Our Orchestra
Strings
Violin
Vahn Armstrong, Concertmaster
Dorothy Redwood Cooke Sutherland Concertmaster Chair
In his career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist and pedagogue, Vahn Armstrong has established himself as a leading violinist of his generation. He is now in his twenty-sxith season as Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony, an orchestra which has garnered national praise for its performances and recordings. Mr. Armstrong is also Concertmaster of the Virginia Opera, and during the summer he serves as Concertmaster for Chautauqua Opera and Associate Concertmaster of the Chautauqua Symphony in Chautauqua, New York.
Mr. Armstrong has appeared as soloist on many occasions with the Virginia and Chautauqua symphonies, as well as many other orchestras throughout the U.S. He is a member of Apollo, an ensemble whose premiere recording of John Luther Adams’ Clouds of forgetting, clouds of unknowing was recently released by New World Records. He is also a charter member of the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival Chamber Music Series, and leader of the Chautauqua String Quartet. For ten years, Mr. Armstrong performed with the award-winning New World String Quartet, concertising throughout the U.S. and Europe. The New World Quartet made several recordings; one of these, Ainsi la nuit by Henri Dutilleux, was awarded a Prix du disc.
Mr. Armstrong gave the world premiere of Larry Bell’s Book of moonlight for violin and piano in Boston in 1989. In fact, throughout his career he has been committed to performing music of this century. He includes in his repertoire not only works of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Berg, Prokofieff, Bartok, and Barber, but also those of Ligeti, Dutilleux, Arvo Part, Elliot Carter, Richard Danielpour, Gwyneth Walker, and many others.
Mr. Armstrong has recorded for MCA Classics, New World Records, Musical Heritage Society, and others. He has been a frequent guest on NPR’s Performance Today, WGBH’s Morning Pro Musica, WNED’s Music from Chautauqua, and BBC London. He was also Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University, University of Michigan, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California and MusicWest at Utah State University.
A native of Michigan, Mr. Armstrong holds BM and MM degrees from the Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay. He now resides in Norfolk, Virginia, and enjoys sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Yun Zhang, Associate Concertmaster
Yun Zhang began his violin studies under the tutelage of his father at the age of three and gave his first public performance when he was five years old. While studying in the renowned Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Yun Zhang was awarded the Fu Cheng Xian Memorial Scholarship for excellence in performance and artistic potential. In 1998, he arrived in Bloomington to study with Henryk Kowalski and Stephen Boe, the former teaching assistants of Josef Gingold at the Indiana University. In the 2001-2002 season, Yun Zhang was a recipient of the prestigious Helen F. Whitaker Fellowship and served as the concertmaster for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago under the direction of conductors Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, David Robertson, Anne Manson, William Eddins, Cliff Colnot, Giancarlo Guerrero, and Duain Wolfe. In 2002, Yun Zhang joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as Associate Concertmaster. He has performed frequently in recitals and chamber music series throughout the United States and Asia. Recent solo appearances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra include the “Butterfly” Violin Concerto, Brahms Violin and Cello Double Concerto, Beethoven Violin Concerto, Haydn Symphony Concertante, and Mozart Violin Concerto in D major. His performances have been broadcasted on Classical 88.7 FM of Indianapolis, WFMT Radio Network of Chicago, WSVH of Savannah, Georgia and WHRO of Hampton Roads, Virginia. Yun Zhang is active in teaching. He holds the positions of guest professor of violin at Yunnan Arts Institute in China and the artist in residence at Christopher Newport University.
Elizabeth Coulter Vonderheide, Principal Second
Lee A. & Helen G. Gifford Principal Second Violin Chair
Elizabeth Coulter Vonderheide, originally from Lynchburg, VA, began violin studies at age 5. She studied with Dr. Svend Ronning at the University of Virginia while in high school, and earned the Bachelor of Music from The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the studio of the late Franco Gulli, Distinguished Professor of Violin, where she was a Dorothy Richards Starling scholarship recipient. While in Indiana she held contracts with the Camerata Orchestra, the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky, and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. Elizabeth earned the Master of Music in the prestigious Orchestral Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Glenn Dicterow, Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.
While in New York she served as Concertmaster of both the Manhattan School of Music Philharmonia and Chamber Orchestras, where she had the opportunity to play under such renowned conductors as Kurt Masur, David Robertson, Pierre Boulez, and Julius Roudel. She also appeared as a soloist both with the Claremont Ensemble and in a live broadcast on Soundcheck with John Schaeffer on 93.9 WNYC FM, and performed regularly with Dicappo Opera and the Kalaiope Quartet. Elizabeth won the job of Assistant Principal Second Violin with the Virginia Symphony in 2003, and since then has also played a season as Acting Principal Second.
Since 2008 she has been a regular substitute with the St. Louis Symphony, and has joined them for both their Opera Season and their Carnegie Hall tour. Elizabeth has soloed with the Virginia Symphony, the Lynchburg Symphony and the National Repertory Orchestra, and performed as a member of the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic, the orchestras of the Spoleto, Italy Festival, the American Institute of Musical Study (Graz, Austria), the Crested Butte Music Festival, The Colorado Music Festival, and the Conducting Institute at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. An avid chamber musician, she is a regular performer on the Organ Swell Recital Series in Hampton Roads and the Midday Music Recital Series in Lynchburg, and has performed with the Ambrosia Quartet on the Feldman Chamber Music Series in Norfolk, with the Virginia Symphony Quartet featured on NPR’s Performance Today, and with the Quartet-in-Residence at Quisisana Resort in Center Lovell, Maine. She has also been a Guest Artist at Randolph College in Lynchburg. Elizabeth is married to VSO Principal Trumpet David Vonderheide, and they live in Portsmouth with their dog Marty.
Jonathan Richards, Assistant Principal Second Violin
Hailed by the Washington Post for “…bringing real drama” to his performances, violinist Jonathan Richards has performed throughout the United States and Canada as both a chamber musician and soloist. He has won numerous competitions and has appeared as soloist with the Kishwaukee Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Vincent’s of Chicago, the Judson College Symphony, the Northern Illinois University Philharmonic, and the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra. Richards has gained recent accolades in DC’s new music scene for his performances with the esteemed VERGE ensemble, the Grammy nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra, and the New Music Ensemble of Towson. As an orchestral musician, he has performed regularly with the Fairfax Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Chesapeake Symphony, and National Philharmonic along with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, Post-Classical Orchestra, Washington Soloists, and is now performing full-time with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Richards was a founding member of the Adelphi String Quartet as well as a member of the critically acclaimed Excelsa Quartet. As a recording artist, Richards has recorded Walter Gieseking’s works for string quartet and string trio for the Naxos label with the Adelphi Quartet, and has recently recorded world premiers for the Sono Luminus label with the Inscape Chamber Orchestra.
Jorge Aguirre
Jorge Aguirre was born in Lima-Peru. Following studies at the Conservatorio Nacional in Peru, Mr. Aguirre received a scholarship to study with Mr. Henryk Szeryng in Mexico and later with Mr. Szimzia Bajour. He received a scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado to study with Ms. Dorothy Delay for two summers. Meanwhile he performed professionally with of orchestras in Mexico such as the Guadalajara Symphony, Guanajuato Orchestra, Estado de Mexico Symphony, and the Xalapa Symphony. He moved to Europe to play with The Sinfonietta de Roma (Italy), Royal Opera of Brussels (Belgium) Mannheim Opera (Germany) and later with Madrid Symphony, all in different title chairs. He had the privilege to play professionally under great conductors such as, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Metha, Lorin Maazel and James Levine among them.
In the USA he began playing as Assistant Concertmaster in the Coronado Music Festival (Arizona) Colorado Music Festival (Boulder), South Florida Symphony (Fort Lauderdale), Miami Chamber Orchestra and briefly with the Florida Philharmonic. He was the Assistant Concertmaster for the New American Chamber Players based in Detroit.
After his wife Sherie Aguirre won the first oboe position in the Virginia Symphony, he came to Hampton Roads area to play with the Virginia Symphony where he has been heard as a soloist and a Concertmaster in several occasions. He plays with the Virginia Opera and serves as first violinist for the Hampton Roads String Quartet and the Four Seasons String Quartet. He is Concertmaster of the International Todi Festival in Virginia under the baton of Maestro Walter Atanassi and Associate Concertmaster of The Santo Domingo Music Festival under the baton of Maestro Philippe Entremmont.
As a teacher and conductor Mr. Aguirre has been an adjunct professor at Conservatorio Real de Madrid in Spain, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, and Christopher Newport Universities in Virginia. He has conducted orchestras such as The Bay Youth Orchestra, All City Orchestras in Norfolk and Newport News, the Governor’s School for the Arts and the College of William and Mary. He is presently the conductor of the acclaimed Hampton Roads Chamber Players.
Anna Bishop*
Anna Bishop is a native of Virginia Beach who grew up behind the scenes of the VSO as the daughter of two musician parents in the orchestra. Prior to her time with VSO, she was a member of the Richmond Symphony from 2015-2018, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Opera on the James. She continues to be a member of various groups in the area such as the Williamsburg Symphony and Williamsburg Opera.
Anna was an emerging artists at festivals such as the Garth Newel Music Institute, Brevard Music Center, Colorado Quartet Institute and the Nova Scotia International Young Artist Program. During her summer festival studies she was fortunate to study with leading concertmasters such as William Preucil, David Coucheron and Jonathan Carney.
Mrs. Bishop holds a B.M. from Virginia Commonwealth University as well as attended the graduate program at Chicago College of Performing Arts on scholarship. Her principal teachers have been Susanna Klein and MingHuan Xu.
Anna is also a studio violinist and teacher. Her playing is featured on the podcast, S-Town, created by Serial and This American Life. She resides in Richmond with her husband, two cats, and retired greyhound.
Lesa McCoy Bishop

