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Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Conductors

Eric Jacobsen  |  Thomas Wilkins  |  Robert Shoup  |  Helen Martell  |  JoAnn Falletta

Virginia Symphony Conductor, Eric Jacobsen

Eric Jacobsen

Music Director 

Just 39 years old and already well-established as one of classical music’s most exciting and innovative young conductors, Eric Jacobsen combines fresh interpretations of the traditional canon with cutting-edge collaborations across musical genres.

Eric is artistic director and co-founder of The Knights, the uniquely adventurous NYC-based chamber orchestra. The ensemble grew out of late-night music reading parties with friends, good food and drink, and conversation. The group’s projects are wide-ranging, including a recent release of Beethoven and Brahms violin concertos with artist Gil Shaham, which critics are calling revolutionary.

Eric brings joy, storytelling, and a touch of humor to what he describes as “musical conversations” that delight audiences around the world, including those who don’t traditionally attend classical music concerts. In addition to conducting, he is a dedicated chamber musician (cello) and is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.

Jacobsen is married to Grammy winning singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan and they have a three-year-old daughter, Ivy Jo.

Virginia Symphony Special Guest Conductor, Thomas Wilkins

Thomas Wilkins

Principal Guest Conductor

Thomas Wilkins is currently principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Artistic Advisor for Education and Community Engagement at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and he holds the Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting at Indiana University. He recently stepped down after 17 successful years leading the Omaha Symphony and his guest conducting credits include every major American orchestra.

Devoted to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Mr. Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. He is hailed as a master at communicating and connecting with audiences.  Following his highly successful first season with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Globe named him among the “Best People and Ideas of 2011.” In 2014, Mr. Wilkins received the prestigious “Outstanding Artist” award at the Nebraska Governor’s Arts Awards, for his significant contribution to music in the state while in 2018 Thomas Wilkins received the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society conferred by Boston’s Longy School of Music.

Mr. Wilkins is a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He and his wife Sheri-Lee are the proud parents of twin daughters, Erica and Nicole.

Bob Shoup, Chorusmaster, Staff Conductor - Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Robert Shoup

Chorusmaster/Staff Conductor

This is Robert Shoup’s 25th season as Chorus Master and Staff Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.  His national and international conducting credits include the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, ensembles from the Prague Radio Orchestra and Czech State Philharmonic, and numerous choral ensembles. He served as the Music Director of the all-professional Virginia Chorale from 1997-2007.

Critics have described Shoup’s choruses as “totally enthralling” and “completely mesmerizing,” and he has spearheaded numerous collaborations that have included music, dance and visual arts. His ensembles have been featured on numerous recordings, including two discs with the VSO for the Naxos label (Hailstork and Stravinsky). He served as Assistant Music Director for the Virginia Symphony and Virginia Arts Festival’s highly acclaimed production of the Leonard Bernstein “Mass” and coordinated the collaborating choruses for 2012 performances and recording of Mahler’s Eighth symphony known as the “Symphony of a Thousand.”  His achievements include the creation and coordination of “American Voices”, a two week-long festival of American choral music with the Virginia Chorale and the VSO. The project earned one of seven major National Endowment for the Arts “American Masterpieces: Choral Music” grants. Shoup also prepared a nationally recruited choir of over 1,800 singers for the 400th Anniversary celebration of Jamestown.

Shoup is also a singer whom the Pittsburgh Post Gazette called “an especially fine tenor.” His vocal performances have included the role of John Adams in the world premiere performance of Adolphus Hailstork’s Crispus Attucks, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Fort Collins (CO) Symphony. 

Shoup also serves as the Music Director at Second Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, and is the founding Artistic Director of the Norfolk Street Choir Project.  The NSCP provides individuals affected by homelessness with both support services and opportunities to express themselves through singing and art.  The Norfolk Street Choir was the subject of an Emmy Award winning documentary by WHRO Digital Media entitles “City Voices: Homelessness to Hopefulness.”

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education (voice) from Duquesne University, and a Master’s degree in Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Grammy Award winning conductor Robert Page.

Joanne Falletta, Music Director, Conductor - Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Helen Martell

Staff Conductor

Helen Martell has dedicated her life’s work to music education and orchestral conducting.  For over twenty-six years, she has taught all levels of orchestra for the Chesapeake and Norfolk Public Schools. In August 2021, she became the Director of Education and Staff Conductor with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.  As a professional conductor, Helen Martell conducts the education and community engagement programs for the Virginia Symphony and is Music Director and Symphony Orchestra Conductor for the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia.  Helen is happily married to the Artistic Administrator and Bass Trombonist of the Virginia Symphony, Rodney Martell, and they gladly call Norfolk home.

Joanne Falletta, Music Director, Conductor - Virginia Symphony Orchestra

JoAnn Falletta

Music Director Laureate

JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, an inspiring artistic leader, and a champion of American symphonic music. An effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, she has been praised by The Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein.” Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”, she serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center and music advisor to the Hawaii Symphony.

Ms. Falletta is invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. Recent guest conducting highlights include debuts in Belgrade, Gothenburg, Lima, Bogotá, Helsingborg, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a European tour with the Stuttgart Orchestra, return engagements with the Warsaw, Detroit, Phoenix, and Krakow Symphony Orchestras and a 13 city US tour with the Irish Chamber Orchestra with James Galway.

She has guest conducted over a hundred orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Her North America guest conducting appearances have included the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Seattle, San Diego, Montreal, Toronto and the National Symphony and international appearances have included the London Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Korean Broadcast Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, China National Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester BBC Philharmonic, Scottish BBC orchestra, Orchestra National de Lyon and Mannheim Orchestra among others. Ms. Falletta’s summer activities have taken her to numerous music festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Wolf Trap, Mann Center, Meadow Brook, OK Mozart Festival, Grand Teton, Eastern, Peninsula and Brevard Festival.

Falletta is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, the coveted Stokowski Competition, and the Toscanini, Ditson and Bruno Walter Awards for conducting, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra League’s prestigious John S. Edwards Award. She is an ardent champion of music of our time, introducing over 500 works by American composers, including more than 110 world premieres. Hailing her as a “leading force for the music of our time”, she has been honored with twelve ASCAP awards. Ms. Falletta served as a Member of the National Council on the Arts during both the George W Bush and Obama administrations.

Under Falletta’s direction, the VSO has risen to celebrated artistic heights. The VSO, which made critically acclaimed debuts at the Kennedy Center and New York’s Carnegie Hall under Falletta and entered into their first multinational recording agreement with Naxos, performs classics, pops and family concert series in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg.

In addition to her current posts with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, Brevard Music Center and Hawaii Symphony, Ms. Falletta has held the positions of principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. Falletta received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York and her master’s and doctorate degrees from The Juilliard School.

JoAnn Falletta on NPR | The Innovative Mosaic Of American Symphonies

  • Wilbanks Smith and Thomas
  • Wilcox Savage
  • PBMares
  • Arts Alliance
  • Seven Venues
  • PNC Bank
  • Rutter Family Art Foundation
  • CBN
  • Norfolk Southern
  • Birdsong Peanuts
  • Breeden
  • Virginia Symphony League
  • Sentara
  • VSSGW
  • KPMG
  • New Leaf
  • The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
  • Carl's Wash
  • Bank of America
  • Audacy
  • Trust and Wealth Management
  • Ferguson Center for the Arts
  • TowneBank
  • Regent University
  • Cape Henry Collegiate
  • Riverside Health
  • Truist
  • NEA
  • Norfolk Collegiate
  • WHRO

Emmanual Losa

Emmanuel Losa

Cello

Born in 1998, Emmanuel Losa grew up in Marietta, Georgia to a Nigerian father and Jamaican mother. Starting his cello studies at the age of 12, he began to have an affinity for the orchestral world and later studying with the esteemed cellists of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, his primary instructor was Joel Dallow; in addition, studying with Dona Vellek (Assistant Principal Cello Emeritus) and Karen Freer (Assistant Principal Cello).

Emmanuel heavily enjoys studying various pieces of solo, chamber, and orchestral music, spending his summers at various festivals such as Bowdoin International Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Aspen Music Festival to name a few.

A student of Alan Stepansky at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Emmanuel is pursuing an undergraduate cello performance degree in orchestral performance. He continues his studies with a focus on winning a position with a major orchestra.

Zacherie Small

Zacherie Small

Double Bass

After migrating from his native island of Barbados, Zacherie Small began his Double Bass studies the age of 19 with Jonathan Dadurka at Miami-Dade College where he graduated with a Associate of Arts in Music. Afterwards, he went on to study with Luis Gomez-Imbert at Florida International University where he now holds a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass Performance; Cum Laude, and a Masters of Music in Double Bass Performance. Also, recently graduated with his second Masters from Temple University studying with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra such as Nathaniel West, Joseph Conyers, and Robert Kesselman.

Small has performed with various orchestras. He is a member of the Miami Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Eduardo Marturet. He was also the Principal Double Bass of the Miami Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jorge Vazquez. Small periodically performs with the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

Small has attended the Miami Summer Music Festival at Barry University for 3 years. During the festival, he has performed in many concerts with various conductors like Michael Rossi, Yuriy Bekker, Joel Smirnoff, David Efron, Stephanie Rhodes, and Steve Gruman. Also, participated in the Philadelphia International Music Festival to study with Nathaniel West and under the baton of Kensho Watanabe.

As well as being a performer, Small is the secondary music director South-Dade Middle School and does masterclasses at various schools in Miami, FL. He is also a teacher for the Artist of the Miami Music Project where he guides children in troubled neighborhoods to bring about social change, cultivate lessons, and run ensembles.

Tyler McKisson

Tyler McKisson

viola

Tyler McKisson is a 26-year-oldorchestral and freelance violist originally from Arvada, Colorado. He has recently received an Artist Diploma from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a Diversity Fellow where he regularly performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. McKisson received a Master’s degree in viola performance at the University of Colorado Boulder and a Bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance at the University of Northern Colorado with honors. McKisson’s musical career started at age ten when he joined his school’s string orchestra program and at age fourteen, he began his studies under his first private instructor, Brian Cook. McKisson has also studied under Christopher Luther, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, Erika Eckert, and Catharine Carroll Lees. He has played with several American orchestras including the Cheyenne Symphony with tenure, Atlanta Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Aspen Conducting Academy.

