Meet the Festival Orchestra Musicians

Jun Iwasaki, Concertmaster, serves as Concertmaster for the Kansas City Symphony. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s prestigious Concertmaster Academy, he has been hailed for his combination of dazzling technique and lyrical musicianship. Previously, Iwasaki served as Concertmaster of the Nashville Symphony and Oregon Symphony. He has appeared as Guest Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra (Portugal), São Paulo Symphony (Brazil), Santa Barbara Symphony, and National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa). In addition, he has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony, Columbia Symphony, Blossom Festival Orchestra, Rome (Georgia) Philharmonic, New Bedford Symphony, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Plano Symphony, and the Huntsville Symphony. He has performed at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart, Chamber Music International, and Mimir Chamber Music Festival, among others. In addition to teaching at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, Iwasaki also served as the Artistic Director of Portland (Ore.) Summer Ensembles, a workshop for young musicians focusing on chamber music. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Barrie Cooper is Concertmaster of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She started violin studies at four with John Kendall at the Suzuki program of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Later on, she served as Kendall’s assistant, traveling across the United States and Japan to workshops and conferences. Barrie studied viola (because none of her friends would) in order to join the Più Mosso Quartet, which gave numerous concerts in the Midwest and East Coast. After attending Ithaca College, Barrie graduated from the Peabody Conservatory, where she won the Marbury Violin Competition and the Josef Kasper Prize for excellence in violin performance. For over a decade, Barrie has spent summers as Principal Second Violin at the American Institute of Musical Studies Orchestra in Graz, Austria. A die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan, she shares her home with two beautiful dogs and five wonderful cats. This is her fifth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Marcin Arendt, violin, is Concertmaster of the Iris Orchestra, a member of the Ceruti String Quartet, Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, and on the faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp. He is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Memphis in Poland summer festival, which features music in a wide mix of styles, including blues and jazz. Marcin has performed alongside renowned artists, among them Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Clay Aiken, Dawn Upshaw, Corky Siegel, and Joshua Bell. His playing can be heard on many recordings, including chamber works by Jacques Castérède on Naxos Records. Marcin earned a master’s and doctorate from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Performer’s Certificate from the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in his native Poland. He plays a Jan van Rooyen violin, modeled after the Guarneri “Carrodus”; his bow was made by David Forbes. This is his fifth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Anna Reider, violin, is a member of the Cincinnati Symphony. Previously, she served as Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Born in Russia, Anna began violin studies at an early age, following in the footsteps of her father (Vladimir) and grandfather (Itzhak). Her orchestral debut came at seven. Since then, she won the Grand Prize at the Russian National Competition for Young Violinists, the Clermont Violin Competition in Israel, and the top award of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Her chamber music engagements have included frequent performances with concert:nova, Chamber Music Raleigh, the Constella Festival, and the LaSalle Chamber Music Series, to name a few. Festival appearances include Aspen, Caramoor, Keshet Alon, Sewanee, and the Zenith Chamber Music Festival. In 2019, Anna joined the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta for their tour of Peru, Columbia, Panamá, and Argentina. Anna studied in Novosibirsk with Zakhar Bron and at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, as a student of Dorothy Delay, Kurt Sassmannshaus, and Piotr Milewski. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor at CCM. This is Anna’s third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Corinne Stillwell, violin, is Concertmaster of the Tallahassee Symphony and has served in that role for Amarillo Symphony, Randall Chamber Orchestra, Janiec Opera Company, and the School of American Ballet Orchestra. She has also been Guest Concertmaster of the Nanjing Philharmonic (China) and Associate Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic and Victoria Bach Festival. Ms. Stillwell has been featured soloist with New Jersey Symphony, Nanjing Philharmonic, Amarillo Symphony, and Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic. A founding member of Trio Solis, she has collaborated with Richard Stoltzman, Mikhail Kopelman, and members of the Ying, Cavani, Pro Arte, and Carpe Diem Quartets. Her festival appearances include Saarburg (Germany), Aspen, Norfolk, and Skaneateles. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School, entering at ten and spending fifteen years working with Dorothy DeLay. Her mentors have included members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Amadeus, and Vermeer Quartets. Currently Associate Professor at Florida State University, she maintains a robust studio and is known for her community engagement activities. She also serves as Artist Faculty at the Brevard Music Center. This is her forth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Ross Monroe Winter, violin, is Principal Second Violin of the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra and a member of the Richmond and Virginia Symphonies. He appears regularly with the National, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Naples, New Jersey, Florida, Sarasota, Alabama, and Jacksonville Symphonies. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras in the United States, Brazil, and China. Immersed in chamber music, he is the violinist of the Orlando Piano Trio and is frequently heard in recital as a guest with numerous ensembles, among them the Wintergreen Chamber Players. Additional festival appearances include Santo Domingo, Todi, Maastricht, Aspen, Sichuan, Cedar Valley Chamber Music, Virginia Arts, and Music at Penn’s Woods. A devoted teacher for two decades, Dr. Winter is a professor at the University of Central Florida. During the summers, he teaches violin and chamber music at the Wintergreen Music Festival and Academy, where he has also served as Academy Director. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and SUNY Purchase College-Conservatory. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Johnny Weizenecker , violin, is an active musician in the Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra, Symphony in C, and the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. Other appearances include the Albany Symphony, Kollective366, Long Island Symphonic Choral Association, York Symphony Orchestra, Baroquelyn, and the College Light Opera Company. A fellow at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival for the last three summers, he has also participated in chamber and orchestral festivals in Germany, Switzerland, and Ireland. Johnny earned his bachelor’s at Gettysburg College, a student of Rebecca Henry and Yeon-Su Kim, and his master’s from Rutgers University under Carmit Zori. In the interval between diplomas, Johnny also studied privately with Linda Sinanian. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Randall Weiss, violin, has served as Assistant Concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley since 1985; he has also played with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras. Randall has been Assistant Concertmaster at Music in the Mountains (Calif.), Concertmaster with the Santa Cruz County Symphony, and Acting Concertmaster of the Modesto Symphony. He is a faculty member at Eastern Music Festival and serves as the Principal Second Violin of the Festival Orchestra. Randall is Founder and Music Director of Music in the Mishkan and member of the Bridge Players, the ensemble-in-residence for the chamber series. The Quartet’s Tales from Terezin is a featured CD at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He made his solo debut after winning the Victoria (B.C.) Concerto Competition. In high school, he appeared in the Rice Krispies commercial Music Camp. His principal teachers include Paul Kling (University of Victoria), Tadeusz Wronski (Indiana University), and Sylvia Rosenberg (Peabody Conservatory). This is his twenty-fourth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Byron Tauchi, violin, is currently Principal Second Violin of the Louisiana Philharmonic. He has served as Concertmaster of the National Orchestral Association, the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and as Associate Concertmaster of the San Jose Symphony. He has been a faculty member at the Brevard Music Festival since 1992 and has served as the chair of the string area. Byron has also been a faculty member at the University of Santa Clara and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. As a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician, he has performed throughout the United States, Spain, Denmark, Italy, and Ukraine. Byron attended the Manhattan School of Music studying with Raphael Bronstein and Ariana Bronne. He also holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Amy Oshiro-Morales, Principal Second Violin, joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2008. Previously, she was Assistant Concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony and Grant Park Orchestra, as well as Associate Concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony. Ms. Oshiro-Morales began violin studies at age three, making her orchestral debut with the Chicago Symphony at twelve. She has appeared as soloist numerous times with the St. Louis Symphony, the Napa Valley Symphony, the Minnesota Sinfonia, and others. She has also been a guest musician with the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Oshiro-Morales studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at Oberlin Conservatory, then with Robert Mann at The Juilliard School. Her festival experience includes Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Grand Teton Music Festival, Cactus Pear Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute (Mo.). Ms. Oshiro-Morales also enjoys hiking and running: she has completed marathons in Chicago and New York City. This is her seventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Yun-Ting Lee, Associate Principal Second Violin, is a member of the Second Violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s from the Cleveland Institute, where his teachers were William Preucil, David Cerone, and David Updegraff. He also worked extensively with Phyllis Skoldberg and Ming-De Zhang. A Grand Prize winner of  the Phoenix Symphony Guild Young Artist Competition, Mr. Lee has appeared as soloist with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra, and The Phoenix Symphony. His chamber groups have performed in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and throughout the United States. He has also collaborated with members of the Juilliard, Cavani, and Tokyo String Quartets. Formerly with the Minnesota Orchestra, Yun-Ting has performed as Guest Concertmaster for Symphony Orchestra Augusta, and appeared with the San Diego Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony. This is his sixth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Johnny Lee, Principal Second Violin, joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2005, after serving as Assistant Concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony and Concertmaster of the Canton Symphony. Previously, he was a member of the Grant Park Orchestra. Johnny has been a featured soloist with the LA Philharmonic twice, performing Vivaldi concertos at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Charlotte Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and Spoleto Festival Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Johnny appears frequently on the LA Philharmonic’s Chamber Music series. He is a founding member of Ensemble Ditto, with whom he has recorded three albums. Johnny began playing the violin at age five, spending his weekends taking lessons at the Cleveland Institute of Music. After graduating from Harvard with a cum laude degree in economics, Johnny realized music was his true passion and returned to CIM for his master’s. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Yefim Romanov was recently appointed Assistant Concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra, having previously been a Fellow with the New World Symphony. He made his solo debut at nine with Camerata of Kazakhstan and has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout the United States. Mr. Romanov has served as Concertmaster of the Miami Music Festival, Ocala Symphony, and Gainesville Symphony, and also performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. His festival experience includes Bowdoin, Colorado College, and Banff. Mr. Romanov has worked with members of the Brentano, Pacifica, and Ying Quartets, and performed alongside Midori, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, and Valery Gergiev. He received a career grant from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation and was awarded the Henry and Lucy Moses Fellowship at Yale University. Mr. Romanov holds an Artist Diploma from Yale University and a master’s from Indiana University. His primary teachers have been Ilya Kaler, Kevork Mardirossian, and Hyo Kang. Beyond music, Mr. Romanov enjoys tennis, ballroom dancing, and playing in chess tournaments. This is his seventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Steven Lubiarz, violin, joined the Second Violin section of the Calgary Philharmonic in 2003. Previously, he was a member of the New World Symphony. He received his bachelor’s from DePauw University, studying with Dan Rizner, Stephen Boe, and Sebastian Gürtler.  Steven earned his master’s at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts as a student of Cyrus Forough and Joseph Golan. As chamber musician and soloist, he has performed in the Czech Republic, Austria, and throughout Japan. He is a member of the contemporary chamber group Ensemble Resonance and managing member of Bell’arte Strings. Mr. Lubiarz founded the Port Elizabeth Chamber Music Festival in Caseville (Mich.). He has taught in New York, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Arizona, and continues on the faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary. He also volunteers as a mentor with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Calgary. Lubiarz performs on an 1897 Leandro Bisiach, a gift from his first teacher, the late Anne Dodge. This is his fourteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Adelaide Federici, violin, is Concertmaster of the Johns Creek Symphony, Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, and a member of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and Cabrillo Festival. She also regularly performs with the Atlanta Symphony. Adelaide is violinist with the Edgewood String Quartet and also plays with the contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency. She has appeared in outreach concerts with the Atlanta Chamber Players under the auspices of Young Audiences of Atlanta, and offered dozens of performances of Ferdinand the Bull in elementary schools across the country. In the non-classical world, Adelaide has recorded with performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Train, Joe Gransden, and Monica. She earned a bachelor’s at the Eastman School, studying with William Preucil, and a master’s at the University of Southern California under Robert Lipsett. Other teachers of significant influence were Richard Simon and her mother, Lynn Baughman. Adelaide  is on faculty at the Bailey School of Music at Kennesaw State University. This is her fifteenth year at Arizona Musicfest. 

