Kara has always been moved by music and song.  At an early age she made the direct connect between sound, vibration and Life Force Energy.  She instilled in her two children, Megan and Ben, the “calming” effect that music had on the heart and mind.

In 2004, Kara began a six-year journey to learn everything she could about Reiki Healing Energy.  In 2010 Kara received her Degree of Reiki Master.  Kara soon found herself working with cancer survivors at Focus Fitness yoga studio in Bryn Mawr, PA.  She offered Reiki sessions following a yoga repose class (Reposition your Life) lead by her friend and breast cancer survivor, Karen Gagnier.

After two successful years and many positive confirmations, Kara decided that sound and vibration could be used as a healing tool.  During a night out at a group meditation, Kara was introduced to the Gamelan, an Indonesian percussion instrument.  She felt this instrument would add a “calming” benefit to her Reiki sessions as well as the work she was doing with Hospice patients.

The next instrument to come across her path was the Nigerian Udu drum.  This drum had a sound that resonated with the human heartbeat and was a natural “add on” to her harmonic vibe.

Kara began to connect with other musicians who remained heart centered and who found a calling toward mind, body, and spirit.  Not long after acquiring these new instruments, Kara began playing for local yoga studios, home parties, private Reiki sessions, Annual Living Beyond Breast Cancer benefits and museum concerts. 

This “flow” has lead her to the joint venture of MYSTIC PULSE, three women who share heart and soul as well as passion. 

Kara’s work continues to carry the human spirit to a comfortable place where there is breath and ease.  She looks forward to continuing on this creative path that has always been guided by Love and Light.

Connie Paolino, has a multifaceted career as an artist, vocalist and percussionist and resides in Glen Mills, PA, with a BA in Printmaking from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, PA. Connie began singing with the Neumann University Concert Chorale as a tenor in 2001, touring and performing in Montreal, Canada, Munich, Germany, Salzburg, Austria and most recently in several major cities of Japan (2010). She performed in Carmina Burana with the Czech International Orchestra in Prague, and under the direction of Will Kesling, Connie sang with a national Gospel choir at Carnegie Hall, NYC in 2007.

Recently taking a holistic approach to her music by playing the gamelan and various drums, she has been expanding and experimenting with various percussion instruments. As a practicing Reiki Master and Non-Denominational Minister, her passion for tapping into various energies and vibrations with a mind body soul connection is applied to her current position as a Life Enhancement Director at a local Senior Living facility. Using these abilities she brings healing and comfort through her music to those at the end of their life. Conducting memorial services for those looking for an alternative approach has also been an extension of this journey. Currently she performs locally with MYSTIC PULSE, and delights in creating meditative sounds and vibrations for audiences.

Cynthia Folio’s compositions have been described as “confident and musical in expressing ideas of great substance” and “imaginatively scored.” She has received commissions from such organizations as Network for New Music, the e Relâche Ensemble, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Music Teachers National Association, and the National Flute Association, and she earned 17 consecutive ASCAP Awards for composition. Her recent CD: Chamber Music for Flute (Centaur, CRC 2777) features eight of her works. Other CD's of her compositions include a recording of When the Spirit Catches You É by the e Relâche Ensemble, called Press Play (Meyer Media, LLC, 2006); two recordings of Arca Sacra by Nina Assimakopulos, Points of Entry (Capstone CPS-8759) and by Stephanie Rea, Solo French and American Flute Works (Centaur CRC 2759); and two recordings of Developing Hues by the Silverwind grant from the University of Wisconsin Ð Stevens Point, March 12, 2011; (2) Elegy for flute choir at Flutefest! in Wilmington DE, by the PA Flute Choir, June 19, 2010; (3) “Iconic Inversions” one of 25 variations on the Diabelli Waltz theme, written by 25 composers who had been commissioned by Network for New Music (to celebrate their 25th anniversary), May 2, 2010; (4) Voyage, I, Too, Can Sing a Dream, for 3 choirs and 4 percussionists, commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Gay Men's Chorus, and Anna Crusis Women's Choir, May 1, 2009; and (4) Z3 by ZAWA! (Claudia Anderson and Jill Felber, flutes), commissioned by the Music Teachers National Association, November 9, 2008. In addition, The National Flute Association featured an entire concert of her flute music at the Annual Convention in Charlotte, NC in August 2011; included in the concert was the world premiere of a piece for piccolo and piano.

As a music theorist, Cynthia has many articles, reviews, and chapters in books that focus primarily on the analysis of jazz, the analysis of contemporary music, and the relationship between analysis and performance. These include a chapter on Billie Holiday (co-authored with Robert W. Weisberg) in New Musicology (Poznan Press), and a chapter on Berio's Sequenza for flute (co-authored with Aleck Brinkman) in Berio's Sequenzas (Ashgate Academic Publishers). She is an expert on the music of Joseph Schwantner, and wrote an article for the next issue of The Flutist Quarterly on Schwantner's flute music.

Cynthia is Associate Professor of theory and composition at Temple University, where she was honored with a Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1994. She received a Ph.D. in music theory and Performers Certificate in flute from the Eastman School of Music. Her teachers include Joseph Schwantner (composition) Robert Morris (dissertation advisor) and Bonita Boyd (flute). She plays flute in several ensembles in the Philadelphia area, including The Philadelphia Classical Symphony, David's Harp, Glaux (a contemporary music ensemble at Temple University), and Latin Fiesta.

Michele Kelly is the flutist and co-Artistic Director of Relâche, the world-renowned ensemble for new music. She has worked directly with many of today’s most innovative composers in the creation of new works, including Gavin Bryars, Guy Klucevsek, and Mark Hagerty. Through numerous residencies at some of America’s top conservatories, she along with the ensemble continues to foster the interactive relationship between presenters, performers, and the emerging generation of young composers in the digital age. The New York-born, Houston-raised flutist is highly regarded as a clinician, ensemble coach, and studio teacher. She is a College House Teaching Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where in addition to studio instruction and small ensemble coaching she is the founder and Director of Penn Flutes, a large ensemble of more than thirty flutists. The ensemble performs several concerts on campus, and also maintains an active relationship with the community at large through an ongoing series of outreach performances and school workshops. She has also organized similar ensembles and events within her private teaching studio, Fresh Flute. She received her MMus from the University of Michigan, where she also earned a unique post-Master’s Specialist degree in chamber music performance. Her teachers include Keith Bryan and composer/theorist/flutist Cynthia Folio. The daughter of noted abstract expressionist painter James Groff lives with her family in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia.

Elise Auerbach pursues a multi-faceted career as a pianist in this country and abroad. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Delaware and Temple University Symphonies, given numerous solo recitals, and premiered new works for keyboard. As a collaborative artist, she performs extensively with singers and instrumentalists throughout the region.  She has toured twice in Germany and been broadcast live on Cincinnati classical radio WGUC. Recent collaborations include faculty recitals at Temple, Rowan, and Immaculata Universities and appearances at Weill Recital Hall and the Croatian Embassy in Washington, DC.  Ms. Auerbach has participated in, and performed at, festivals in Japan, Italy, Canada, and the United States.

Her work in the opera field includes serving as Music Director for productions at the Delaware Valley Opera Company, Opera Society of New Jersey, and Wissahickon Woods Opera Theater.  Former positions include pianist for the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, Artist-in-Residence at Cheyney University, and Faculty Pianist for the Summer Conference for String Education and Chamber Music.

Currently, Elise is a member of the vocal coaching faculty at Temple University in Philadelphia.  She is also the orchestra pianist for the Haddonfield Symphony and accompanist for the Savoy Company, Temple University Concert Choir and Temple Music Prep Children’s Choir.

Ms. Auerbach received her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano from Temple University and a Master’s Degree in Accompanying from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Ellen Fisher-Deerberg received her Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Temple University, where she studied with Murray Panitz, principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ellen is principal flutist of the Bravura Philharmonic in West Windsor, NJ and performs frequently in the Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey region with a wide variety of ensembles including the Volanti Flute Quartet, flute and classical guitar, flute and harp, and flute and strings. She was a featured soloist with the Green Hill Flute Festival Orchestra in March 2008, and is a collaborative artist on the CD The Colors Fall, featuring flute duos by Hoover, Hindemith, and DeMars. Ellen is on the faculty of the Westminster Conservatory of Music and the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music.

