Your Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Name: UMSMTD Piano Concerto Concerts
Start: 2023-2-24T20-20-00-00
End: 2023-2-24T23-23-50-00
Location: Hill Auditorium

Violin

Aaron Berofsky

Concertmaster, Aaron Berofsky Concertmaster Chair

Kathryn Votapek

Associate Concertmaster, Straka-Funk Associate Concertmaster Chair Honoring Kathryn Votapek

Mallory Tabb

Assistant Concertmaster, Ruth Merigian and Albert A. Adams Chair

Barbara Sturgis-Everett

Principal Second Violin, Gates & Rudisill Endowed Principal Second Violin Chair

Brian Allen

Susan Krehbiel Violin Chair

Jennifer Berg

Jennifer Berg Violin Chair

Judy Blank

Stuart Carlson

Alena Carter

Karen Donato

Linda Etter

Linda Etter Violin Chair

David Ormai

Daniel Stachyra

Froehlich Family Violin Chair

Jenny Wan

Nathalie & John Dale Violin Chair

Cyril Zilka

Doubleday Family Second Violin Section Chair

Viola

Scott Woolweaver

Principal

Janine Bradbury

Hannah Breyer

Jacqueline Hanson

Veronika Vassileva

Barbara Zmich-McClellan

Cello

Caroline Kim

Principal,
Sundelson Endowed Principal Cello Chair

Eric Amidon

Dakota Cotugno

Sabrina Lackey

Ben Maxwell

Alicia Rowe

Sarah Winans Newman Endowed Cello Chair

Andrea Yun

Bass

Gregg Emerson Powell

Principal, Paloma and José Jalife Principal Bass Chair

Jonathan Hammonds

Jon Luebke

A2SO Board Emerita Chair

Robert Rohwer

Joy Rowland

Flute

Alaina Bercilla

A. Michael and Remedios Montalbo Young Principal Flute Chair

Lori Newman

Rachel Lopez

Serras Family Flute Chair

Oboe

Timothy Michling

Principal, Gilbert Omenn Endowed Principal Oboe Chair

Kristin Reynolds

Bill and Jan Maxbauer Oboe Chair

Clarinet

Chad Burrow

Principal, Jim and Millie Irwin Endowed Principal Clarinet Chair

Elliott Ross

Bassoon

Christian Green

Principal, E. Daniel Long Principal Bassoon Chair

Daniel Fendrick

Horn

Adam Unsworth

Principal, Jon Beebe and Rich Wong Principal French Horn Chair

Bernice Schwartz

Katie Taylor Family French Horn Chair

Kurt Civilette

Tamara Kosinski

Trumpet

Justin Rowan

Principal

Eriko Fujita

Lisa Marie Tubbs Trumpet Chair

Becky Bloomer

Barnes-Gorman Family Trumpet Chair

Trombone

Donald Babcock

Principal

Zongxi Li

Mark and Susan Orringer Family Trombone Chair

Greg Lanzi

Tuba

Jarrett McCourt

Principal, Stan and Rusty Towers Principal Tuba Chair

Timpani

James Lancioni

Principal, A. Michael and Remedios Montalbo Young Principal Timpani Chair

Percussion

John Dorsey

Principal

Andrew Fritz

Julian Jeun

Harp

Chen-Yu Huang

Principal

february, 2023

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Aaron Berofsky

CONCERTMASTER, AARON BEROFSKY CONCERTMASTER CHAIR

Violinist Aaron Berofsky has toured extensively throughout the United States and abroad, gaining wide recognition as a soloist and chamber musician. As soloist, he has performed with orchestras in the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain and Canada. He has performed the complete cycle of Mozart violin sonatas at the International Festival Deia in Spain and all of the Beethoven sonatas at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall. His 2011 recording of the complete Beethoven sonatas with Phillip Bush has been met with great acclaim.

France’s Le Figaro calls his playing “Beautiful, the kind of music-making that gives one true pleasure”. He has appeared in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Corcoran Gallery, Het Doelen, L'Octogone, Seoul National University, the Teatro San Jose and the Museo de Bellas Artes. Mr. Berofsky has been featured on NPR's Performance Today and on the Canadian Broadcasting Company. His acclaimed recordings can be found on the Sony, Naxos, New Albion, ECM, Audio Ideas, Blue Griffin and Chesky labels. Recent recital tours have taken him to Germany, Italy and Korea, and he was featured soloist on the 2009 NAXOS recording of music by Paul Fetler, performed by the Ann Arbor Symphony, including the debut recording of his Concerto No. 2. His recording of the complete chamber music of Franz Xavier Mozart was released in 2013 on Equilibrium.

Mr. Berofsky was the first violinist of the Chester String Quartet for fifteen years. The quartet has been acclaimed as "one of the country's best young string quartets" by the Boston Globe. Tours have taken them throughout the Americas and Europe and the quartet members have collaborated with such artists as Robert Mann, Arnold Steinhardt, Franco Gulli, members of the Alban Berg quartet, Andres Diaz, Eugene Istomin and Ruth Laredo. Some notable projects over the years have included the complete cycles of the quartets by Beethoven and Dvorak, and numerous recordings by such composers as Mozart, Haydn, Barber, Porter, Piston, Kernis and Tenenbom. The Chester Quartet has served as resident quartet at the University of Michigan and at Indiana University South Bend.

An alumnus of the Juilliard School, Mr. Berofsky was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay. Other important teachers have included Robert Mann, Felix Galimir, Glenn Dicterow, Lorand Fenyves and Elaine Richey. Mr. Berofsky is known for his commitment to teaching and is Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan and served as visiting Professor at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold, Germany. He taught at the Meadowmount School of Music for many summers and is currently on the violin faculty of the Chautauqua Institution. He has also given masterclasses throughout the world, including a 2013 tour of Korea which included classes at Seoul National University, Ewha Women’s University, Seoul Arts High School and many others. He has also given class at the Cleveland Institute, Oberlin, Eastman, the Peter de Grote festival in the Netherlands, Domaine Forget in Quebec, Interlochen, the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival and the Conservatorio Palma Mallorca.

Mr. Berofsky's interest in early music led him to perform with the acclaimed chamber orchestra Tafelmusik on period instruments, also makingseveral recordings with them for the Sony label. He co-runs University of Michigan’s Baroque Chamber Orchestra with harpsichordist Joseph Gascho. With a strong dedication to new music as well, he has worked extensively with many leading composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, performing, commissioning and recording music by John Cage, William Bolcom, Zhou Long, Michael Daugherty, Aaron Jay Kernis, Susan Botti, Morton Subotnick, Paul Fetler and Bright Sheng.

Aaron Berofsky has been concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony since 2003. He has also served as guest concertmaster for many orchestras throughout the US and Europe.

Kathryn Votapek

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER, STRAKA-FUNK ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER CHAIR HONORING KATHRYN VOTAPEK

A member of the Chester String Quartet for 15 years, violinist and violist Kathryn Votapek maintains an active career as soloist and as guest artist at chamber music festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Central America. She has participated in numerous commissioning projects and premieres and can be heard with the Chester Quartet on the Koch International Classics, New Albion, and Audio Ideas labels.

Along with pianist Ralph Votapek and clarinetist Paul Votapek, she performs as violinist and violist with the Votapek Trio.

Ms. Votapek has been Guest Lecturer of Violin and Viola at the University of Michigan and has served on the faculty of the Meadowmount School of Music, the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Las Vegas Music Festival, the Madeline Island Music Camp, the Quartet Program, the Banff International Festival, and the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival (Italy), as well as performing at the Speedside Festival (Canada), the Klosterkamp Kammermusikfest (Germany), the International Deia Festival (Spain), the Garth Newel Festival, the Fontana Festival, and with the Chicago Chamber Musicians.

Ms. Votapek is the Associate Concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. She was Associate Professor of Violin and Artist in Residence at Indiana University South Bend. Ms. Votapek received her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana University and Masters degree from the Juilliard School. Her teachers were Robert Mann, Franco Gulli, and Angel Reyes.

Mallory Tabb

Violin / Viola

Mallory Tabb is an enthusiastic violinist and dedicated teacher. She has performed and taught in Oregon, Florida, and throughout the Midwest. She performs regularly with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Concertmaster), the Lansing Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Principal Second Violin), and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (Tenured Section Member). She occasionally appears on stage with the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, and the Rochester Symphony Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, in recent years Mallory has performed with members of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in the marathon performance events “Bach Around the Clock” (2016) and “The Complete String Quartets of Dimitri Shostakovich” (2015). She is currently a member of the string ensemble Quartet Felice, the first classical ensemble to appear in the Affinity Series at the Franke Center for the Arts in Marshall, Michigan.

A trained Suzuki instructor, Mallory has sixteen years of private teaching experience. In 2013 she joined the faculty of the University of Michigan String Preparatory Program where she continues to train dedicated young musicians. She also enjoys working with students of all ages through her private Ann Arbor studio, Soaring Strings.

