Paul Safar received his B.Mus from the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, OH. He composes in a wide variety of styles and is a past recipient of the Erik Satie “Mostly Tonal Award” from the American Music Center. He has produced five CDs of original music, from folk to classical to jazz. His choir pieces have been performed in Seattle and Eugene and his chamber music in New York City’s CAMI Hall. In 1995, Paul had an original folk opera entitled Chenoa performed by the Dark County Civic Theater in Greenville, Ohio. He has also premiered works in the classical series “The Seventh Species Composers Concerts” in Portland OR. He wrote the music for the children’s theater musical Nisse’s Dream, which was produced at the Lord Leebrick Theater in Eugene, OR in August 2005. Also at Lord Leebrick, he and his partner Nancy Wood produced a concert of new music, Visual Music 2006, featuring new works by Northwest composers and performance artists, including new works of his own for four hands piano and chamber quartet. In addition to creating and performing with Nancy, Paul teaches piano and composition. Paul is a member of BMI and the American Music Center. Nancy Wood has spent her life studying the performing arts. Growing up in Minnesota, she started singing in the Lutheran church as a young child, and performed as a soloist, in ensembles, choirs and musical theater throughout college. She is also a United States Figure Skating Association Gold Medalist and she toured professionally with Holiday on Ice International. She received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota, where she studied theater, dance, literature and voice. As a vocalist, she has performed throughout Oregon, including headlining at Jazz De Opus, one of Portland’s premiere jazz venues, as well as performing in Portland’s Classical Composers series, “The Seventh Species”. She wrote the book for the children’s theater musical Nisse’s Dream, and co-wrote the lyrics with her partner, Paul Safar. She choreographed the “Troll Ballet” from Nisse’s Dream as well as originating the role of Mother/Witch in the premiere production in 2005. She also directed and choreographed the performance poetry piece “September 11” which was included in Visual Music 2006. When collaborating with Paul, she is the wordsmith, setting lyrics to children’s songs, classical art songs, and popular music such as Dream a Story, their popular song cycle CD. Nancy is a member of BMI, The Dramatist’s Guild, and the International Dance Council. Nancy and Paul are also the founders and Directors of Cherry Blossom Musical Arts, a non-profit dedicated to the creation and performance of original multi-disciplinary performance pieces.