Recently Lesa began her professional bodybuilding career. In the 2006-2007 season, she won first place overall titles in the following: NASF 2006 Old Dominion Championships, NASF 2006 American National Championships, the 2007 North Carolina Open, the 2007 Virginia Open, the NPA Masters Universe Pro Qualifier, and the NPA Fall Pro Classic. Lesa combines the discipline of music and bodybuilding by guest posing at bodybuilding shows playing her violin. She was recently honored as the NPA top female pro athlete of 2007.
Mayu Cipriano
Mayu Kuroda Cipriano was born in Tokyo, Japan and began studying the violin at the age of five. At 12, she won the Special Prize in the All Japan Mainichi Competition; and at 13, played with the NHK second symphony. At the behest of Cho-Liang Lin, she came to the United States to study with Ms. Dorothy Delay and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard Pre-College. Mayu continued her undergraduate studies at Juilliard, earning a Bachelor of Music in 1998. In addition to Juilliard, she also attended the Aspen Music Festival for six consecutive summers beginning in 1991, earning second prize in the Nakamichi concerto competition. As a result, she performed in recital at the Wheeler Opera House Aspen.
Mayu joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 2003. She is also regular substitute with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, joining them for their 2010 Carnegie Hall performance. She previously held positions with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and the New City Ballet.
Mayu has been a member of the Ambrosia Quartet since 2005. In 2016, the quartet recorded the String Quartets of Adolphus Hailstork for Albany Records. They have been also featured performers for the Virginia Arts Festival, the Feldman Chamber Music Society Series, and the Salon Series with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Mayu has also performed numerous solo recitals in New York City and Japan with her sister Ai, also a Juilliard graduate in piano. The Sisters Duo have performed at the Cremona Exhibition at the Christoph Landon Gallery, Columbia University, the Russian Tea Room, Oji Hall in Tokyo, and were featured on Radio City 84.0 MHz Tokyo and the Japanese Television show Zoom In Asa live from New York. Mayu is married to James Cipriano, who is a tuba player with the United States Army Music program and resides in Norfolk, VA with their beloved cats Eddie and Velvet.
Amy Taira Danielson
Jeanne DeDominick
Linda Dennis
Brendon Elliott
Virginia Native Brendon Elliott received his BM studying with Pamela Frank and Joseph Silverstein at The Curtis Institute of Music, and attained his master’s at The Juilliard School under Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes, then completed a fellowship with the New World Symphony. He began his violin studies under his mother’s tutelage at the age of three and made his solo debut when he was 10 years old.
As a three-time concerto competition winner, Brendon was invited as a guest soloist with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra at age 17 on their Masterworks Series. He toured with the Virginia Symphony performing the Hailstork Violin Concerto as an opener for Natalie Cole and his performance of William Grant Still’s Mother and Child was broadcast on WMRA radio. Brendon has soloed with The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Harlem Chamber Players, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, and has performed in orchestras such as the Sphinx Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Chineke! Orchestra. The Charleston Post and Courier described his solo performance with the Colour of Music Virtuosi as; “Playing with grace and poise, displaying a fine technique and sweet tone.”
Brendon is currently touring as Joseph Bologne’s musical half in Bill Barclay’s play The Chevalier and is a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Amanda Gates
Violinist Amanda Gates joined the VSO in 1996, and was appointed Assistant Concertmaster in 2002. She was awarded a first violin position with the Chautauqua Symphony in upstate New York in 2001.
A native of Reston, Virginia, she graduated summa cum laude from Catholic University in 1996, where she studied with Robert Gerle.
She has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Catholic University Orchestra, and the Chautauqua Symphony Chamber Players. She has also performed as soloist in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Vaughn Williams’ The Lark Ascending, and John Adams’ Violin Concerto, all with the Virginia Symphony.
A versatile musician, she is proficient on guitar, mandolin, viola, cello, hammered dulcimer, and well versed in many styles of music. She has performed for the VSO on electric violin on several occasions, covering Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads,” and accompanying a beatbox track, featuring her own arrangement. She has also performed solo electric violin in Windborne Music’s “The Music of Led Zeppelin” with the Phoenix, Minnesota, and Louisiana symphonies. She was commissioned to compose, arrange, perform and direct string arrangements for Portland-based punk band emberghost’s album, “Not Long for this Earth,” released in 2012. More recently, she arranged and performed Bill Monroe’s “Scotland” for the Virginia Stage Company’s production of Honky Tonk Angels. In addition, she has been featured as Celtic fiddle soloist in the Virginia Arts Festival’s International Tattoo on three separate occasions.
Ms. Gates performs on a violin by Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, Brescia, 1699, and a six-string fretted electric violin, “Viper” model by Mark Wood.
Kirsty B. Green
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Kirsty Barnett Green has been a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 1996, where she has served as both core and Principal Second violin positions, and occasionally as concertmaster during the summer season. Ms. Green has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and the United States, as well as with her own orchestra, the VSO. She has been featured on classical radio programs including the Vermont Public Radio and Radio Geneva and produced “The Violin music of Arthur Foote” recording for New World Records. Previously, Kirsty has played chamber music as a member of the Ghent Trio, and currently makes regular guest appearances with the Ambrosia Quartet as well as the Harbor Quartet. She has been a guest artist on the Virginia Arts Festival Organ Swell Series since 2003.
Kirsty began studying the violin at the age of six as a student of Judith Berenson, and graduated with honors from the Conservatoire Populaire. She then moved to the United States where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts while studying with Kevin Lawrence. In addition she has had the opportunity to study with several of the great pedagogues including Josef Gingold and Arnold Steinhart during the course of various festivals and masterclasses. Ms. Green is a licentiate of the British Royal Schools of Music.
In addition to performing, Kirsty is a dedicated teacher. She began her teacher-training formation at an early age first as assistant to Judith Berenson, and then in college where she held assistantships at both the N.C. School of the Arts and the Killington Music Festival. Shortly thereafter she formed her own studio at the Tanglewood Academy of Music in Clemmons, N.C. and went on to teach at Norfolk’s Academy of Music. She has held adjunct positions at Christopher Newport University (where her position included teaching pedagogy, orchestral repertoire class and coaching the CNU orchestra), and Virginia Wesleyan College where she currently teaches. She has spent several summers performing and instructing at the Eastern Music Festival, and the Portsmouth Chamber Festival, and is a coach for Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia as well as the Hampton Roads Chamber Players. Her students have won numerous awards, and many have gone on to successful careers in music.
Allegra Tortolano Havens

Yu-Chia Hsiao
Violinist Yu-Chia Hsiao has been with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2014. Miss Hsiao, born in Taiwan, began studying violin at the age of seven. As a top prize winner of the Academy of Taiwan Strings Concerto Competition, she made her solo debut with the Academy of Taiwan Strings at the age of thirteen. In 2006, she performed Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy with Fu-Jian Dance Drama and Opera House Orchestra in Fu-Jian, China. She also gave well-received solo recitals in Taiwan in the summers of 2007 and 2010. Miss Hsiao’s numerous awards include the first prize in the Taiwan Music Competition, the Hsing-Tien Temple Competition, and the 5th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians—Taiwan Pre-Audition; the finalist for the 7th Junior Arts of Toshiya Edo Violin Competition in Japan.
Miss Hsiao has participated in several festivals and master classes, including the Christian Tetzlaff Master Class in Library of Congress, the 38th Tibor Varga International Music Festival, the Taiwan Music Festival, and the Shuan-Yin International Music Festival where she studied with Victor Pikayzen, James Buswell, Christian Tetzlaff , Dmitri Berlinsky, and Tanaka Chitashi.
Miss Hsiao enjoys sharing classical music with a wide range of audience. She engages herself in various community outreach concerts. In 2010, she performed for the Elderhostel Program at the Peabody Conservatory as well as the “Wednesdays at Weinberg” at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, Kimmel Cancer Center. Through these experiences, she witnessed the magical powers of music: uplifts spirits and brings peace to mankind. In 2011, at the invitation of the Piatigorsky Foundation, Miss Hsiao toured with violinist Keng-Yuen Tseng and musicians in Montana where they brought concerts to audiences that would not have the opportunities to attend such performances otherwise. In the same year, she also participated in the Taiwanese American Charity Education Association (TACEA) annual concert at the Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center. Miss Hsiao holds Master of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma degrees from the Peabody Conservatory where she was awarded a full scholarship to study with Keng-Yuen Tseng.
Linda Hurwitz