Mallory holds a Master of Music Degree from the University of Michigan where she studied with Stephen Shipps. Former teachers also include Leanne League (The University of Wisconsin Whitewater) and Marguerite Richardson (Jacksonville University).
For more information, please visit: www.mallorytabb.com

Barbara Sturgis-Everett

Violin / Viola
Principal Second Violin, Gates & Rudisill Endowed Principal Second Violin Chair

Barbara Sturgis-Everett has been a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since 1989 and has served as Principal Second Violin since 1991. Prior to her association with the Symphony, Dr. Sturgis-Everett was an Associate Professor of Music at Eastern Illinois University where she was a member of the string faculty and of The Eastern Trio. She served on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp for 15 summers as well as teaching and performing summers at The Downeast Chamber Music Festival in Maine. In addition to the A2SO, Ms. Sturgis-Everett performs and records with R4, The River Raisin Ragtime Revue, a 13-piece ensemble specializing in early jazz of the Ragtime era heard throughout the midwest. Other professional activities have included performing in The Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, WI, and teaching at The Chapin School for Girls and the Manhattan Conservatory Preparatory in New York. She continues to teach violin, viola and chamber music in her studio at home and has helped organize and teach in the Summer Piano Ensemble Camp launched by the Ann Arbor Area Piano Teachers.

Barbara's early years were spent in South Carolina. The daughter and granddaughter of pianists, Barbara began studying piano with her mother at the age of 4 and violin in a 4th-grade class. She was a scholarship student at the Reston and Brevard Music Centers and a 1st place winner of the Concerto Competition for the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Barbara earned both her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music in Baltimore at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Cincinnati where she was on the faculty of the Preparatory and Continuing Education Division. She is indebted to many teachers, especially Berl Senofsky, Henry Meyer, Walter Levin, Christine Dethier, Elaine Lee Richey, Derry Dean Drinkall, and Jess Casey.

Brian Allen

Brian Allen was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he began Suzuki violin lessons at age 3. In 2001, he transferred to the Indiana University String Academy in Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied with Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig and was a member of the renowned Violin Virtuosi for six years. Mr. Allen then started college at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with Jaime Laredo and William Preucil. He is presently studying with David Halen at the University of Michigan. Mr. Allen considers the orchestral repertoire and collaborative experience his great passion, and he is honored to be making music with his colleagues in the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.

Jenny Berg

Violin / Viola
Jennifer Berg Violin Chair

Violinist Jenny Berg is currently in her sixth season with the Ann Arbor Symphony and fifth season with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Lansing Symphony and in local schools with the Ann Arbor Symphony String Quartet.

Jenny is originally from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota with Sally O’Reilly. She moved to Michigan to attend the other UM, completing her Masters in Violin Performance at the University of Michigan with Stephen Shipps. Jenny served as concertmaster at both UM orchestras and has performed with the New World Symphony. As a soloist, Jenny has won the MNSOTA Competition Collegiate Division and was a National Finalist in the MTNA Competition in Toronto. During summer seasons, she has performed in music festivals in Santa Barbara (CA), Breckenridge (CO), Colorado Springs (CO), Chautauqua (NY), Medomak (ME), and Pilsen (Czech Republic).

A dedicated educator, Jenny loves sharing music with students of all ages. Her passion for teaching began at a young age teaching violin to her sister and grew during summer festivals where she had the opportunity to teach individual lessons and give community outreach concerts. At the University of Minnesota, Jenny completed pedagogy studies with Sally O'Reilly and certification for all levels of Suzuki training. In Michigan, she was a Sphinx Overture Instructor, teaching in the Flint afterschool programs. She has also taught at Interlochen Center for the Arts with Ann Arbor high school orchestra programs and the Culture Arts String Camp in Manchester. She currently teaches privately and at Expressions Music Academy in Novi, MI.

Judy Blank

Judy Blank has her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern Illinois University, and has studied privately with one of the great violin masters, Ruggiero Ricci. She has extensive Suzuki training, and travels to teach at Suzuki Institutes throughout the US, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland and Puerto Rico. Currently a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony for the past 20 years, and she maintains a large studio of students age 3 to adult. "I particularly enjoy developing children from a young age and teaching them through advanced levels."

Stuart Carlson

VIOLIN

Stuart Ross Carlson graduated (BMA 2019) from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with two undergraduate degrees: violin performance (studying with Stephen Shipps and Rodney Friend) and composition (studying with Evan Chambers, Paul Schoenfield, Michael Daugherty, and Bright Sheng). He also holds a graduate degree from U-M (MM 2021) in viola performance (studying with Caroline Coade). He is a published arranger – Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” for solo violin, “Amazing Grace” for violin and piano, “Carols of Christmas” for string quartet (Keiser Southern Music/Hal Leonard) – and composer – “Christmas Sinfonietta” for high school string orchestra (Southern Music/Hal Leonard). Stuart has won numerous competitions – including the 2016 VSA International Young Soloists Competition and the 2017 University of Michigan School of Music Concerto Competition.

Stuart has performed across the US, UK, and Europe as a soloist and ensemble member with, and for, many amazing musicians and teachers including Rodney Friend, Gyorgy Pauk, Sylvie Gazeau, Yuzuko Horigome, Robert Lipsett, Joel Smirnoff, Rachel Barton Pine, Frank Huang, Siyeon Ryu, Simon James, David Halen, Zlatomir Fung, and many more! One of his many highlights includes being chosen as the John F. Kennedy Center representative for the 2013 Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. He performed for an audience that included Yo-Yo Ma, Matt Sorum, Cristina Pato, and several US Senators and Members of Congress. Stuart is proud to play violins made by the Voller Brothers (1887) and Feng Jiang. He enjoys traveling, operating his “part-15” radio station, and is a licensed ham radio operator (W8SRC).

Alena Carter

Violin

Violinist Alena Carter graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with her Bachelor of Music in May 2012, where she studied with Paul Kantor from 2003 – 2012. During her undergraduate studies at CIM, Alena enjoyed volunteering and performing in hospitals, nursing homes, and for all those who are not usually exposed to beautiful music, as well as teaching violin at the Cleveland School of the Arts, an innercity school dedicated to improving children’s lives through arts education. She was arecipient of the fouryear, fulltuition Starling Fellowship at CIM, and has been a finalist and prizewinner nationally and internationally in competitions such as Stulberg, Johansen, MTNA, and CMC (Canadian Music Competition), and has appeared twice on NPR’s “From the Top.” She made her orchestral debut with the Paducah and Lakeland Symphony orchestras at the age of 14, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. During her summers, Alena has attended the Aspen Music Festival as a New Horizons fellow, the Heifetz Music Festival on scholarship, and the Taos School of Music. She has also participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, performing concerts in Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jaime Laredo. In the year following her graduation, Alena performed hundreds of concerts with Eric Genuis, pianist and composer, in venues ranging from concert halls to private homes to maximum security prisons. Since 2013, she has continued to teach privately and perform as a freelance musician in Lander, WY and Ann Arbor, MI, where she now resides with her husband, Jack Carter. She is truly honored and thrilled to be joining the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra as the beginning of her orchestra career.

Karen Donato

Violin / Viola

Violinist Karen Donato is an active performer and teacher in southeast Michigan. She is a tenured member of the Ann Arbor Symphony and Flint Symphony (Assistant Principal Second Violin), and plays regularly with other Michigan ensembles.

Ms. Donato maintains a private violin and viola studio out of her home in Canton. She teaches preschool music at Children's Garden Montessori School in Canton, and elementary music at the Renaissance Homeschool Group in Farmington Hills.

Other performance projects include chamber works at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Kerrytown ConcertHouse in Ann Arbor, and in many venues across the Upper Peninsula. Ms. Donato also performs with touring Broadway productions, most recently in West Side Story at the Fox Theater(Detroit) and Chicago at The Whiting (Flint). She and her husband, keyboardist Neil Donato, collaborate regularly to perform both classical and jazz music.

Ms. Donato holds a Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from The University of Michigan.

For more information, please visit www.karendonato.com.

Linda Etter

Linda Etter Violin Chair

Linda Etter is approaching her 40th season as a violinist with the Ann Arbor Symphony. She has served in the past as the orchestra's music librarian, and has been a member of the Orchestra Committee, Artistic Committee, and Audition Committee. Linda was part of the Conductor Search Committee which selected Arie Lipsky as conductor of the Ann Arbor Symphony. She is honored for her work on behalf of the Ann Arbor Symphony with a named chair, sponsored by Lawrence and Jacqueline Henkel and Jane Wilkinson and Howard Ando. Linda performs also as a free-lance violinist and with the Michigan Sinfonietta. She holds Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees from the University of Michigan.

