Pamelia Kurstin

Pamelia Kurstin's unique and innovative "walking bass" approach to the theremin has made her one of the best in the world on Léon Theremin's quirky little instrument, one of only a handful of musicians actually to demonstrate the theremin's melodic range and compositional possibilities. Born Pamela Stickney on May 28, 1976, in California, Kurstin began playing piano as a child but moved to the upright bass in high school (throughout her career she has shown she can also hold her own on guitar, flute, saxophone, violin, and cello), and eventually brought that approach and sensibility to the theremin, which she plays with a full range of pedals and electronic effects. She worked as part of a theremin/keyboard trio called the Kurstins with her then-husband, Greg Kurstin, for the 2000 album Gymnopedie. She also became a member of the Brooklyn-based Barbez, playing on the third of the group's three albums, 2005's Insignificance. She released a debut solo album, Thinking Out Loud, on John Zorn's Tzadik Records in 2007.