Songa Lee, Violin
Violinist Songa Lee has established herself as one of the most prolific and sought after studio musicians in Los Angeles. She has contributed to the soundtracks and musical scores of hundreds of movies, television shows and albums, and has performed multiple times on the Academy Awards, Grammy and Emmy telecasts.
Born in Korea, Songa’s family moved to England when she was just three months old. She began playing the violin at the age of six and the following year was awarded a full scholarship to attend Chetham’s School of Music, a prestigious boarding school for gifted young musicians, where she remained until she was sixteen. After a successful recital debut at the South Bank Centre in London, Songa signed with Encore Concerts Limited, and came to the United States as part of the British Virtuosi. A scholarship to USC brought Songa to Los Angeles, where she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees under the tutelage of renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett.
Ms. Lee was involved in various music festivals such as Sarasota, the Schleswig-Holstein Masterclass Series, and a residency at the Banff Centre, and also toured England and Canada with the late Canadian pianist Guy Lalime. After receiving numerous awards and grants for performances in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, in 1998 Songa returned to Korea for the first time as part of a festival honoring Korean musicians living abroad. There she performed live on national television and radio as soloist with the KBS Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center. Ms. Lee was also part of an esteemed commission to perform at Carnegie Hall with her sister, cellist Su-a Lee and pianist Louise Thomas.
Ms. Lee currently resides in the Los Angeles area where she enjoys the diversity of regular recording session work, live solo and chamber music performances on California’s central coast, and varied orchestral engagements.
Rudolfo Leone, Piano
Italian-born pianist RODOLFO LEONE is the First Prize Winner of the 15th International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna (2017). Described as “a true sound philosopher” (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten), Leone released his debut album on Gramola Records Vienna in May 2018. His playing has been described as having “impeccable style” and “absolute technical control” (Il Nuovo Amico). A 2018-19 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Leone’s current season includes debuts with the San Diego and Pasadena symphonies; a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Colburn Orchestra; an Austrian recital tour, culminating in a performance at the Musikverein’s Brahms-Saal; and recital and chamber music performances in Los Angeles and Florida. Leone holds a Master of Music degree from the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where he continues to study with Fabio Bidini as an Artist Diploma candidate.
Hannah Little, Mezzo Soprano
Hannah Little’s performance career reflects her wide array of musical interests. As a recent transplant to LA, she is thrilled to be participating in her debut season with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. She finds another musical home in the thriving Chicago choral scene, performing regularly with the Chicago Symphony Chorus at Chicago Symphony Center and Ravina and the prestigious Grant Park Festival Chorus under the direction of Christopher Bell for the past decade.
Hannah made her solo debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall in December of 2023, performing the alto solos in Handel’s Messiah with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and orchestra. She enjoys solo work for large and more intimate audiences and has sung as the featured soloist with the Landowska Harpsichord Society, both as part of their annual jazz showcase and in their historical performance program Baroque Menagerie.
In a performance of Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Services with Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Hannah’s voice was said to be, “The missing human touch” that made a “disproportionately deep impression…her voice streamed to the outer reaches of the hall like sweet cream butter” - Lawrence Cosentino, Lansing City Pulse.
Morgan Little, Cello
Morgan Little, a cellist and historical performance enthusiast from Los Angeles, developed a passion for historical performance during studies at DePaul University in Chicago.
After graduating from The Juilliard School graduate on a full-tuition scholarship, Morgan has performed internationally at Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, on tour with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in the U.K. and Amsterdam, and has been invited to perform with Oregon Bach Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and other local historical performance ensembles.
Morgan was most recently found performing under the baton of Richard Egarr with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and will be joining them for their 2023-2024 season to play the Brandenburg concertos, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and other works in NYC, San Francisco, and Berkeley.
Timothy Loo, Cello
Timothy Loo, moved to Los Angeles in 1992 to study cello performance at California State University at Northridge and the University of Southern California. Timothy is a member of the Lyris Quartet, founded in 2008. This quartet is the resident ensemble at both Jacaranda and Hear Now Festivals and has been featured numerous times on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella and Noon 2 Midnight series at The Walt Disney Concert Hall. In January 2018, Mr. Loo made his concerto debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Walt Disney Concert Hall performing the fiendishly difficult Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Bernt Zimmermann, under the direction of conductor Susanna Mälkki.
Timothy has also performed on over 1000 motion pictures, TV shows, albums, commercials, award shows, including yearly at the Academy Award
Timothy is also one of the foremost music contractors in Los Angeles. Most recently he assembled the orchestra for composer John Williams for the scoring of Indiana Jones 5: The Dial of Destiny, ESPN College Football Playoffs, The Fablemans and Obi Wan Kenobi. Mr. Loo is also the music contractor for James Newton Howard, Mike Post, Jeff Russo, Branford Marsalis, Disney’s Launchpad streaming series, The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, just to name a few.
In 2019, Timothy and his husband Tommy Johnson purchased Sabron Payroll Services and act as CFO and CEO respectively. Sabron is a leading payroll company in the entertainment industry that has built strong relationships with major production companies such as Disney, Netflix, MGM, Paramount, LucasFilm, and Apple.
Sabron has a 30-year legacy as a boutique payroll company that helps production companies or composers to navigate the complex music contracts of the American Federation of Musicians, SAG-AFTRA, and IATSE.
Shawn Mann, Viola
A native of Texas, Shawn Mann is a long-standing member of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, and can be seen around town playing with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the Pasadena Symphony and Pops, and was recently a featured soloist with Pasadena-based chamber orchestra MUSE/IQUE. He is also an active studio musician, having played on hundreds of motion picture soundtrack scores for composers such as John Williams, James Horner and Danny Elfman, and recordings with artists such as Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban.
Shawn has traveled the length and breadth of Japan as Principal Viola of the Percy Faith Orchestra, and performed with the Pacific Symphony on their critically acclaimed tour of Germany and Austria. He has performed at Festival Mozaic, the Aspen Music Festival, the Taos School of Music, Colorado Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West.
Shawn holds degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California. His teachers have included Yizhak Schotten, David Holland, John Graham and Donald McInnes.
When not playing the viola, Shawn can often be found restoring his 1970 TriumphTR6 or deciding which house project to tackle next.
