Artist bios


Kara Davis

Kara Davis danced for Atlanta Ballet, Ohio Ballet, and Ballet Jörgen before moving to San Francisco in 1996. She is a founding member of KUNST-STOFF and Janice Garrett & Dancers, both of whom she danced for 10 years.  She has danced for Amy Raymond, Alex Ketley, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Robert Moses, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Pearl Ubungen Dancers & Musicians, Holly Johnston, Val Caniparoli, and SF Opera. She won an "Izzie" in 2003 for "Outstanding Achievement in Individual Performance" and was SF Chronicle dance critic Rachel Howard's pick for 2005's MVP. Along with Co-Director Bliss Kohlmyer, she founded project agora in 2006. She has received multiple nominations and awards from the Isadora Duncan Award Committee and has presented her work at the Bates Dance Festival, the Kennedy Center (ACDA National Festival), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, YBCA, ODC Theater, San Francisco International Arts Festival, DZINE Gallery, SF MOMA, & the Headlands Center For The Arts.  She has been a faculty member at Alonzo King LINES Pre-Professional and BFA Programs since 2005 and earned her MFA in 2013 from Hollins University. 


Bliss Kohlmyer

Bliss Kohlmyer has danced and toured internationally with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Sean Curran Company, Janice Garrett and Dancers, Robert Moses' Kin, and The San Francisco Opera Ballet. She was on faculty at ODC School for a number of years and was a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley from 2007-2009. Along with Kara Davis, she established project agora in 2006. Her company has received numerous grants and honors. Recently, Bliss has been commissioned by Jacksonville Dance Theatre, LINES Ballet Summer Program, Robert Moses’ Kin, sjDANCEco, and Loyola Marymount University. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Washington in 2011 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of South Florida.


Katy Stephan

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Katy Stephan (vocalist, pianist, and composer) has created original music for several live theatre productions in association with Upon These Boards, including Under Milk Wood (Porchlight Theatre), Word For Word's Three Blooms (Magic Theatre), Lysistrata Project (Berkeley Rep), Bury The Dead (Cooper Union, New York City) and The Inkwell Communiques.  Katy has been a soloist with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, for their concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, and previously for Leonard Bernstein's Mass.  She also appeared as a soloist and chorus member on the Grammy-nominated recording of the Mass with Kent Nagano and the Deutsche Symphonie. For three years, from January 2010 through 2012, she wrote, recorded, and posted a new song once every week on her website every7days.com.  Her voice has been featured in film and television, as well as educational toys.  Katy's solo albums, Saints Of The Lost Cause Saloon, and Lacemaking, are available at CDBaby and iTunes.


Karl Digerness

Karl Digerness (composer, guitarist) is a southern expat who has called San Francisco home since 2003. As an arranger, Karl has written dozens of arrangements for sacred, jazz and chamber music and is an assistant arranger for Magik*Magik Orchestra, writing for bands such as Third Eye Blind and Doe Eye. Karl is also a singer/songwriter who’s newest indie-pop project, The Frail Ophelias, explores the work of Shakespeare. Their first song cycle, “Macbeth”, debuted at NYC’s Chelsea Music Festival in 2013, and was also performed locally as a part of San Francisco’s Stern Grove on the Road festival in 2014. Their debut album, “The Scottish Play”, is set to release early next year. 

 


GOJOGO

 

Sarah Jo Zaharako, violin
Roger Riedlbauer, electric guitar
Eric Perney, bass
Elias Reitz, Indian percussion and electronics

Founded in 2003, Gojogo combines the Western sounds of classical and jazz with the rhythmic traditions of India.. Gojogo performs original music composed collaboratively by the four performers, each drawing upon a different musical tradition and training. Compositions feature improvisation over structured forms, creating opportunities for spontaneity and a medium to present each unique instrument. The result is a sound that defies the borders of any specific genre.

Gojogo received grants from American Composers Forum and San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music in 2009 to perform original scores to Russian animated short films. Also in 2010, the San Francisco arts organization Intersection for the Arts presented Gojogo on their Jazz at the Intersection concert series at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Gojogo has performed in concert series and festivals throughout the Bay Area including the 2011 Switchboard Music Festival at the Brava Theater in San Francisco.

Gojogo has produced two recordings. Their first album, All is Fair, released in November 2006 on Galaxia Records, received international recognition. The second, 28,000 Days, released on the Porto Franco Record label in 2011, received a four-star review from Down Beat magazine, among many other accolades. The album commemorates a decade of musical growth and chronicles tracks that have been featured in music, film and dance performances throughout the Bay Area and beyond.


Guest Artists for  Threshold, suspended...

 Kelly Del Rosario                                                    Crystaldawn Galante                                                          Chin Chin Hsu                                                                     Ryan Huber                                                                    Dazaun Soleyn                                                               Suzette Sagisi