Biography

Liz Tonne is a sound artist inspired by the unorthodox use of the human voice. She is an improviser and an interpreter of contemporary composition using voice as a sound source. Her palette is an abstraction of singing styles ranging from jazz to bird songs, classical technique to the casual sounds of machinery. She combines air, breath, whispers, overtones and disconnected text to explore the evocative power of the human voice.

She began improvising while singing with the Boston based, art-rock ensemble Mile Wide, in the 1990's, and continued to develop stylistically as a member of Jonathan LaMaster's Saturnalia and as the lead singer for the country tribute band Ville. For many years she sang professionally for all-occasion entertainment bands such as Horns in the House, Party Train and The Vince Damiano Quartet. She has sung repertoire from the american songbook in restaurants, biker bars, cocktail lounges, town bandstands and greyhound tracks throughout New England.

As well as performing as a solo artist, Tonne is a member of The BSC, an eight person ensemble of the Boston area’s finest electroacoustic musicians led by Bhob Rainey. She is also a quarter of undr quartet, who along with James Coleman, Greg Kelley and Vic Rawlings will be celebrating their tenth year anniversary as one of the pioneering ensembles of Boston’s “lowercase” sound.