Joseam Cuadrado, violin, is a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico.  He has performed as a soloist in Puerto Rico, and as chamber music and orchestra player, in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. Joseam received his bachelor’s from Puerto Rico’s Conservatory of Music, a student of Francisco Cabán. He has participated in music festivals in Europe and U.S., studying with well-known teachers such as Guillaume Sutre, Ulf Wallin, Sergiu Schwartz, and Nancy Zhou. Joseam has a special interest in outreach and has worked with the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, which connects children and communities in underserved areas of Puerto Rico with music and renowned artists from diverse nationalities, and Programa de Música 100×35, which offers music education and orchestra experience to children and teenagers coming from low income households. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Zubaida Azezi, violin, is a member of The Florida Orchestra. Previously, she was a member of the New World Symphony. She has also performed with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Classical Tahoe Festival, and the Baltimore Symphony. After making her solo debut at fifteen with the Toronto Symphony, Ms. Azezi performed internationally including at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall, Usher Hall (Edinburgh), and at the Royal Albert Hall for a BBC Proms concert. Devoted to promoting music education, she traveled to Urumqi (China) in 2014, where she partnered with YOA Orchestra of the Americas and founded the region’s  first youth orchestra. She has served as guest instructor for young musicians from Academia Filharmonica de Medellín (Columbia), and has coached students in Jamaica, Canada, China, and the Dominican Republic. This is her third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Clayton Hancock, violin, currently resides in Cambridge, MA, and performs in concerts and recitals around the United States. Clay has been featured as a soloist across the United States, France, and Germany, and in 2020, he made his professional solo debut playing Piazzolla’s Otoño Porteño from the Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas and Vivaldi’s Spring from the Four Seasons with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Clay has a rich love of chamber music, and some of his closest chamber music mentors have been members of the Borromeo String Quartet. During his final year of study at NEC, his string quartet, the Kroma Quartet, won the prestigious NEC Honors Ensemble Competition. Recitals in Jordan Hall, the Rockport Shalin Liu Performance Center, and community engagement performances are some of the highlights of his quartet’s residency this spring. Orchestra never ceases to grab Clay’s attention as a performer. He has been fortunate to hold many leadership positions in orchestral settings. Some of his noteworthy appointments have been concertmaster of the NEC Symphony, principal second violin of the NEC Philharmonia, and assistant concertmaster of the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra. Clay began his professional orchestral career in 2023, and he has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. He will start full time in the second violin section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in September 2024.Clay began his violin studies at age four with his father, Steven Hancock, and he continued his violin studies with Christina Castelli from 2012-2020 at the New Jersey Academy of Music. Currently, Clay is pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree under the guidance of Ayano Ninomiya at the New England Conservatory of Music. This is his first season with Arizona Musicfest.