Camille Jones+
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.
Christine Allison Kilbride*
Bio Coming Soon
Allison Kim
Allison Kim began playing the violin after receiving a quarter size violin as a gift from her grandfather for her eighth birthday. She grew up in Asunción, Paraguay and Busan, South Korea before moving to Colorado, where she began her formal training under the tutelage of Jesse Ceci, former concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. She received her Bachelor of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Master of Music at Indiana University, and Advanced Music Studies certificate at Carnegie Mellon University. During the summers, she attended numerous festivals including Aspen Music Festival as an Orchestral String fellow, National Repertory Orchestra, Brevard Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Garth Newel Music Center, Encore School for Strings, and Madeline Island Music Camp. She is a substitute of the Colorado Symphony and New World Symphony and has been a member of various regional orchestras in Indiana and Colorado. In addition to Jesse, her teachers have included Lina Bahn, Ik-Hwan Bae, Yumi Hwang-Williams, and Andrés Cárdenes. During her free time Allison loves playing with dogs and cheering on Denver sports teams.
Simon Lapointe
Simon Lapointe was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1979. He showed interest in the violin at the age of 2, and received his first violin lesson 2 years later. He obtained his Bachelor’s of Music from the Conservatoire de Trois-Rivières in 2000, studying with Helmut Lipsky and Joanne Pothier. He then went on to get his MM at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with soloist and now Tokyo String Quartet 1st violinist Martin Beaver.
Simon joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as Principal Second Violin in 2005. He previously played with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the West Virginia Symphony, as Assistant Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster, respectively. He served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra during the 2009-2010 season, and since 2010, is also Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He is also a substitute violinist with the Baltimore Symphony and the Washington National Opera. His chamber music experience includes being first violin for the Montclaire String Quartet and the Ambrosia Quartet. He is Adjunct Professor of Violin at the Virginia Commonwealth University.
Simon was a prizewinner of many competitions in the US and Canada. He is regularly invited as a soloist and recitalist in Baltimore, Quebec and Hampton Roads, as well as at the Lanaudière Festival. He also offers masterclasses, chamber coachings and orchestral exerpt coaching for the Bay Youth Orchestras, Richmond Youth Symphony, and the Hampton Roads Chamber Players.
Madalyn Navis
Bio coming soon!
Michael Romans
Violinist Michael Romans has held leadership positions with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Adrian Symphony and most recently won an appointment with the Virginia Symphony. Michael also performs frequently with the St. Louis Symphony.
Originally from Springfield, Virginia, Michael began studying violin at the age of 10 under the instruction of Jim Batts. An avid chamber musician, Michael is a founding member of the Continuum Chamber Collective; an ensemble dedicated to giving performances of chamber works of marginalized composers throughout the DC metro area. Past notable performances include a residency at Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Germany. He has also had the opportunity to collaborate on projects with distinguished artists such as Fabiola Kim, Yizhak Schotten, Chi-Yi Chen, Joseph Swensen and Ani Kavafian to name a few.
Michael Romans is a doctoral candidate in Violin Performance at the University of Michigan where he served as a Graduate Student Instructor under the guidance of Fabiola Kim and Danielle Belen. In addition to maintaining a private studio in Michigan, Michael has also been a P.A.L.S instructor at the Aspen Music Festival and a teaching artist for the Ann Arbor Symphony. In 2020, he earned his Masters Degree from U of M as a recipient of the prestigious full merit scholarship. Michael also holds a Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University with a double major in Violin Performance from the Jacobs School of Music and Business Studies from the Kelley School of Business.
Michael has appeared in music festivals across the country as a well as internationally. Most recently, Michael appeared as co- concertmaster of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. He was concertmaster of the National Repertory Orchestra for the 2021 season and performed Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1. He was also co-associate concertmaster of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra performing in venues in northern Germany including the Berlin Konzerthaus and the Elbphilharmonie. Other notable festival appearances include performances in Carnegie Hall for the 50th anniversary of the New York String Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and Sarasota Music Festival. He has had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses for Pamela Frank, Sarah Chang, Midori, Ani Kavafian, Alex Kerr and Madeline Adkins among others.
Seiko Syvertsen
Seiko (Sato) Syvertsen grew up in a music-loving family who listened to not only classical music, but all different kinds of music, such as jazz, big band, and the Argentina Tango.
Ms. Syvertsen started piano lessons at age 5, violin at age 7, and music dictation/solfeggio at age 10. During her senior year at Kyoto City University of Arts & Music in Japan, she was invited to the Tanglewood Music Festival as a scholar of the Festival Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Oliver Knussen, and Leon Fleisher, and to join their European tour.
After receiving her Bachelor of Music in Kyoto, she moved to the United States to enter the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and studied violin with Yuval Yaron. She studied string quartets with Rostislav Dubinski, who was a member of Borodin Quartet.
While she was working on a Master of Music degree, Ms. Syvertsen started her career as an orchestra player, and started having more passion for larger ensembles. She auditioned for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and was chosen by the concertmaster and a principal violinist of Chicago Symphony to be its concertmaster of two seasons.
Besides performing there under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Sir George Solti, Pierre Boulez, Placido Domingo, and Pinchas Zukerman, Ms. Syvertsen also received a full scholarship from the Music school of DePaul University of Chicago. There she received a Performer Diploma. She also served as a concertmaster for the University Orchestra, took violin lessons with Joseph Genualdi, viola lessons with Rami Solomonow, and was chosen to be their concert soloist.
After a short period of time serving as an assistant concert master for the South Bend Symphony, Ms. Syvertsen joined the Virginia Symphony and resides in Chesapeake, Virginia with her husband, two boys, and a Boston terrier, “Fenway”.
Viola
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Celia Daggy, Principal Marshall Family Principal Viola Chair
Hailed as “glittering, beautiful and memorable”, Celia Daggy joined the VSO as Principal Viola in 2022 at the age of 24, making her one of the youngest principal violists in an American orchestra.
Raised in a musical family in sunny Santa Monica, California, she studied piano and violin, eventually picking up the viola as a teenager. In high school, Ms. Daggy performed for John Williams with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the American Youth Symphony, competed in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and toured China with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.
She completed her undergraduate in 2020 summa cum laude from Boston University, where she studied with Boston Symphony principal Steven Ansell. She was a Tanglewood Music Center fellow for three years, during which she won their annual mock-audition, and was a guest of the Boston Symphony in the Leonard Bernstein Centennial Gala Concert. She also attended the New York String Orchestra Seminar and Spoleto Festival USA. Throughout her college years, she was a guest of numerous New England chamber music societies, performing from Rhode Island up to Maine. In 2018, she gave the world premiere of Stephen Baillargeon’s viola concerto, written for her, as a benefit for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Frequently traveling up and down the eastern United States, Ms. Daggy has performed with the Boston Symphony and toured New England with the Boston Pops. She can be heard in the nationally-renowened Candlelight quartet series, and in the summers participates in the Wintergreen Music Festival in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Prior to joining the Virginia Symphony, she was an acting member of the North Carolina Symphony during the ‘21-’22 season. She was also a principal fellow of The Orchestra Now at Bard College, where she can be heard on an album released by Bridge Records playing extensive solos in George Bristow’s Symphony No. 4 “Arcadian”.
She plays on a 2016 viola made by Andranik Gaybaryan in Northampton, Massachusetts. Outside of the musical world, she enjoys traveling, baseball, and exploring the local craft beer scene.
Alexander Antonio
Alexander Antonio is a Violist who graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance summa cum laude for Viola 2023 studying with Jeffery Irvine and Lynne Ramsey. Before coming to Cleveland Institute of Music, he had years of experience playing in string ensembles dating back to his youth in middle through high school orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo work. He has been in principal positions in the Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra, Hampton Roads Chamber Players, Governor’s School for the Arts Orchestra, Senior Regional Orchestra of Virginia, All-State Orchestra of Virginia along with being the Concerto Competition winner for Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2018 and Honorable Mention for Governor’s School Orchestra. At Cleveland Institute of Music, he has played in chamber and community recitals with multiple groups in a string quintet, piano quintet, and string quartet around the Cleveland area on top of holding assistant principal and principal chair for the orchestra. He has also collaborated and played in concert with conductors such as Andrew Grams, JoAnn Falletta, Marin Alsop, and Michael Tilson Thomas. He was also a National Orchestral Institute Fellow for the year 2022. He has had the opportunity to tour Japan, record for Windborn Music of Queen, and record for Naxos Recording Label in collaboration with JoAnn Falletta. He is currently a section Violist for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for the 2023-2024 season.
Jane Lenz
Jane Lenz is a classical and baroque violist who earned her Master of Music degree in Viola Performance from The Juilliard School and her Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Jane has performed around the country including multiple summers with the Adirondacks Performing Arts Fellowship’s orchestra and string quartet and Chicagoland’s 6:26 Concert Series. She is the violist of The Kenaniah Project, a Rochester, New York-based cross-genre collaborative ensemble combining faith and artistic excellence. After moving to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, she began teaching at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, and appearing with the Virginia Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Williamsburg Symphony. As a baroque violist, she has enjoyed performing with Juilliard415, the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, and studying with Cynthia Roberts through secondary lessons during her time at Juilliard.
Jane was a 2019 Concerto Competition winner at Oberlin and a second-prize winner in the 2019 Ohio Viola Society competition. During her time at Oberlin, she was part of the Performing Artists In Residence program at the Oberlin Center for the Arts and formed string quartets that have performed in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Nebraska for various opportunities.
While at Juilliard, Jane received a Morse Teaching Artist Fellowship allowing her to develop her teaching skills and work with local students through community engagement collaborations in New York City. She has worked as a coach with the Williamsburg Youth Symphony, and Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras and as a teacher for Chicagoland’s Ping! program, providing young students equitable access to private lessons and instruments. Jane maintains a private lesson studio in Hampton Roads and has Suzuki Certification in Violin Books 1-3 from the School for Strings.
Jane enjoys skiing, cooking, and playing board games in her free time with her husband Patrick, the Composer/Arranger of the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band.
Tyler McKisson+
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.
Anastasia Migliozzi
Satoko Rickenbacker
Satoko Rickenbacker, a violist with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2003, began studying violin and piano and vocal at an early age while attending Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, Japan. She earned an honor scholarship to study violin in Austria with Ruggiero Ricci at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. She later moved to New York to study with Lewis Kaplan and Rebecca Young at the Mannes College of Music while completing her master’s degrees in Violin and Viola Performance.
After graduation, she continued to study viola with Nobuko Imai and Roberto Diaz. In 1999, she served as principal violist with the New World Symphony where she performed Bartok’s Viola Concerto as the winner of the NWS concerto competition. She has also participated at the Pacific Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Verbier Festival and collaborated with numerous artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Yuri Bashmet, Itzhak Perlman and Bobby Mcferrin. Satoko Rickenbacker has also appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra as a sub. In addition, She had performed as a chamber musician in many countries as Japan, France, England, Czech, Hungary, Austria and Swaziland.
As a passionate Chamber Musician, Satoko has performed chamber music throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. She was also featured on CNN headline News at the Rialto. She has performed as guest principal viola with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra with Mark O’Connor and Joel Smirnoff. In addition to performing, she is an accomplished teacher. Satoko has taught masterclasses and coaching sessions for many schools in the Hampton Roads Area including the College of William & Mary.
Satoko is a former professor of viola at Christopher Newport University. She is also a member of The Chesapeake String Quartet along with Virginia Symphony musicians Yun Zhang, Seiko Syvertsen, and Mike Daniels. Recently, she was appointed Co Principal with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, where she has served as a guest principal for many years.Jocelyn Smith*
Violist Jocelyn Smith is currently in her twelfth season as a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She finds summer employment in Colorado, where she has performed with the Crested Butte Music Festival since 2001. She is also a founding member, along with husband and cellist Peter Greydanus and violinist Tara-Louise Montour, of the Clivia String Trio, which was named Performing Artists of the Year by Young Audiences of Virginia in 2008. Ms. Smith grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She lives in Norfolk with her husband Peter, their daughters Mirabelle and Eda, and their cat Lily.
Alexandra Takasugi