David Ormai

Violin / Viola

A native of Budapest, Hungary, David Ormai is an active performer and teacher in Michigan. He is currently the concertmaster for the Livonia Symphony and is a core member of the Ann Arbor and Flint Symphonies. He has also performed with such ensembles as City Music Cleveland, the Colorado Music Festival, the Danubia Symphony of Hungary, and the Toledo Symphony.

As a dedicated teacher, David maintains a private studio of over 30 students in Ann Arbor. He has completed Suzuki training with Kimberly Meier-Sims of the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has taught at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, the Parlando School for the Arts in Boulder, Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts.

An avid chamber musician, he has competed at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition as well as the Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition with the The Sweetwater Trio. He has studied with members of the Takacs, Cavani, and Phoenix Quartets, as well as Peter Salaff, Christopher Harding, Louis Nagel and Cornelia Heard.

Early music performance practice is one of David's biggest passions and inspirations. His affinity for it has led him to perform and record with the world-renowned baroque orchestra, Apollo's Fire. His early music teachers include Cynthia Roberts, Jeannette Sorrell, Edward Parmentier, Penelope Crawford, Aaron Berofsky, Julie Andrijeski, Peter Bennett, and Rene Schiffer.

David has participated in many summer music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, the Academie de Musique Tibor Varga festival in Scion, Switzerland, and the Bartok Festival in Szombathely, Hungary. During the summer of 2010, he was the concertmaster and soloist for the music festival on Michigan's own Beaver Island, 'Baroque on Beaver'.

David's primary teachers include Yehonatan Berick, Aaron Berofsky, Paul Kantor, Harold Wippler, Barbara Barber and Ellie Albers LeRoux. He has participated in masterclasses given by Mihaela Martin, Dong-Suk Kang, Gyorgy Pauk, Jordi Savall, The Cavani Quartet, The Altenberg Trio, and the Rebel baroque ensemble. He holds a Bachelors degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Masters Degree from the University of Michigan.

David's Website

Daniel Stachyra

Froehlich Family Violin Chair

Dan Stachyra enjoys a varied career in opera, orchestra, and chamber music performance, as well as teaching and recording. He has been a violinist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and

Michigan Opera Theatre at the Detroit Opera House since 2007. He has also performed with the Toledo, Grand Rapids, Fort Wayne, and Memphis Symphonies.

As a chamber musician, he has performed locally at Christ Church Cranbrook Salon Concerts, the Black Crystal Cafe, and Concerts4aCause. As a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, he performed with the Sturgis String Quartet for five years. The ensemble performed recitals covering a wide range of music from baroque to contemporary composers. During this time he also created and performed quartet programs for schools, community venues, and hospitals.

Since 2012 he has been thrilled to perform yearly at the Detroit Jazz Festival. He has appeared there with Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Diane Schuur, and others. He also appears on a variety of recordings and has taught violin for 15 years.

He graduated from Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Gregory Fulkerson, and Oberlin College, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. He also trained at the National Repertory Orchestra and the Round Top festival. As a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the New World Symphony, he worked with internationally renowned conductors, performers, and teachers.

Jenny Wan

Jenny grew up in Tenafly, NJ where she took lessons with Dorothy Roffman at the JCC Thurnauer School of Music. She was accepted into the Precollege Division at the Manhattan School of Music a few years later, studying with Patinka Kopec. She spent three summers in Shelter Island, NY with the Perlman Music Program.

She continued at Eastern Michigan University with Daniel Foster and the University of Michigan with Aaron Berofsky.

Jenny is a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony and Michigan Opera Theatre.

Scott Woolweaver

Principal, Tim and Leah Adams Principal Viola Chair

Scott Woolweaver is assistant principal viola with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and Artist Affiliate at Tufts University in Medford, MA.

Scott graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan School for the Arts before moving to Boston for graduate work with the late Walter Trampler. At U of M he received the Joseph Knitzer and Earl V. Moore awards for outstanding participation in chamber music. He also founded the Vaener String Trio, which won the Grand Prize at the Joseph Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. In Boston he founded the Boston Composers String Quartet, which won the silver medal at the String Quartet Competition and Chamber Music Festa in Osaka, Japan. For 25 years he was violist of the award-winning New England Piano Quartette.

Scott’s other current affiliations include the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston and Alea III, a contemporary music ensemble based in Boston. Summers find him at California Summer Music in Sonoma, CA, the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Festival, where he was just made co-artistic director, and at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine, where he is director of the Adult Chamber Music Institute.

Scott plays a Johann Georg Thir viola made in Vienna, 1737.

Janine Bradbury

Vincent Family Charitable Fund Section Viola Chair

Janine, an accomplished violist, began her studies on the violin but gradually became infatuated with the mellow sound of the viola. She studied with I-Fu Wang and William Lincer, and graduated from MSU and The Juilliard School.

She has been in much demand as a chamber and orchestral musician performing in many Broadway shows at the Fisher Theater. Her career has taken her across the United States, and she currently teaches and performs in the Detroit area.

La Corda Ensemble has enjoyed her humor, dedication, and sensitive musicianship. Aside from her musical pursuits, Janine enjoys competitive horseback riding with her horse, Helen.

Hannah Breyer

Viola

Hannah Breyer is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan, where she studied under the tutelage of Yizhak Schotten. Originally from Gilbert, Arizona, Hannah began playing viola at age 10. As a freshman in high school, she had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall with the Mesquite High School Symphony. During her time as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon, where she studied with Dr. Leslie Straka and Dr. Arnaud Ghillebaert, she earned a position with Rogue Valley Symphony in Ashland, Oregon and performed with the Eugene Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, and the ballet company OrchestraNext. For the entire academic year of 2016-2017, she studied modern and baroque viola at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (State University for Music and Performing Arts) in Stuttgart, Germany on a full-tuition scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Program. In culmination of her bachelor’s degree, she was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Performer in Strings award.

Since attending the University of Michigan, Hannah has also won positions in the Flint Symphony and Lansing Symphony and performs as a freelance musician with several orchestras throughout the lower peninsula. She is certified to teach Suzuki violin and viola and has acted as a substitute mentor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles program. She also taught as a Chamber Instructor for the University of Oregon’s Community Music Institute. Hannah concluded Master of Music degrees in both Viola Performance and Chamber Music in the spring of 2020 and continues to engage in chamber music with her colleagues at the University of Michigan.

Jacqueline Hanson

Violin / Viola

Jacqueline graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a Master of Music degree in viola performance She completed her Bachelor of Music in performance at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance. Jacqueline has performed with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (Lenox, MA), and the National Repertory Orchestra (Breckenridge, CO). She also attended the International Music Academy-Pilsen; (Czech Republic) and the ENCORE School for Strings (OH). She currently plays as a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony and frequently performs with the Toledo Symphony as a substitute. Jacqueline is an adjunct professor of violin and viola at Hillsdale College and teaches privately in Ann Arbor, MI.

Veronika Vassileva

Born into a family of musicians, Veronika Vassileva received intense musical training from an early age. She was three when she started ear training and playing the piano with her mother, and at the young age of five was accepted into the Sofia Music School in Bulgaria as extraordinarily talented. Under the tutelage of her father, Vassileva added the violin at age seven and made her concerto debut three years later performing as the winner of the first prize at the German national competition “Jugend musiziert”. Throughout her teens she won numerous prizes at competitions and was a regular soloist with orchestras in Germany, France, and Bulgaria. Before relocating to the United States, Veronika Vassileva also frequently performed with her brother Vasko Vassilev, concertmaster of the Covent Garden Royal Opera House. As a violinist, Vassileva received a Bachelor cum laude from the University of North Texas (UNT), and a Master of Music with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago. As a violist and baroque violinist she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of North Texas in 2015. At the end of 2015, Dr. Veronika Vassileva relocated with her husband Dr. Devin Iler and their two dogs Bobbi and Zuka to the Detroit Metroplex. In August 2017, the four of them welcomed a beautiful new addition to the family – babygirl Mira.

Throughout her musical career Veronika Vassileva has worked with prestigious musicians such as Susan Dubois, Vasko Vassilev, Igor Ozim, Maja Glezarova, Taras Gabora, Felix Andrievski, Julia Bushkova, Igor Borodin, Roland and Almita Vamos, Yizhak Schotten, Ilya Kaler, Cynthia Roberts, Paul Leenhouts, James Richman, George Papich, Cliff Colnot, Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jay Dias.