Bevan Manson, Piano
Bevan Manson is a musical jack-of-all trades as a classical composer, arranger, and jazz pianist.
He has received composing commissions from Sierra Chamber Music, the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra, the Pacific Philharmonic Foundation, the San Francisco Symphony, clarinetist Gary Gray, and L.A. Chamber Orchestra violist Victoria Miskolczy, among others.
His ‘California Concertino’ was premiered by Katherine Fink of the Brooklyn Philharmonic with Paul Dunkel conducting, and also performed by L.A. Chamber Orchestra flutist David Shostac with the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony. It has been recorded on Albany Records with soloist Sara Andon.
He has performed with George Garzone, Cecil McBee, Gunther Schuller, Bob Sheppard, Ron Jones L.A. Big Band, Ira Sullivan, and Jimmy Guiffre, among others, as a jazz pianist, with recordings on Iris Records and Meistero Music.
Bevan has written and conducted string charts for saxophonist Gary Smulyan at New York’s Blue Note jazz club, and wrote string arrangements for Manhattan Transfer singer Cheryl Bentyne’s new Sondheim album, of which JazzTimes Magazine commented that “ a kaleidoscopic, edge-of-sanity Comedy Tonight that, courtesy of arranger Bevan Manson, blends Baroque courtliness with Big Top buffoonery.”
“Manson’s composing is brilliant, inventive, witty but never self-consciously clever.”
-RafaelMusicNotes. com (Cincinnati)
Luke Maurer, Viola
Violist Luke Maurer, a native of Santa Barbara, California, has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a chamber and orchestral musician. Maurer was a member of the Pacific Symphony for over a decade and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has also served as guest principal violist with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan.
Maurer is the violist of the Lyris Quartet, resident ensemble of the critically acclaimed series Jacaranda: Music at the Edge. Lyris is also the founding resident ensemble of the Hear Now Music Festival, which focuses on the music of living Los Angeles composers. The quartet has recorded for Toccata Classics, ARS and Naxos.
Aaron Oltman, Viola
Aaron Oltman has performed with many of the orchestras in the Southern California area, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Pasadena Symphony, and New West Symphony. He has appeared in chamber music concerts for the Camerata Pacifica, Sundays Live at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the South Bay Chamber Music Society, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series, and is active in the Recording Industry.
Joel Pargman, Violin
Violinist Joel Pargman has been a frequent performer on Southern California concert stages for the past twenty years as a member of
the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, New West Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and the Fiato Quartet, and as Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Master Chorale Orchestra. His performing career has also taken him on concert tours of the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South America.
Joel has performed as a featured soloist with Musica Angelica, the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, the Musicians Emeritus Symphony Orchestra, the Tacoma Youth Symphony, and the Bremerton Symphony.
For three summers, Joel was a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, most recently as a member of its resident new music quartet, the New Fromm Players. He has also spent summers at the Aspen Music Festival, the Encore School for Strings, the Indiana University String Academy, and the Académie Musicale de Villecroze.
Born in San Bernardino and having spent his youth in the Pacific Northwest, he now resides in Altadena, California.
Alyssa Park, Violin
Alyssa Park established an enviable international reputation at age sixteen for being the youngest prizewinner in the history of the Tchaikovsky International Competition. Ms. Park has made numerous recital and orchestral appearances since her professional debut at age eleven with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Her New York City debut recital at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall was critically acclaimed by The New York Times for “an unusually strong technique and a youthful sense of music making.” Other notable credits include the Ravinia Festival Series, Kennedy Center Recital Series, Oregon Bach Festival, and Rockefeller University in New York City.
As a soloist, Ms. Park has concertized extensively throughout Europe. She has performed with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as appearances with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and the Czech Philharmonic. Her performance with the Austrian Radio Symphony at Vienna’s Musikverein was featured in a live radio and television broadcast throughout Europe. Ms.Park has toured Germany with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the Barcelona Orchestra, Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Hamburg Philharmonic, and to Spain, Switzerland, and Austria with the Cincinnati Symphony. She also appeared as a soloist with the orchestras of Sydney, Adelaide, and Tasmania, Australia.
Ms. Park’s recent seasons included performances in Asia with the Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, and the Singapore Symphony. She was also featured with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Lisbon Symphony, Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie, and Munich Philharmonic. She also made her debut at Italy’s Ravello Festival and Holland’s Royal Concertgebouw.
An avid chamber musician as well, Ms. Park has been a frequent guest at major festivals including Ludwisburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Weilburg, Passau, Frankfurt, Montpellier, France, Brahms festival in Madrid, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Prague Summer Festival, and Oregon Festival of American Music. She has been on tours with Martha Argerich, Boris Pergamenchikov, Billy Childs, Louis Lortie, and Soovin Kim just to name a few.
Ms. Park is also a founding member of the Lyris Quartet which is based in Los Angeles. Lyris curates the “Hear Now” new music festival which is dedicated to performing the works of living Southern California composers. The quartet is also the resident quartet for the highly acclaimed Jacaranda music series in Santa Monica.
Lyris has collaborated closely with composers Krystof Penderecki, Andrew Norman, Oliver Knussen, Steven Mackey, John Adams, Bruce Broughton, Peter Knell, Kurt Rohde, Paquito D’Rivera, Wadada Leo Smith, Gerard Schurmann, and James Newton. They’ve performed as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series, been featured at the Hollywood Bowl, and will make their debut with the Los Angeles Master Chorale this season.
Ms. Park’s recordings can be found on Albany Records, Toccata Classics, ARS, and Naxos.
Stephanie Payne, Double Bass
Stephanie Payne, Double Bass, was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Hawaii, studied at USC, and has made her way back to Los Angeles after a brief six years in the Bay Area to enjoy everything that freelancing has to offer up north. She started playing the bass at 16 after discovering her love of low notes, and quickly went on to pursue a career in music.
Stephanie has performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Opera, the San Diego Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Sarasota Opera, and is an active recording musician, playing on various TV and film soundtracks.
Tina Soule, Cello
Alistair Picken, Bassoon
Rising star, Alistair Picken received his High School diploma in June 2023 from the Pacific Academy in Irvine and a diploma from the Colburn Academy in June 2023.
