orchestra musicians

Currently a member of: Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Don and Norma Stone chair)
Additional career highlights: Artistic Director of the Grammy-nominated Voices of Change Modern Music Ensemble; Soloist with the Dallas Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and West Virginia Symphony, among others; chamber music performances at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall, among others; numerous world premieres, including works written specifically for her by Augusta Read Thomas and David Amram
Teaches at: University of North Texas

Maria Schleuning is generously sponsored by Sara and Leonard Lafrance

Current: Appears with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet
Previous a member of: The Florida Orchestra (2017-2019), New World Symphony (2014-2017)
Additional career highlights:Founder of the Silk Road Youth Orchestra (Urumqi, China). Performances in renowned concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Arts, Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and the Royal Albert Hall (as part of BBC Proms with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)

Zubaida Azezi is generously sponsored by Laura Petrucci and Jim Carlson

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Previously a member of: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony
Additional career highlights: Performances at Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Bowdoin, Boulder, Snow Pond, OK Mozart, and Wyndham Music Festivals; chamber music with the Lyric Chamber Music Society of NY, Met Chamber Ensemble, Bridgehampton Chamber Music, Tahoe String Quartet, and IRIS Quartet

Currently a member of: Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, X Quartet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Previously a member of: Amayo and Friends, Matilda and Hamilton on Broadway
Additional career highlights: Tours with Adele, Bruce Springsteen, and Trey Anastasio; recordings with Sharon Jones, Antibalas, and James Taylor; featured artist on violin, viola, and voice on David Byrne’s Contemporary Color

Rachel Golub is generously sponsored by Caroline and Jim Kaplan

Currently a member of: Nashville Symphony (Acting Concertmaster)
Teaches at: Vanderbilt University 

Currently a member of: The Knights, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble, and Kvasova Folk Singing Club
Additional career highlights: Performances at Caramoor, Ravinia, Dresden, Salzburg, Bonn, and Tanglewood Festivals; recipient of an Innovation Fund grant from The Knights for a project on music and incarceration

 Kristi Helberg is generously sponsored by Tom and Donna Baxter, in honor of Leslie Wittmann and Michael Blaszyk

Previously a member of: San Francisco Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Additional career highlights: Performances with renowned chamber music festivals such as  Chamber Music West, Santa Fe Chamber Music, Caramoor, Bard and Olympic and collaborations with St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and Partita and Chelsea Ensembles.

Currently a member of: Australian World Orchestra
Previously a member of: Seattle Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Concertmaster), Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony
Teaches at: San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of New York (Concertmaster)
Additional career highlights: Concerts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Brighton Philharmonic, Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra, Turkey’s BASSO Orchestra, and Metropolitan Chamber Ensemble; performances at Tanglewood, Norfolk Chamber Music, Santa Fe, BargeMusic, Music Mountain, and Verbier Festivals

Currently a member of: Grand Junction Symphony (Concertmaster)
Previously a member of: Buffalo Philharmonic (Associate Concertmaster)
Teaches at: Colorado Mesa University

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Additional career highlights: concerts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra, and MET Chamber Ensemble, among others; chamber performances at Alice Tully Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall; solo appearances at Hoam Art Hall in Seoul and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall

Jeehae Lee is generously sponsored by KyungAe Bae and Ralph Miller

Currently a member of: Reno Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra (Concertmaster)
Additional career highlights: Concerts at Nevada Chamber Music, La Musica, and Sunriver Festivals, as well as with the Telluride Chamber Players and at Barth Kammermusiktage in Germany and Mayshad Festival in Morocco

Ruth Lenz is generously sponsored by William Douglass

Currently a member of: American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Wordless Music Orchestra (Concertmaster), Le Cercle de l’Harmonie (Co-Concertmaster), Teatro Nuovo (Concertmaster) American Classical Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Collaborations and performances with Max Richter, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, Gabriel Kahane, Caroline Shaw, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Sigur Rós, the Knights, and the Metropolitan Opera

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Founding member of International Sejong Soloists; debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall; numerous solo performances throughout the United States and Asia; extensive recording credits; concerts at Aspen and Ravinia Festivals, as well as at Santory Hall in Tokyo and Seoul Arts Center

Currently a member of: San Francisco Opera Orchestra (Concertmaster)
Additional career highlights: Founding member of the Lark Quartet
Teaches at: San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Kay Stern is generously sponsored by Janie and Donny Friend

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Previously a member of: Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony
Additional career highlights: Founding member of Verklärte Quartet, Fischoff Competition Grand Prize Winners; chamber music performances at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Parlance Chamber Concerts, the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, Bargemusic; concerto appearances with Symphoria of Syracuse, the Coastal Symphony of Georgia, and the musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, among others

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Soloist with the China Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, and Sydney Opera Orchestra; concerts at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Ravinia Festival, among others

Xiao-Dong Wang is generously sponsored by Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto

Currently a member of: San Francisco Symphony (Assistant Principal Viola)
Additional career highlights: Concerts with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra and at Marlboro Music Festival; founding member of the award-winning Janaki String Trio; recordings for numerous film scores, including Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Get Smart

Katie Kadarauch is generously sponsored by Jerome Guillen & Jeremy Gallaher

Currently a member of: Riverside Symphony (Principal), American Ballet Theater (Acting Principal), NYC Opera (Acting Principal), Windham Chamber Orchestra (Principal), Philharmonia Orchestra of NY (Acting Principal), Little Orchestra Society, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Cortlandt String Quartet
Previously a member of: Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra (Principal), Houston Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Principal), American Symphony Orchestra (Acting Principal), and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among others
Additional career highlights: Concerts with New York City Ballet Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among others; founding member of Atrikk Ensemble
Teaches at: Columbia University

Currently a member of: San Francisco Symphony
Previously a member of:Orchestra of St. Luke’s (principal) New York City Ballet Orchestra The New York Pops Orchestra
Additional career highlights:Soloist for Maazel/Vilar Conducting Competition Appeared with Cactus Pear Music Festival, Las Palmas Festival (Spain), Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Ensemble LPR in New York City.

Previously: Violist of Ulysses Quartet, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra

Additional Career Highlights: Performances at the Verbier Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival; substitute violist at Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Assistant Dean at the Perlman Music Program

Teaches at: Project: Music Heals Us

Currently a member of: Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Music Sacra, South Florida Symphony Orchestra (Principal)
Previously a member of: New York City Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Composers Orchestra, Encores! at City Center (Principal), Oklahoma Symphony (Principal)
Additional career highlights: Artistic Director of Friends of Classical Music @ Arts on the Lake; Founder and Artistic Director of the Annual NY String Quartet Marathon; recordings and concerts with Evan Lurie, Roberto Benigini, John Zorn, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Barbra Streisand, among others

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Member of Iris Trio

Currently a member of: Dallas Symphony
Previously a member of: Honolulu Symphony
Additional career highlights: Chamber music concerts with Voices of Change, Fine Arts Chamber players, Chickasaw Chamber music, the Vail Bravo music festival and others. 
Teaches at: coach for the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and has taught master classes in Dallas, Frisco and Allen public schools.

Currently a member of: San Francisco Symphony, Verklärte Quartet
Additional career highlights: currently performs as a member of Ensemble San Francisco. Winner of a 2007 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians and the Robert Vernon Prize for Viola Performance, he attended the University of Kentucky, Yale School of Music, and Cleveland Institute of Music.

Currently a member of: San Francisco Symphony, Associate Principal Cello

Anne Richardson is generously sponsored by Susan Pridmore and Myles Riner

Current: Principal Cello at the San Francisco Opera
Previous: cellist of the Kronos Quartet for ten years

Currently a member of: South Florida Symphony Orchestra (Principal), Brevard Symphony Orchestra (Principal), Punta Gorda Symphony (Principal), Villages Philharmonic (Principal)
Previously a member of: American Symphony, American Ballet Theater, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Omni Ensemble, SONYC, New York Virtuosi
Additional career highlights: Soloist with the Villages Philharmonic, 15 year residency with Orion Music at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Currently a member of: Los Angeles Philharmonic
Previously a member of: New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Frequent participant in LA Phil’s Chamber Music Society and Green Umbrella new music series; concerts with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Opera, American Ballet Theater, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Currently a member of: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Previously a member of: Kansas City Symphony, Toledo Symphony
Additional career highlights: Vice President of Artistic Planning and Operations at Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Executive Director of concert:nova

Ted Nelson is generously sponsored by Ian Weiss

Currently a member of: American Composers Orchestra, Adelphi Orchestra (Principal)
Previously a member of: Brooklyn Philharmonic
Additional career highlights: Performances with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic
Previously taught at: Wesleyan University, Manhattan School of Music Pre-College

Lanny Paykin is generously sponsored by Beth and Scott Minick

Current: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Chamber: Winner of the American Fine Arts Festival competition, performances in Weill Hall, NYC
Festivals/Summer Seasons: Santa Fe Opera, American Ballet Theater, Kneisel Hall Festival, the Fontainebleu Academie, and the Greenwood Festival

Mariko Wyrick is generously sponsored by Benedicte Dekeister and Michael Roberts. 

