Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums.

Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

, English horn and the double ocarina

Ocarina

The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...

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Eric and Nancy began their collaboration in 1985. Their debut album was The Gift. Their album American Acoustic was honored as "Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year" in 1998. In 2000 they appeared at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

. Their album "Acoustic Garden" received the Award for Best New Age Album at the 45th Grammy Awards in February 2003.

Nancy grew up in San Antonio and continued her musical education at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 where she was introduced to new influences, styles and intrigued by ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...

 which led to her joining the Paul Winter Consort

Paul Winter Consort

The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group, led by soprano saxophonist Paul Winter. Founded in 1967, the group mixes elements of jazz, classical music, world music, and the sounds of animals and nature. They are often classified as new age music or "ecological jazz", and their unique...

. Eric grew up in Seattle and attended Western Washington University

Western Washington University

Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...

 where he was trained in the Segovian

Andrés Segovia

Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...

 classic guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

 tradition. He is a product of influences like Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, Hawaiian slack key guitar, Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...

 and Martin Denny

Martin Denny

Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...

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Discography

• The Gift - Acoustic Offerings for the holiday Season (1985)
• Woodlands - with David Lanz (1987)
• Emerald - (1987)
• Legends - (1988)
• Homeland - (1990)
• In the Garden - (1991)
• Give and Take - (1993)
• Star of Wonder - (1994)
• A Sense of Place - Eric solo (1995)
• Notes from the Tree of Life - Nancy solo (1995)
• Pastorale - (1997)
• American Acoustic - 2 Cd set (1998)
• Paradise - (2000)
• A Dream and a Wish - Disney collection (2001)
• Acoustic Garden - Grammy winner (2002)
• Comfort and Joy - (2004)
• A Moment's Peace - (2005)
• Leap of Faith - (2009)

Compilation appearances

• New Age Music & New Sounds Vol. 67 - "Liberty"
• Narada Film and Television Music Sampler
  Narada Film and Television Music Sampler
  Narada Films and Television Music Sampler is a 2003 U.S. EMI Film & TV Music publishing 2CD sampler that represents an overview of the Narada catalog, demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the Narada roster.-Disc One:...