INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS

Violinist Ben Jackson strives to project the joy of the musical experience in all of his work. Whether playing solo, chamber, or orchestral music, he has been praised for his musicality and, very occasionally, his technical ability.

A native of San Jose, California, Ben has a diverse musical background, from his continued classical training through forays into old-time fiddling, folk, musical theater, jazz, and bluegrass. He has appeared as a soloist with several Bay Area orchestras, including the South Valley Symphony and the San Jose Youth Chamber Orchestra. He studied with Andrew Jennings at the University of Michigan.

Since he first started walking, Ben has primarily identified as a baseball player, but he has also recently shown prowess in video games, being hailed as "quite solid in Mario Kart" and "really...neck and neck with me 90% of the time" by critics and competitors. He has toured internationally as a banjo soloist, best known (okay, exclusively known) for his hit rendition of "I Got Plenty of Nuttin" from Porgy and Bess. Ben also enjoys beating Maddy at card games and beating Jacob at chess (@btjackso on Chess.com).

Over the course of her music-making life, bassoonist Maddy Wildman has been nurtured by an incredible artistic community, each day challenging her to be more joyful, humble, and kind. If she can extend even a fraction of that to others through her artistic practice, then she will consider her life a success.

Maddy Wildman (b. 1997) (she/her) is a bassoonist, composer, Virgo, amateur baker, cocktail enthusiast, and proud cat mom. She also enjoys beating Ben at card games.

In addition to playing bassoon with Front Porch, she often plays with slapslap, BRIGE and Moongreen. She also writes music, which you can listen to here.

Maddy is also honored to work in arts education with the University Musical Society. You can learn more about her work with them here. She was born in Wyoming, raised in Spokane, Washington, graduated from the University of Michigan, and lives happily with her girlfriend in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pianist Karalyn Schubring is passionate about inviting people to experience the joys of creativity through musical exploration. Her musical life consists of playing her friends' music, writing her own music, improvising, and trying to learn from "old" music, too. She was extremely lucky to premiere her own Piano Concerto with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra before the entire world shut down two weeks later.

Karalyn loves improvisation in all its forms, and often wishes that people would be just a bit more spontaneous. She also enjoys hiking, doodling, cooking, and being goofy with her husband. Karalyn is a graduate of University of Michigan (B.M. in Composition '20). You can listen to some of the things she's written here.

Percussionist Jacob Rogers is a musician based in Ypsilanti, Michigan dedicated to building inclusive, expressive soundscapes. From free improv to chamber pop to noise music, their interests as a performer are eclectic and earnest. Some current projects include playing percussion in Front Porch, generally participating in whatever BRIGE does, and performing their own songs and sounds as dwelling. They attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 2019 with a B.M. in Composition. This sentence is a link to their website.

Some current things Jacob is really into include: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Big Thief, Grouper, Xiu Xiu, chess YouTube videos, taking photos of themself, staring longingly into the distance, and baking.