Lark Pilinsky, Artist
Larisa Pilinsky, the Russian-born, Los Angeles-based artist and writer, began her visual art activities as a collagist. Actually, she began her professional involvement with art as a journalist advocating for other artists, specifically the ArmenianRussian Bunker group; but as her connection deepened to the adventurous and open-spirited Bunker artists, she found herself moved to make art herself, with their encouragement. Lark’s painting clearly derives from Bunker aesthetics in its reliance on texture, gesture, and flow. Her color sensibility, however, comes from somewhere entirely different, from artistic impulses that emerged a century and a half (or more) earlier. Focused on representational, usually landscape. subjects – albeit ones that often disappear into a painterly scumble (only to reappear on second or third glance) – Lark describes those subjects with sweeping, almost sculpted brushstrokes and clots of paint, as well as a glowing palette that descends from the French Impressionists, luminous and mysterious atmospherics reminiscent of J.M.W. Turner, and a granular embrace of nature – a comprehension of space itself as part of the natural order – that brings to mind Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon painters.
(By Peter Frank) - Llarkgallery.com
Lisa Rasmussen, Artist
Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated with the liminal —- the neither here nor there, the betwixt or the in-between. The ancient Celts called this state Caol-ait or “thin places” where the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds merge.
When I paint, I penetrate a threshold that allows me to enter this realm of consciousness, where one can explore the interflow between soul and matter, and between time and eternity. It is a realm of pure possibility.
My art is a recorded event of my deep interest in mysticism and the natural world, as well as a passageway into my own mythical inversion of reality. I see my paintings as portals; visual archives that tap into my unconscious. My surfaces are painted over layers of symbols and forms, recalling cave walls and ritual chambers. Many of my paintings are inspired by my study of ancient cultures and travel to sacred sites around the globe where animistic worldviews encompassed a belief in a magical Other World.
I believe that art is intrinsic to the nurturance of the human spirit and that artists’ true essence is transformative. In all my work I seek to honor that state of the soul when the artist experiences the ultimate liberation, which is the personal act of creation itself.
Julie Rogers, Violin
Julie Rogers grew up in Houston, Texas, where she began playing violin in grade 1. After graduating from the High School for Performing and Visual Arts, she studied with Sally O’Reilly at Louisiana State University and the U of Minnesota. She then moved to Los Angeles to begin a career in the recording industry and the southern California orchestra scene. She has played on hundreds of soundtracks for motion pictures, television, commercials, and albums. She is the featured violin soloist in the movies Brooklyn, Into the Wild, and Perks of Being a Wallflower.
During the covid lockdown, she began to learn to sew via YouTube, as a way to pass the time. This unexpectedly grew into something bigger, and she now has had dresses on red carpets, notably the 2021 Venice Film Festival where Shirin Neshat was on multiple best-dressed lists wearing one of Julie’s gowns. She also has a “Concert Black” line made specifically for orchestral musicians, which is gaining momentum in the music world.
Dan Rosenboom, Trumpet
Dan Rosenboom is an internationally recognized trumpet player, composer, and producer. He is known as a prolific member of the Los Angeles creative music scene, having released more than 25 albums of original music as a solo artist and bandleader, and has supported over 60 artists across over 100 releases on his label, Orenda Records. Rosenboom is a proud member of the Hollywood Studio Symphony and has recorded for over 200 major film and television soundtracks with such notable composers as John Williams, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Alexandre Desplat, and many more. He has also performed with such elite ensembles as the LA Philharmonic, the LA Chamber Orchestra, and the LA Opera. His own music eschews genre distinctions and draws from such disparate influences as Black American Music, metal and experimental rock, contemporary classical music, folk music from the Balkans, and a broad range of progressive music from the avant-garde. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, CalArts, and UCLA, where he earned advanced degrees in music. The Los Angeles Times has called Dan Rosenboom “a musician dedicated to exploration and expression, regardless of anyone’s imagined boundaries,” and “a phenomenon.”
As a composer, Rosenboom has been recognized with grants and awards from the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, the Meet the Composer Foundation, and the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music. As a bandleader, he has brought his music to such renowned stages as the Monterey Jazz Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, and Jazz em Agosto. Rosenboom has solidified his place as a pillar in LA’s creative music community through his work with multiple generations of LA icons and rising talents, through his label Orenda Records, with his Balkan-inspired instrumental rock band PLOTZ! and improv group DR. MiNT, and across nearly two decades of noteworthy interdisciplinary performances at most of Los Angeles’s premiere venues.
Rosenboom’s iconoclastic protest band Burning Ghosts has drawn international attention for their rousing blend of experimental jazz, punk, and metal as a response to modern socio-political ills. To date, they have released four albums, including one on John Zorn’s legendary Tzadik label, and have toured in the US and Europe. In a review of their self-titled debut, Something Else Reviews dubbed them “The Rage Against the Machine of Jazz.”
Rosenboom is an advocate for progressive music education. He currently teaches at UCLA and California Institute of the Arts, and his trumpet pedagogy book, The Boom Method: Universal Fundamentals for Trumpet and Other Instruments, Vol. 1, was published by Balqhuidder Music in 2019. His writing has also been published in John Zorn’s Arcana IX: Musicians on Music on Tzadik.
Dan Rosenboom is proud to be an endorsing artist for Yamaha Trumpets, Bob Reeves Brass Mouthpieces, AEA Microphones, Horn FX, and Kirlin Cables.
William Ross, Composer
William Ross is a prolific award-winning composer and arranger whose work has spanned feature films, the recording industry and television. He has composed music for such films as DESTINATION WEDDING, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, TUCK EVERLASTING, THE LITTLE RASCALS and MY DOG SKIP. He also adapted and conducted the score to HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS.
His work in television includes the scores to Hallmark Hall of Fame’s IN MY DREAMS, Lifetime’s STEEL MAGNOLIAS, the critically acclaimed mini-series ME AND MY SHADOWS: LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND. He won an Emmy for his score to the TINY TOON ADVENTURES’ episode “Fields of Honey.”
Mr. Ross has arranged music for a remarkable list of artists including Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Kenny G., Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Seal, Michael Buble, Mary J. Blige, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, and David Foster, to mention just a few. The records on which he has worked have sold over 250 million copies in the United States alone.
