Gryphons Wild is a vocal duo dedicated to bringing to life long-forgotten treasures of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Eras through the colorful and expressive blending of two female voices. The mission of Gryphons Wild is to tell the story of the beauty and expressive power of the human voice across the centuries. Our passion is singing unusual yet historically informed arrangements of little known music. We do much of our own arranging, giving early music a contemporary twist by incorporating influences from Celtic, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and other folk traditions and using unusual combinations of instruments. Our repertoire is not limited to early music but includes duets from show tunes, operas and the occasional contemporary or non-Western piece. Gryphons Wild is dedicated to capturing the hearts and minds of young people. We mentor talented young musicians who are interested in pursuing early music by featuring them in our concerts as guest artists. We also have created programs for elementary and middle schools in which we share with children our fascination with early music and the singing voice. Gyphons Wild performs regularly with other instrumentalists and singers, including Anita Baldwin (guitar, accordion, soprano, recorder), Greta Haug-Hryciw (percussion, storyteller, soprano, recorder, didgeridoo), Dale Tsang-Hall (harpsichord, piano), Ruri Wen-Matsui (recorder) and Daniel Wood (French horn).
Sally Terris (mezzo-soprano, harp, recorder, artistic director) holds a BA in Music (Voice) and Physics from Dartmouth College and an MM in Musicology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also a registered recorder teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Sally has studied recorder with Judith Linsenberg, Mary Halverson Waldo, Katherine White, and Marion Rubinstein, and has taken vocal and recorder workshops/master classes with Frances Blaker, Patri1ck O’Malley, William Starr, Drew Minter, Karen Clark and others. She has studied voice with Marlene Hartley, Jenna Smith and Dodi Protero, Ellen St. Thomas and Karen Clark. Ms. Terris teaches recorder students ranging from three years to adults at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) and in her home studio using traditional and Suzuki approaches. She has been on the CSMA Music Faculty since 1990. She developed the Music Theory Program and was Music Theory Coordinator from 1996-2006. She was also the director of the CSMA Suzuki Institute for Recorder from 2005-2007. She has taught theory (classes and private), recorder (classes and private, traditional and Suzuki), Musicianship for Singers, Music Explorer, and Back to the Baroque summer camp. She is currently the Merit Scholarship Ensemble Coordinator and is also the Faculty Advisor for the CSMA Early Music Minstrels, who place first in Santa Cruz Baroque Festival’s 2011 Youth Chamber Music Competition.
Ellen St. Thomas (soprano, percussion, managing director) is an expressive lyric soprano who enjoys performing, teaching, conducting and directing. She was recently the soprano soloist in the San Francisco City Chorus’ performance of Elijah by Mendelssohn. Her live opera performances with local opera companies such as West Bay Opera, Livermore Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Mission Opera and The Marin Summer Music Festival include: The Countess, The Marriage of Figaro, First Lady The Magic Flute, Anna Gomez The Consul, Rosalinda Die Fledermaus, Mimi La Boheme, Miss Jessel Turn of the Screw, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Jenufa and Mayor’s Wife Jenufa, Micaela Carmen, Pretzel Girl in Shostakovich’s, The Nose and the Madam in Pasatieri’s La Divina. Other oratorio and concert performances include the Mendelssohn’s Paulus for the San Francisco City Chorus, Brahms Requiem, The Rutter Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and a performance of Schubert’s “Auf dem Strom” with the Avenue of the Winds Ensemble in San Francisco. Ms. St. Thomas sang the world premiere of “Small Children, With No Ice-Cream Cones” Ed Dierauf (composer), Bernard Weiner (poet) for The Marsh’s political cabaret program Progressive Muse Poetry! Music! Comedy! Resistance! Opera directing credits include La Boheme and Rachmaninoff’s, Aleko for the Russian Center. She is currently directing opera scenes at Holy Names University. Ms. St. Thomas can be heard on the CD soundtrack for the PBS program “Classical Stretch”. Her contribution to the world of animation includes speaking and singing the voice of an opera singer in cartoon episodes of Madeline and Inspector Gadget for Dic Entertainment. Ms. St. Thomas has a private voice studio and teaches voice at the Alameda School of Music. She taught Kodaly elementary school music and led several youth choruses for the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) in Mountain View and also taught private voice lessons at CSMA from 2002 to 2007. She conducted the adult choir for Lake Park United Methodist Church in Oakland and is Music Director at the United Lutheran Church of Oakland. Other career highlights include Senior TV Producer Director Fairfax County Public Schools and Licensing Director, Sega of America.
Anita Baldwin (guitar, accordion, voice) is a singer and instrumentalist who enjoys jazz as much as Baroque and holds an English/Music degree from Colby College, Waterville, ME. Her musical accomplishments include positions as soprano soloist in Washington, DC churches, contra dance piano player, and a stint dressed as a singing/juggling fruit (an olive, specifically) at a DC restaurant. More currently, she has been adding Oktoberfest accordion songs to her repertoire. She teaches at CSMA and the Living Wisdom School in Palo Alto.
Greta Haug-Hryciw (percussion, recorder, storyteller, soprano) considers herself primarily a recorder player, but also enjoys singing and dabbling in hand percussion. Her early exposure to musical influences shaped her love of early and classical music – her father was a trumpeter with the San Francisco Symphony who often hosted small ensemble chamber music rehearsals at their home. Her interest in the recorder blossomed during high school, and she has since studied with several Bay Area professionals, including recorderist Hanneke van Proosdij, percussionist Peter Maund and didjeridoo virtuoso Stephen Kent. She co-directed the American Recorder Orchestra of the West (AROW) and is the founder of the recorder quartet, SDQ. Greta teaches private and group recorder lessons to students of all ages. She and her husband, Lloyd, work together every day at their photography studio in San Francisco, accompanied by their two schipperkes.
Dale Tsang-Hall earned (piano, harpsichord, mezzo-soprano) her BM in piano performance from the University of Southern California, her MM from the University of Michigan, and her DMA from Rice University. She took first prize in the 2001 Carmel Music Society Competition. She was also a solo-round competitor in the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and a semi-finalist in the 1999 Washington International Competition. She is an active solo and chamber musician, has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Holland Music Sessions and the Sarasota Music Festival, and presented her first Asian tour in 2009. Dale is a faculty member at Laney College, teaches an inspiring assortment of adult students and is married with two wonderful young children.
Ruri Wen-Matsui is in 10th grade at The King’s Academy. She has been studying recorder with Sally Terris since 2004. This is her 7th year as a Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) Merit Scholar. She is a member of the CSMA Early Music Minstrels, who won first place in the 2011 Youth Chamber Music Competition at the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. She is a member of her high school cross country team. She attends Japanese School every Saturday and enjoys listening to music.