Veronika Vassileva is professionally sought after on all three instruments - violin, viola, and baroque violin - and in various musical styles performing and traveling nationally as well as internationally in chamber music, chamber orchestra, or symphonic orchestra settings. Vassileva won the concerto competition and appeared as soloist with each of the universities' orchestras she has attended, and was the first freshmen to win the Grand Prize in the UNT Concerto Competition. As an orchestra musician, Veronika Vassileva has been co-concertmaster, section leader, and principal violist of the UNT and DePaul Symphony Orchestras respectively, a principal leader in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and she has played in various professional part-time orchestras in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, and New York City areas. As a member of small chamber music groups, Veronika Vassileva has been part of and traveled with the Shostovsky Piano Trio, Amir String Quartet, with UNT’s graduate string quartet, The Bancroft String Quartet, and her period instruments string quartet Quartet Galant. As a jazz musician, Veronika Vassileva can be found on recordings of the Grammy Award winning band Snarky Puppy, as the featured gypsy violinist at the annual Denton's Cirque du Horror halloween show, and in Ben Folds's touring orchestra. An avid fan of Broadway musicals, Veronika Vassileva was part of Lyric Stage in Irving, TX, playing the original broadway orchestrations for 5 years from 2010-2015. Since her relocation to Michigan, she has been performing with the Ann Arbor and Toledo Symphony Orchestras.

Praised for her "extraordinary musicality" and "fine detail to dynamics and color" Veronika Vassileva is sought after as concert mistress for period performance practice groups such as Denton Bach Society, Dallas Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, La Follia, Texas Early Music Project, and La Novella Baroque. An accomplished chamber musician, she has been part of the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, Strings in the Mountains Music Festival in Colorado, American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria, and International Leos Janacek Festival and Conference in the Czech Republic. In May 2014 she was invited to perform at Chamber Music International alongside prestigious musicians such as Susan Dubois, Jo and Ko Kawasaki, and Eugene Osadchy. In September 2014, she performed Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" on a Schoenberg grant at the Austrian Cultural Center in New York City playing both the violin and viola part, a very rare ability. In March 2016 Vassileva was invited to perform at Kerrytown Concert Series alongside Detroit Symphony Co-Concertmaster Kimberly Kolayonides-Kennedy, and in May 2017 she was part of Dr. Nancy Ambrose King's CD recording with the Ann Arbor Camerata. Dr. Veronika Vassileva has been invited to perform with the Valencia Opera Orchestra in Valencia, Spain, during
their 2018-2019 season.

Barbara Zmich-McClellan

Violist Barbara Zmich has enjoyed a varied and rewarding career in music. As one of the Solo/Principal Violists of the Dutch Radio Symphony, Barbara's performances were heard regularly on radio and television throughout Europe. She also performed frequently with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Upon her return to the United States, Barbara worked with the Louisville Orchestra and spent several summers as Assistant Principal Viola of the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She was honored to play viola for Chamberworks, a Southeast Michigan group specializing in early music, under the mentorship of the late Thomas M. Kuras. Barbara served four years as President of the Regional Orchestra Players' Association (ROPA), a national organization affiliated with the American Federation of Musicians that serves the musicians of 85 orchestras. She is currently Secretary-Treasurer of the Ann Arbor Federation of Musicians, plays viola with the Ann Arbor Symphony and Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, and maintains a string instrument/bow rehair and repair business. She shares her life with her spouse Celeste McClellan and Tuko, their sweet and loving Miniature Schnauzer.

Caroline Kim

An avid performing artist, cellist Caroline Kim is a versatile performer as well as a motivating pedagogue. Most recently in 2017, Caroline performed Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo: Rhapsody Hébraïque with the University of Michigan’s Symphony Orchestra in Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over the past decade, she has given performances across the United States, Canada and South Korea, in many prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center in New York City, in addition to other cities such as Calgary, Aspen, Estes Park, Santa Barbara and Innsbrook.

After immigrating to Canada from South Korea at the age of eight, she made her national debut performance in her hometown of Calgary in 2011 playing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. Thereafter, she went to New York City to study at the Juilliard School with Richard Aaron, where she obtained both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees as a graduate of the Accelerated BM/MM program. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Art degree at the University of Michigan with Richard Aaron.

Throughout her studies, Caroline has received numerous scholarships and awards including the Irene Land Scholarship, the Genevieve Kniese Cahudhuri Cello Scholarship, and the Betty & Daniel Bloomfield Fund Scholarship at the Juilliard School (2011-2016), and career development grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (2008-2018). She is on full scholarship at the University of Michigan, and has been awarded fellowships to the Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West.

As an orchestral musician, Caroline has served as the principal cellist of the Juilliard Orchestra from 2012-2016; New York String Orchestra Seminar in 2014; Music Academy of the West in 2012; and assistant principal in the Aspen Music Festival 2013-2015. She has had the privilege of working with many prominent conductors including Arie Lipsky, James Gaffigan, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin and Alan Gilbert, among others. She has studied chamber music with many renowned musicians such as members of the Juilliard Quartet, Emerson Quartet, Cho-Liang Lin, Sylvia Rosenberg, Joseph Kalichstein, Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. Caroline has also played in masterclasses for legendary cellists and pedagogues including Frans Helmerson, David Finckel, Alan Stepansky, Peter Wiley, Timothy Eddy and Lynn Harrell.

As a soloist, Caroline enjoys playing music from the broad spectrum of classical repertoire, as well as exploring other genres of music. Currently she is working on projects for solo cello consisting of works by composers of the 20th and 21st Century; learning and performing transcribed works that include many famous pieces written for other instruments; and performing jazz works in collaboration with a jazz piano trio.

In 2017, Caroline has been appointed faculty of cello in University of Michigan’s String Preparatory Academy, and Center Stage Strings in Ann Arbor Michigan. She has been invited as an artist/faculty to the Innsbrook Institute in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Caroline was also invited as guest artist and judge of the Michigan American String Teacher Association's Chamber Music Festival and Competition. She is the teaching assistant to Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan, and has given masterclasses at the Juilliard School and University of Michigan.

Eric Amidon

Rita and James H. White Cello Chair

Cellist Eric Amidon began studying the cello at the age of three under Elizabeth Balch in Madison WI. At the age of nine, Eric performed as a soloist with the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, and has since performed solo works with the Pioneer Symphony and DePauw Symphony Orchestras. He has participated in festivals throughout North America, including two years at the Orford Arts Festival and has performed in master classes with Jeffrey Solow, Tanya Carey, Anthony Elliot, and Leonard Hokinson. Eric earned his Bachelor Degree in 1997 from DePauw University where he studied with Eric Edberg, and with Joel Cohen while studying in Vienna, Austria. In addition to his position with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra he regularly plays regional engagements with chamber ensembles.

Dakota Cotugno

Cello

American cellist Dakota Cotugno began his cello studies at the age of 12. A native of Colorado, he holds degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder (B.M. Cello Performance) and the University of Michigan (M.M. Cello Performance and M.M. Chamber Music). He is currently a doctoral pre-candidate and graduate student instructor at Michigan, studying under Richard Aaron. Mr. Cotugno was named the Second Prize Winner of the 2019 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, in which he was also awarded the Pablo Casals Prize for Best Performance of Bach. Additionally, he placed first in the CU Boulder Concerto Competition and was a top prizewinner at the T. Gordon Parks Collegiate Concerto Competition. Recently Mr. Cotugno was a fellow at the 2021 Aspen Music Festival, where he was principal cellist of the Aspen Festival Orchestra. In past summers, he has studied at Bowdoin International Music Festival and Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival in Washington state.

Ben Maxwell

Cello

Ben Maxwell, born in Durham, North Carolina, recently graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied under Yeesun Kim of the Borromeo String Quartet. He began playing cello in middle school and went on to study at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Ben has also attended the Meadowmount School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, and was recently a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. He has performed in masterclasses for Yo-Yo Ma, Myung-wha Chung, Luis Claret, Frans Helmerson, and Timothy Eddy among others. He has performed with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Philharmonic, and has served as Principal cellist of the New England Conservatory Philharmonia and the New England Conservatory Symphony. He is currently a Masters student at the University Of Michigan with Richard Aaron. Outside of music, Ben has a passion for coffee and watching The Office.

Alicia Rowe

Rachel and Arie Lipsky Cello Chair

Alicia Rowe received degrees in cello performance from the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. A member of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since 1994, she also performs as a member of the A2SO String Quartet, bringing classical music to children throughout southeast Michigan. Alicia has taught cello and chamber music at the Ann Arbor School for Performing Arts, the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, and the Plymouth Canton Community Schools. She maintains a private cello studio in Plymouth.

Andrea Yun

Andrea Yun is an active performer and also teaches privately in Ann Arbor. She has performed in orchestras such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, and the Michigan Opera Theater, and has performed as principal of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony and Laredo Philharmonic (TX). Andrea has taught as Assistant Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at San Antonio and was adjunct faculty at Bowling Green State University. She also was the orchestra director at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School and in the Okemos Public Schools. She has been on faculty at many clinics and camps, including the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Interlochen All-State Orchestra Camp, and Suzuki workshops around the country. At Indiana University, Andrea studied with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, earning a dual bachelor’s degree in music education and mathematics, and also a master’s degree in cello performance; she completed her doctorate in cello performance with Erling Blöndal-Bengtsson at the University of Michigan. Andrea is a registered cello teacher trainer through the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Her solo performances have been heard on Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) Radio, and she is a member of the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.