His arrangements have been featured in many films and include such hits as Celine Dion’s Grammy and Academy award-winning “My Heart Will Go On,” from the motion picture TITANIC; “When You Believe” the Academy award-winning song from the Prince of Egypt, Andrea Bocelli’s “God Bless Us Everyone” from Disney’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, “Believe,” sung by Josh Groban in the film THE POLAR EXPRESS; “The Prayer” with Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion from QUEST FOR CAMELOT, for which he received a Grammy nomination; and the Academy Award nominated song “Run To You” sung by Whitney Houston in THE BODYGUARD.
He has served as Music Director and Conductor for many artists and occasions, including Barbra Streisand’s historic 2006, 2007, and 2012 concert tours. He has served as music director for the 79th Academy Awards show, for which he received his second Emmy Award, reprising this role three times for the 83rd, 85th, and 86th Academy Awards.
Arrangements by Mr. Ross have been a part of the opening ceremonies of several Super Bowls along with the opening and/or closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Calgary (1988), Atlanta (1996), Salt Lake City (2002), Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010), and Sochi (2014). He received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music for his work on the song “Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” featured during the 81st Academy Awards ceremony. Mr. Ross is the recipient of four Emmy Awards, two BMI Film Music Awards, the Golden Score Award from ASMAC, and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Annie Award.
Erik Rynearson, Viola
Native of Los Angeles, Erik Rynearson has been performing music since the age of three. Now at age forty-three he enjoys leading the viola sections of the Los Angeles Opera Company, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Pacific Jazz Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Erik is in great demand as a freelance recording artist, working with among others Aretha Franklin, John Williams and the Blue Man Group. Occasionally, Erik is featured as a solo horn player in his car.
Musically, Rynearson devoured Haydn, Beethoven and Brubeck in childhood and currently hungers for the sounds of Zemlinsky, Korngold and Charlie Parker. He owes his musical preparedness to his teachers including his father Paul, Miwako Watanabe, Franco Gulli, Ilya Kaler and Henryk Kowalski.
Highlights so far of the ’23-24 season include recording for Barbra Streisand and performing with Rufus Wainwright.
Off-stage, Erik enjoys spending time reading, swimming, and learning more about the alto Sax. He plays a Danish viola made by Carl Mettus Weis in 1845.
Eduard Sargsyan, Ballet Dancer
Eduard Sargsyan was born November 7th, 1988 in Yerevan, Armenia, and began his journey as a dancer at just 7 years old. He graduated from Yerevan State Choreographic College, after which he served in the Armenian special military dance ensemble “Sardarabad” as a solo performer for 2 years. He then began his career as a principal ballet dancer with the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre where he performed for 10 years and Israel Ballet Company where he performed for 3 years.
In 2014 Eduard fulfilled his lifelong dream of moving to the United States and ballroom American Rhythm and Smooth dance styles for 3 years, and became also certified instructor. Since 2017 till now he’s participated in and won several dance competitions in the Professional Ballroom Theatre Arts and Cabaret divisions. As a certified ballet contemporary ballroom and character dance teacher/performer, he became the CEO of LA Imperial Dance Studios in 2017. He has always collaborated with different dance companies around of USA as a ballet artist and choreographer, one of those being Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre since 2015, where he is currently working as a company principal dancer and company class teacher. He is also currently working as a ballroom dance instructor and choreographer at The Monarch Ballroom, as well as performing as a freelance artist with international dance companies such as Shushi Dance Ensemble NY, Ani Hamazgain Ensemble LA, and West Coast Ballet Company LA.
Eduard has had an abundant career producing many dance events and participating in over 100 different productions. He has been afforded the opportunity to work with and study under many legendary ballet masters and choreographers such as Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasilev, Yury Grigirovich, Vilen Galstyan, Ido Tadmor, Berta Yampolski, Itzik Galili, Dwight Roden, Andrei Tremaine, Michael Chapman, and Bruno Colins, Sharon Savoy, Natasha Middleton. One of the highlights of his career has been receiving the Excellence in Dance Arts Award from the City of Torrance and LA County in 2021. He is grateful to have found his passion in life and looks forward to teaching and inspiring the next generation.
Michael Siess, Violin
Michael Siess enjoys a dynamic career as a professional violinist, having performed in eclectic venues across the world as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. He was appointed to the first violin section of the Pacific Symphony in the fall of 2022 while also regularly appearing with ensembles such as Delirium Musicum and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. An active recording artist, Michael has played on numerous Hollywood soundtracks and albums. Recent highlights have included work on Avatar 2 and The Orville as well as upcoming records with Delirium Musicum and The String Theory.
Beginning his musical studies in Portland, OR, Michael holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Margaret Batjer, William Preucil, and Itzhak Perlman. Over the summers he has performed at a variety of festivals including the Perlman Music Program, Aspen Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival and the Banff Centre’s Evolution: Classical.
Michael is a founding member of the dynamic crossover band, Astral Mixtape. Their original music and arrangements can be heard in numerous film soundtracks, animated shorts, music videos, electronic productions, and in live venues across the West Coast. Astral Mixtape’s debut visual album, “Astral Plains” is now available online.
Colleen Sugata, Viola
Violist Colleen Sugata is a member of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, the New West Symphony, and is an active Hollywood studio musician.
Prior to moving to Southern California, Colleen performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony for three seasons. She has been on numerous tours with the Pittsburgh Symphony, including performances at Carnegie Hall in 2008 and 2009, and their extensive European tour in 2010 which resulted in the recording of the Brahms Symphonies. She has attended such prestigious music festivals as Music at Menlo and the Aspen Music Festival.
Colleen received both her BM and MM degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a scholarship student of Professor Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey. She has studied French and Chinese, and uses both languages in her musical travels. Colleen and her husband live with their two kids and rescue dog. Her family loves to travel and spent time in Sweden during 2022 and will be visiting Japan in 2023. Colleen is also an avid seamstress and makes most of her clothes.