Caroline Gilbert, Principal Viola , serves as Principal for the Buffalo Philharmonic. Previously, she was a member of the New World Symphony. Born in Bloomington (Ind.), she grew up playing the violin in the pre-college program at Indiana University. Ms. Gilbert switched to viola at Indiana University, studying with Atar Arad. While at the Indiana, she won the Concerto Competition and performed as soloist with the IU Chamber Orchestra in Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher. For her master’s, she attended The Juilliard School where she studied with Samuel Rhodes and Rodger Tapping. Ms. Gilbert has appeared at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra, with Michael Tilson Thomas as a member of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney (Australia), and at Tanglewood. The last three summers were spent in Switzerland playing with the Verbier Festival Orchestra. This is her third year at Arizona Musicfest.

A member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1995, David Nicastro, viola, is also an active recitalist and chamber musician. Prior to 1995 he served as associate principal viola of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Born in New York, Mr. Nicastro grew up in the Hague, Netherlands, where he began violin studies at the age of six. Returning to the United States, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Boston University while studying with Yuri Mazurkevich. Continuing his musical studies, Mr. Nicastro received a University Fellowship and an Artist Diploma from Indiana University, where he studied viola with Abraham Skernick, Atar Arad, and former Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Viola Joseph dePasquale. This is his first year with Arizona Musicfest.