Previous: San Francisco Symphony, Associate Principal Cello (retired), Ridge String Quartet
Additional career highlights: Mostly Mozart Orchestra, principal cello;  New York City Opera, associate principal cello; Diapason d’Or and a Grammy nomination for Ridge String Quartet recording of Dvořák’s piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkušný on RCA

Current: Houston Symphony (Associate Principal)
Previous Ensembles: Baltimore Symphony, New World Symphony
Additional Performance Highlights: International Tours across Europe, Asia, and Africa with performances in some of the world’s most notable halls including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Suntory Hall, Theatre des Champs-Élysées, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms.
Teaches at: New World Symphony (Visiting Faculty)

Timothy Dilenschneider is generously sponsored by Julia Amaral and Mark Strate

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Previously a member of: Minnesota Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Binghamton Symphony Orchestra
Teaches at: Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College

Currently a member of: Sphinx Virtuosi, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Rootstock Republic, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of NY (Principal), Re-Collective Orchestra
Previously a member of: Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (Principal), Brockton Symphony Orchestra (Principal), Reading Symphony Orchestra

Christopher Johnson is generously sponsored by Ian Weiss

Currently a member of: Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra
Additional career highlights: Regular performances with Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, and Victoria State Opera Orchestra

Keren Schweitzer is generously sponsored by Jessica and Darwin Chen.

Victoria Chung is generously sponsored by Laura Petrucci and Jim Carlson.

Currently a member of: Street Symphony Los Angeles (Solo Oboe)
Previously a member of: Wintergreen Music Festival (Principal)
Teaches at: University of Nevada, Reno

Currently a member of: Cincinnati Symphony
Additional career highlights: Concerts with concert:nova and Philharmonie der Nationen; performances at Munich ARD, Aspen, Tanglewood, Evian, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Jerusalem International, Thessoloniki, and Saint Petersburg White Nights Festivals; a Buffet Crampon and D’Addario artist
Teaches at: University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

Currently a member of: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (Associate Principal)
Previously a member of: New York Philharmonic
Additional career highlights: Concerts as Guest Principal with the Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Thomas Jöstlein is generously sponsored by Marna Broida.

Currently a member of: Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Previously a member of: New York Philharmonic,  Associate Principal Horn with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Horn with the Vancouver and Florida Symphony Orchestras.
Teaches at: Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes College of Music.

Erik Ralske is generously sponsored by Marna Broida.

Currently a member of: Assistant professor of horn at the University of Nevada, Reno; Alias Brass Company
Additional career highlights: performed with such ensembles as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, Symphony of Southeast Texas, Macon Pops, St. Joseph Symphony, American Festival Orchestra, Banff Festival Orchestra and Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Natalie Higgins is generously sponsored by Marna Broida.

Currently a member of: St. Louis Chamber Project
Previously a member of: Omaha Symphony (Principal)
Additional career highlights: Intercultural Music Initiative Chamber Players
Teaches at: Washington University

Tricia Jöstlein is generously sponsored by Marna Broida.

Currently a member of: Principal Horn of New York City Ballet
Additional career highlights: has performed as guest Principal horn with the San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony, and in the horn sections for the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and for numerous Broadway shows. Mr. Wions has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, most recently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and as a founding member of Universal Brass Ensemble.

Dan Wions is generously sponsored by Marna Broida.

Currently a member of: Principal Trumpet with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago
Previously a member of: Principal with the New World Symphony and Spoleto Festival Italy orchestras, and has performed as Guest Principal with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in Germany, Malaysian Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Billy Hunter is generously sponsored by Dorothy and John McDonald

Currently a member of: San Francisco Opera (Principal) San Francisco Ballet (Principal), National Brass Ensemble, Bay Brass, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Previously a member of: Baltimore Symphony, New World Symphony
Additional career highlights: Concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic; numerous recordings for film and video game soundtracks
Teaches at: San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Stanford University, UC Berkeley

Current: San Francisco Symphony
Previous Ensembles: Acting Second Trumpet with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Appears With:Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, New York City Opera, Grand Teton Music Festival

Current: Lecturer of Music in Trumpet at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Music, a founding member of the internationally recognized chamber ensemble Alias Brass, the Second Trumpet of the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Yamaha Performing Artist and Educator
Previous Ensembles: Houston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Boston Brass, Classical Tahoe Orchestra, Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Los Angeles Modern Brass Quintet, Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Santa Monica, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Ballet, and more.

Currently a member of: principal trombone at the Zürich Opera House
Previously at: solo trombone with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (USA), the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (USA) and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra (USA).

Currently a member of: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Teaches at: Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University

Currently a member of: New York City Ballet Orchestra (Principal)
Additional career highlights: Performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, and Sarasota Opera, as well as at Festival Maribor in Slovenia and Festival Lyrique-en-Mer in France