Steven Suminski, Trombone
Steven Suminski regularly performs with professional orchestras throughout the state of California as well as working as an active freelance trombonist in the greater Los Angeles area. He is currently the principal trombonist with Symphony Silicon Valley in San Jose, The Riverside County Philharmonic, Ballet San Jose, and the Santa Monica Symphony. In addition, Suminski has appeared with many other groups including the San Francisco Opera, Santa Barbara Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Berkeley Symphony, and the San Bernardino, and Redlands Symphonies.
Steve is also a founding member of the award-winning chamber music group, Brass Pacifica. Brass Pacifica currently performs in over 50 venues a year working as performing artists for The Music Center of Los Angeles and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Steve has performed with his group all over the country including a nine-month residency in Bar Harbor, Maine that was sponsored by Chamber Music America and the National Endowment for the Arts. With such an eventful career playing the trombone, in his free time, Steve is content to just slide through life.
Ashlee Sung, Violin
Ashlee Sung is a 16-year-old violinist who studies with Sharon Harman at Pasadena Conservatory of Music and is a junior at Arcadia High School. She has been playing the violin for 13 years, having won multiple competitions in 2021, including the first round of the 2021 Pasadena Rotary Club Dan Stover Rotary Music Competition. She is currently the concertmistress of the Pasadena Youth Philharmonic. Aside from playing the violin, Ashlee also enjoys tutoring younger violin students and composing music. She sees music as a comforting outlet where people can release their emotions in a positive way; in other words, music and mental health have a strong correlation that can be further explored at Ashlee’s website.
Tina Soule, Cello
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, cellist Tina Soule studied piano and cello at Peabody Prep and began her professional career at age 16 with the Bach Society of Baltimore.
She has worked on hundreds of film scores with composers such as John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer, and has played on the Grammy’s, the Oscars, and the Tonight Show.
After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale, she moved to Los Angeles where she has since enjoyed an active life as a studio recording musician and as a freelance orchestral and chamber music player.
For 30 years, Ms. Soule served as principal cello with the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival (later called Mozaic), where she performed as soloist under conductor Christopher Hogwood and collaborated with some of the world’s most esteemed chamber musicians.
She has also performed with the Santa Fe Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and as principal cello with the Boston Ballet, the Orange County Chamber Orchestra, and the Santa Monica Symphony.
She currently resides in Altadena, where she enjoys playing local concerts with her beloved colleagues of Melodia Mariposa.
Pierre Long-Tao Tang, Pianist, Conductor
Pierre Long-Tao Tang, DMA is a pianist-conductor from Hong Kong. Tang currently serves as the Director of Music at the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church and staff collaborative pianist at UCLA. Tang completed a doctoral cognate in collaborative piano at University of Illinois. As a vocal coach and collaborative pianist, he has worked with such renowned musicians as Roberto Abbondanza, Alois Glaßner, Jacques Mauger and Eric Aubier etc. Recent performances as keyboardist include St. Michael’s Church (Vienna), Lincoln Center (New York), and Chicago Symphony Center. As a conductor, Tang served as director of instrumental ensembles and conducted annual musical theater and opera productions at Pepperdine University. Tang is a sought-after guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician for instrumental and vocal ensembles internationally. In his recent guest appearance with Diamond Bar High School from California, Tang conducted Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, New York City with a positive critical review. As a passionate contributor to the field of orchestra directorship, he serves as advisory board member of the California Orchestra Directors Association. Tang also regularly leads conducting workshops and directorship seminars in Hong Kong. Tang's scholarly research on conducting studies has brought him to present at international conferences including the 2019 Oxford Conducting Institute International Conference (Sydney) and the 2022 World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference (Prague).
Ignazio Terrasi, Conductor
Ignazio Terrasi, after completing his musical studies in composition and music conducting at the Conservatory of Music “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, embarked on a prolific concert career in Milan as the conductor of the “Pierluigi da Palestrina” orchestra and the Symphonic Orchestra “Milano Classica.” He acquired an extensive repertoire spanning from the Baroque period to the historical and contemporary works of the 20th century.
His conducting education continued under the guidance of Maestro Julius Kalmar and Maestro Sandro Gorli with the “Divertimento Ensemble,” an orchestra specializing in contemporary music, with whom he participated in numerous concerts as a guest conductor. Additionally, he began his collaboration as a musical assistant to Maestro James Conlon at the Opéra National de Paris, marking the start of many experiences as an assistant conductor.
Over the years, he worked with various orchestras and opera houses, including the Communal Theatre of Florence with the Orchestra of the Musical May of Florence, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Cincinnati May Festival. He also collaborated as an associate conductor with Maestro David Golub during the 25th and 26th Festivals of the Itria Valley in Martina Franca.
In September 2000, he settled in Paris, where he secured a position as a permanent musical assistant at the Opéra National de Paris. During this time, he had the privilege of working with renowned artists such as Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Angela Gheorghiu, Carol Vaness, Joseph Van Dam, and Natalie Dessay. Concurrently, he conducted chamber orchestra concerts in Paris.
In 2004, he became the principal conductor for various contemporary opera productions, including the interactive opera “Alma Sola” produced in Paris in collaboration with IRCAM – Centre Pompidou, which had several performances in Paris and Ile-de-France. Since 2005, he has served as the principal conductor of the Paris Classique Orchestra.
Since August 2006, he has been a permanent resident in the US, serving as the principal music assistant to Maestro James Conlon at the Los Angeles Opera. In 2008, he contributed to the LA Opera production of “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny,” which won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and Great Performances. He also contributed to another Grammy Award-winning production, “Ghosts of Versailles,” in 2017.
Ignazio Terrasi is the Music Director of “LA Grand Ensemble,” comprised of musicians from prestigious orchestras and music institutions in Los Angeles, including the LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, and the Colburn School. In January 2019, he conducted the world premiere of a new opera by Composer Juan Colomer, “Dulcinea XL.”
Evgeny Tonkha, Cello
Evgeny Tonkha was born in 1981, into a musical family and studied at the Gnessin Music School (class of Professor Vladimir Tonkha.) In 1998, he entered the Russian Academy of Music (classes of Professor Natalia Shakhovskaya and Professor Valentin Berlinsky.) After graduating from the Russian Academy of Music, Evgeny was invited by Professor David Geringas to post-graduate studies at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin.