Jennifer Puckett, viola (March), has served as Principal Viola of the Memphis Symphony for fifteen years, having joined the orchestra in 2005. Previously, she spent three years with the New World Symphony and also played with the Colorado Symphony and the Alabama Symphony. Mrs. Puckett received her bachelor’s as a violinist from the University of Alabama and, after switching to viola, her master’s from the University of Colorado. A dedicated teacher, she founded the East Memphis Music Academy in 2008. Currently, her private studio includes violin and viola students of all ages. Summer festivals include Aspen Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto USA, and the Brevard Music Center. She has been on the faculty at the Eastern Music Festival since 2005. Her most influential musical teachers include Connie Heard, Erika Eckert, Patrick Rafferty, Judith Glyde, Jennifer John and Carlton McCreer. This is Mrs. Puckett’s eleventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Ames Asbell, viola (March), is Principal Violist of the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra, a member of the Austin Symphony, and a member of the classical crossover Tosca String Quartet. She has performed classical, tango, and popular music in international venues ranging from concert halls to clubs. Ames appears on CDs, film scores, and broadcasts, including the Dixie Chicks’ Grammy-winning Home, Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, plus five appearances on Austin City Limits. From 2001 to 2005, she toured globally with David Byrne. She holds a doctorate from The University of Texas and is on the faculty at Texas State University, San Marcos. A passionate teacher, Ames has twice taught the top high school violist in All-State Competition; former students have gone on to Eastman, Rice, Oberlin, Peabody, Interlochen, and Idyllwild. In 2010, she launched the Texas State String Project, which offers string instruction to local elementary students. This is her eleventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Melissa Matson, viola, is a member of the Rochester Philharmonic. As Principal Violist from 1998-2019, she performed often as featured soloist. A native of Chico (Ca.), she received her bachelor’s, master’s, and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School, studying with Martha Katz. Further studies were with Heidi Castleman and Karen Tuttle. An avid chamber musician, Melissa was a founding member of both the prize-winning Chester String Quartet and the Rochester-based Amenda Quartet, with whom she recently performed the Beethoven Quartet Cycle. She appears regularly at the Skaneateles (N.Y.) Festival and was the founding Artistic Director of Rochester’s First Muse Chamber Music. Melissa’s upcoming book Exploring Excerpts: A Violist’s Guide to Developing Skills for Orchestral Playing joins her popular One-Position Finger-Pattern Scales, an infinitely-variable approach to left-hand versatility. She also finds time to pursue the visual arts, and in the past five years has built homes with Habitat for Humanity’s “Women Build” program in Rochester. This is her sixth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Lenny Schranze, viola, is violist of the Ceruti String Quartet and Professor at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music of the University of Memphis. He is a Valade Fellow and coordinator of strings and the advanced quartet program at The Interlochen Center for the Arts. As a chamber musician, Lenny has performed nationally, including at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and internationally in Switzerland, South Korea, and Brazil. His solo recordings include the works for viola and piano by Robert Schumann and the sonatas of Johannes Brahms. Mr. Schranze has been honored by Chamber Music America for “excellence in chamber music instruction” and received the Dean’s Creative Achievement Award from the University of Memphis. He earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, studying with Heidi Castleman, Heiichiro Ohyama, Dorothy Delay, Max Aronoff, and Evelyn Jacobs. Recent projects include the MSR Classics release of Quartets by Brahms and Debussy. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Brant Taylor, Principal Cello, was appointed by Daniel Barenboim to the Chicago Symphony in 1998, after one year with the St. Louis Symphony. His extensive career includes solo appearances and collaborations with leading chamber musicians throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, in addition to orchestral, pedagogical and popular music activities. For five years, he was cellist of the award-winning Everest String Quartet. A faculty member at DePaul University, Mr. Taylor is also a frequent guest artist and lecturer at music institutions and summer festivals around the United States. In 2002, he began an association with Pink Martini, appearing with them on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman, and on tours across North America. He can be heard on the album Hey Eugene. Mr. Taylor holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University, where his primary teachers were Janos Starker and Paul Katz. This is his fifteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Joseph Johnson, Associate Principal Cello, serves as Principal of the Toronto Symphony and Santa Fe Opera. He has performed as Guest Principal Cellist with the Detroit Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Trondheim Symphony. Last spring, he was Guest Principal Cellist with the San Francisco Symphony for their Carnegie Hall/Europe Tour. His 2020-2021 season included concerto appearances with the Toronto Symphony (Dvořák), Etobicoke Symphony (Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations), and the Niagara Symphony (Shostakovich #1). A champion of new music, Joseph has premiered concertos by Unsuk Chin, Miguel del Aguila Cello, Peter Oetvos, and Marc-André Dalbavie. An Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, he is the cello coach for Toronto Youth Symphony, and regular coach and teacher at the New World Symphony. He has conducted numerous master classes for a wide range of institutions and ensembles. Mr. Johnson holds bachelor’s and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School and a master’s from Northwestern University. Mr. Johnson performs on a magnificent Paolo Castello cello crafted in Genoa in 1780. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Joel Noyes, cello, is Assistant Principal Cello of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has appeared as chamber musician and recitalist at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, and Bargemusic. Joel performed with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall and has appeared several times under James Levine in the Musicians from the Met series. His festival experience includes Marlboro Music, La Jolla Summerfest, and Music from Angel Fire. He has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Vermeer Quartets. He began playing cello at age three, taught by his father, and graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, a student of David Soyer. Other teachers have included Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute and Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet. Joel also composes, plays Egyptian music in a NYC band, and has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, and numerous movie soundtracks. This is his fourth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Jeremy Kreutz, cello, is a member of the Houston Symphony. Previously, he worked under conductors such as Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Larry Rachleff, and Valery Gergiev. He has performed domestically and abroad as an orchestral and chamber musician, including with the Aspen Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He has also studied with members of the Juilliard, Borromeo, Miró, Verona, and Cleveland Quartets. Originally from Loveland (Co.), Kreutz began learning the cello at eleven in his local public school, where his father taught the orchestral program for thirty years. He continued in high school with cellist Katherine Azari, and completed his primary studies with Darrett Adkins at the Oberlin Conservatory, and Desmond Hoebig at Rice University’s Shepherd School. Considering community engagement an incredibly important aspect of life, he has worked with public schools in Colorado, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois, as well as Colorado’s “El Sistema” program. Kreutz enjoys exploring Houston’s vibrant food culture and marathons of competition reality shows. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Brooks Whitehouse, cello (February & March), serves as Principal Cello for the Winston- Salem Symphony. He has appeared as guest artist with the American Chamber Players, Villa Musica (Germany), the Ciompi Quartet, The Apple Hill Chamber Players, and the New Zealand String Quartet. Whitehouse performed in Carnegie Hall with the Garth Newell Piano Quartet as part of their Fortieth Anniversary Celebration. As founding members of The Guild Trio, he and his wife, violinist Janet Orenstein, won both the USIA Artistic Ambassador and Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competitions, and toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia. He is the co-creator with Paul Sharpe of the popular Low & Lower, a cello/bass duo created to answer the question, “Cello and bass… seriously?” Whitehouse is on the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Previously, he held professorships at the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. This is his sixth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Charles Tyler, cello, frequently performs with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the LA Opera Orchestra. He served as Co-Principal Cello of Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra for three seasons. His festival experience includes Tanglewood, the Castleton Festival, the Hear Now Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra (the last as Principal Cello). He has appeared on the Jacaranda and Dilijan Chamber music series. Principal teachers and mentors include Richard Aaron, Tanya Carey, Joel Krosnick, Antonio Lysy, and Michel Strauss. Mr. Tyler earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute, where he won the Concerto Competition, and The Juilliard School. He received his doctorate from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. In 2012, he was top prizewinner of the Osaka International Music Competition; in 2014, he won the Atwater Kent Strings Competition. Mr. Tyler has served as teaching assistant in chamber music and cello at UCLA, and currently maintains a private studio in Los Angeles. This is his tenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Noriko Kishi, cello, has appeared regularly with the Utah Symphony and the Canyonlands New Music Ensemble. Formerly, she was Principal Cellist and featured soloist with the New World Symphony, and a member of the Sacramento Symphony. Ms. Kishi has performed with notable conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, and Seiji Ozawa. She has also participated in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma, and members of the Quarneri and Cleveland Quartets. An advocate of contemporary music, Ms. Kishi was artist-in-residence for the Salty Cricket Composers Collective and premiered solo and chamber works by Utah composers. She earned her bachelor’s at the Eastman School and her master’s at the New England Conservatory. Her principal teachers were Irene Sharp, Robert Sylvester, and Bernard Greenhouse. Noriko has taught at the San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco Community Music Center, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Preparatory Department. A member of the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra (Calif.) for twenty-six years, this is her twenty-sixth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Timothy Dilenschneider, Principal Double Bass, serves as Associate Principal of the Houston Symphony. Previously, he was a member of the Baltimore Symphony and an alumnus of the New World Symphony. During the summer, he is an active performer at festivals including Festival Napa Valley and Classical Tahoe, where he has an endowed chair. He has participated in international tours across Europe, Asia, and Africa with orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and the Florida Orchestra. Dilenschneider has appeared in recitals and chamber music at the Candlelight Chamber Series, Napa Valley Chamber Festival, and Marin Alsop’s New Music Festival. He is double bass faculty for the Blackburn Music Academy (Ca.). Passionate about music education, he has worked with students at the Peabody Institute of Music, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Dilenschneider began playing double bass at eight and studied with Time  for Three bassist Ranaan Meyer prior to his studies with Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.    

