TEDxJacksonville 2015: "Into the Machine" Speakers

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Canary in the Coalmine:

'Canary in the Coalmine' is an Americana Folk band based out of Jacksonville, Florida. A haunting quality underscores striking vocal harmonies that provide a focal point for the band’s signature sound. The band released their first full-length album “Who Fears the Devil?” in March of 2015.  Because of the vast collection of musical influences the writers share, Canary’s sound is a melding together of different genres of American roots music, including Country, Bluegrass, Old Spirituals, and Appalachian Folk, tinged with the flavors of blues, soul, and a little bit of rock and roll.

 Canary in the Coalmine has been garnering local and regional attention within the Jacksonville area and beyond, performing at Suwanee Springfest and Magnolia Festival and recently completed a mini tour to support their album release.  Canary has performed for and worked in collaboration with many noteworthy Jacksonville establishments, including the Cummer Museuam of Art and Gardens, MOCA, Springfield Porchfest, and Riverside Avondale Preservation Society, and has plans of continuing to grow and spread their music throughout the Southeast.




Complicated Animals:

Complicated Animals is the Brazilian & American duo of Monica da Silva & Chad Alger. Mixing breezy Indie Pop + Vintage Brazilian Bossa Nova, they've created their own unique genre, Indie Nova. Complicated Animals' music has been featured on ESPN during the World Cup 2014, and licensed by Putumayo World Music for their compilation "Brazilian Beat." They just released a new EP "In This Game," which premiered on PopMatters and NPR.




Wise River

Wise River is a 3-piece dream-pop/synth-pop band fronted by brother and sister duo John and Laura Shannon from Jacksonville, FL. All three members also perform together in the indie-folk band Fort Stories. Wise River focuses on combining digital and analog instruments, effects, noise, and samples to create a sound that is all at once dreamy, experimental, and catchy.




Ritz Chamber Players

THE RITZ CHAMBER PLAYERS, is hailed by The Baltimore Sun as “one of the most interesting and dynamic ensembles to emerge in recent years.” Boasting some of the world’s preeminent musicians spanning the African diaspora, it brings a fresh, new energy to the classical music genre. Its members perform with prestigious organizations such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and the London Symphony. The Ritz Chamber Players made its highly successful début concert at New York’s Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall to a standing room only crowd, with critics proclaiming the group’s performance “extraordinary” and “vital and fresh.”

Kelly Hall-Tompkins – Violin One of New York City’s most in-demand violinists, Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ dynamic career spans solo, chamber, and orchestral performance. Ms. Hall-Tompkins has been a soloist with the Dallas, Greenville, and Monmouth Symphonies, the Philharmonic of Uruguay, the Gateways Festival Orchestra, the Festival of the Atlantic Orchestra, and the Atlanta University Orchestra and her performances in recital have been featured on several occasions on the McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase, broadcast in New York by WQXR. She earned a Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music under the mentorship of Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.

Orlando Wells – Violin/Viola A native of Orange, NJ, Orlando Wells began studying the violin at the age of 9. Mr. Wells attended S.U.N.Y. Purchase and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Mr. Wells performs with The Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, SONYC Chamber Orchestra, The Ritz Chamber Players, Allentown Symphony, Sweet Plantain String Quartet, The Emerald Trio and the Radio City Christmas Show Orchestra. Performing frequently on Broadway, he has played regularly with Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Spamalot, Wicked and was the violist on the first national tour of the Broadway show, Little Women. Currently he is the violist on the new Broadway show Crybaby.  He has collaborated with musicians of many different genres and styles. Some of the artists he has worked with are John Legend, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Kanye West, Marvin Hamlish, the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet and Sojourner Strings.

Tahirah Whittington – Cello Tahirah Whittington, originally from Houston, TX, has performed for audiences in the United States, Chile, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Bermuda, St. Kitts, and Japan. Solo engagements include a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, as a result of winning 1st prize at the 1999 Sphinx Competition. She has played on the recordings of R&B artists Alicia Keys, Angie Stone, and Joe, as well as gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin. Ms. Whittington received her Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick, and received her Bachelor’s Degree at the New England Conservatory as a student of Laurence Lesser. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral Degree at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, with Hans Jensen.