Since 2006, Evgeny has been collaborating with the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra. Since the age of 10, he has toured Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and the USA. Conductors he has worked with include Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Mariss Jansons, and Daniel Barenboim. Among his achievements are the 1st Prize and the Golden Medal at the 12th International Cello Competition in the Czech Republic, the Special Jury Prize at the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, and prizes for the best performance of contemporary music.
He participated in many prestigious festivals including “Marlboro” festival Evgeny teaches at MiMoDa studio. In 2014 In collaboration with Nathan Frankel he founded a new “K17” concert series in LA and was proud to represent such a world favors artists as David Geringas, Gilles Apap, Giovanni Sollima, and many others.
Doug Tornquist, Tuba
“A player of astonishing flamboyance” (Los Angeles Times) and “impressive dash” (Orange County Register), Doug Tornquist grew up on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley. He came to Los Angeles for his bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern California, where he studied with Jim Self and Tommy Johnson. He earned his master’s degree from Wichita State University, where he played the WSU faculty brass quintet, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and toured with the Saint Louis Symphony, under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.
He returned to Los Angeles in 1987 to earn his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from USC and soon became a busy freelance performer, playing everywhere from amusement parks to the ballet, opera, and symphony (sometimes on the same day). He has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Opera, Pacific Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and all the regional orchestras. He has recorded with Diana Krall, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Randy Newman, Meatloaf, and Beck, among others.
The first time he was invited to play on a film score was in 1989 for "Edward Scissorhands." Since then he has played on the soundtracks of over 800 films, TV shows, and video games. He was the (tuba) voice of "Wreck-It Ralph," played on John Williams’ most recent scores, and was a featured soloist with John Lithgow on "I’m a Manatee." He regularly records for Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson Williams, James Newton Howard, Randy Newman, Christophe Beck, and many other composers.
Among his more notable recordings are the Grammy-winning premiere of the Penderecki Credo (with the Oregon Bach Festival), and two recordings with Quintadillac, a German brass quintet. He recently released a solo CD, Feels Like Far, and produced a CD of holiday brass music, Fiat Lux.
He teaches at the University of Southern California and the California Institute of the Arts.
Charlie Tyler, Cello
Cellist Charlie Tyler has enjoyed a varied career as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral performer in concert venues around the world. Charlie was named winner of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Concerto Competition, top prize winner of the Osaka International Music Competition, and winner of the Atwater Kent Strings Competition. He has received degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), and UCLA (DMA). Charlie served as co-principal cello of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan for three seasons where he also appeared in many chamber music concerts and solo recitals. In past summers he participated in the Tanglewood Music Center, Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival, and was principal cellist of the National Repertory Orchestra. He frequently performs in many orchestras around Southern California and has performed on the Jacaranda and Dilijan Chamber music series, the Hear Now Music Festival and with the Salastina Music Society. Charlie also performs as a member of the Arizona MusicFest Orchestra each winter in Scottsdale, AZ. In addition to live performances, Charlie maintains an active recording career in Los Angeles where he has played on numerous scores for film and television.
Philip Vaiman, Violin
The professional career of violinist Philip Vaiman has taken him to concert halls around the globe and premier recording studios. In his performances he demonstrates his great desire for expressive and imaginative music-making. Vaiman’s profound musicality and unlimited technical possibilities have captured audiences in Europe, America, and Asia.
Philip Vaiman has been the recipient of many awards such as: “The Award of the Leni Fe Bland Foundation,” “The Sophia Guzik Foundation Award,” “The Julia F. Lotze Prize for String Players,” “The Winner of the Atwater Kent Concerto Competition,” “The Leroy Collins Memorial Scholarship,” and “Member of the Pi Kappa Lambda the National Music Honor Society.”
Philip started playing violin at the age of four. At the age of five, he was admitted to the Gnesin Academy of Music, and had his first public appearance at the age of seven. By the time he graduated from the renowned academy, he had performed as a soloist and chamber musician in England, Israel, Russia, and Cyprus. Philip continued his education at the Maymonedes Academy, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), and USC (University of Southern California), graduating Cum Laude with a Master’s Degree in Music.
Philip has performed in major halls across the world and at international festivals including The Huddersfield International Music Festival in England, The Spoleto Music Festival in Italy, The Music Festival of Pitea in Sweden, The Hvar International Summer Festival in Croatia, The Soesterberg International Music Festival in the Netherlands, and the Bruman Chamber Music Festival in California.
Philip Vaiman’s recordings are featured on the soundtracks of award-winning motion pictures, documentaries, and commercials. He has also appeared on screen in such blockbusters as “The Wedding Planner”, “Amy’s O’s”, and “Spider-Man 3.” Philip has recorded and performed with a diverse roster of artists including Aretha Franklin, Sting, Taylor Swift, Tony Bennet, Pharrell Williams, Shakira, Michael Jackson, Dido, Andrea Bocelli, Adam Lambert, Robin Thicke, Sebastian Yatra, Juan Gabriel, Googoosh, Josh Groban, Amanda McBroom, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Matthew, Brad Mehidau, Nina Whitaker, Sheryl Crow, Lenka, Tori Amos, Nerina Pallot, Marty Friedman, and Alan Parson, as well as such bands as Pearl Jam, Goo Goo Dolls, Crash Kings, Buffy Clyro, Low Stars, Brocken Bells, Pentatonix, KISS and Guns N’ Roses.
Since 2018, Philip has been a Grammy Voting Member at the Recording Academy.
Philip Vaiman stays active as a soloist, chamber music performer, and recording artist.
Misha Vayman, Violin
Misha Vayman is a professional violinist, educator, and dog lover. He has performed in a wide variety of contexts, from opening for Dorian Electra to soloing with various orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Russia, and China. In 2023, he joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Misha is part of Delirium Musicum, an award winning dynamic chamber orchestra known to bend time and space to their will, with no regard for anyone's safety. He is prominently featured in many rehearsal outtakes, “keeping it light”. The orchestra released an album in April 2023 on the Warner Classics label.
He has twice won the Grand Prize in the international ENKOR Competition, once in the Solo division, and once in the Chamber Music division with the Benefic Piano Trio. In June of 2022, the trio released an album of works by composer Daniel Carr on the MSR Classics label.
As a recording artist, he has appeared on tracks by Plini, String Theory, Jamie Drake, Ryan Dilmore and Porter Robinson, among others.