Originally from Pasadena, California, violist Alexandra Takasugi began her career participating in The Colburn School orchestras, Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra, and attended the Suzuki summer camps at Occidental College. Recently, Takasugi has completed her Graduate Performance Diploma at The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with Victoria Chiang, and additional studies with Choon-Jin Chang, Karen Ritscher, and Dr. Amber Archibald. Not only has she been awarded first-place in the inaugural Seattle University Concerto Competition in 2010 and 2012, but has also solo debuted with Orchestra Seattle in October 2010. Takasugi has also participated in master classes with Daniel Ching, Emma McGrath, Ilya Kaler, Paul Silverthrone, James Dunham, Atar Arad, Hariolf Schlichtig, Miro and Pacifica Quartets. She has attended several prestigious festivals, including The Meadowmount School of Music, Le Domaine Forget, and Aspen Music Festival and School, where she was a mentor for two summers. Takasugi joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2017-2018 season.
Matthew Umlauf
Matthew Umlauf holds a M.M. from Ball State University where he studied with Harold Levin and a B.M. from Bob Jones University where studied with Achim Gerber. Additionally, he has studied with Charles Pikler and was mentored by Jorge Sutil, Michael Isaac Strauss, and Roland Vamos. Matthew joined the Civic Orchestra of Chicago shortly after his graduate work where he collaborated with artists such as Lorin Maazel and Gidon Kremer. After his tenure in Chicago he joined the viola section of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta. As a member of the VSO, he has continued to perform with some of the leading musicians of our time such as Midori, Van Cliburn, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, and Emanuel Ax among others.
Matthew’s performances in various ensembles have been broadcast on WFMT Chicago, WHRO Hampton Roads, and NPR’s Performance Today. He has also recorded for Naxos and the VSO label, including a recent performance of Mahler’s 8th symphony. In addition, Matthew has enjoyed performing abroad. He has been invited to play principal viola for Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Dominican Republic on repeated occasions. In Mexico, he was asked to perform the world premier of the string quartet “La Tierra es nuestra casa” by Venezuelan composer, Adina Izarra in a festival in Puebla and Mexico City. Recently, he has enjoyed being part of the 2015 Santo Domingo music festival as well as the 2013 and 2015 AIMs Festivals in Austria.
Matthew enjoys performing on a modern viola by Helmuth Keller with a ca. 1820 bow by Étienne Pajeot . He and his family live in Virginia Beach near the Chesapeake Bay. In his free time he enjoys chamber music, fishing, and playing with his two daughters.
Cello
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Michael Daniels, Principal
Elise Nusbaum Hofheimer, Principal Cello Chair
Michael Daniels began studying the cello at age 12 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and continued further studies at the Brevard Music Center, in Brevard, North Carolina. He later received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While in Cincinnati, Mr. Daniels was a member of the Dayton Philharmonic and performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Pops.
He has been a member of the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, a faculty member at the Brevard Music Center, and a participant in the Grand Teton Summer Music Festival. He is also a founding member of the Adagio Trio (harp, flute, and cello), which has produced five seasonal CDs: Stillpoint, Sanctuary, Evensong, Winter Gift, and Celtic Heart. Mr. Daniels has performed as soloist regularly with the Virginia Symphony.
His solo appearances include the Saint-Saens Concerto in A minor, Haydn Cello Concerto in C, Beethoven Triple Concerto, Elgar Concerto, and duo performances with Bobby McFerrin of the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto. He has also performed chamber music concerts with Robert McDuffie, Anthony Newman, Awadagin Pratt, and Nadja Salerno-Sonenberg, and the Miami String Quartet. Mr. Daniels is currently the principal cellist of the Virginia Symphony.
Rebecca Gilmore Phillips, Assistant Principal
Rebecca Gilmore Phillips, native of North Carolina, joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1999. Currently she is Assistant Principal Cello with the VSO. In 2010, Ms. Gilmore Phillips was broadcast live on NPR for a performance of Schubert’s Guitar Quartet with JoAnn Falletta. In February 2016 she is thrilled to be performing the “Beethoven Triple Concerto” with her VSO colleagues.
Prior to being in Virginia, she performed as Principal Cellist of The Greensboro Symphony where she made her solo debut of Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations”. Much earlier in her career she soloed with the Charlotte Symphony and the Charlotte Repertory Orchestra and the latter with which she performed Haydn’s “Cello Concerto in D Major”.
Around the Hampton Roads area, Ms. Gilmore Phillips has been a featured solo and chamber artist with the Virginia Arts Festival, The Virginia Symphony and the Norfolk Chamber Consort. Her cello career has traveled up the east coast to perform with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as well as in countries all over the world. Within the United States she has both taught and performed with numerous music festivals including the New England Music Camp (Maine), the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, The Brevard Music Center, Garth Newel Chamber Music Center and the North Carolina School of the Arts’ International Music Program where she performed Saint-Saens’ “Cello Concerto” with their orchestra in ten major cities throughout Europe. During a residency in Canada with pianist/composer, Gabriela Frank, a world premiere performance of “Ríos Profundos” led to a recording titled, “It Won’t Be The Same River”. In 2006, her Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra recorded Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons”.
Ms. Gilmore Phillips’ passion for chamber music has been the impetus for a quartet journey, comprised of professionals from the VSO, notably, Ambrosia Quartet, which began in 2002. The group has been featured twice on the Feldman Chamber Music Society Series and the Williamsburg Regional Library series. Ambrosia Quartet is exploring future recordings and travel abroad.
Ms. Gilmore holds degrees in Cello Performance from Indiana and Rice Universities. Her teachers include Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Norman Fischer and Desmond Hoebig. As a teacher herself, Ms. Gilmore Phillips “carries the torch” by working with kids throughout the Hampton Roads area through the VSO’s Community Engagement Program as well as maintaining a private cello studio.
Lui Berz
Lui Berz received her Master of Cello Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from the Cleveland Institute of Music. A member of the Virginia Symphony since 2000, Lui performs cello, erhu and horsehead fiddle for events and concerts. In addition to teaching cello privately, she is the creator of successful “Notes From the Far East” Chinese presentation and “Notes From The Silk Road” multi-cultural presentation reaching over 4500 kids and adults each year in the Hampton Roads area. Lui enjoys story telling with traditional Chinese shadow puppets and plays Chinese instruments when she is away from her cello.
Lucas Button
Bio coming soon!
Isabel Dimoff
Isabel Dimoff, cellist, was born into a musical family and raised in Cleveland, OH. She has been a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2023. She is also pursuing an Artist
Diploma, studying with Julian Schwarz at the Shenandoah Conservatory, where she performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Conservatory Orchestra in February 2023. Dimoff was a
member of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra while she earned her Bachelor of Music at the University of Cincinnati and studied with Ilya Finkelshteyn, Principal Cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, Dimoff earned her Master of Music from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Anthony Elliott and founded the Belkorim Piano Trio, winner of
the school’s 2020 Binkow Grant. After graduating, she was a member of a long-distance chamber music group, [sunflower], which commissioned new music and performed exclusively online during quarantine. She has been a fellow at the Eastern Music Festival, playing with the festival orchestra, as well as the National Repertory Orchestra where she sat Principal Cello and performed the Brahms Double Concerto. While growing up in Cleveland, Dimoff studied with Mark Kosower, Principal Cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra, after beginning her cello studies with Pamela Kelly. Dimoff plays on an English cello made by John Betts in 1790.
Nancy Keevan

