which he has become associated. While engineering and producing Straight from the Delta, a CD of field recordings performed by Mississippi Delta blues musicians, he became interested in the concept of alternate guitar tunings. He has lent his originality to a number of film projects including Scott Saunder's This Close To Nothing and The Headhunter's Sister. Recent work includes Sounds of Monhegan, an ambient CD inspired by the ancient runes and rugged beauty of the island of Monhegan.

Erik Friedlander is a remarkable cellist whose career is marked by a striking level of achievement and creativity in a variety of music styles, including classical and jazz. For the past ten years, he has performed with artists as diverse as Joe Lovano, John Zorn and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Erik is a classically trained cellist who maintains a wide ranging performance schedule while he continues to focus his vision as a composer and an improviser. Friedlander has always worked to stake out new ground for the cello in both his compositional choices and his dynamic improvising style. His music blends his vision of what the cello can be pushed to do, while maintaining a firm grasp on traditions, both improvising and classical.