Ed Willett earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California School of Music in Los Angeles, California. He is a cellist, guitarist, composer, arranger, and vocalist. During his education at U.S.C., he studied with cellist Eleanor Schoenfeld. While in Los Angeles, he was chosen to participate in the world-renowned Piatigorsky master class for cellists. There he studied with Zara Nelsova, Joel Krosnick and Erling Bengston. He has been a member of many symphony orchestras, including the Honolulu Symphony, the Pasadena Symphony, the Glendale Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and as co-principal of the U.S.C. Symphony, conducted by Daniel Lewis. He toured for several years for Columbia Artists Management with the Clarion Trio as part of their Community Concert Series. In 1999 he premiered his cello concerto, commissioned by the Chequamegon Bay Area Symphony. Mr. Willett recently returned from a 3-month, 87-performance tour with "Spirit", the nationally touring Native American/rock ballet written by film composer Peter Buffet.
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Severin loves a wide variety of musical styles including classical, bluegrass, jazz, avant-garde, and opera. He uses his passion and depth of skills to create a moving and warm environment for all.
He earned his Ph.D. in Music Composition from UCLA and his Masters degree from California Institute of the Arts. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. A talented composer, Severin’s works have been performed in a variety of venues, including Disney Hall in Los Angeles. He has toured and performed throughout the United States, and in Asia. He also teaches Music Theory and Musicianship classes in primary and secondary school levels. |
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Tom has been performing since he was a child, playing the drums in public school and then re-introducing himself to them again in time for the first performance of "Riding The Wind" in 1985. He helped raise the first Big Top tent and has been on the grounds ever since. He joined Lost Nation String Band at the end of the first Big Top Chautauqua performance in 1986.
Since then he has been a regular for all of Big Top's House Shows, Tent Show Radio, Big Top tour and special performances, variety shows and opening warm-ups for Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, etc. Tom has become a wonderful performer; he's especially well known for his character as Dr. Third Eye, in Big Top Chautauqua's house show, "Take It To The Lake". As well as being an accomplished performer, he has also written, produced, and directed his own shows at the Big Top, "The Man Who Walked Across Lake Superior", "On Wisconsin", and others. In his spare time he works in the Community Support Program in Bayfield County helping people with long-term mental illnesses. Also, he is a proud father of two daughters. |
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Phillip Anich grew up skiing at Mt. Ashwabay and for nearly 30 years, he’s been working with the many dedicated volunteers at Washburn’s Big Top Chautauqua, located at the base of Mt. Ashwabay, the largest music venue in Bayfield County. An original member of the Big Top’s Blue Canvas Orchestra, Phillip is currently the venue’s Operations Manager. He continues to sing in original house shows, which in 2018 include Big Top Does The Beatles, Superior!: Songs & Stories of the Big Lake, and Wild Woods & Waters.
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1963-1965 I attended the University of Minnesota, Morris. I was a music major and sang in the chorus and the men's glee club and played trombone in the concert band. 1965-1980 I lived in the twin cities and I: -Attended the Meadowbrook School of Music in Michigan on a voice sholarship and studied with Robert Shaw; Blake Stern from the Yale Music faculty; John Wustman, accompanist and vocal coach -Was pursuing a degree in Music Education at the University of Minnesota -Was a singer/dancer in the Edgewater Eight from 1965 to 1968 -Sang in the U of M Chamber Singers and Concert Choir -Taught elementary school in Robbinsdale for one year -Toured the US and Canada with the Tenth Story Window, a ten member show group -Performed at numerous venues in a group with Jimmy Martin for six years -Sang with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians -Sang and/or played on several albums, radio and television commercials, including David Haas' contemporary Christian CDs -Performed in numerous 'industrials' for companies such as 3M, Gambles, Toro, Harley Davidson, etc. -Sang and/or played in many show groups and club bands and traveled the US and Canada 1980 I moved to northern Wisconsin, up by Lake Superior, with the Lost Nation String Band, which I still sing and play bass in. 1981 I began my work as a goldsmith and jewelry repairman for at Ashland Jewelers, where I continue to work. Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua 1985 - present. I'm on staff as a singer/bass player/actor for our original in-house productions. For several seasons I was also vocal arranger/director. I perform a wide range of musical styles, including classical, folk, bluegrass, newgrass, country, jazz, cabaret, Broadway and opera. Since 1999 I have also been singing in the Minnesota Opera chorus and have been in six productions: Verdi's 'Othello,' 'MacBeth,' and 'Don Carlos;' Gounod's 'Faust,' 'Carmina Burana,' and 'Maria Padilla.' Since 1995 I have been studying voice with Barbara Kierig, an opera singing teacher in St. Paul.