J. Carter Melin

Bass
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Christopher White, Principal

Mr. White also enjoys an active solo and chamber career as well, most notably as a soloist with the Virginia Symphony, performing Bottesini’s Grand Duo Concertante with violinist Pavel Ilyashov, and more recently Stravinsky’s “A Soldiers Tale” under JoAnn Falletta. Working under the Symphony’s Community Engagement Program, he has enjoyed performing for thousands of children. He currently teaches double bass at Old Dominion University and the Governor’s School for the Arts as well as teaching privately. He resides in Norfolk with his wife, Joanne Meyer White, second flute of the Virginia Symphony and their 2 children.
Scott Harris, Assistant Principal

Daphine Henderson+
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.
William McPeters
Bassist Will McPeters was born and raised in New Jersey. He began playing bass in the sixth grade, studying with Nate Lienhard and Dennis Masuzzo. In 2008 he was accepted into the Juilliard Pre-College to study with Albert Laszlo. He continued studying with Mr. Laszlo and attended The Juilliard School from 2010-2016 for both his Bachelors and Masters of Music. During this time he was Principal bass of the Juilliard Orchestra as well as Principal bass at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen and the Atlantic Music Festival. Following his time at Juilliard, Will attended The Orchestra Now for two years. In his free time he enjoys playing electric bass and guitar as well as painting and fishing.
Avery Robinson+
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 had been determined.
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. Additionally, he has received a graduate certificate from Old Dominion University as part of his tenure as an African-American fellow with the VSO during the 2022-23 season and has been invited back to participate for another year. His teachers include Rachel Calin, Albert Laszlo, and Robert Black. Avery has been a member of the Kentucky Symphony, and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. He has also worked as a substitute for the Amarillo Symphony. 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. He is an art and history buff who loves to frequent museums and galleries whenever he can. He is also a lover of sports and enjoys playing golf.
Brandon Smith
A native of Rhode Island, Brandon Smith earned his Bachelors and Masters from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where he studied with Paul Johnson, Ira Gold and Jefferey Weisner. Outside of school, Brandon has been fortunate to study with teachers such as Paul DeNola, Ali Yazdanfar, Matthew McDonald, Franco Petracchi and Susan Hagen. Festivals that Brandon has attended include the American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Eastern Music Festival and Orford Music. Brandon is an active freelancer in the DMV area, performing with groups such as the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Mount Vernon Virtuosi, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland Chamber Winds. In addition to his regular performances, Brandon is also a substitute musician with the Colorado Symphony.
In addition to performing classical music, Brandon enjoys ultra-running, climbing, cycling, photography and baking pastries.
Samuel Zagnit
A versatile bassist, composer, and educator, Sam Zagnit is a New-York-based musician who enjoys a multifaceted career. Performing and composing contemporary music make up a large part of Sam’s career, and he is dedicated to performing works by living composers and creating a more inclusive environment in every musical context. As a composer, his work focuses on self-reflection as a way to deepen connections and build intimacy with his audience and fellow musicians on stage. Sam has worked and studied with exemplary musicians from many generations, including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Orin O’Brien, Mattias Pintcher, Lucy Shelton, Jessie Montgomery, and Seth Parker Woods. Sam is part of the duo confluss, with soprano Amber Evans, an up-and-coming chamber ensemble committed to the exploration of their unique timbre and sound through performing original compositions for their ensemble, some by Sam himself. Since 2019, Sam has served as Acting Associate Principal Bass with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, where he plays alongside his former teacher, David Grossman, and this fall, Sam joins the Virginia Symphony Orchestra bass section. As an educator, Sam is a teaching artist for the Harmony Program in NYC, and leads workshops and residencies with the arts education program, LEAP. Sam is a graduate of the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Don Palma, and a recent graduate of the Performer/Composer MM at the New School.
Woodwinds
Flute
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Debra Wendells Cross, Principal
H. Lee Kanter, Principal Flute Chair
Debra Wendells Cross has held the position of Principal Flute in the Virginia Symphony and Virginia Opera, and made Norfolk her home since 1980. The Seattle native graduated with honors from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she studied with Boston Symphony member James Pappoutsakis. From there she went on to study with Michel Debost in Paris, France under the auspices of the Harriet Hale Woolly Scholarship.
Ms. Cross serves on the faculty of Old Dominion University, and for many summers was Principal Flutist of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. She spent the 2004-2005 season as interim Principal Flutist of the Buffalo Philharmonic. She has participated in many other festivals including Tanglewood, the Colorado Philharmonic, the Music Academy of the West, the Skaneateles Festival, and the Virginia Arts Festival. She is a founding member of The Virginia Chamber Players, a chamber music group that has released several recordings of the works of American composers, and has been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today.
With the Virginia Symphony’s Principal Harpist, Barbara Chapman, she recorded American Mosaics for Flute and Harp, a Christmas CD entitled Love’s Pure Light, and a lullaby CD called Dream Sweet Dreams. She can also be heard with JoAnn Falletta and Robert Allemany on a two recordings of chamber music entitled Schubert’s Guitar and Borrowed Treasures, and with the Miami String Quartet on a Musical Heritage Society recording of two Mozart Quartets. Her solo appearances with the Virginia Symphony include Mozart’s Concerto in G, Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, the Faure Fantasy, Halil by Leonard Bernstein, and the Flute Concertos of Carl Nielsen, and Lowell Lieberman.
Ms. Cross is interested in musical research and has prepared several concerts of historical significance including a program called American Flute Music of the 1920’s for the National Flute Association, and a chamber concert of American composers for the Jamestown 2007 Celebration. Debbie’s other interests include yoga, and her Labrador Retrievers, Rusty and Charlie whom she enters in dog sports trials, and takes on pet therapy visits to nursing homes and schools. She is married to Virginia Symphony Principal Percussionist and Virginia Arts Festival Director, Robert W. Cross.
Joanne Meyer White
Joanne Meyer White plays Second Flute with the Virginia Symphony, a position she has held since 1996. A native of Massachusetts, Joanne began her career in the New England area most notably as principal flute of the Vermont Symphony. She has performed with many orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Albany Symphony, Williamsburg Symphonia and Opera in Williamsburg. She completed her musical training at Boston University and McGill University in Montreal, earning her bachelors and masters degrees, respectively. She teaches at The College of William & Mary, The Governor’s School for the Arts and in her private studio. Joanne served as Coordinator of The Hampton Roads Flute Faire for six years and continues to serve on its Advisory Board.
Rachel Ordaz, Flute III/Piccolo
Rachel Ordaz is a world-class flutist with expertise in piccolo performance, and has held the position of Third Flute/Piccolo with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2012. In 2011, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University under the instruction of Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza. Ordaz completed her Master’s degree in Piccolo Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University in 2013, where she studied with Piccoloist Laurie Sokoloff. In 2016, Ordaz took 2nd place in the National Flute Association’s Piccolo Artist Competition, and was recognized for having the best performance of the newly commissioned work with the Carl Hall Prize. An avid soloist, she was featured by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C Major, RV 443. Ordaz is widely traveled, having performed with numerous orchestras including the Richmond Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and can be heard on the Oregon Symphony’s CD release, Aspects of America: Pulitzer Edition (2020). Ordaz can also be heard on the 2022 Naxos release of William Walton’s Complete Façades, performed by the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Orchestra. Committed to Hampton Roads music education, she maintains a private studio and is adjunct faculty at Old Dominion University as well as Virginia Wesleyan University.
Piccolo
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Rachel Ordaz, Flute III/Piccolo
Rachel Ordaz is a world-class flutist with expertise in piccolo performance, and has held the position of Third Flute/Piccolo with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2012. In 2011, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University under the instruction of Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza. Ordaz completed her Master’s degree in Piccolo Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University in 2013, where she studied with Piccoloist Laurie Sokoloff. In 2016, Ordaz took 2nd place in the National Flute Association’s Piccolo Artist Competition, and was recognized for having the best performance of the newly commissioned work with the Carl Hall Prize. An avid soloist, she was featured by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C Major, RV 443. Ordaz is widely traveled, having performed with numerous orchestras including the Richmond Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and can be heard on the Oregon Symphony’s CD release, Aspects of America: Pulitzer Edition (2020). Ordaz can also be heard on the 2022 Naxos release of William Walton’s Complete Façades, performed by the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Orchestra. Committed to Hampton Roads music education, she maintains a private studio and is adjunct faculty at Old Dominion University as well as Virginia Wesleyan University.
Oboe
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Alexander Mayer, Principal
Virginia Symphony League Principal Oboe Chair
Bio coming soon!
George Corbett

