Grey Sylvan

Grey works wonders with the 36-string Finnish folk zither known as the kantele, which she discovered during a trip to England and studied briefly with Finland's highly regarded teacher Ulla Katajavuori. Back in the United States, Grey devoted herself to composing music for the kantele and honed her chops performing in coffeehouses. She recorded her first album, Ice Flowers Melting, for Fortuna Records in 1981. (It was re-released in 1988.) Her finest effort, however, is her rhapsodic followup recording Recurring Dream. © Linda Kohanov /TiVo