About Our Guests

We are honored to have the following guests this year at Consonance:

We've been hearing folks in the midwest, on the east coast, and in the UK raving about Talis Kimberly for years -- stories about how she'll be playing one rhythm on her mandolin and singing in another rhythmic pattern, and how she's both an amazing performer and a really nice person. Finally those of us on the west coast shall no longer be deprived of this privilege. Talis has been writing and performing for many years. She is regularly nominated for many Pegasus Awards for songwriting and performing. Her lyrics tell stories and weave images, and the music that goes with them lingers in your memory. On the personal front, she likes chocolate, drinks a lot of tea, is five feet tall, wears henna on her hair and doesn't care who knows it, and enjoys occasional bouts of Arabic dancing, archery, and horseback riding. She even learned to ride side-saddle so she could arrive at her wedding on a white horse! Talis is married to our Co-GOH, Simon Fairbourn; they have a son named Corwin and a daughter named Philippa (nicknamed "Pippa"). For more information on Talis, see our Progress Report.

Simon Fairbourn is well known to British filkers for his roles in several bands as well as the NMC. He plays a variety of instruments as well as being a sound engineer, and an arranger and writer of vocal music. Simon performs pretty much everything from Symphonies to Rock and from Plainchant to Filk. He regularly sings with and conducts the N'Early Music Consort, which covers most of those disciplines. Simon is married to our GOH (funny how that works, isn't it?), Talis Kimberley; they have a son named Corwin and a daughter named Philippa (nicknamed "Pippa"). For more information on Simon, see our Progress Report.

Jane Mailander is a filker and a published author. She's also accomplished in the art of paper folding (origami); we don't know of anyone else offhand who can fold the Starship Enterprise. She first joined up with the southern California filk community, but much to our joy, she moved up here a few years ago.

Jane's songs range from the serious to the silly, with subjects ranging from Sherlock Holmes to Les Miserables and musical styles ranging from choral to rock to rap.

Jane has been contributing to the filk scene in California for a long time, and was Interfilk Guest at Contata '98. In her personal life she's "unmarried, childless, and damned happy."

Mark Mandel is a cunning linguist by day, holding a BA and PhD in the subject (the latter from U. C. Berkeley), a filker by night, and an incorrigible punster all the time. He writes fun songs, and he's put himself on the sacrificial altarrun filking for many New England-based cons.

Mark is also known as "Dr. Whom," a linguist with peeves, marqem la'Hom, or Subcommander marqem (you can pronounce it "mar-KEMM", and your Terran accent will probably be forgiven) of the Klingon Sanitation Corps, and SilverBlack in alt.callahans.

Mark is married to Rene; they have a daughter named Susannah, a son named Jeremy, and a foster son named Andrew Wray who graduates this year from U. C. Berkeley.

You already know and love Adam English, Rand Bellavia, and Luis Garcia. You may not know Mike Mallory; he's the bass player on "Less Than Art". This will be the first time ever these four wild and crazy guys have ever done a live performance together. Mike lives in Malibu, Adam and Rand live near urban decay in the Buffalo, N.Y. vicinity, and Luis now lives in Washington State, so we're very lucky to have them all in the same place.