In addition to being a symphonic musician, Mr. Corbett is also an active soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. In concert with keyboardist Tom Marshall, the Washington Post heralds their performance as a model of elegant restraint and level headed shaping. Solo performances with Concerto Soloists include Mozart’s Symphonia Concertante for Winds, J. S. Bach’s Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Oboes in d minor, and the world premiere of Arthur Cunningham’s Adagio for Oboe and Strings. With Riverside Symphonia he was a featured soloist for Franciax’s L’horloge de flore and Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in c minor. The Virginia Symphony presented him to perform three selections: Debussy’s Rhapsodie and Donizetti’s Concertino for English Horn as well as the recent world premier of Kenneth Fuch’s Eventide for English Horn, Strings and Percussion. His playing has been highlighted by the Virginia Gazette as “marked (with) expression and feeling, superbly displaying his rich tone, musicianship, virtuoso skills and sensitivity.”
A graduate of Eastman School of Music New England Conservatory, Mr. Corbett has been on faculties of notable schools such as Lehigh University (Pennsylvania), Moravian College and Music Institute (Pennsylvania), and has appeared during the summers at Kinhaven Music School (Vermont), Summertrios (New York), Music at Gretna (Pennsylvania) and the American Institute of Musical Studies (Austria). He began playing oboe in the 8th grade under the instruction of Judith Famous, sitting next to her in the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sheldon. Amongst his instructors were James Ostryniec, Peggy Pearson, John Mack, Richard Kilmer, Al Genovese, Johathan Blumenfeld and Keith Underwood, to name a few.
Intensive studies in yoga and breathwork have led Mr. Corbett to teach workshops for professional and amateur performers alike in developing a higher level of body awareness, especially of the breathing mechanism, for performance enhancement and injury prevention. During the summers he hosts OBOE HOLIDAY, a camp for young oboists in teaching all aspects of oboe performance. He currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia.
David Garcia

From 2010-2013, Garcia performed across the United States and Canada with the 25th Anniversary Tour of Les Misérables. He has also been heard in concerts at the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, and during the summer at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Radio broadcasts include: WETA 90.9 Front Row Washington and NPR’s Performance Today as principal oboist of the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) and guest principal oboe of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, respectively.
A CD released in March 2015 with the NOW features Garcia as the solo oboe/English horn in Klaus Simon’s arrangement of Mahler’s Symphony no. 4 for chamber orchestra on the Acis label. In the spring of 2016, he had the privilege of performing Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Maestro Philippe Auguin. Garcia received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory. His teachers include Katherine Needleman, Erin Hannigan, Robert Atherholt, and John Snow.
English Horn
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George Corbett

In addition to being a symphonic musician, Mr. Corbett is also an active soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. In concert with keyboardist Tom Marshall, the Washington Post heralds their performance as a model of elegant restraint and level headed shaping. Solo performances with Concerto Soloists include Mozart’s Symphonia Concertante for Winds, J. S. Bach’s Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Oboes in d minor, and the world premiere of Arthur Cunningham’s Adagio for Oboe and Strings. With Riverside Symphonia he was a featured soloist for Franciax’s L’horloge de flore and Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in c minor. The Virginia Symphony presented him to perform three selections: Debussy’s Rhapsodie and Donizetti’s Concertino for English Horn as well as the recent world premier of Kenneth Fuch’s Eventide for English Horn, Strings and Percussion. His playing has been highlighted by the Virginia Gazette as “marked (with) expression and feeling, superbly displaying his rich tone, musicianship, virtuoso skills and sensitivity.”
A graduate of Eastman School of Music New England Conservatory, Mr. Corbett has been on faculties of notable schools such as Lehigh University (Pennsylvania), Moravian College and Music Institute (Pennsylvania), and has appeared during the summers at Kinhaven Music School (Vermont), Summertrios (New York), Music at Gretna (Pennsylvania) and the American Institute of Musical Studies (Austria). He began playing oboe in the 8th grade under the instruction of Judith Famous, sitting next to her in the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sheldon. Amongst his instructors were James Ostryniec, Peggy Pearson, John Mack, Richard Kilmer, Al Genovese, Johathan Blumenfeld and Keith Underwood, to name a few.
Intensive studies in yoga and breathwork have led Mr. Corbett to teach workshops for professional and amateur performers alike in developing a higher level of body awareness, especially of the breathing mechanism, for performance enhancement and injury prevention. During the summers he hosts OBOE HOLIDAY, a camp for young oboists in teaching all aspects of oboe performance. He currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia.
Clarinet
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Michael Byerly, Principal
Ann Lee Van Buren Principal Clarinet Chair
Principal clarinetist Michael Byerly joined the Virginia Symphony at the start of its 2014-2015 season. Originally from Oregon, he studied clarinet with William McColl and Yehuda Gilad, completing degrees at the University of Washington and the University of Southern California and earning an Artist Diploma at The Colburn School. While in Los Angeles, he gained formative orchestral experience as a substitute player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As a soloist, he won First Prize at the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition and the Pasadena Showcase House Competition. He spent three years in Nishinomiya, Japan, as a member of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, and he served for two seasons as Principal Clarinetist with the Tucson Symphony. He resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Christina Havens, who is Director of Orchestral Activities for the Virginia Symphony.
Scott Boyer

E-Flat Clarinet
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Scott Boyer

Bass Clarinet
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Margaret Albrecht
Bass Clarinetist Margaret Albrecht is looking forward to joining the Virginia Symphony for the 2022-23 season. Newly transplanted from Michigan, she studied with Bradley Wong, Stephanie Hovanian, Chad Burrow and Daniel Gilbert, earning degrees from Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan. Margaret’s orchestral experience includes the previously held position of 3rd/ Bass Clarinet with the Lima Symphony and a robust freelancing career featuring performances with the Richmond Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Saginaw Bay Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Midland Symphony, Michigan Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic and Toledo Ballet Theater among others.As a chamber musician, Margaret has collaborated on projects with Aepex Contemporary Ensemble (keep an ear out for a CD release featuring two Symphonies by Evan Ware), ArcaSonica and OperaMODO. As a teacher, Margaret maintains active studios in both Virginia and Michigan, offering a mix of online and in person lessons. She currently holds a faculty position with Greater Richmond School of Music and is former faculty of the Community Music School of Ann Arbor and Expressions Music Academy. Margaret has taught in a wide variety of settings including Masterclasses at the collegiate level as well as private lessons K-12.
When Margaret isn’t performing, she enjoys knitting and hiking with her dog, Maizy.
Bassoon
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Laura Leisring, Principal

