Violinist Michele Walther loves to play and perform a variety of music styles: jazz, world music, avantgarde, classical, tango, Balkan, Klezmer, and more. Michele graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Basel, Switzerland, and then from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

• She toured with Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull on the East coast, from Chicago to Philadelphia, performing in venues such as the Rose Theatre in NYC.
• She performed with Los Gatos Azules (1st prize at the battle of the tango bands in Boston), Los Changos (jazz, folk from Argentina), Pablo Ablanedo Septet (jazz, latin; label fresh sound/new talent), Vardan Ovsepian Chamber Ensemble (jazz; label fresh sound/new talent), LaMuseMent (CD orange heart, label altrisuoni), The Boston String Quartet (CD spectrum), Oscar Feldman, Joe Lovano, Gloria Estefan, Steve Gadd, and more.
• She recorded, among others, with The Boston String Quartet, Jamey Haddad, and Oscar Stagnaro.

A native of Minnesota, Jacob Johnson has been studying the double bass since the age of 12. He has held numerous positions in orchestras, including Associate principal bass of the Northern Symphony Orchestra in Minnesota, Solo bass for the Amadeus Operenensemble in Salzburg, Austria, and Associate Principal Bass of the St. Peter's Chamber Orchestra in Redwood City, CA. Jacob has participated in orchestral tours of Eastern Europe, where he performed in such famed halls as the Franz Liszt Academy Hall in Budapest, and the Rudolphinum in Prague, and performed under the batons of such famed conductors as Osmo Vanska, Michael Tilson Thomas, Donald Runnicles and Nicholas McGegan.

Jacob studied with Christopher Brown, and Stephen Tramontozzi, and earned his B.M. in Double Bass at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Scott Pingel. In addition to his pursuits in the classical music world, Jacob is also an active jazz musician and improviser. He joined Tangonero in 2009.

Zac Selissen is a guitarist, arranger, and teacher who grew up playing music since the age of four, starting with violin and piano. He fell in love with the guitar after hearing the virtuosic shredding of Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page and hasn’t looked back since. His study of guitar has introduced him to a wide range of musical styles – from rock to jazz, bossa, and bluegrass, from classical to tango and flamenco. While earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Guitar Performance from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, Zac toured and recorded with Joanna James, winner of Minnesota’s Best Female Vocalist Award. He also performed with the original psychedelic space rock band, In Glorious Mono. Zac received his Master's Degree in Guitar Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2008, where he was chosen to perform in the closing concert of the Guitar Foundation of America's annual Guitar Festival. As a guitarist, Zac often finds himself drawn toward arranging, giving new color and improvisational twists to the classics. He currently performs throughout the Bay Area with the Judson-Tyler Duo, two classical guitarists covering a wide range of instrumental music from Scarlatti and Tchaikovksy to Joplin and Jobim as well as original works. He also performs regularly with Tangonero, a golden era tango dance band. In addition to performing with his bands, Zac teaches at his home studio in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco and is a faculty member of Community Music Center and New Mozart School of Music.

Jim Shearer started playing guitar at age 13, had his first professional gig at age 16 and has continued playing music semi-professionally all his adult life while pursuing an academic career in the sciences. His training in jazz and classical music has included formal studies at college along with individual lessons on guitar, piano and upright bass.

In public performances he has played a variety of instruments and styles such as keyboards in the Soca/Reggae band Bakana and piano and bass in collaboration with Palindrome dance company (most recently in the 2005 San Francisco International Arts Festival playing music of Erling Wold). For most of the new millennium he has been exclusively playing upright bass in jazz and Brazilian ensembles at venues throughout the Bay Area. He is a founding member of Sambosseros and plays on their CD Gabiroba. Jim brought his experience in jazz and Brazilian styles to tango.