Jan Ekstedt, Violin Joan Harrison, Piano Traff Hubert, Bass Scott Ketron, Drums, Percussion Francyl Gawryn, guitar, Vocal Recorded and mixed at Jack Straw Foundation, Seattle, WA Photo Copyright 1992 by Vince Streano Francyl began working as a professional performer at the age of 15. She performs in venues from the Tacoma Dome to San Diego's Balboa Park, from Fanueil Hall in Boston to Kerr McGee Plaza in Oklahoma City. Her performances include music for audiences of all ages. Francyl studied music at Sonoma State College in California, and later received a Paraprofessional Certificate of Training for the Kodaly music method. She taught elementary school music in the Berkeley, Albany and Alameda School Districts for five years. After taking a break to have twin daughters, she moved with her family to Seattle in 1989. She performed professionally in the Puget Sound area and continued studying music at Bellevue Community College. Between the years of 1979 and 1996 she produced six album-length recordings of her own songs as well as works by others. Two of these recordings are for children, and all are available through her independent label, Streanomusic. She self-published "Speak, My Soul" a book of poetry with 37 of her song texts with beautifully descriptive folk-art cut-out illustrations by Robin Goodfellow. Over the next 15 years she served as Music Director for Youth Theater Northwest, Children's Choir Director at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Saturday Service Music Director and Hand bell Choir Director at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Interim Music Director for Redeemer Lutheran Church, and Music Director for the Church of Mary Magdalene, a church for homeless women in Seattle. During her work with the Church of Mary Magdalene, she and nine of her choir members traveled to Washington D.C. to sing her song, "Carry The Witness, Honor The Dream" at the "March Against The Silence" in October of 1996. This march, from the Washington Monument, down the Mall to the Capitol Building, was organized to raise awareness about domestic violence in the US. "Carry the Witness, Honor the Dream" is the state anthem for the Washington Silent Witness Project. Over the last two decades Francyl composed a large body of music for liturgical use for solo vocal/guitar, as well as adult choral works, children's choral works and congregational singing. Her "A Contemporary Requiem" was commissioned and performed at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church in November of 2000. As a Board Member of Seattle Composer's Alliance, she worked with other members to educate area composers regarding opportunities to further their craft. Through the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program, she collaborated with other composers to produce three film scores. In 2000 she composed the film score for "Curro" with Allison Crook. Francyl and Allison were awarded the Nell Shipman Award for Technical Excellence in that score by Women In Film, Seattle Chapter. In 2002, she collaborated with 5 other composers to produce the film score for the documentary "Behind Barbed Wire" a deeply moving film about the experience of the Bainbridge Island Japanese community before, during and since WWII. In 2006, she collaborated with Penny Lovestedt, Steven Brush, and Tim Huling to compose the film score for "Henry Ward Elliott, Defender of the Fur Seals" a documentary dealing with the threatened extinction of the Northern Fur Seal population on the Pribilof Islands. This film is produced by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. For 5 years, as Music Specialist for Northwest Child Development Center, Francyl developed and taught her music curriculum for children, ages infant to 5 years old. More recently she produced three CD's of her own compositions and other works. Pondpaddler's Fandango, a CD for children, "Love Songs of Heaven and Earth" and her newest collection, "Songs My Father Taught Me" are all available right here on CD Baby.