Camille Jones

Camille Jones

violin

A passionate collaborator and advocate for diversity in the arts, Camille has worked with various festival orchestras and chamber groups, including the National Orchestral Institute and Festival (NOI + F), Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Next Festival of Emerging Artists.

As a 2019 Sphinx Orchestral Futurist Fellow, she has helped commission works and curate a professional development workshop for K-12 students in Prince George’s County, Maryland.This project piloted what is now the K12 New Music Initiative, a commissioning project to expand the repertoire of K12 orchestras with music by BIPOC composers. In the Fall of 2018, she curated Voices Unheard, a concert series at UMD that celebrated works by women composers and composers of color. In addition, she had the opportunity to collaborate with esteemed cello professor Anthony Elliott for a concert series at the Kerrytown Concerthouse titled Passing the Torch in 2021 and 2022. Camille is establishing herself as a freelance artist in the Michigan area as well, having performed for singer Michael Bublé, rapper Big Sean and Darren Criss. She has also served as a teaching artist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles as well as the Sphinx Overture program in Detroit.

Camille received her B.M. in Violin Performance at the University of Maryland, College Park and a M.M. in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan, having studied under Danielle Belen.

Daphine Henderson

Daphine Henderson

bass

Daphine Henderson, a double bassist and vocalist in the DC metro area, completed her Master’s Degree in Double Bass Performance at the University of Maryland College Park in Spring 2023, where she also received two Bachelor’s Degrees in Music Performance with concentrations in Double Bass and Soprano Voice in Spring ’20. She was the first black woman to earn a Master’s Degree in Double Bass Performance at University of Maryland and the third black woman to receive a graduate degree in strings. Teaching herself the double bass at age 12, Daphine became extremely involved in music through her high school career, ranging from performing with the Maryland Senior All State Orchestra to being the drum major of her high school marching band. She is actively involved in the University of Maryland School of Music community, performing with numerous classical and wind ensembles.

Throughout her time at UMD, Daphine served as one of the ensemble assistants for the UMD Treble Choir, where she actively engaged with and lead her section. She sat as one of the student chairs and founding members of the School of Music’s IDEA Committee, which focuses on bringing diversity, accessibility, and inclusive engagement to the music community at College Park. Daphine is also a founding member of the PAGE (Project for All Gender Equality) for Bassists, where she spoke on a panel in the 2019 and 2021 International Society of Bassists conventions. Daphine teaches in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and is an active strings coach for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra. Additionally, she teaches all string instruments, piano, and voice at Crescendo Studios in Falls Church, Virginia.

Daphine is taking steps in her musical career to create an impact and be an inspiration for younger musicians of color that would otherwise not have ample resources and opportunities to pursue their passion. Following the completion of her graduate degree, Daphine plans to continue establishing herself as an advocate through her performance and an arts administrator for underserved and minority musicians, while continuing to inspire others through her love for music.

Avery Robinson

Omari Imhotep Adbdul-Alim

Violin

Omari Imhotep Abdul-Alim is an accomplished violinist and educator with a Master of Music in Violin Performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a dedicated instructor with extensive experience teaching violin to a diverse range of students, from young children to adults, in both individual and group settings.

Omari has also contributed significantly as a violin instructor and orchestral strings coach at the Academy for Discovery at Lakewood, as a member of VSO's first inaugural class of African American Fellowship.

In addition to his teaching accomplishments, Omari has an extensive performance background. He has been a substitute with VSO, New World Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra, and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera. For the last year Omari has been an active performer in the San Diego area, playing with Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra, Poway Symphony Orchestra, the City Ballet of San Diego, La Jolla Symphony Orchestra and as resident violinist at First Lutheran Church of San Diego.

Omari is committed to enriching our musical education and performance landscape through his expertise and passion for music.

Avery Robinson

Avery Robinson

Cello

Avery Robinson grew up in Western Massachusetts where he was influenced by his parents’ love for jazz music. At the age of 10 he started playing piano and began learning bass when he was 12 years old. As a young musician, Avery’s passion for jazz persisted however, as he became exposed to the wonderful sounds of the symphony, his musical passion grew to include a second genre: classical music. After joining his high school orchestra, his career path was set.

Avery has studied at many top music schools such as the Eastman School of Music, The Hartt School of Music, and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has graduated with honors. His teachers include Rachel Calin, Albert Laszlo, and Robert Black. Avery has been a member of the Kentucky Symphony, and most recently, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. He has also worked as a substitute for the Amarillo Symphony and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. In addition to his orchestral career, Avery is also an accomplished recitalist, having performed many solo and chamber recitals at various venues such as the Chautauqua Institution and at the “Classical Revolution” Series in Cincinnati. His love for performing with others shows in his expressive and sometimes fervent style of playing.

Avery has other passions in addition to music. Firstly, he is a huge art and history buff and loves to frequent museums and galleries whenever he can. He is also a lover of sports and an avid golfer.