David Savige
David Savige, Second Bassoon
David Savige the second bassoonist of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. For two years he was the second bassoonist of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., and performed with them on an Asian tour in 2009. He was the Assistant Principal/Second bassoonist of the Nashville Symphony in their 2001-2002 season, and in 2014, played bassoon and contrabassoon with the St. Louis Symphony in their opera season. Before moving to the Tidewater area of Virginia, he was the Principal bassoonist of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera and the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, and played second bassoon with Atlanta Ballet and Macon Symphony orchestras. He has also performed extensively and recorded with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, served as the second bassoonist with the Florida Orchestra, and has performed with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, and numerous chamber ensembles. He and former VSO Principal bassoonist, Andy Gott, were featured soloists with the Virginia Symphony in Vanhal’s Concerto in F for two bassoons and orchestra in 2004. He is an Artist in Residence at Christopher Newport University, and holds degrees in Performance from Temple University and the Eastman School of Music, where he also earned the Performer’s Certificate.
Contrabassoon
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Elizabeth Roberts

Elizabeth Roberts joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as their Contrabassoonist in 2017. She has served as Principal Bassoon and Director of Youth Education for the Charlottesville Symphony since 2001, and joined the music faculty at the University of Virginia the same year. She has played Second Bassoon with the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra since 2015, and has substituted on bassoon and contrabassoon with the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Washington National Opera, and Baltimore Symphony. Ms. Roberts was the Visiting Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Missouri for the 2013-2014 academic year. She joined the faculty of the New England Music Camp (Sidney, Maine) in 2017, and was a 2008 Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts nominee.
Brass
Horn
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Jacob Wilder, Principal
Kriner Family Principal Horn Chair
Jacob Wilder completed both a Bachelor’s degree and an Artist Diploma in French Horn performance at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in downtown Los Angeles. During his time in Los Angeles, Jacob played substitute french horn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Jacob has also served as a full time section member in the Colburn Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, the Industry Opera Company, Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, and Colorado College Music Festival. Beyond making music, Jacob enjoys being outdoors biking, hiking, or playing basketball.
Helen Wargelin
Horn Player Helen Wargelin is the newly appointed Second Horn of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She has previously appeared with groups including the Seattle Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the New World Symphony, and spent a year as an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She was a Horn Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center in the summer of 2022 and, over previous summers, attended the Aspen and Brevard Music Festivals. In 2021, she won the Aspen Horn Concerto Competition.
A native of Concord, MA, she holds a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude, in Horn Performance from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, along with a minor in Musicology. While at NEC, she was an Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholar. Her principal teachers include Gus Sebring, Gail Williams, and Jonathan Boen.
Everett Burns*
Everett Burns joined the Virginia Symphony as Third/Associate Principal Horn in 2016. Prior to this, he was active as a freelance musician, performing with groups including the Houston Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. He was a member of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic for four years, first as Second Horn and later as Principal Horn.
In 2012 he was a member of the pit orchestra for the tour ofShrek the Musical, which performed in the United States, Canada, China, and Malaysia. As a soloist,Everett was awarded first prize in the International Horn Society’s Premier Solo Competition in 2009.Everett holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Jeff Nelsen, Richard Seraphinoff, and Dale Clevenger.
He received his Master of Music Degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with William VerMeulen. He grew up in Richardson, Texas.
Hirofumi Tanaka
Horn Player Hirofumi Tanaka, originally from Tokyo, Japan, joined the Virginia Symphony as 4th horn at the beginning of 2022-23 season. Prior to this, he has performed as one-year 4th horn with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra during 2021-22 season. As a freelancer, he has performed with ensembles including the Arizona Opera, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, and San Antonio Symphony.
He holds Bachelor of Music degree from University of Cincinnati, and Master of Music degree from the Rice University.
Stephen Slater
French horn player Stephen A. Slater is currently Assistant Principal/Utility Horn with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Horn Instructor of the New England Music Camp, and Adjunct Professor of Horn at Christopher Newport University. Mr. Slater was most recently Second Horn (one-year) with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Principal/Utility Horn (one-year) with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and kept solo engagements with the Blue Bell Symphony in Pennsylvania and Manhattan Virtuosi in NYC, where he has performed concerti from Mozart, Britten, Gliere, and Glazunov. Stephen was
Assistant/Utility horn of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Guest Principal horn with the Israel Chamber Orchestra of Tel Aviv, and Substitute horn of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed as Principal horn of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Third horn of the Macau Symphony Orchestra, and Second horn of the Boulder Philharmonic. Mr. Slater was Solo horn of the ensemble Tales & Scales, spinning music, story, theatre, and dance into over 200 ‘musictelling’ performances.
He received a Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Institute, a master’s degree at the University of Colorado, and undergraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music. Instructors have included Denise Tryon, Michael Thornton, David Jolley, Richard Deane, Jerome Ashby, John Cerminaro, and John Zirbel. He was guest artist at the 31st Annual International Horn Symposium and grand prizewinner of the Sixth Annual Sister Mary Faustina Memorial Concert Competition in Marylhurst, Oregon.
More information can be found at www.stephenaslater.com
Trumpet
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David Vonderheide, Principal
Marc & Connie Jacobson, Principal Trumpet Chair
A native of Madison, Indiana, David Vonderheide began trumpet studies at the age of twelve. After studying with John Rommel, former Principal Trumpet with the Louisville Orchestra and current Indiana University professor of trumpet in Louisville, KY, he was admitted to Northwestern University in the prestigious studio of Vincent Chicowicz, former Second Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. It was there that he received his Bachelor of Music in 1996.
David joined the Virginia Symphony in 1998 as Second Trumpet, a position he held until 2009 when he stepped into the role of Principal Trumpet. As principal he can be heard in the VSO’s most recent recordings, The Music of Adolphus Hailstork, and on Mahler’s Eighth Symphony on the Naxos label. With the VSO, he has been featured several times as a soloist, including a performance of Haydn Trumpet Concerto during the 2012-2013 season.
As a teacher he has been on the faculties of Christopher Newport University and The College of William and Mary. At W&M he has had occasion to appear as a faculty guest soloist with several ensembles. In 2012 he performed the world premier performance of Brian Hulse’s Margins, Afterwards, a piece for solo trumpet and chorus. This work was re-imagined as a piece for trumpet, organ and percussion which David recorded in 2013. Along with another Hulse composition to be recorded in the spring of 2014, these works will be featured on a cd for national release. He is also scheduled to be the featured soloist on the Wind Ensemble’s tour of China with a preceding performance in the Kennedy Center in the spring of 2015.
In 2012, he won the job of Interim Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the 2012-2013 season. While in the ASO, David had a prominent role in many concerts, and received consistently favorable reviews, including their performance in Carnegie Hall, October 2012, where David was mentioned by name in a positive review for his many solos in Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. While in Atlanta, David took part in two exciting recording projects. He performed on the ASO’s latest CD featuring the music of Sibelius, and recorded commercial music for Coca-Cola.
Recently, David has been asked to contribute to a series of books about the teaching philosophy of his teacher Vincent Chicowicz. As one of his prominent former students, David has written segments for the books and recorded material for a companion CD recording.
Proven to be an in-demand player, David has been a candidate for several Orchestral Principal chairs, He has also played as a substitute musician in some of the country’s best orchestras and has performed in festivals in the US, Asia and Europe.
He currently resides in Portsmouth, Va. with his wife, Virginia Symphony violinist Elizabeth Vonderheide.
Jeremy Garnett
A native of West Texas, Jeremy Garnett has been playing the trumpet for 28 years. He has been a musician with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2013. In addition to his credits with the VSO, he has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, New World Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Des Moines Metro Opera, Richmond Symphony, Charlottesville Symphony, Wintergreen Music Festival, and Williamsburg Symphony. As a soloist, he has been featured with the Boston Civic Orchestra, Texas Christian University Symphony, Houston String Quartet, Williamsburg Symphony, and the Fort Worth Sinfonietta.
In 2011, Jeremy won a position with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra and performed in a series of concerts to audiences at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, and to 3.4 million viewers online. He attended Interlochen Arts camp as an Emerson Scholar, and later the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Jeremy attended the Boston Conservatory and also attended Texas Christian University. His primary teachers were Stanley Friedman, Steve Emery, Tom Booth and Jon Burgess.
As a working musician in Hampton Roads, Jeremy stays busy performing recitals, teaching in area public schools, and performing regularly at churches and events scattered across the region. When he isn’t practicing or performing, he enjoys saltwater fishing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy started a fishing guide service, operating in the many waterways along eastern Virginia and North Carolina. He can be seen on a variety of fishing shows; most notably, one of the area’s most prominent fishing YouTube channels, 1Fish2Fish. He resides in the East Oceanview area of Norfolk, Virginia with his wife, dog, and two cats.
Jeremy proudly plays Yamaha instruments.
Mark Nixon
Trumpet Player Mark Nixon joined the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as 3rd trumpet for the 2022-2023 season. From Mount Vernon, Ohio, he graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Music Performance. His primary teachers included Carol McCutcheon, Todd Davidson, and Dr. Joel Treybig (Belmont University). Mark retired from the United State Air Force in March of 2022 after serving 21 years. He performed as Principal Trumpet of the USAF Heritage of America Band and Brass Quintet as well as playing Lead Trumpet with the USAF Rhythm and Blue Jazz Band. He was a frequent soloist, performing such works as Bruce Broughton’s Excursion for Trumpet and Band, James Curnow’s Concert piece for Cornet and Band, and Herman Bellstedt’s Napoli for Cornet and Band to name a few. As an educator, He serves on the music faculty of Christopher Newport University and Old Dominion University teaching applied trumpet as well as having a private studio in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Trombone
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R. Scott McElroy, Principal

