Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has devoted herself to exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A long-standing member of the early music groups Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia; Hesperion XX; the Boston Camerata; the Balkan group Kitka; the King’s Noyse; the Newberry and Folger Consorts; the English Country Dance Bands Roguery and Night Heron, and the Oregon, California, and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals. She is also the founder of Class V Music, a group that brings live music to river rafting trips. She has performed in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, Latvia, Russia, and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, Green, Grande Ronde, East Carson, and Klamath Rivers.

Shira is an avid music educator and has taught at many summer music workshops and coached students of early music at Yale University, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Oregon. She has also worked at specialized seminars at the Fondazione Cini in Venice, Italy, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. She has played on a number of movie and television soundtracks when weird medieval instruments are needed.