Misha is a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music. Previously he attended the Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. A lot of practice was done at all three, and now he’s good, and doesn’t need to practice at all.
mishavayman.com
Ina Veli, Violin
Ina Veli was born and raised in Albania in a family of musicians. At 5 years old, Ina began studying violin in her hometown of Fier. By age 13, Ina began touring throughout Europe, winning multiple competitions and performing recitals in Hungary, Italy and Albania. In 1999, she moved to the United States where she completed her undergraduate degree in Violin Performance from the University of Oklahoma. She later received her Masters degree from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
Ina is based in Los Angeles and serves as Assistant Concertmaster for the Santa Barbara Symphony, Principal Second for the New West Symphony and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Opera. Ina is also active in the recording industry and has recorded with the likes of John Williams, Danny Elfman, John Powell, Barbara Streisand, Beyoncé and Barry Manilow.
Outside of the music world, Ina enjoys hiking, dining, gardening with her partner Erik and visiting her relatives in Europe any chance she gets.
Irina Voloshina, Violin
Born in Odesa, Ukraine, Irina Voloshina had her first violin lesson at 6 years old. She studied at the Odessa Music School, the famous institution founded by Professor Stolyarsky early in the 20th century that brought to the world some of the greatest violin masters, such as Nathan Milstein and David Oistrakh. From there, Irina advanced into Odessa State Conservatory.
Graduated from the Conservatory with a master’s degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy, Voloshina played in the Odessa Philharmonic for nine years.
Since moving to Southern California in 1993, Irina has appeared in recitals, chamber music groups, and orchestras such as Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Los Angeles Opera, California Philharmonic, and Hollywood Bowl orchestras.
She has performed in over 600 film scores including those by John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Hans Zimmer, to name a few. She performed for “American Idol” and the “MTV Music Awards” and was a member of the Academy Awards orchestra. LA Times has described her playing as “a showcase of brilliant virtuosity.”
During the pandemic, Irina founded the “Melodia Mariposa” music series performing on the driveway of her Altadena home, presenting over 65 free public concerts. On July 24, 2021, she was named Volunteer of the Year and received the Congressional Leadership Awards: Hometown Heroes of the Pandemic in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the People of the 27th Congressional District from Congresswoman Judy Chu.
On December 21, 2022, Kathryn Barger, Supervisor of the 5th District of the County of Los Angeles awarded Irina and Melodia Mariposa with a commendation certificate in recognition of their dedicated service to the affairs of the community and for the civic pride demonstrated by numerous contributions for the benefit of all the residents of Los Angeles County.
John Walz, Cello
John Walz is a celebrated soloist and chamber music artist, known for his dazzling virtuosity and elegant musicianship.
A student of the legendary French cellist Pierre Fournier, he has appeared as soloist with more than 200 symphony orchestras on five continents. His performances of 25 different concertos include both standard showcases and rarities like Martinu’s Concerto #1 and William Schuman’s Song of Orfeus. In addition, he has had the honor of premiering works by many noted composers, including John Williams. In 1979, Mr. Walz, along with pianist Edith Orloff, founded the Pacific Trio. Now performing with violinist Roger Wilkie, this renowned ensemble has played more than 900 concerts throughout North America and Europe.
In addition to his solo and chamber music duties, he is currently the principal cellist with LA Opera, a position he previously held for 20 years with the Long Beach Symphony.
His ever-expanding discography includes recordings of the concertos by Dvorak, Haydn, Shostakovich, Bloch, Martinu and Vivaldi. Pacific Trio recordings include Brahms, Shostakovich, Dvorak, Smetana, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Archduke Trio, an all-American CD, and the most recent, trios of Korngold, Zemlinsky and Bloch.
He is on the faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program and Academy
David Washburn, Trumpet
University of California Los Angeles - Lecturer of Trumpet and Director of Brass Ensemble. David Washburn is a Yamaha Performing Artist and is the principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. A much sought-after musician in Los Angeles, he also holds the position of associate principal trumpet of the LA Opera Orchestra and Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He has also served as principal trumpet and soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Active in the recording studios, David has numerous motion picture soundtracks to his credit. He played principal trumpet for IF, Spiderman No Way Home ,Buzz Lightyear, Rogue One, American Pickle, Spiderman Far From Home, Incredibles 2, Coco, A Quiet Place, Spiderman Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, xXx The Return of Xander Cage, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Independence Day – Resurgence, Godzilla, The Amazing Spiderman, Karate Kid, Avatar, The Legend of Zorro, Troy, A Beautiful Mind, Windtalkers, The Perfect Storm, Titanic and Deep Impact. He was a part of the John Williams Trumpet Section for 25 years including Star Wars, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
David is lecturer of Trumpet and Director of the Brass Ensemble at UCLA for 2024-25 school year. He has held teaching positions at BIOLA University, Azusa Pacific University, University of California Irvine, Chapman University, Cal State University Northridge, Cal State University Long Beach, Redlands University, Idyllwild School of the Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
He received his Masters of Music, with distinction, from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and his Bachelor of Music from the Thornton Music School at the University of Southern California. His trumpet instructors have included Rob Roy McGregor, Robert Nagel, John Clyman and Joan LaRue.
David has been a featured soloist with many different orchestras including the Los Angeles, St. Louis, Knox Galesburg, Hong Kong , Pacific Palisades and California philharmonics; the Los Angeles, San Diego and South Bay chamber orchestras; the Berkeley, Burbank and Glendale symphonies; the New York String, University of California Irvine and Pasadena Pops orchestras and the New York Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, as well as at the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Music@Menlo chamber music Festivals and Bear’sPremiere Music Festival in Hong Kong..
David is looking forward to performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto # 2 this season with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, The Torelli Trumpet Concerto, Scaralatti Arias and Saint Seans Septet with Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and a week with Music@menlo Chamber Music festival.
In the Summer, David has performed with the Beare’s Premiere Music Festival in Hong Kong, Summerfest Chamber Music Festival in San Diego, Taipei Music Academic Festival in Taiwan, Orcas Chamber Music Festival in Orcas Island, WA, Mostly Mozart Festival in San Diego and Music @ Menlo Chamber Music Festival in Menlo Park. David was also a part of the inaugural Chamber Music Festival at The Green Music Center in Sonoma performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 in 2015.