Andrew Pedersen, Associate Principal Double Bass, joined the Houston Symphony in August 2017. A native of Batavia ( Ill.), he received his bachelor’s from DePaul University, where he studied with Robert Kassinger. Andrew earned his master’s from Rice University, studying with Timothy Pitts. Other mentors include Paul Ellison, Alexander Hanna, and Gregory Sarchet. While in Chicago, Andrew was a member of the Civic Orchestra and a regular substitute with the New World Symphony, including a tour in which the orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center. He has also attended the Aspen, Music Academy of the West, and Verbier Festivals. Outside the orchestra, Andrew enjoys teaching, arranging music for bass ensembles, and exploring the unique cuisine of Houston. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Paul Sharpe, double bass, is Principal Double Bass of the Winston-Salem Symphony and a frequent Guest Principal and Assistant Principal of the Charleston (S.C.) Symphony. He has performed in recital at prestigious music festivals and venues internationally, including Villa Musica (Germany), Orfeo (Italy), Bass2008 (France), World Bass Festival (Poland), Bass Encounter (Brazil), Garth Newel Chamber Institute (Va.), the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival, and Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (Alaska). As soloist, he has appeared with the orchestras of Winston-Salem, Boise, Theatro Sao Pedro (Porto Allegre, Brazil), Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Lubbock, Dallas Chamber, and Aspen Young Artists. His work as a member of the unique cello-bass duo, Low and Lower, keeps him busy and often pushes him far beyond the typical classical musician’s comfort zone on stage—singing, acting, composing, arranging, and more. He is Professor of Double Bass and an Assistant Dean at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. This is his fourteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Timothy Spears, double bass, is a member of Symphony Silicon Valley and California Symphony. He also appears frequently with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet Orchestras, as well as other Bay Area ensembles. He performed with Philharmonia Baroque in the East Coast debuts of Acis and Galatea and Teseo at Lincoln Center and Tanglewood. His interests range from early to contemporary music, and include premieres of works by composers such as John Adams, Olivier Messiaen, Mason Bates, and Chris Thile. Mr. Spears enjoys a longtime association as Principal Bass with the Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra. For twenty-five years, he was Principal Bass with Music in the Mountains (Calif.), resigning to serve as Assistant Librarian/Orchestra Manager of San Francisco Opera. He has been a member of the Filarmónica de Caracas and the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony, following studies with Diana Gannett Mizelle and C. Dee Moses. This is his thirtieth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Eric Shetzen, double bass, is currently Acting Principal Bass of the San Bernardino Symphony. He has served as Principal of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Osaka, Japan), the Castleton Festival, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Previously, Eric was a Fellow at the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of the Juilliard and Lyris String Quartets, violinist Jennifer Koh, and conductors Lorin Maazel and James Conlon. His festival appearances include the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival and Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival. He performs as a freelance bassist in Los Angeles in ensembles such as Jacaranda: Music at the Edge, Contemporary Performance Collective, and Hear Now Music Festival; and in studios, recording soundtracks for film and television. Eric earned his bachelor’s and master’s at The Juilliard School as a student of New York Philharmonic bassists Orin O’Brien and David Grossman. This is his tenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Henrik Heide, Co-Principal Flute, served as Associate Principal Flute of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra from 2014 to 2019. After a two-year absence, he is now serving as Associate Principal Flute. Previously, he was a member of the New World Symphony. Henrik has appeared as concerto soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and New World Symphony. His festival appearances include La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, Tanglewood, Spoleto Festival USA, Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo, Japan). Henrik received his bachelor’s from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, studying with Leone Buyse, and his master’s from The Juilliard School as a student of Jeffrey Khaner. This is his fourth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Matthew Roitstein, Co-Principal Flute, serves as Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony. Previously, he was Assistant Principal Flute of the Houston Symphony, and a member of the Honolulu Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and the New World Symphony. Roitstein has served as Guest Principal Flute with the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic. Festival experience includes Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, Aspen, and Sarasota. He can be heard on recordings by the Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, and Gloria Estefan (The Standards). Roitstein has taught throughout the U.S., and South and Central America. He earned a bachelor’s in architecture and music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying flute with Seta Der Hohannesian and winning the Concerto Competition. Roitstein earned his master’s at Rice University’s Shepherd School, a student of Leone Buyse. Other teachers include Mark Sparks, Stephen Kujala, Gary Woodward, Pedro Eustache, and his mother, Rosy Sackstein. This is his fourth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Jennifer M. Gunn, Flute and Piccolo, is a member of the Chicago Symphony, having previously served as Assistant Principal Flute of the Louisville Orchestra, Principal Flute of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Second Flute of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. Equally at home on flute or piccolo, Gunn has been featured soloist with the CSO on many occasions and appeared widely throughout the Chicago area. Her festival experience includes Sunflower Music Festival (Kan.), Buzzards Bay (Mass.) and St. Bart’s in the French West Indies. She can be heard on recordings of music by Mason Bates, Anna Clyne, and Victoria Bond, as well with the CSO on the CSO Resound label. Jennifer Gunn has taught master classes around the world, including a regular summer class at Orford Musique in Canada. She holds a bachelor’s from Duquesne University, where she studied with Robert Langevin and Rhian Kenny, with further study at the University of Akron with George Pope and Mary Kay Robinson. This is her fifth year with Arizona Musicfest.

Dwight Parry, Principal Oboe, is in his 16^th season as principal oboist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  He is also the Professor of Oboe at Bowling Green State University and adjunct faculty at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Mr. Parry  is a versatile and passionate soloist, an avid chamber musician and an advocate for new music, performing and teaching around the world. A background in jazz led Mr. Parry to pursue a career that spans from concert halls to the streets of New Orleans, where he has sat in and improvised with Dixie bands. In May of 2022, Mr. Parry premiered a wonderful new oboe concerto, Les Belles Heures, by Guillaume Connesson, which was written for him and commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  He was recently featured in the same piece with the Springfield (MO) Symphony.  Later that year, Mr. Parry gave the US premiere of Carl Vine’s Oboe Concerto with the Ohio Valley Symphony.  In recent seasons, he performed the Martinů Oboe Concerto with the CCM Chamber Orchestra and the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Prague Summer Nights Orchestra in the Czech Republic.  He has also been a soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos 1&2. After hearing his performance of the Vaughan-Williams Oboe Concerto in Mexico City, he was invited by Hansjorg Schellenberger to be a judge for the 2018 and 2023 Sony International Oboe Competitions in Tokyo. Mr. Parry was formerly principal oboist of the San Diego Symphony and a Fellow with the New World Symphony. He has appeared as guest principal oboist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, LAPhil, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie of Berlin and Korean Broadcasting Symphony. Originally from Southern California, he found his passion for music early on through piano, voice, and saxophone.  In high school, Mr. Parry took up the oboe and decided to make a life in music.  He went on to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music with John Mack and at the University of  Southern California with Allan Vogel and David Weiss, a gentleman who also taught him to surf! During the summer, he is on faculty at the Pacific Music Festival, the Interlochen Academy for the Arts, Grand Teton Music Festival and the Stellenbosch International Music Festival in South Africa. In those rare moments when he is without an oboe in hand, he is often attending concerts, plays, and other community events. He spends the rest of his time hiking, reading, volunteering, tossing frisbees, and creating curiosities in the kitchen. Mr. Parry is a Lorée artist. This is his first season at Arizona Musicfest.

Zac Hammond, Principal Oboe and English Horn, currently serves as Principal Oboe of the Utah Symphony. He also holds the position of English Horn and Assistant Principal Oboe with the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, CO. Zac has performed as guest Principal Oboe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony and Symphoria (Syracuse, NY) and has performed both oboe and English horn with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic. Prior to coming to Utah, Zac served as Principal Oboe of the Charleston Symphony in South Carolina for 8 years and taught oboe at the College of Charleston. Zac is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Richard Killmer. This is his first season with Arizona Musicfest.