Gregg Emerson Powell

Principal Bassist

Gregg Emerson Powell first played with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra back in the mid-1970s, when it was in its “amateur community orchestra incarnation”. He came to the double bass relatively late in life, at the ripe old age of 22 (having just finished a degree in Economics, with a minor in Psychology, at the University of Michigan). Fortunately for him, one of the greatest bass teachers on the planet, Lawrence Hurst, just happened to be teaching at the U of M back then. Other teachers include Robert Gladstone (late principal bassist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) and the legendary Stuart Sankey. After leaving the orchestra for a number of years to pursue other performing opportunites, he came back in 1994, winning the principal bass audition.

He holds the same position with the Flint and Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestras, and performs as a freelance musician all over Michigan.

Gregg is truly blessed to be able to play on a bass that was made by Giovanni Gagliano, in Naples, Italy, in 1804. He also serves as the personnel mannager for a number of orchestras in the state, and lives in Ann Arbor with his choral conductor/educator/soprano wife, Shayla, and three fine cats.

Jonathan Hammonds

Ann Arbor native Jonathan Hammonds began his study of the double bass in high school with Barton Dunning of the Toledo Symphony. Jonathan continued his studies at the collegiate level with Diana Gannett at the University of Michigan receiving a Bachelor of Music in 2012. He then went on to receive a Master of Music from Yale University in 2014 studying under Donald Palma. As a soloist, Jonathan has won the Toledo Symphony Young Artists Competition, Grand Prize at the Michigan ASTA Solo Competition, and First Prize at the National ASTA Solo Competition.

Jonathan is active in jazz and world music as well, playing with such groups as the Neal Anderson Quintet in Ann Arbor and the National Arab Orchestra in Detroit. He also teaches a small studio of private students and has lead workshops and sectionals for various schools and educational programs.

Joy Rowland

Maryland native Joy Rowland graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins Institute where she received her Bachelors degree in double bass performance in 2009. While at Peabody, Joy studied with John Hood of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She then went on to receive her Masters degree in 2011 and her Doctorate degree in 2016 at Michigan State University under the tutelage of Professor Jack Budrow of the North Carolina Symphony.

She has participated in summer programs such as the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in 2004-05, the Gateways Music Festival in 2013 and 2015, which promotes minorities in the arts, and the National Repertory Orchestra in 2015.

In addition to teaching and being a member of both the Ann Arbor and Midland symphonies, she frequently subs with the Grand Rapids, West Michigan, and Lansing Symphonies.

Alaina Bercilla

Flute

Bercilla, Principal Flute with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since October 2018, was the 2^ndFlute / Piccolo at Spokane Symphony. A California native, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from UCLA, and her M.M. in Flute Performance from the University of Michigan. She was about to start an artist diploma at USC when she won her first position with the Spokane Symphony in 2008.

Bercilla has been invited to perform as a featured soloist with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, and the Pasadena Community Orchestra. She has also been a finalist in the Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition and the Las Vegas Flute Club Competition, a semifinalist in the Frank Bowen Competition and the WAMSO (Volunteer Association for the Minnesota Orchestra) Competition, and a qualifying participant in the National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition.

In 2006 she was invited to be a part of a week‑long training workshop held by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, which focused on the music of Steve Reich and culminated in a concert at Zankel Hall celebrating the composer’s 70^th birthday. Prior to joining the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, she held positions as an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and as Piccolo Fellow with the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra.

Having taught flute at a variety of le vels, from beginning 5^th graders in Compton, CA, to gifted high‑schoolers in Detroit, as Principal Flute and Mentor of the Detroit Civic Orchestra, Bercilla was also adjunct flute professor at Eastern Washington University and currently maintains a private studio.

Lori Newman

D. Brad Dyke Section Flute Chair

Lori Newman received her Master's degree in Flute Performance from the University of Michigan. Lori holds positions with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Oakland Symphony and the Rochester Symphony. She has also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Flint Symphony, Warren Symphony, and the Illinois Symphony.

Rachel Lopez

Rachel Lopez is an orchestral flutist and private teacher in Austin, TX. She is a flutist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra & piccoloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (MI). She currently maintains a private studio of flute & piccolo students in Austin & Cedar Park.
Rachel holds Bachelors & Masters degrees from the University of Houston & the University of North Texas, and an orchestral studies diploma from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She has been a prize winner in flute competitions for the National Flute Association Orchestral Competition, Mid-South Flute Society, & finalist for the Myrna Brown Artist Competition. During 2005-2006, she was a flutist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In the summer of 2010, she played with the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria.

Timothy Michling

Oboe / English Horn | Principal Oboe | Gilbert Omenn Endowed Principal Oboe Chair

Timothy Michling is principal oboist of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing for A²SO chamber and educational ensembles. Tim also appears frequently with numerous other area ensembles, including the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, and the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. Tim is an accomplished woodwind specialist/multi-instrumentalist, and, in addition to being an avid bagpiper and tin whistler, he was a member of the pit orchestra during the 2003-2004 North American Tour of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man," playing oboe, English horn, flute, piccolo, clarinet, and bassoon. As a performer and recording artist, he is equally sought after by classical, theatrical, folk, and rock ensembles.

A dedicated educator, Tim is a member of the music faculty at both Oakland University and the University of Michigan-Flint. He serves his fellow Ann Arbor Symphony musicians as chair of the Orchestra Committee, as an ex officio member of the A²SO board of directors, and has also served as delegate to the Regional Orchestra Players Association (ROPA). A dedicated arts advocate, he endeavors to be a positive voice for artists and the arts community; Tim believes ardently in the power of the arts to empower individuals and build stronger communities, and he remains passionately committed to community service and outreach.

Tim earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he studied the oboe with Nancy Ambrose King. In addition, he studied the oboe with Allan Vogel at the prestigious Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he earned his Artist Diploma. Tim also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a Master of Public Administration degree from Wayne State University, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Health from the Wayne State School of Medicine.

When not performing music, Tim conducts public policy research as a research associate at the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. He previously worked on staff in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Kristin Reynolds

Oboe / English Horn

BILL AND JAN MAXBAUER OBOE CHAIR

Kristin Reynolds is an active professional performer and dedicated teacher. In addition to performing with the Ann Arbor Symphony, she regularly performs with the Toledo Symphony, the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Michigan Opera Theater and the Detroit Symphony. In addition, Ms. Reynolds serves as Oboe Professor and Chamber Music Instructor at Eastern Michigan University and has served on the faculties of The University of Michigan, Concordia University, and Hillsdale College.

A native of Southern California, Ms. Reynolds holds a Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from California State University, Northridge. She spent two summers studying at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Her primary instructors include William Criss (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) and Harry Sargous (The University of Michigan), and she has also worked with John Ferrillo (Boston Symphony), John Mack (Cleveland Orchestra), Richard Killmer (Eastman School of Music), Elaine Douvas (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Juilliard School), and Linda Strommen (Indiana University).

In addition to presenting lectures and master classes across the United States, Ms. Reynolds has toured both nationally and internationally in orchestras and wind ensembles throughout Europe, Japan, and Scandinavia. She can be heard on the Caprice label performing with the Stockholm Wind Orchestra of Sweden, as well as on the Naxos label.

Chad Burrow

Principal, Jim and Millie Irwin Endowed Principal Clarinet Chair

Chad Burrow is recognized as one of the premiere clarinetists of his generation. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the globe. The European press has said that Chad performs with “brilliant technique and tonal beauty mixed with an expressive ferocity.” Danish critic, Henrik Svane, went on to describe a performance as filled with "virtuosity, energy, and power without compromise." The New York Times recently called a Carnegie Hall appearance in Poulenc’s, Sonata, as giving a “strong impression” and being a “bright and genial account.”

In 2009, Chad was appointed to the clarinet faculty of the University of Michigan, where he teaches clarinet, chamber music and has served as the director for the Michigan Chamber Players. Additionally, he serves as co-artistic director and clarinetist for the Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma and is on the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and also the faculty of the Alpenkammermusik Festival in Austria. Chad is the current principal clarinetist with the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra. He also regularly performs with the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. Chad is the former principal clarinetist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, Quartz Mountain Music Festival, and the past Associate Professor of Clarinet at Oklahoma City University.

