Biography :

Kye Marshall creates jazz that is fresh, lyrical and vibrant. Her strong melodic sense and the warm resonance of her instrument create new sounds for the jazz idiom. Extensive experience playing classical, popular, Latin and bebop and as an avant-garde improviser enriches her compositions and her performances.

Marshall is former principal cello with the O'Keefe Centre Orchestra and the New Chamber Orchestra and was assistant principal with the National Ballet Orchestra. She currently plays with the Epic String Quartet. Marshall started piano lessons at age five, but her passion for music blossomed with her exposure to the cello in high school. It was love at first sight (or sound). After receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University
of Toronto she studied cello privately in London, Zurich and New York, and completed her composition studies with Gordon Delamont. She took courses in jazz at York University and at the Banff School of Fine Arts.

Marshall's classical compositions have received much attention. She won the Ron Collier Award for her String Quartet No. 1, which was broadcast on CBC. Her music has been performed at many venues around Toronto. Kye's Concerto for Bass Trombone premiered at the Glenn Gould Studio, and Themantics, a trio for clarinet, piano and violin premiered at the North York Performing Arts Centre. She has also written music for a number of films and for dance.

Marshall performs 'spontaneous compositions' with Tom Baker (piano), creating 'in the moment' music through improvisation. This avant-garde duo have released two CDs at the Music Gallery, In the Moment 1998 and Chiaroscuro 2001. Marshall has improvised with other groups in the Victoriaville Toronto Festival, Fringe Jazz Festival, Artword Theatre, the Rex, the Cameron, the Idler Pub, Uxbridge United Church etc.

Say When, a CD of Marshall 's jazz compositions with Don Thompson, producer and pianist, Terry Clarke, drums and Jim Vivien, bass will be released at the Montreal Bistro, November 4, 2002. Incorporating a diversity of elements from baroque to contemporary, the compositions on Say When are inspired by her passion for the Canadian wilderness and her dedication to preserve the environment. Marshall 's jazz cello has been heard on her first jazz CD Winter's End and in the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Mayworks Festival, and at numerous venues around Toronto including the Pilot, Montreal Bistro, Quigley's, Mezzeta's, Le Select, Gate 403, Oscars, Free Times Caf‚, and at the Universities of Guelph, Toronto, and Waterloo.

When not performing or composing, Marshall works as a music psychotherapist. She improvises with individual clients and groups on a wide variety of easy-to-play instruments to provide a vehicle for creativity and non-verbal expression. She also loves to hike, canoe, snowshoe, and take outdoor photographs, some of which appear on Say When.