Alex Hayashi, oboe (February), is on faculty at the University of Hawaii (Manoa), where he teaches applied oboe. Previously, he was Adjunct Assistant Professor of Oboe at Western Michigan University. Alex has been active in various avenues of performing including solo appearances and competitions, chamber music collaborations, and orchestral and wind band settings, both in and out of the country. Most recently, he was featured as guest soloist with the West Point Band, the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, and the WMU Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with ensembles such as the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra (Acting Principal Oboe), along with being a regular member of the TAD Wind Symphony in Tokyo. Alex is also a NASM-certified personal trainer and specializes in injury prevention for musicians through personal training. A Marigaux Oboe artist. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Joshua Lauretig, English Horn, hailed for his “considerable musicianship” and “beautiful rich sound” by coolcleveland.com and “apparent virtuosity and lyricism” by the Talbot Spy, is the second oboist of the Grammy award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He also serves as the second oboist of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and has previously served as second oboe and solo English Horn of Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony). He has been invited to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestras. Joshua is a laureate of numerous international music competitions: he was awarded first prize in the International Double Reed Society’s 2014 Young Artist Competition; received Honorable Mention in the 2019 Gillet-Fox Oboe Competition; received third prize in the 2020 Busan Maru International Music Festival Concerto Competition, of which he was the only American finalist; and received second prize in the 2020 Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition. He has been invited to perform at the music festivals of Sarasota, Colorado, and Aspen, as well as the Moritzburg Festival Academy. He has been featured on recitals sponsored by the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Montante Cultural Center’s “Informally Formal” recital series, the Ventfort Hall Summer Chamber Music Concert Series, and has performed on WHYY-TV Philadelphia’s “On Stage at Curtis.” He has given solo performances with the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra, the Lakeland Civic Orchestra, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, the Young Artist Debut Orchestra of Erie, PA, and the United States Navy Band. An advocate for performing new music, Joshua is a member of the Liminal Space Ensemble, a group whose mission is dedicated to reflecting programming choices for diverse audiences, and showing that classical music is by and for everyone. During the 2021-22 season Joshua gave the world premiere of Tony Manfredonia’s new “Transformation Concerto” for oboe and orchestra. A student of Richard Woodhams (former principal oboe, Philadelphia Orchestra), Joshua earned a Bachelor’s Degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was awarded the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fellowship. Other teachers include Danna Sundet, Olav van Hezewijk, and Keisuke Wakao. This is first year with Arizona Musicfest.

Ricardo Morales, Principal Clarinet, serves as Principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Previously Principal Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Florida Symphony, he has been Guest Principal of the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic. Mr. Morales has been a featured soloist with many orchestras, among them, Philadelphia, the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony. An active chamber musician, he has performed widely, including the MET Chamber Ensemble series, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and at chamber music festivals in Santa Fe and Saratoga. Following studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory, Mr. Morales received his Artist Diploma from Indiana University. He serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Temple University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. This is his seventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Steve Hanusofski, clarinet, bass and Eb clarinet, is Acting Principal of The Phoenix Symphony. He began playing the clarinet in junior high, and added flute, bassoon, and saxophone in high school. At fifteen, Steve also took up the piano. He received his bachelorʼs from North Park University in Chicago and his master’s from Florida State University; he has done doctoral work at FSU and Arizona State University. His principal teachers include Clark Brody, Robert Marcellus, Fred Ormand, and Frank Kowalsky. Prior to joining The Phoenix Symphony in 1986, Steve performed with the Florida Philharmonic and the Miami Opera Orchestra. An active chamber musician, he has appeared often as soloist and a member of the Bel Canto Players. He is a faculty member at the Arizona Community School of the Arts and the Arizona School of the Arts. This is his fourteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Glenn Einschlag, Principal Bassoon, has served as Principal of the Buffalo Philharmonic since 2009. He has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. Mr. Einschlag has been featured soloist with the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. A frequent recitalist, he has also participated in many festivals, among them Aspen, Tanglewood, Spoleto USA, and Domaine Forget, where he was influenced by the noted bassoon pedagogue Norman Herzberg. Mr. Einschlag studied at The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he received his master’s under the tutelage of Benjamin Kamins. This is his fourteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Saxton Rose, bassoon, is Principal Bassoonist of the Winston-Salem Symphony and a member of the Zéphyros Winds. Previously, he was Principal of the Puerto Rico Symphony. His recent engagements as soloist include appearances with the National Symphony of Colombia, National Symphony of Panamá, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río (Mexico), Puerto Rico Symphony, the West Point Band, and Fayetteville Symphony. He has performed numerous times as soloist at conferences of the International Double Reed Society, and in recital throughout Asia, South America, and Europe. Mr. Rose works to expand the repertoire of the bassoon and redefine its role in contemporary music by commissioning new works written by established and emerging composers. He is on the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he directs the contemporary music ensemble. Mr. Rose studied with William Winstead at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His teachers also include Yoshi Ishikawa and Timothy McGovern, with additional courses taken with Gustavo Nuñez, Sergio Azzolini, and Stefano Canuti. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Originally from Portland, Maine, Adam Trussell, bassoon/contrabassoon, is now the Contrabassoonist of the Houston Symphony. He won the position in 2018. Adam is also the Principal Bassoonist of Oregon Ballet Theater. In the past he has held full time positions with the Oregon Symphony (2011-2019) and the Omaha Symphony (2006-2011). During the summers Adam plays with the Colorado Music Festival. He’s played there since 2011 in addition to many other festivals. Adam is a dedicated teacher and has extensive experience teaching students of all ages. He has been on the faculties of Lewis and Clark College, University of Portland, Concordia University, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Creighton University. Adam loves teaching younger students and has helped out with numerous schools and their band programs. When unable to teach in person, Adam has had a lot of success teaching students on line via FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. Adam also teaches adults and retirees at Midsummer Musical Retreat in Walla Walla, WA. In addition to playing in orchestras and teaching, Adam has a business selling bassoons and finished bassoon reeds and contrabassoon reeds. He has been the owner of Portland Bassoon Company since 2015. He can also be found at adamtrusselldoublereeds.com. This is his second season with Arizona Musicfest.

Neil Deland, Principal Horn, serves as Principal of the Toronto Symphony.  Previously, he had an extensive freelance presence in Boston, performing and touring with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops. He was also a member of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Vermont, Rhode Island, Portland, Springfield, and Emmanuel Church. As a soloist with the TSO, Mr. Deland has performed Britten’s Serenade and the concertos of Mozart and Richard Strauss. He appears frequently with the Amici Chamber Ensemble and Toronto Summer Music Festival. Since 2011, Mr. Deland has performed often as a member of the Saito Kinen Festival and Mito Chamber Orchestra at the invitation of Seiji Ozawa. He has been Guest Principal Horn with the Boston Symphony and the Chicago Symphony. In 2020, Neil joined his partner, TSO Associate Principal Trombonist Vanessa Fralick, in performing over one hundred consecutive nightly concerts in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood as members of Horn on the Cob and the Social Distance. This is his second year at Arizona Musicfest.