Chad’s recent concert engagements abroad have included concerts in Austria, Denmark’s Thy Chamber Music Festival, recitals in the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, concerts in Strasbourg, France and Concerto appearances with the Taichung Philharmonic, the “Classic” Orchestra of Taichung and the Shin Sharn Ensemble in Taipei. Recent performances in the United States have included appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall, Chamber Music Northwest, and performances on a series of Benny Goodman centennial concerts in Carnegie Hall and Yale University. Other performances have included venues at Rice University, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, the University of Houston, three International Clarinet Association conferences, Northwestern University, the Music Mansion in Providence (RI), the Notre Dame University, Texas Tech University, University of North Texas, University of, Texas Christian University, the University of Texas, Louisiana State University and the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, and others. Chad has also performed with numerous orchestras, including the Ann Arbor Symphony, Cumberland Orchestra, and the Longview Symphony. You can also find a recently released recording of William Bolcom's, Clarinet Concerto with the University of Michigan Symphony Band on the Equilibrium label.

In addition to his own schedule of performances, Chad is the clarinetist for Duo Clarion, formed in 1999 at Yale University with pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng. Duo Clarion maintains an active series of performances throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Duo Clarion’s work has been recorded and released by Albany Records, CD Baby, and Wei Studios in Taiwan. The Duo’s most recent recording features works of Brahms and Schumann on CD Baby. Violinist Sean Wang joins Duo Clarion to form Trio Solari. The trio has had a regular touring schedule around the world since 2006. Trio Solari released their first recording of eclectic repertoire on the Centaur label.

Chad is the winner of prizes and awards from the 2001 Young Concert Artist International Competition in New York City, the 2000 Woolsey Hall Competition, the 2000 Artist International Competition, and the 1997 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University where he was a student of Russell Dagon, and a Master of Music degree from Yale University, where he was a student of David Shifrin.

Chad serves as an artist for Vandoren and Backun Musical Services. He plays exclusively on Backun, MOBA clarinets.

Elliott Ross

Clarinet / Bass Clarinet

Clarinetist and Ann Arbor native Elliott Ross has been a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony since 2006. Elliott has played with the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the Flint Symphony Orchestras. An active teacher, Elliott maintains a studio in the Ann Arbor area. When not musically engaged, Elliott enjoys reading, Indian food, and stand up comedy.

Christian Green

Bassoon

Christian Green is an enthusiastic performer and adjudicator based in Southeast Michigan.

After High School, he deferred admission to college for one year to participate in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange. While in Germany, he studied bassoon with Christian Kunert, solo bassoonist of Hamburg Philharmonic and the Hamburg State Opera. He auditioned successfully and earned a position in the Albert Schweitzer Jugendorchester and later in the Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester for the season.

Christian received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan studying with Dr. Jeffrey Lyman. While at Michigan, Christian was honored to be a member of the 2010 Symphony Band China Tour. Upon completing his degree, he continued his studies at Northwestern University under the tutelage of Christopher Millard and David McGill. Currently he is pursuing a DMA at Michigan State University with Michael Kroth. He took part in masterclasses with Markus Weidmann, Steven Dibner, and Jeffrey McCray. Additional teachers include Robert Williams, Charles Ullery, Lewis Kirk, and Nancy Gores.

As an active chamber musician Christian is a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony Reed Trio. The trio travels to schools during the school year giving performances and educating young people about these instruments. Christian is also the bassoonist for Chamber Artists of Southeast Michigan (CASM). CASM is a chamber collective that serves Southeast Michigan; please visit the website for more information: casmmusic.org. Christian subs often with the award winning Akropolis Reed Quintet. He recently joined them for two tours last year performing several concerts and included the premiere of Geryoneis at Sweet Briar College. Christian also performs with the Cut Time Players based out of Detroit.

Christian is currently principal bassoon of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and Oakland Symphony Orchestra (MI). He also performs with the Lansing Symphony, Rochester Symphony (MI), and the Michigan Sinfonietta. Christian maintains a private studio in Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities. He plays on a Fox 601.

Daniel Fendrick

Daniel Fendrick is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree in bassoon performance at University of Michigan, where he is studying with Jeffrey Lyman. Before attending Michigan, he previously studied with Nathaniel Zeisler. Fendrick has participated in a number of summer festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and Le Domaine Forget, at which he was awarded the Excellence Award in bassoon. In his undergraduate degree, he won the 2016 University of Michigan Undergraduate Concerto Competition, was awarded a Presser Undergraduate Scholarship, and was asked to perform as a soloist as part of the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage Conservatory Project. Upon graduating he received the Stanley Medal, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance's highest honor given to a graduating senior. Outside of performing, Fendrick constantly seeks ways to satisfy his immense curiosity both in music and in other aspects of his life, namely his love of food.

Adam Unsworth

Principal

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Principal Horn also serves as Professor of Horn at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, Adam was Fourth Horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra (1998-2007) and Second Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1995-1998). He currently is active as a guest musician with the San Francisco Symphony and Detroit Symphony.

Outside of the orchestra Adam is dedicated to commissioning and performing works of living composers, expanding the modern repertoire to extended the boundaries of the horn. He has five recordings as a leader to his credit that encompass a wide variety of music: Balance (2014), a jazz recording for horn, jazz sextet and chamber orchestra, Snapshots (2013), a recording or contemporary classical music in collaboration with composer/pianist
Catherine Likhuta, Just Follow Instructions (2009), featuring the chamber music of saxophonist/composer Daniel Schnyder, Next Step (2008) and Excerpt This! (2006) – jazz recordings which received critical acclaim from both jazz and classical reviewers.

Adam is a member of the New York based Gil Evans Centennial Project, which has received two Grammy nominations for its’ recordings Centennial and Lines of Color, and won the 2013 Jazz Journalist Association Award for Large Jazz Ensemble of the Year. He is also a member of Japanese big band leader Miho Hazama and her M-Unit Band and recorded their latest CD, Time River with them.

A former faculty member at Temple University, he has appeared as a recitalist and clinician at many universities throughout the United States, and has made several solo and chamber appearances at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Unsworth received his formal training at Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bernice Schwartz

Bernice Schwartz recently retired from Springfield Local Schools where she taught instrumental music and served as music department chairperson. During her tenure there, she received several awards including Educator of the Year.

Ms. Schwartz earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education/Performance from Ithaca College in NY and her Master of Music Degree in Performance at Bowling Green State University. She also studied in London with legendary hornist Alan Civil.

Active as a performer, Ms. Schwartz is a long time member of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and can frequently be seen in the Toledo Symphony horn section. She is a founding member of the Tower Brass Quintet, a nationally recognized chamber ensemble with whom she has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and who recently released its tenth recording. Ms. Schwartz has had the privilege of playing with many well- known artists including Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Debbie Reynolds, Rosemary Clooney, Sarah McLaughlin, Arturo Sandoval and Mannheim Steamroller. Additionally, she has performed for Broadway pit orchestras including The Producers, Spamelot, 42nd Street, Billy Elliott and Mary Poppins. She has served as a clinician/performer at regional horn workshops and at the International Brass Congress Symposium.

An avid writer, Ms. Schwartz has been published in several professional journals and is a past member of the editorial board of the Ohio Music Education Association’s “Triad.”

In 2015, Ms. Schwartz was asked to join the music education faculty at B.G.S.U. where she is happy to aid in the training of future music educators. She also maintains an active horn studio and coaches several area high school horn sections.

Kurt Civilette

Kurt Civilette is 3rd horn in Ann Arbor Symphony and a member of the A2SO Brass Quintet, which plays educational programs in Ann Arbor area elementary schools. He is in demand as a freelance horn player in many local orchestras, including Detroit Symphony, Michigan Opera Theater, and orchestras in Flint, Saginaw Bay, Windsor (CA), Midland, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, South Bend, and Ft. Wayne.

For 15 years from 1995-2010, Kurt was full-time 3rd horn/associate principal with New Mexico Symphony in Albuquerque, substituting as interim principal horn for the entire 2001-02 season. Before winning the permanent job in New Mexico, he held temporary positions as principal horn with Charleston (SC) Symphony, principal horn of the Savannah(GA) Symphony, and assistant principal with Honolulu Symphony. While in New Mexico he was also 3rd horn with Santa Fe Symphony and appeared with Santa Fe Opera orchestra. As a freelance musician, he has appeared with Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony, St. Louis, Utah, Grant Park, Jacksonville and North Carolina Symphonies.

During the summers, Kurt plays principal horn with the Southern Illinois Music festival in Carbondale. He has appeared in various US and international summer festivals including Spoleto festival in USA and Italy, the Assisi festival (Italy), the Kumamoto festival in Japan, and Music from Angel Fire(NM). Kurt has performed as an extra player with Santa Fe Opera since 1998. Kurt will be a guest artist for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra for their concert of John Williams' classical pieces, the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra.

Tamara Kosinski

French Horn

Tamara Kosinski is a professional horn player originally from Midland, Michigan. Her first experiences as a professional musician started in high school with her involvement with the Midland Symphony and Midland Music Society. She received her Bachelor Degree of Music with Teacher Certification from the University of Michigan in 1991. Though she primarily studied with Lowell Greer, Tamara also worked under the guidance of Gail Williams, former Associate Horn of the Chicago Symphony and current Professor of Horn at Northwestern University.

