Fritz Weber & Luminos: Biography

Musicians

Fritz plays piano, synthesizer, organ, accordion and sings. He also plays percussion including: classical (primarily timpani,) world (tabla & doumbek) and Latin.

Fritz is a sixth generation Oregonian and has performed professionally since his twenties. He began classical piano lessons when he was eight and started playing drums at eleven. In high school he played in groups and began composing songs. After graduating from Lewis & Clark College, he studied with several jazz teachers, including Mary Field and Randy Cannon. He has been a band leader since 1973 and began teaching privately in 1980.

He has recorded two CDs of original music. One, Manzanita Moon, was released in 2017 with his full band, Luminos. Before that was Meditations for Peace, a solo keyboard album. He composed two classical pieces for use at weddings, a processional and a recessional. Both were written for pipe organ, two trumpets, trombone and timpani. He has also contributed to recordings by other artists.

Fritz and Julie were members of Carl Smith & the Natural Gas Company, a jazz/funk big band for ten years. Fritz appeared in the film Instrumental Treason as a classical percussionist. He has conducted choral ensembles and has also worked as a live audio engineer and a recording engineer for many years.

Fritz has played timpani with several orchestras, including the Oregon Symphony. He and Julie were members of the Marylhurst Symphony for twelve years and the Portland Chamber Orchestra for five. Also, Fritz served as the Music Director at the Multnomah Presbyterian Church and then as the Director of Music at St. James Episcopal Church in Tigard.

Julie Weber plays flute, alto flute, piccolo, classical percussion, bongos, conga drums, hand percussion and frottoir (rubboard). She sings in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

She started piano and voice lessons at twelve. After college, she studied flute with John May of the Oregon Symphony and vocals with Joni Metcalf at the Cornish Institute for Allied Arts in Seattle. She has performed professionally since her twenties.

Dan Weber, trombone, percussion, vocals

Danae Crook, vocals, percussion, synthesizer

Rick Galarneau, guitars, vocals,

Andy Fuller, trumpet, flugelhorn