Canadian-American singer and horn player, Erin Cooper Gay, has led a varied musical career for the past two decades from acting as Utility Horn for the Toronto Symphony to recording her debut solo album as a vocalist. As a hornist, she has appeared with the orchestras of Cleveland, Seattle, Vancouver and the National Arts Centre, worked as a session movie soundtrack player, and played principal horn for Toronto productions of Les Misérables and Wizard of Oz. A singer “with a seductively warm, lyric quality”, Erin has been featured with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, where she was previously principal horn for 8 years. An avid chamber musician, she was soprano-in-residence at the Northern Lights Festival in Ajijic, Mexico for 3 years.  As a frequent guest performer with Les Violons du Roy, she played both principal horn and sang in his Chapelle de Québec, having toured with the group to Carnegie Hall and throughout Europe.  Erin Cooper Gay’s debut album, “Black Market”, is a fusion of renaissance/baroque and current indie popular music, produced by jazz violinist/arranger and Grammy-award winner Drew Jurecka. Erin, with her husband, conductor Matthew Halls, and their three young sons, live in Derbyshire, England where she’s also a barre instructor. This is her seventh year with Arizona Musicfest.

Mark Houghton, horn, was appointed Third Horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2014. Previously, he served as Principal of the Harrisburg Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony and, most recently, the Fort Worth Symphony. Raised in Keller (Tex.), he began playing horn at age twelve, taught by his parents, both of whom are professional hornists and teachers. Advanced studies yielded a bachelor’s and  Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Peter Kurau. Other notable teachers and mentors include Gregory Hustis and William VerMeulen. He has been a featured soloist with the Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, and Phoenix Symphonies, among others. Houghton has performed as Principal with the Dallas Symphony, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. He was recently appointed an adjunct faculty member at Duquesne University, and has appeared as an artist or guest clinician at multiple International Horn Society symposia and numerous music schools. This is his fifth year at Arizona Musicfest.

Cara Kizer, horn, is currently a nationally-active freelance musician and college professor in the St. Louis and Illinois areas. She has held positions with numerous orchestras, including Assistant Principal Utility Horn for the New York Philharmonic and the Colorado Symphony. She also played Second Horn with the Seattle Symphony. Cara has been a substitute musician with the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony. In New York, she played on Broadway and with New York City Opera and The Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She can be heard on many movie soundtracks. Cara holds a bachelor’s from Texas Tech University, where she studied with Anthony Brittin; a master’s from The Juilliard School, a student of Jerome Ashby; and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute under Ashby and Jennifer Montone. This is her third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Nathan Mitchell, Assistant Horn, is in his twenty-first season as Second Horn of the Arizona Opera Orchestra. Founding hornist in the Sonoran Brass Quintet, he also performs frequently with The Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and New Mexico Philharmonic. For more than two decades, Nathan has spent summers serving as Hornist and Faculty Brass Coordinator of the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria. He has performed with national touring companies in dozens of Broadway productions, including Wicked, The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, and West Side Story. Mitchell has also appeared in concert with Barry Manilow, Michael Crawford, The Moody Blues, Johnny Mathis, Clay Aiken, Mannheim Steamroller, and Josh Groban. He can be heard on numerous recordings and is featured on the Sonoran Brass Quintet’s debut album Dry Heat. Nathan received his bachelor’s and master’s from Arizona State University. He is an adjunct faculty member at Mesa Community College and an Eastman Performing Artist. This is his twelfth year at Arizona Musicfest.

William Franklyn Leathers, trumpet, is a young, gifted musician at the forefront of the classical trumpet music industry. Born in Mississauga, Canada, the 22-year-old has been noted for “the sparkling clarity” of his trumpet solos and has performed across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and the Caribbean. A proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, William graduated in 2022 with his bachelor’s degree and in 2023 with his master’s degree. In 2022, William won the principal trumpet position in the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic Brass and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has also served as guest principal trumpet with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and he has served as guest associate principal trumpet with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2022, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation listed him on their ‘30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30’. In the same year, he was also invited to perform with the renowned National Brass Ensemble, composed of the finest brass players in major American orchestras. William has performed with various chamber ensembles, including the American Brass Quintet, the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Orchestra. In 2021, he received the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award and, the following year, was appointed to the Glenn Gould Foundation Prize jury and to the jury for the ITG Orchestral Excerpt Competition. He was also a panellist for the Toronto Arts Council’s 2022 Music Creation and Audio Recording Assessment. Today, whether imparting knowledge in masterclasses, gracing the stage for a recital, or taking the spotlight as a soloist, William is consistently in high demand. He is a performing artist for Bach Brass and has also been signed to the trumpet mouthpiece company, Vennture Mouthpieces, where he is working in collaboration to develop a line of trumpet mouthpieces in his name that will be on the market soon. This is his first season with Arizona Musicfest.

Ethan Bensdorf, trumpet, joined the New York Philharmonic’s trumpet section in June of 2008, after spending the 2007–08 season as acting Assistant Principal trumpet with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra in Naples, Florida. He received his bachelor of music degree from Northwestern University in 2007, where he studied with Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer, and Christopher Martin. While a student at Northwestern, Mr. Bensdorf spent two years performing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and also performed with the New World Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary ensemble, MusicNOW. In May 2005, Mr. Bensdorf was selected to perform at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts representing Northwestern University as part of “The Conservatory Project” recital series. In September of 2006, Mr. Bensdorf received the Armando Ghitalla International Trumpet Classic Award, which included solo appearances with the United States Coast Guard Band and the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts. He also spent two summers as a participant in the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; one summer at the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland; and was selected as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in the summers of 2006 and 2007, where he received the Voisin Trumpet Award. Mr. Bensdorf has performed at the Grand Tetons Music Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and performed as Principal Trumpet of the first ever International Pride Orchestra in San Francisco in June of 2023. In addition, Mr. Bensdorf has appeared as soloist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, and with Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. He is also a member of the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet which enjoys worldwide exposure and an international reputation, performing and coaching all over the world. Mr. Bensdorf has served on faculty at Manhattan School of Music since 2014, and has given coachings and masterclasses internationally at some of the most renowned educational institutions, including the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, New World Symphony, Australian National Academy of Music, and Shanghai Orchestra Academy. He had the prestigious honor of performing during President Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 as part of the virtual “Parade Across America” segment, after getting recognition for performing nightly serenades for the frontline workers from his rooftop during the early parts of the Covid lockdowns in New York City. This is his first year at Arizona Musicfest.