When David is not performing, his favorite pastime is boating with his children, Timothy, Samantha, Nicholas and Julia.
Roger Wilkie, Violin
A native of Los Angeles, violinist Roger Wilkie began his violin studies at age 13. Eight years later, he joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as one of its youngest members, eventually being appointed principal second violin. In 1990, Roger was appointed concertmaster of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, a position he holds to this day. He is also currently concertmaster of the Los Angeles Master Chorale Orchestra. A frequent soloist with the Long Beach Symphony, he has been featured in performances of the majority of the standard violin concerto repertoire.
Roger is a much sought after soloist and chamber musician. He was a founding member of the Angeles String Quartet, performing and touring from 1988-1993. He was solo violinist with the Santa Barbara based Camerata Pacifica, on whose series he played hundreds of concerts as recitalist and chamber musician. Roger has recorded and toured extensively as a member of the critically acclaimed Pacific Trio, including a performance at the Silver Lire International Festival of Chamber Music in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has participated in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, and the Mainly Mozart Festival. He is a frequent performer with the Music Guild of Los Angeles, the South Bay Chamber Music Society, and many others. In January 2023, Roger was invited by L. A. Opera Music Director James Conlon to serve as guest associate concertmaster with the Baltimore Symphony for performances
of the Verdi Requiem.
In great demand as a concertmaster for the Hollywood studio orchestras, Roger has served in that capacity for many of Hollywood’s leading composers. Since 2005, he has had the honor of serving as concertmaster for the motion picture scores of legendary composer John Williams, including the last three episodes of the Star Wars franchise, The Fabelmans, and the soon to be released Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Haiming Wu, Soprano
Haiming Wu is a soprano from Wuhan, China. Wu is currently studying at the USC Thornton School of Music, earning her Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts and Opera. Wu will simultaneously make her American and role debut as Younger Alyce in Glory Denied by Tom Cipullo in USC Opera’s Spring 2023 production.
During her undergrad in Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Wu performed several leading roles of Rong in the world premiere of the contemporary opera The Voice of May with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Newspaper Boy in the Chinese original Opera He Lvting in Shangyin Opera House.
Wu also performed in the opera scenes programs at SHCM, performing the roles of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Adina in L’elisir d’Amore, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Pamina and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Norina in Don Pasquale, Musetta in La Bohème, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor. She also has sung and had masterclasses with Hartmut Höll, Sherrill Milnes, and Maria Zouves. Wu was a former member of Shangyin Opera House’s Young Artist's program “Ying Cai Zhu Fei.
Brennan Wuchner, Violin
Brennan Wuchner started playing the violin at the age of five. In 2019 he began studying with Aimee Kreston, and since then, he has enjoyed performing in a variety of recitals and concerts at the Colburn Community School. A favorite violin experience occurred in 2021 when he was chosen to perform Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto with the Pacific Academy Foundation Orchestra (PAFO).
In 2022, he had the opportunity to develop further through participation in the Colburn Chamber Music Intensive. Last year he also received his first paid “gig,” playing in the pit orchestra for the Fine Arts Network Theater Company. Additionally, he was the first-place winner in the Southern California Bach Festival Complete Works Audition 2022. He is currently Assistant Concert Master in both PAFO and the Temecula Valley Youth Symphony.
Upcoming plans include performing the Vivaldi “Summer” Concerto with the Eastern Sierra Symphony and the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto with PAFO later this summer. His summer plans also include attending the Pasadena Conservatory Intensive and the Idyllwild Arts Chamber Music Intensive, for which he received a full scholarship. His other hobbies include playing chess, fishing, and flying his RC planes.
Anna Yoo, Violin
Prizewinner at the Pasadena Rotary Club Dan Stover music competition in 2023 Anna Yoo Will perform E. Ysaye Sonata No.3 “Ballade” for violin solo.
Anna Yoo has been passionate about violin since she was 5 years old. She studied with Aimee Kreston from 2012-2018, and her teachers since then have been Fabiola Kim and more recently Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Academy.
At 9 years old, she was the invited soloist to play the Bach double violin concerto with the LASI orchestra, and since then have played with the Bellflower Symphony, the OCC orchestra, and the La Canada High School orchestra as a result of winning their concerto competitions.
This past summer, Anna attended Center Stage Strings, Bowdoin Music Festival, and Sounding Point Academy and was the first-place winner in the CSS solo competition junior division. This year Anna also was a prizewinner at the Pasadena Showcase Instrumental Competition and at the Dan Stover music competition.
Jason Yoshida, Lute, Guitar
Praised as “eloquent and serious,” in a Los Angeles Times review, Jason Yoshida specializes in solo and continuo performance on lutes and historical guitars. He has performed with groups including Ciaramella, Musica Angelica, Les Surprises Baroques, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Los Angeles Opera.
Yoshida received a Bachelor of Music from UC Santa Barbara, a Master of Music in classical guitar, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Early Music from the USC Thornton School of Music.
He is currently on the faculty of the Early Music Department at USC Thornton School of Music.
Michele Zukovsky, Clarinet
Clarinetist Michele Zukovsky recently retired from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, an orchestra she joined at the age of eighteen. Zukovsky has appeared many times as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at the Hollywood Bowl, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. She has been a guest soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the world premier performance of John Williams’ Clarinet Concerto with the Boston Pops. Zukovsky also performed regularly as a member of the L.A. Philharmonic’s Chamber Music concerts and as a member of the orchestra’s New Music Group. She is active as a teacher of master classes throughout the world and she is currently on the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. She studied with her father, Kalman Bloch, himself a former principal with the L.A. Philharmonic. Zukovsky has collaborated with numerous chamber ensembles, most notably the Angeles and St. Petersburg String Quartets and has appeared frequently at the 92nd Street Y’s “Concerts at the Y”, as well as at Ravinia, Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart, Lockenhaus, Schlieswig-Holstein, and Marlboro festivals. She has recorded for London/Decca, Avant, Nonesuch, Phillips, and Summit Records. Her recent Summit recordings include works by Martinu and transcriptions of pieces by Simeon Bellison, the former clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic.