The jamani duo recently released their debut album, Timeline, available on CD and anywhere you stream or download music. The project embraces the diversity that makes up Jodi and Matt’s unique sound; it is a combination of innovative classical music, infectiously groovy world music, and melodic popular music. The album is “a melodic, gently hypnotic, and very different approach to global percussion.” (Songlines magazine)

Jodi and Matt graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with Masters of Music in Percussion Performance, where they studied with renowned snare drummer and steel pannist Dr. John Wooton (“Dr Throwdown”). They completed their Bachelors of Music at the University of Lethbridge where they studied with master educator Adam Mason; Jodi also studied with amazing flutist Sarah McDonald.

Ms Toncheva served as concertmaster and appeared as a soloist with the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra between 2019 and 2022, and co-founded new chamber ensembles that are still active today. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Violin Performance at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music under professors Linda Wang and Claude Sim. During her first year of studies, she won the Chamber Honors Competition and served as concertmaster of the Lamont Symphony Orchestra.

Eva frequently performs as a section violinist with the Calgary Philharmonic. When her violin is in its case, she enjoys scrambling the Rocky Mountains, frequenting the climbing gym, and hanging out with her cat, Bartok.

During the summers, he is a member of the faculty at the Valhalla Summer School of Music in the West Kootenays along with Calgary Music Academy’s Summer Strings. Mr. van der Sloot has also taught and performed as a guest at festivals throughout western Canada and regularly teaches with MRU Conservatory’s Academy Program for Gifted Youth.

An award-winning composer who “brilliantly reinvents timbral possibilities” (The Strad) and “delivers [colour] in spades” (WQXR), Mr. van der Sloot’s “provocative” (Dallas Morning News) music has been performed and recorded across the country and internationally to critical acclaim. Described as “an impressive combination of aleatoric freedom with real textural and timbral beauty”, his individual style has drawn praise from his fellow musicians, critics, and audiences alike for its energy and creativity. Recent works have been commissioned by musicians including the Escher String Quartet, Nadia Sirota, Land’s End Ensemble, and Morningside Music Bridge, and he has been awarded funding by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Alberta Arts Graduate Scholarship, among others.

Mr. van der Sloot is also a distinguished and versatile cellist, having won prizes, awards, and bursaries from some of Canada’s top institutions – including a grand prize in the 2008 Canadian Music Competition in Quebec City – and has performed with some of Canada’s most celebrated artists and ensembles. At home on stage both as a chamber musician and a soloist, Mr. van der Sloot is a passionate advocate of new music with a wealth of experience performing and premiering new works by contemporary composers – both emerging and established.

After earning a Bachelor of Music with highest distinction in cello performance and composition in 2013, he completed extensive scholarship and graduate degrees in both specialties at Northwestern University in Chicago (Master of Music, 2015) and Southern Methodist University in Dallas (Master of Music, 2017) . His primary teachers include renowned cello teachers John Kadz, Andrés Díaz, and Hans Jørgen Jensen, along with composers Xi Wang, Simon A. Sargon, Jay Alan Yim, Kevin Hanlon, and Lane Harder. Mr. van der Sloot has also participated in summer music festivals including those at the Banff Centre for the Arts and National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

When he’s not busy with his musical endeavours, Mr. van der Sloot is a full-time ball-thrower for his two tireless Australian Shepherd dogs, considers himself a better chef than he truly is, and loves to spend long summer days cycling, scrambling, and relaxing in the Rockies. He plays a 2010 cello by Wayne Burak.