Tamara’s teacher Lowell Greer was a pedagogue of natural horn, and strongly emphasized its importance to her development as a horn player. She went on to perform on the natural horn with various period ensembles throughout the US and Europe including, The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Chanticleer.

Tamara can be found performing on three period ensemble recordings including: "Mozart Sinfonia Concertante" with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, "Mexican Baroque" with Chanticleer, and "Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Op. 7 - Handel: Arias with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan, featuring esteemed mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

Tamara is a current member of the Windsor, Ann Arbor, Saginaw, and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kosinski subs frequently with the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Tamara has played on numerous concerts and two tours with the Detroit Symphony: a two-week tour of Europe and a week tour of Michigan. She also appears often with many other professional ensembles including the Grand Rapids, Flint, Midland, and Traverse City Symphonies respectively.

Tamara is an experienced chamber musician, having performed with the Detroit Chamber Winds, the Blue Lake Faculty Woodwind and Brass quintets, and the Kalamazoo Symphony Brass Quintet. As a part of the Kalamazoo Symphony Brass Quintet, Ms. Kosinski performed concerts in a multitude of venues throughout the city of Kalamazoo. A founding member of the Fourcor Horn Quartet, Tamara continues to have a passion for horn ensemble music.

Tamara has previously spent her summers as a faculty member of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan where she taught and performed for 15 years. Recently, she had the opportunity to perform in the Strings in the Mountains Music Festival in Colorado, alongside William VerMeulen and Tod Bowermaster.

Tamara Kosinski presides at the helm of a large studio of private horn students ranging from the ages of elementary to high school, though she occasionally teaches older students as well. Ms. Kosinski's 28 years of teaching experience has led to many of her more than 200 students achieving success in the music field, attending some of America's finest music schools including the University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and Northwestern University. Her students have been featured professionally as performers and instructors throughout the US and Asia.

Justin Rowan

Principal Trumpet

Justin Rowan is a trumpeter and educator from Cleveland who performs actively around the Northeastern United States.

He has recently won a position as Principal Trumpet of the Ann Arbor Symphony, and has appeared with many groups throughout the country, including Cleveland Opera Theater, Erie Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Music Academy of the West, The National Repertory Orchestra, and the Cleveland Chamber Collective. He has appeared as a cornet soloist with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and the Notre Dame College Wind Symphony, and as trumpet soloist with the Kennesaw State University Symphony Orchestra. Justin can be heard performing with Canton, Akron, Mansfield, Firelands, and Youngstown symphonies, as well as the City Music Cleveland. He has performed under the batons of esteemed conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Karina Cannelakis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Valentina Peleggi, Jahja Ling, Edwin Outwater, Michael Stern, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Brett Mitchell, Stephan Deneve, and James Gaffigan. He has also appeared regularly as a chamber musician, performing with Cleveland Chamber Collective, Canton Symphony Brass Quintet, and countless other groups in Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, and California.

Justin has many successful students of all ages. Many have found success performing with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra, and many district and All-State level honor bands and orchestras. He also taught brass and music theory for Notre Dame College of Ohio, and served as a high brass specialist for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.

Justin received his Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He studied under Michael Sachs, principal trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra, and Michael Miller of the Cleveland Orchestra. He received his Bachelor of Music from Kennesaw State University in 2014, and studied under Thomas Hooten, principal of the L.A. Philharmonic, Karin Bliznik, principal of the St. Louis Symphony, and Jennifer Marotta. Other teachers include Barbara Butler, Charlie Geyer, Micah Wilkinson and Raymond Riccomini.

Eriko Fujita

Lisa Marie Tubbs Trumpet Chair

Eriko Fujita is the second chair of Ann Arbor Symphony. She joined the orchestra since 2013. She was born in Toyama, Japan. She received the B.M.degree in performance the trumpet from Tokyo University of the Arts, in Japan, Artist Diploma from Chicago College of Performing Arts in Chicago. She was a regular member of Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2014-2016. She have played with several orchestra in the U.S., Singapore and Japan. She awarded third place at National Brass Symposium in Atlanta, and she took part in Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan in 2011, Chosen Vale Trumpet seminar in 2012 and National repertory Orchestra 2013.

Becky Bloomer

Trumpet

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Third Trumpet and Brass Quintet Trumpet player, Becky Bloomer, joined the A2SO in 2012. Becky also performs with the Five Lakes Silver Band on Solo Cornet, and has performed with the orchestras of Dearborn, Adrian, Oakland, Birmingham Bloomfield, and the Michigan Philharmonic as a substitute or additional musician. Becky loves to share her love of music with students and children, and jumped at the opportunity to become the Instrument Petting Zoo Zookeeper for the A2SO. During Petting Zoos and Taste of Music events and performances, Becky strives to connect with young audiences through the exploration of instruments and the performance of music. Becky maintains a large private trumpet studio in Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities, and works with more than 125 students in the Van Buren Public School district through weekly masterclasses as a High Brass Specialist for Belleville High School, McBride Middle School, and Owen Intermediate School. She holds Master of Music degrees in Trumpet Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Illinois State University. Becky’s principal instructors include Bill Campbell and Amy Gilreath.

Donald Babcock

Principal Trombonist

Dr. Donald Babcock is Professor of Music in the School of Music & Dance at Eastern Michigan University where he teaches both trombone and jazz. He also currently plays principal trombone in the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and performs recitals locally and around the country. Dr. Babcock has been featured in silent film scores as well as in classical and jazz recordings. He has performed with the Flint Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Lansing Symphony and Kalamazoo Symphony. Other performances include appearances at regional band and orchestra conventions and regular radio broadcasts from Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Dr. Babcock has studied with Curtis Olson, Vern and Jan Kagarice, Thomas Ashworth, Nick Keelan and Dudley Bright. He holds a DMA from Michigan State University and a Master of Music from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, as well as a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dr. Babcock is an active member of the International Trombone Association.

Zongxi Li

Zongxi Li, a native of China, joined the Ann Arbor Symphony in 2017. Besides his experience with the A2SO, Zongxi has also played with ensembles such as Michigan Philharmonic, The Symphonia, Boca Raton and Brevard Music Center Orchestra, etc. In 2017, he was chosen to be on the sub list of the New World Symphony. As an active chamber musician, Zongxi’s brass quintet was featured in one of the New York Philharmonic’s Off the Grid concerts along with the NYP Brass Quintet.
Zongxi started on trombone at age 10. In 2006, he began his musical training at Shanghai Conservatory middle school, and soon came to the United States to continue his study at Interlochen Arts Academy. Zongxi received his bachelor’s degree from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, and his master’s degree from the University of Michigan. Currently, Zongxi is pursuing his Artist Diploma at University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as a recipient of the CCM Brass Quintet Fellowship. His teachers include Dongxiao Xu, Dali Li, Thomas Riccobono, Dan Satterwhite, David Jackson and Timothy Anderson.

Greg Lanzi

Greg Lanzi has held the Bass Trombone position with the Flint Symphony for 23 years. He has also played with Ann Arbor Symphony for 22 years and holds a position with the Motor City Symphony Orchestra as well. For seven years, he has been a member of the First Brass, a brass ensemble in residence at the First Presbyterian Church of Flint.

For seventeen years, he has also served as a Music Educator with the Northville Public Schools. He teaches sixth and seventeenth grade band at Hillside Middle School in Northville.

Michelle Lanzi, Greg’s wife of 22 years, is the company manager of Wild Swan Theater in Ann Arbor. The Wild Swan Theater has collaborated with many Flint Symphony musicians over the years in addition to performing at the Whiting on numerous occasions.

Greg and Michelle have two lovely daughters, Gabriella and Sophia. Gabriella is a sophomore at the University of Michigan this fall and Sophia will enter Brighton High School as a freshmen. Greg, originally from Atlanta, Ga. meet Michelle in Cape Cod during the summer of 1987 when she was assigned to write his bio for the College Light Opera Company’s season brochure.

Greg, an avid runner, has finished nine marathons including three trips to the Boston Marathon. His one regret is never running the Crim. Perhaps this is the year.

Jarrett McCourt

Principal, Charles J. Gabrion Principal Tuba Chair

Named one of Canada’s “hottest 30 classical musicians under 30”, Jarrett McCourt currently serves as Principal Tuba with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Prior to this, Jarrett was the Tuba Fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, and has also held positions in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Jarrett’s playing has been called “magnificent” by the Palm Beach Daily News and “warm, romantic and seamless” by the South Florida Classical Review . Jarrett has performed with a number of different high-level ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony Orchestra, and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Jarrett has performed under classical conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, Simon Rattle, Susanna Mälkki and Peter Eötvös, as well as alongside jazz heavyweights such as Esperanza Spalding, Wayne Bergeron and Nicholas Payton.