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Yazmin…has lived a life of music from day one, having grown up with musician parents. Her career has taken her many places from recording her ‘Solo’ EP at Fantasy Studio in Berkeley, California to opening for Nanci Griffith in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Her latest album The Nautilus (coming July 6, 2018) was recorded in Havana, Cuba at Mo. Records Studio with producers and musicians she met while living and studying music there. Over the years, Cuban music has played a big roll in her life. She spent over a decade studying Latin piano with master in the field Rebeca Mauleón-Santana, among others, and while in Havana studied at the highly esteemed Instituto Superior de Arte.
When living in St. Paul, MN she studied piano performance under a full scholarship at McNally Smith College of Music and performed extensively with multiple midwest salsa groups including Salsabrosa, Charanga Tropical and her own group La Banda Nueva. Songwriting has always been the common thread for her and earned her recognition as the 2010 Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua Songwriter of the Year. Whether pounding out Cuban tumbaos or singing a soft, heart-wrenching ballad, Yazmin’s music comes straight from the soul. Her newest album The Nautilus highlights her very unique Folk-Rock sound with a mix of Cuban influences. It tells a love story from beginning to end and takes the listener on a journey through every phase of one woman’s experience: Before, Falling, Distance, Broken, Healing, and After. It is all at once empowering and deeply vulnerable. The raw, human emotion of her songs is transmitted through her powerful stage presence and stellar band. She currently performs with her band Beat Zero, comprised of a variety of musicians from across the globe. |
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I have been a professional performing folk/acoustic musician since 1978. I have my own record label: Heartistry Music.
Some venues I have played are: A Prairie Home Companion, Edinburgh Folk Festival, ESPN Great Outdoor Games, Walt Disney World, Weber Music Hall, Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua and many others. Some people I have been fortunate to play music with onstage and to record music with are: Tom Paxton, John McCutcheon, Molly (Otis) Stoddard, David Wilcox, Larry Long, Bruce Greene, Randy Sabien, Ralph Blizzard and the New Southern Ramblers, Sheila Kay Adams, Bryan Bowers, Don Pedi and many more. |
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Randy Sabien is a bluesy, rockin', swingin', funky, jazz violinist. With an intensely rhythmic, vibrant and inventive style, he has captivated audiences worldwide, playing with scores of bands and musicians of all stripes.He was planning to be a drummer when he set out on his musical path, but fate stepped in when the conductor of the high school orchestra persuaded him to play the violin in fourth grade. So with a bow in his hand instead of drumsticks, he began studying classical violin by day and playing along to records of his favorite 60s rock bands by night.
Having immersed himself in these two musical forms he went on to college hoping to further his musical education and the dream of playing and touring with a band. This is when lightening struck in the form of a vinyl record by legendary jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli. Hearing Grappelli and the other virtuoso violinists from the swing era opened up a new world of possibilities which, after nine years of playing the violin, Randy never knew existed. Not only did he find his voice, he went on to create a place in education where this music would be a prominent part of the foundation for any aspiring string student who came his way. Only two years later at age 21, he founded and chaired the string department at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then he has gone on to teach internationally and is co-author, along with Bob Phillips, of the acclaimed Jazz Philharmonic Series, his teaching method for alternative strings -- available at Alfred Music Publishing. With Randy's growing reputation as a pioneer in modern string education, performances are almost always coupled with a workshop or a visit to a nearby string department. In fact, with more than 30 years of hands-on experience, he is reprising his role of starting a college level alternative string department. This time it's at McNally Smith College of Music in St Paul, Minnesota where his students receive Bachelor and Master degrees in alternative string education from an extraordinary working musician and a gifted teacher who's been there and back. |
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I live on the shores of the Great Lake Superior, where this music must come from, storms and silence, always a rhythm, always a groove. Whether performing with just six strings and my hands or igniting a dance floor with an electric guitar and full band, it's All Music and just what we all need in this beautiful, inspiring, sometimes heartbreaking world we wake in each day.
Many musical and fulfilling life paths have led me to a full-time devotion to performing, writing and teaching guitar. This musical experience spans my entire lifetime and includes a career of over 30 years of live performance in acoustic and electric settings, for dancers, dreamers, and kids of all ages. From living rooms to coffee houses, bars to theaters and backyards to concert halls. Wherever I can serve up a dose of music medicine, I'll be there! My acoustic music life is fused with influences that range from fertile Delta and Piedmont Blues, Celtic dance rhythms, Caribbean and African grooves that affirm life itself. Singer/songwriters, that Bardic tradition have my heart as well. My electric soul is fueled by sounds and grooves that connect us all with dance and adventure. Get bodies moving and set the compass on the horizon. Let the music take us all along. That's accomplished with rock, reggae, African and a bit of country and jazz for good measure. I prefer to think of the acoustic guitar more as a piano in my hands than being limited to six strings, a pick and five fingers on the left hand. Perhaps that and a hand drum, owing to the well worn finish left on my instruments. Groove laden acoustic finger style guitar, a force of good for the soul. |
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