Jane Moore has worked extensively in regional theater throughout the country. She holds an MFA degree in Theater from Temple University. Ms. Moore hosted the award winning Jane Moore & … Show at WHYY-TV, Philadelphia’s PBS affiliate.  Her film credits include Philadelphia, Dead Poets’ Society, and Mannequin.  In 2006, she played Queen Margaret, Stanley, and the Silent Priest in the Philadelphia Lantern Theater production of Richard the Third. Also at the Lantern Theater, she has appeared in The House of Bernarda Alba and The Steward of  Christendom. She has also performed recently in Theater Exile’s The Gin Game, and with the Pig Iron Company in James Joyce is Dead, the Lucia Joyce Cabaret

Pianist, Jean-François Proulx, currently resides in Philadelphia, PA, where he is active as a solo performer, collaborative artist and teacher. He was born in Ottawa, Canada, and grew up in the province of Québec.

Mr. Proulx studied at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he obtained a double Master’s of Music in Piano Performance and Chamber Music (2002), as well as a Doctorate of Musical Art (2009). During his studies, Mr. Proulx was very active as a vocal coach for individual singers as well as opera productions, and accompanied many degree recitals for various instrumentalists.

In Canada, Mr. Proulx’s solo recitals were broadcast on national radio (CBC Radio-Canada) in 1995 and 1998, and on television (Channel Vox) in 2004. He has performed in several of the country’s most prestigious venues including the Canadian Museum of Civilizations and Chateau Laurier. Mr. Proulx also won First Prize at the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec Competition in 1993, First Prize at the prestigious Canadian Music Competition in 1998, and received the special title of Artist of the Year in 1999 from the city of Gatineau.

Recognized for his affinity with J. S. Bach’s music, Mr. Proulx was invited to perform a solo piano recital at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church in 2005, as part of the Philadelphia Bach Aria Festival. In 2006, he had the opportunity to perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of Maestro Rossen Milanov, and in 2007, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, under the baton of Stephen Bednarzik.

“Undoubtedly a pianist from the French School” Mr. Proulx is known for his “clarity of execution and well-balanced playing where the colors converge toward pure light.” (Three Pianists, Three Promises by Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer - LeDroit Newspaper, 02/08/1997.)

Mr. Proulx is enthusiastically involved with composition and with the performance of new music. His song based on the poem Happiness, by Stephen Dunn, was selected by Network for New Music in 2004 to be included in their concert, The Poetry Project. He presented piano repertoire containing rarely performed extended techniques such as, Cowell’s The Banshee, and Bolcom’s Lilith. His monograph, A Pedagogical Guide to Extended Piano Techniques, explores new ways of mastering these unusual techniques, which involve, for example, playing directly on the strings of the piano.

Recently inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, Mr. Proulx joined the faculty of Temple University as an adjunct Artist-In-Residence. He also teaches in Haverford, PA, at the Nelly Berman School. A music school whose main mission consists in providing high level musical instruction to exceptionally gifted young musicians.

Tania M. DeVizia, a native of Wilkes-Barre, PA, is a freelance flutist in the Philadelphia area and in Northeastern PA. She was a semi-finalist in the 1994 Flute Talk Flute Competition and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, the 2002 National Flute Association Convention, in World Wrestling Entertainment’s Smackdown (2005), in Tijuana, Mexico (2007) and as part of the Andrea Bocelli festival orchestra in Atlantic City (2001). In October 2003, she traveled to Rome with the Jubilate Deo Chorale to play two chamber music concerts with the Benigni String Quartet in honor of the beatification of Mother Teresa and the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul, II. Her primary teacher and mentor is David Cramer. She earned a Master of Music in Classical Flute Performance from the University of the Arts in 1994, and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from West Chester University of PA in 1992. Ms. DeVizia is a member of the Reicha Trio, serves on the Board of Directors of the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia and is the interim secretary of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. She is the author of the article, The Power of Elegance: An Interview with David Cramer, published in the July/August, 1994 issue of Flute Talk magazine and has been an adjunct professor (Music Appreciation) at the Art Institute of Philadelphia since 2004.