For the sake of longevity Richard Valitutto wants us to tell you that he used to be dating two virgos, but now those virgos are only dating each other and not Richard. Truly. We’re not joking. His Aquarius sun says, “you’re not allowed in here”, but his Leo moon says,… Read More
Ryan Darke is a winner. He plays the game of life hard, he always gives his best, and he has a dog named Pepper. Ryan has big ideas about embouchures. When he was a college Trumpet jock, he had like 50 dudes embouchure photos pasted all over his dorm room,… Read More
Seth Olinsky has a pink guitar. He’s the chillest, actually the chillest person we could imagine — his energy being the type that uplifts a room in curiosity. He’s composer and singer and guitarist and founder of the rock band Akron/Family as well as his rock n roll moniker, Cy… Read More
While considered among the most clean-cut of our motley crew, when he’s asked, as he often is: “should this be an octave lower?” Stephen Pfeifer answers almost unequivocally: “Yes.” He’s an urban homesteader, a tomato gatherer, chicken coop builder, and he’s our double bassist. An incredible dad for Addison, and… Read More
Erin McKibben is our flutist and has been since the beginning. Erin is forever exploring her low register and she’s played an intimate alto flute solo for James Franco in a limousine. She’s also played with 100+ flutes which, if you’re counting, is kind of a lot of flutes. More… Read More
We’ve never heard anyone say the sentence “Phew, just in time!” more than Jodie Landau. Jodie is our star everything person. He’s a composer, singer, percussionist, and improvisor who makes his own ecstatic music and other people’s music more ecstatic. He’s contagious. In the best possible way. He exudes love,… Read More
Trumpeter Jonah Levy nailed his 6th Grade recital. “All downhill from there,” he said “but, you know what, I think the most important thing we can do as muscians is to hold on to that piece of ourselves that still is a kid, and in a way, when we make… Read More
No one knows more about everyone than Linnea Powell. She is the village Wisdom. The Managing Director. The Viola. The Master of Secrets. Linnea feels things strongly and hears the world loudly; she cares about everybody and is beloved by everyone. She aspires to listen, facilitate communication, and help her… Read More
Matt Barbier is fine with not knowing what he’s doing. He’s notably the scratchiest member of the band, sonically. When he’s not making his trombone scream magmatic hellscapes for us, he does that sidesaddle in his duo RAGE. Historically he’s blown split-tones on Philip Jones’s alphorn on a small village… Read More
Derek Tywoniuk has written an essay about his love of the Spice Girls. He’s searching for meaning everywhere and only comes up short…well…most of the time. He’s not not-worried about finding the answers, but at least while he’s aging he’s becoming more comfortable knowing even less about what it all… Read More
Derek Stein looks like Jack Black. For this reason, he can (at a moment’s notice) sing all the parts of Tenacious D’s greatest hits (including those from “The Pick of Destiny” which is largely considered a flop.) A cellist from a lineage of cellists, he loved learning music from his… Read More
Claire! Has so much energy. She collects nature objects and ferments many things. It’s a farm life, kind-of, wherever it is that Claire can be found. She’s one of two Claire Oboes in Wild Up with principal oboe jobs in bangin’ orchestras, and she’s unbelievably legit at the oboe. Claire… Read More
Claire Brazeau is joie de vivre personified and she loves animals (dogs in particular). She cares about the world and wants to make it a better place. Claire is our only Instagram Influencer. She’s curious, pragmatic, optimistic, and adventurous. And her oboe case looks like a Balenciaga. She’s an incredible… Read More
Sprung from the California soils like so many avocados and so much sage brush, Chris Rountree keeps his books stacked on the floor in an easily accessible way that lends an inspiring, bohemian feel to the room. Our Artistic Director, conductor, and “surprise let’s do all sorts of new things,… Read More
Caitlin Kelley advances confidently in the direction of her dreams. She endeavors to live an imagined life. She’s been there for almost all of Wild Up’s major successes, from our second show ever (way back when!), to Bjork at FYF, to 12 hours of Bliss with Ragnar Kjartansson at REDCAT. Read More