With influences ranging from free jazz to klezmer and Latin to Balkan music, saxophonist and clarinetist Bryan Pardo's career spans two decades. He has shared the stage with performers such as John Zorn, Tim Berne, Jose Jose, Dee Alexander and been a featured performer at music festivals and colleges throughout the Midwest.

Bryan received his bachelor's degree in Jazz Composition from Ohio State University. After years of playing in various jazz and salsa bands in Chicago, he began graduate studies at the University of Michigan, where he formed the klezmer group Into the Freylakh. Under his leadership, Into the Freylakh released two critically-acclaimed albums featuring a mix of traditional and original compositions, many written by Pardo himself. "This band leaves no doubt that it has one foot solidly in '30s jazz, the other solidly in mainstream American klezmer. And they are so good!" ( Ari Davidow, Klezmer Shack,). While at Michigan he also experimented with deconstructing pop music in collaboration with pianist Neil Donato; the result was a "radical retelling of the history of pop music through the ears of free jazz musicians" (CD Baby) under the name Pardonato.

Following his graduation, Bryan returned to Chicago, where he is currently an assistant professor at Northwestern University with appointments in Music Cognition and Computer Science. He continues to be an active presence in the Midwest. He leads the group Balkano (Baklan influenced jazz with a klezmer twist) is a member of the Spider Trio (avant jazz), and has performed with goups ranging from Weave Soundpainting Orchestra (performance art), to Mucca Pazza (circus punk marching band) to the University of Chicago Middle Eastern Music Ensemble. When he is not performing, he can be found teaching, researching and building things like musical search engines, automatic music video creators and cell phone-based karaoke games.