Scott Moore, trumpet, is Principal Trumpet with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Leader of the MSO Big Band. He has also performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, National, and Toronto Symphonies. He has appeared as Guest Principal with the Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta, Toronto, and Jacksonville. He has recorded and performed with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and with I Fiamminghi, the Orchestra of Flanders. As soloist, Mr. Moore has appeared with the San Antonio Symphony, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, the Tennessee Summer Symphony, the Chattanooga Symphony, and on numerous occasions with the Memphis Symphony. He has also been a featured Guest Artist at the International Trumpet Guild Conference. Scott holds a master’s from the New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s from McNeese State University. His teachers have included Charles Schlueter, Arnold Jacobs, and Michael Ewald. This is his seventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Matthew Vaughn, Principal Trombone, has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1999 and Co-Principal Trombone since 2014. Previously, he was Principal of the San Antonio Symphony and served in the U.S. Air Force Concert Band in Washington, D.C. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, and the “Super-World” Orchestra in Tokyo. Mr. Vaughn earned his bachelor’s and Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University, and did graduate work in education and conducting at Indiana and George Mason University. He credits most of his success to his teachers David Brumfield, M. Dee Stewart (formerly with The Philadelphia Orchestra), and the late Milton Stevens (former Principal Trombone of the National Symphony).  An accomplished educator, Matthew teaches trombone and coaches brass chamber music at the Curtis Institute and Temple University. He founded Bar Harbor Brass Week, an intense summer festival for high school and college brass players. This is his seventh year at Arizona Musicfest.

Samuel Schlosser, trombone, joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal in 2013. Before coming to San Francisco, he was a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony. He has also appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Opera, and the New York Philharmonic. An avid teacher, he has given master classes at the Mannes College New School for Music in New York and at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Samuel received his formal training from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of Nitzan Haroz, Principal Trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Scott Hartman, bass trombone, joined the Charlotte Symphony as Principal Bass Trombone in 2014. Prior to joining the CSO, he was the Bass Trombonist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Scott has performed in the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, and the contemporary group Ensemble Dal Niente. The Orlando (Fla.) native studied with Charlie Vernon and Mark Fisher at DePaul University, and is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra, Brevard Music Center, and Bar Harbor Brass. Hartman has won International Trombone Association Competitions as well, winning both the Edward Kleinhammer Orchestral Bass Trombone Competition and the Donald Yaxley Bass Trombone Competition. He was also a medal winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Lincoln Chamber Brass. Hartman is the low brass instructor at Davidson College and is the bass trombone faculty at Brevard Music Center. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Alan Baer, Principal Tuba, joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal in 2004, having served as Principal with the Milwaukee Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic. He has recorded with the Cleveland Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, and performed with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, and Los Angeles Concert Orchestra. Festival appearances include Ojai and Wisconsin’s Peninsula Music Festival. He has toured as featured soloist in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and France. Mr. Baer studied at Indiana University of Pennsylvania with Gary Bird, then earned his bachelor’s at the Cleveland Institute under Ronald Bishop. He has done graduate work at the University of Southern California, Cleveland Institute, and California State University, Long Beach, where he studied with Tommy Johnson. He also taught at CSU and directed the University’s tuba ensemble and brass choir. Formerly, Mr. Baer was Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin and directed the tuba-euphonium ensemble. This is his third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Alana Wiesing, Principal Timpanist, currently serves as Principal of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she was Principal Timpanist of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and the Terre Haute Symphony, and a regular substitute and extra percussionist with the Indianapolis Symphony and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Alana has appeared as Guest Principal Timpanist with the National Symphony at Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap. Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, she is an alumna faculty member at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival. She serves as the President and Chair of the board of directors for the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion and a member of the executive board for the Tucson Federation of Musicians (Local 33). Alana earned her bachelor’s and master’s at the Jacobs School at Indiana University. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, cooking, playing games and trivia, attending arts events, trying restaurants, and spending time with family and friends. This is her third year at Arizona Musicfest.

Matt Prendergast, Principal Percussion, is currently a member of the Phoenix Symphony percussion section and on faculty at Arizona State University. Formally the Principal Percussionist of the Malaysian Philharmonic, Matt spent many years in Kuala Lumpur where he was a sought-after educator and performer throughout Southeast Asia. He began his classical training at the Boston Conservatory and in the summers of 2005 and 2006, Matt was accepted as a fellow to the Boston Symphony’s prestigious Tanglewood Music Center.  He then went on to get his Master’s degree in orchestral performance at the Manhattan School of Music.  At the completion of his degree, he immediately became the Principal Percussionist of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, living and performing in Kuala Lumpur for twelve years before moving to Phoenix in 2021. Matt has performed with several orchestras around the world including the New York Philharmonic and acting as guest Principal Percussionist on numerous occasions in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. He has worked with many renowned conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Andris Nelsons.  In 2015, Matt performed Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. This is his third year with Arizona Musicfest.

Gaye LeBlanc, Principal Harpist, serves as Principal with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. She is Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma and recently joined the Sewanee Music Festival as harp faculty. She has served as Principal with Fort Smith Symphony (Ark.), Tulsa Symphony and Opera, and Mozart Festival with the NY Amici Orchestra. Ms. LeBlanc has also been active as a concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the area, most recently performing Concerto No. 1 for Harp and Chamber Orchestra by Hannah Lash with the OKC Philharmonic. In concert, she has backed a wide variety of artists, including Ray Charles, Josh Groban, Ben Folds, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Kristin Chenoweth, Vince Gill, and Garth Brooks, among others. Ms. LeBlanc has been at the UO since 1998 where she teaches harp students and, since 2000, two classes entitled “Understanding Music for Non-majors.” She  especially enjoys meeting “students who thought they didn’t like Classical music.” This is her eleventh year with Arizona Musicfest.

Lawrence Loeber, Principal Piano & Celeste, is in his twenty-second season as Principal Piano for The Phoenix Symphony. He has appeared as piano soloist in works by Gershwin and Saint-Saëns, as harpsichord soloist in Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and as kazoo soloist in Michael Dougherty’s March of the Metro. Larry has also soloed for Ballet Arizona in Stravinsky’s Five Movements for Piano and Orchestra. In 2010, he performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Festival Orchestra. Larry holds degrees in Music and German from Case Western Reserve/Cleveland Institute. While working on his master’s in Chinese Linguistics at The Ohio State University, he continued piano studies and worked as coach/accompanist in the opera department. He is Music Director and pianist at the Congregational Church of the Valley, and maintains a private studio. This is his eighteenth year at Arizona Musicfest.