Tanner Antonetti
Trombonist Tanner Antonetti grew up in central Arkansas and began his musical studies at age 7 with piano, continuing with trombone and double bass at age 10. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Middle Tennessee State University, studying music performance with a minor in Recording Industry Management. While in Tennessee, Tanner cultivated a diverse freelance career performing with classical, jazz, and commercial ensembles in and around the Nashville area. Performing with artists including Jesus Santandreu, Duffy Jackson, Rodd McGaha, Bob Mintzer, Steve Davis, and Scott Wendholt, Tanner developed a passion for jazz that he continually pursues through education and performance. Tanner attended Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, earning a Master of Music degree. While a student, he was featured on a program of the music of Luciano Berio given by the school’s contemporary ensemble, Hear & Now, performing the composer’s Sequenza V for solo trombone. Before joining the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Tanner performed with the Arkansas, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Alabama, Albany, San Antonio, and Houston Symphony Orchestras on both tenor trombone and bass trumpet. He also spent summers studying at Eastern Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. Past mentors include Michael Underwood, Joshua Bynum, David Loucky, Per Brevig, and Allen Barnhill. Away from music, Tanner enjoys pursuing his other passions: cooking, practicing yoga, and espresso.
Bass Trombone
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Rodney Martell
Olga & Henry Bensel, Bass Trombone Chair
Rodney Martell was the first person in the VSO to be hired by former Music Director JoAnn Falletta in the fall of 1991 as bass trombonist. Mr. Martell has also been active in orchestra administration, beginning in 1993 and serving variously as librarian, personnel manager, Artistic Operations Director and currently as Artistic Administrator. As an educator, he was previously on the faculty of the College of William and Mary and Christopher Newport University and currently teaches at the Governor’s School for the Arts in addition to maintaining a private studio.
Prior to joining the VSO he gained his Bachelor’s Degree (instrumental performance and music education) from the University of Michigan and freelanced in the Michigan area including stints with the Flint Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Saginaw Symphony, Lansing Symphony and Toledo Symphony among others. Other experience has included the American Wind Symphony and the Disneyland All-American College Band. Principal teachers include H. Dennis Smith, Abe Torchinsky with additional studies with Randall Hawes of the Detroit Symphony.
Mr. Martell resides in Norfolk along with his wife Helen Martell (Virginia Symphony Director of Education/Staff conductor and Music Director of the Bay Youth Orchestras). They like to spend their summers on an island in Michigan’s Lake St. Clair.
Tuba
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Peter DuBeau, Principal

Percussion/Harp/Piano
Timpani
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Michael Laubach, Principal
Dr. Ralph R. & Barbara Stephens, Principal Timpani Chair
Originally from Pittsburgh PA, Mike received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University studying with Timothy K. Adams, Jr., Principal Timpani with the Pittsburgh Symphony (retired) and Paul Evans, Percussionist with the River City Brass Band. Postgraduate studies included a drum set performance certificate from Los Angeles Music Academy and Cleveland State University where he studied with Tom Freer, Assistant Principal Timpani/Percussion with the Cleveland Orchestra. Mike has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Charlotte Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras. Mike Currently lives in Virginia Beach with his wife Alice and son Valentine.
Percussion
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Robert W. Cross, Principal

J. Scott Jackson
J. Scott Jackson has a uniquely balanced background in the Arts as a performer, teacher/arts education advocate, and administrator.
As an Arts Administrator, Scott is currently the General Manager of the Virginia Arts Festival. Scott joined the Festival in 1996. He became Director of operations in 1998 and General Manger in 1999. As General Manger, Scott is involved in all aspects of the management of the Festival. The four largest areas of focus are Fundraising/Development, Education outreach, Office Management, and Production and Direction of the Virginia International Tattoo.
Scott has an extensive background as a performer. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor’s degree in music performance and also holds a Masters Degree in applied music from Temple University. He has performed for such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Andre Previn, Lorin Maazel, Seji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, and Simon Rattle and is currently a member of the Virginia Symphony under the direction of JoAnn Falletta. Prior to joining the VSO in 1995, Scott was a member of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas for three years. Former CNU composer in residence Dr. Jennifer Barker recently featured him performing marimba on a compact disk of her music.
As an educator, Scott has served on the faculty of Florida International University, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, and Christopher Newport University. He was a founding member of the SouthBeat percussion group in Miami, Florida which was known for its innovative educational programs.
Scott was the first director of the Virginia Arts Festival’s Education and Community Outreach Department. In that role, he created the Rhythm Project program, an after school program designed to provide positive experiences for at-risk students through the arts. That program, which began with 13 students in Portsmouth, now serves 100+ students in four Hampton Roads cities. Scott is married with three children and lives in Norfolk.
William McVay
A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Will McVay is a percussionist and educator in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area. Will spent the last three years in Boston, MA, where he earned a Master of Music with Honors from New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Boston Symphony Orchestra Section Percussionist, Will Hudgins, and spent one year at Boston University under the guidance of Boston Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist Timothy Genis and Boston Symphony Orchestra Section Percussionist Kyle Brightwell. Before Will’s time in Boston, he spent four years in Los Angeles where he received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California studying with Los Angeles Philharmonic Section Percussionist, Jim Babor, and Principal Timpanist, Joe Pereira. While primarily a symphonic percussionist, Will is equally at home in jazz and Latin settings.
Throughout his tenure in Boston, Will performed with many orchestras and ensembles in the greater Boston area. An avid performer of new music, Will attended Tanglewood Music Center twice as a fellow where he premiered pieces for orchestra, including operas, brass ensemble, percussion ensemble, and mixed chamber ensembles. During his time in Los Angeles, Will also attended Music Academy of the West as a fellow where he performed L’Histoire du soldat with the long-tenured concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, Jorja Fleezanis. While in Los Angeles, Will also participated in the Modern Snare Drum Compeitition and won finalist honors.
Harp
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Alexis Colner, Principal

Recently appointed principal harpist of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Alexis begins her first season with the VSO in the fall of 2023. In demand as an orchestral player across the country, Alexis has been invited to appear as guest principal harpist with world class orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Omaha Symphony. Additional performance credits include concerts with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Opera and Sarasota Orchestra.
Alexis served as the principal harpist of the Aspen Music Festival’s Chamber Symphony for both the 2017 and 2018 festival seasons in addition to receiving the sought after Aspen Harp Fellowship. Her festival and summer engagements have gone on to include seasons at the Britt Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival, Artosphere, Music Academy of the West, and The Orchestra of the Americas, where she has worked with pioneering music directors such as Teddy Abrams, Michael Stern, Osmo Vanska and Robert Spano, among others.
At the age of five, Alexis began her harp instruction while her family lived abroad in the Netherlands. Upon returning to the US, she studied with Seattle Symphony principal harpist Valerie Muzzolini before going on to receive her Master’s in Harp Performance at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of New York Philharmonic principal harpist Nancy Allen. Alongside her harp studies, Alexis earned her Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from USC, where she graduated at the top of her class with summa cum laude and Renaissance Scholar honors. Dedicated to spreading her love of the harp to the next generation, Alexis maintains a private studio in Norfolk and also serves on faculty at the Governor’s School for the Arts.
Alexis is a native of Portland, Oregon, where she honed an appreciation for the Pacific Northwest’s natural wonders into a love of hiking and scenic photography. When not performing, Alexis can be found anywhere from backcountry mountain trails to a local coffee shop, curled up with a good book.
Piano
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Fannie G. & Milton Friedman Piano/Keyboard Chair
Harpsichord
Gift of the Chrysler Museum of Art
from Newell H. Porter in honor of his wife Anetha L. Porter
* denotes Leave of Absence
+ denotes African American Fellowship