Jarrett has won several international competitions, including the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, the Marta Hidy Competition for Brass in Toronto, and concerto competitions across Canada and the U.S. Most notably, he won the top prize in the brass category of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal’s prestigious Standard Life Competition in 2014, becoming the first tubist to do so in the competition’s 75-year history. Additionally, Jarrett was a finalist in the XVI Tchaikovsky Competition (the inaugural year for brass participants) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the only North American tubist to participate in the live rounds. Jarrett has performed as a soloist with the New World Symphony, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Toronto, the University of Western Ontario Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, and the London Concert Band. During the summers, Jarrett has performed with the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, the Spoleto USA Festival Orchestra, the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific. Jarrett was recently a guest on the popular Brass Junkies podcast, speaking largely about ways to improve one’s mental health as a musician in the 21st century. In his spare time, Jarrett volunteers with the Crisis Text Line, a global not-for-profit organization providing free crisis intervention and suicide prevention via SMS message.

As an educator, Jarrett was formerly on faculty at New World School of the Arts at Miami Dade College, and has also served on faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of the United States and at Expressions Music Academy in Troy, Michigan. Jarrett’s students have successfully auditioned for All-State ensembles in Michigan and Florida, summer programs including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Interlochen Arts Camp, and several undergraduate music programs across the United States and Canada including Yale University, Northwestern University and Boston University. Jarrett has presented masterclasses at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Florida State University, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Windsor, Universidad EAFIT and the Universidad de Antioquia in Colombia.

He earned a Bachelor of Music (Tuba Performance) with a minor in Ethics at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario in 2013 and two Masters degrees (one in Tuba Performance and the other in Chamber Music) at the University of Michigan in 2015. His principal teachers have been Brent Adams, Dennis Nulty, Fritz Kaenzig, Craig Knox, Warren Deck and Gene Pokorny. Jarrett is a Miraphone Artist and performs on the 1281 Petrushka F Tuba.

James Lancioni

Artistic Operations Manager Emeritus | Timpani

Artistic Operations Manager Emeritus Jim Lancioni obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Michigan in 1978. He has been Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Timpanist for over 41 years and was the driving force behind obtaining the symphony’s own set of timpani. Jim also plays in other area orchestras, teaches private lessons, and performs as a freelance artist. Jim lives in Chelsea with his wife Susan and has two daughters and two grandsons.

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John Dorsey

Principal, Abraham Weiser Principal Percussion Chair

John Dorsey, Principal Percussionist, has been with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since 1981. John maintains an active teaching and performing career. In addition to playing with th A²SO, he is Principal Percussionist for the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and the Saginaw Bay Orchestra. John is Associate Professor of Music (percussion) at Eastern Michigan University. His teaching duties include applied percussion, Percussion Ensemble, African Ensemble, percussion methods class and instructing the Marching Band drumline. John received his Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Michigan where he studied with Charles Owen and his Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas where he studied with Richard Brown and Phil Kraus.

Andrew Fritz

Andrew Fritz is a freelance percussionist and music educator based in Grand Rapids. He has been a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony percussion section since 2015. In addition to his Ann Arbor post, he is also a member of the Lansing Symphony percussion section and Principal Timpanist with the Battle Creek Symphony. He also frequently performs with the Grand Rapids symphony, including their recent trip to Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2018. Andrew is an active percussion educator with teaching appointments at Aquinas College and Cornerstone University, both as an applied instructor and as a lecturer in percussion methods. He received an Artist Diploma as a student of Ed Harrison and Vadim Karpinos at Roosevelt University. Andrew also holds a M.M. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a B.M. from Webster University.

Julian Jeun

In Toronto, Julian has performed and recorded with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Oundjian and can be heard on two Juno nominated recordings by the Thunder Bay and Windsor Symphony Orchestras. He has performed Olivier Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Charles Dutoit. Julian has also performed with orchestras in Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Kingston and Nanaimo.Julian Jeun is a native of Windsor, Ontario. He is currently the Principal Percussionist for the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and also Percussionist for the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. He has held positions as Principal Timpanist for the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Principal Percussion for the Victoria Symphony. He is honoured to be joining the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra commencing in the 2016-17 season.

He has taught undergraduate students at Lakehead University and the University of Windsor and maintains a private teaching studio. His musical studies include private lessons, degrees from McGill University and Université de Montréal and as student in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada he's played in the finest concert halls across Canada and Europe. Julian has performed in Detroit's Orchestra Hall as member of the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra.

Performing at sea as a drummer aboard cruise ships Julian has docked in ports such as San Diego, Hawaii, Ensenada, Venice, Barcelona, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Santorini and Mykonos.

Chen-Yu Huang

Harp

Chen‐Yu Huang join the Michigan State University College of Music as assistant professor of harp in 2014. Coming from a background in fine arts, Chen‐Yu is most passionate about inspiring students toward realizing their highest potential in their career. She has been gaining recognition as an active performer and educator internationally. Before coming to MSU, she taught at Illinois Wesleyan University, the Parkland College, and the Chamber Music Academy at University of Illinois. Currently, she also teaches at the Community Music School at MSU, Blue Fine Arts Summer Camp and hosts an annual Harp Day at MSU.

A native of Taiwan, Chen‐Yu obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in piano performance at National Taiwan Normal University. Inspired by a series of concerts of symphony orchestras, Chen‐Yu decided to pursue a graduate degree in harp performance at University of Illinois, where she holdteaching assistantship and received a Master of Music, Artist Diploma, and Doctoral of Musical Arts under the instruction of Dr. Ann Yeung. Her honors include the winner of the State of Illinois Senior Division in the 2007 American String Teacher Association National Solo Competition, finalist for the 2006 National Anne Adams Award Auditions, winner of the 2008 String Division Concerto Competition, and Honorable Mention for the Lyon and Healy Awards 2011. She was also the winner of Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship 2010‐2011 and Krannert Debut Artist Award 2010, of which the first harpist ever to be awarded.

Chen‐Yu is dedicated to expanding the harp repertoire. She has arranged and transcribed music for harp and worked with composers to create original works. Recent activities include performing at the International Harp Festival in Taiwan (2016); arranging Christmas music and performing with Jubilee harp duo; premiering her own harp version of original pieces by William R. C. Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright’s father) at historical Dana Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois; concluding a Midwest tour and an Asia tour with the Formosa Trio; and performing as a concerto soloist with Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming activities include three world premieres at the 13th World Harp Congress in Hong Kong in 2017.

Pioneer High School Choirs

The Ann Arbor Pioneer High School A Cappella Choir is one of four curricular and nine extra-curricular choral ensembles at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, the 2006 & 2011 National GRAMMY® Signature School. The A Cappella Choir has performed at the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention (2014), American Choral Directors Association Michigan State Convention (2014 & 2018), Michigan Music Conference (2013 & 2018), and Michigan Youth Arts Festival (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017). In 2014 & 2015, they were selected as an Outstanding Choir and featured at the Gala Concert of the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. The Pioneer Choirs have collaborated with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings.

Your Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass

Flute

Oboe

Clarinet

Bassoon

Horn

Trumpet

Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion

Harp

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Aaron Berofsky

CONCERTMASTER, AARON BEROFSKY CONCERTMASTER CHAIR

Kathryn Votapek

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER, STRAKA-FUNK ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER CHAIR HONORING KATHRYN VOTAPEK

Mallory Tabb

Violin / Viola

Barbara Sturgis-Everett

Violin / Viola Principal Second Violin, Gates & Rudisill Endowed Principal Second Violin Chair

Brian Allen

Jenny Berg

Violin / ViolaJennifer Berg Violin Chair

Judy Blank

Stuart Carlson

VIOLIN

Alena Carter

Violin

Karen Donato

Violin / Viola

Linda Etter

Linda Etter Violin Chair

David Ormai

Violin / Viola

Daniel Stachyra

Froehlich Family Violin Chair

Jenny Wan

Scott Woolweaver

Principal, Tim and Leah Adams Principal Viola Chair

Janine Bradbury

Vincent Family Charitable Fund Section Viola Chair

Hannah Breyer

Viola

Jacqueline Hanson

Violin / Viola

Veronika Vassileva

Barbara Zmich-McClellan

Caroline Kim

Eric Amidon

Rita and James H. White Cello Chair

Dakota Cotugno

Cello

Ben Maxwell

Cello

Alicia Rowe

Rachel and Arie Lipsky Cello Chair

Andrea Yun

Gregg Emerson Powell

Principal Bassist

Jonathan Hammonds

Joy Rowland

Alaina Bercilla

Flute

Lori Newman

D. Brad Dyke Section Flute Chair

Violin / Viola
Principal Second Violin, Gates & Rudisill Endowed Principal Second Violin Chair

Violin / Viola
Jennifer Berg Violin Chair