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ALUMNI RESOURCES

We have over 2,500 amazing alumni in our directory from AYS’ rich 56 year history. It is important to us that we keep our relationship going strong after your time playing with AYS. There are a few ways AYS Alumni can stay in touch. 

Keep Us Updated

Help keep our Alumni directory updated by completing our Alumni Updates Form and sharing your most updated contact information, success stories, and where you are today. We would love to hear from you!

Join the Community!

Join the AYS Alumni FB Group and connect with each other on music related opportunities, events, and conversations. 

Receive the monthly AYS Alumni Newsletter. Sign up here

Email us your favorite AYS Memory! We would love to hear from you and what you enjoyed about your time being in AYS. Email us at AYS@AYSymphony.org

Add Your Support

Consider making a monthly or one-time donation to AYS in support of musician stipends, community programs, and keeping our concerts free to audiences. Visit our ways to give page to learn how you can get involved. 

Alumni Newsletter Archive

NOVEMBER 2021

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AUGUST 2021

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APRIL 2021

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SEPTEMBER 2021

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MAY 2021

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MARCH 2021

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Past Alumni Events

AYS Alumni Trivia Night with Sheltered Trivia

Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:00pm Pacific

FREE! Registration Required. Hosted on Zoom.

The 56th Annual Gala Week celebration kicks off with a special event, exclusively for you. Gather virtually with friends and fellow AYS musicians for a fun night of trivia. Facilitated by Richard Londsdorf of Sheltered Trivia, small teams will work together to answer general trivia questions – competing against other teams to be the victor. Test your knowledge and meet and network with other AYS alumni and musicians.

Bring a drink and your savvy brain to this Alumni Night hosted on Zoom Thursday, May 27th at 5:00pm Pacific. Click the button below to register.

Alumni News and Positions

Alumni in Orchestras:

AYS Alumni have joined the finest orchestras, enjoy successful careers in recording, and are on the faculties of prestigious schools. Their success speaks to the impact of our training program. We value your updates to this incomplete list!

ALABAMA SYMPHONY
Richard Cassarino, bass
Brad Whitfield, assistant principal clarinet

ATLANTA SYMPHONY
Joseph McFadden, bass

AUCKLAND ORCHESTRA (New Zealand)
Sophia Acheson, viola
Jonah Levy, associate principal trumpet
Steven Logan, principal timpani

BAKERSFIELD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Laura Arganbright, principal oboe

Allison Cjorkedal, harp

Catherine Baker, principal flute

John Hester, bass

Aija Mattson-Jovel, principal horn

Jay Rubottom, bass

BERKELEY SYMPHONY
Franklyn d’Antonio, concertmaster & orchestra manager
Rene Mandel, executive director
Cheonho Yoon, principal trumpet

BOSTON SYMPHONY
Rachel Childers, horn

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF PHILADELPHIA
Stephen Tavani, concertmaster

CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY                                                       

Taylor Marino, principal clarinet                                              

Brice Burton, principal percussion

CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Philip Marten, assistant concertmaster

CHICAGO SYMPHONY
John Bruce Yeh, asst. principal clarinet
Karen Basrak, cello

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Stephen Tavani, asst. concertmaster                                   

Michael Sachs, principal trumpet
Richard Weiss, asst. principal cello

COLORADO SPRINGS PHILHARMONIC
Sergei Vassiliev, principal clarinet

COLORADO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Nicholas Recuber, asst. principal bass

DENMARK NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
Stanislav Zakrievski, violin

DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Bing Wang, violin

DETROIT SYMPHONY
Michael Ke Ma, asst. principal bassoon
Peter McCaffrey, cello
Shannon Orme, clarinet
Hang Su, viola
Robert Williams, principal bassoon
Johanna Yarbrough, horn

ENSEMBLE ORCHESTRAL DE PARIS
Joel Sultanian, viola

FORT WORTH SYMPHONY
Allan Steele, principal cello                                                       

Anna Kolotylina, principal viola

GRAND RAPID SYMPHONY
Joel Schekman, bass clarinet

Hawaii Symphony
Anna Lenhart, principal horn

HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA
Tim Barr, principal bass
Nicole Bush, violin
Rose Corrigan, principal bassoon
Gregory Goodall, percussion
Armen Ksajikian, associate principal cello
Barry Newton, bass
Radu Pieptea, violin

INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA                             

Conrad Jones, principal trumpet

KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY
Maria Crosby, cello
Joseph Petrasek, associate principal percussion
Raymond Santos, principal clarinet

KITCHENER-WATERLOO SYMPHONY
Edwin Outwater, music director

KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Claire Chenette, principal oboe
Garrett McQueen, bassoon

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Maia Jasper, violin
Armen Ksajikian, associate principal cello
Connie Kupka, violin
Damian Montano, bassoon
Searmi Park, violin
Steven Scharf, violin & personnel manager
David Washburn, principal trumpet

LOS ANGELES OPERA
Tamsen Beseke, violin
Ryan Darke, trumpet
Marlow Fisher, viola
Mary Gale, clarinet
Gregory Goodall, principal timpani
Jennifer Johnson, oboe & english horn
Jenny Kim, horn
Daniel Kelley, horn
William May, bassoon
Jayme Miller, violin
David Stenske, associate concertmaster
Andrew Ulyate, trumpet
John Walz, principal cello
Mark Zimosky, percussion

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
Kazue Asawa-McGregor, librarian
Raynor Carroll, percussion (retired)
Richard Elegino, viola
Jerry Epstein, viola (retired)
Barry Gold, cello
Michele Grego, bassoon
David Howard, clarinet
Matthew Howard, principal percussion
Ingrid Runde Hutman, viola
David Allen Moore, bass
Jeffrey Reynolds, bass trombone
Peter Rofe, bass
Brent Samuel, cello
Barry Socher, violin (retired)
Lawrence Sonderling, violin (retired)
Dennis Trembly, principal bass
Bing Wang, associate concertmaster

LOUISIANA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Jack Pena, principal bassoon

MACAO ORCHESTRA (China)
Christian Goldsmith, principal trombone
Lu Ya, violin

MANCHESTER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Andrew Tang, viola

METROPOLITAN OPERA
Kari-Jane Docter, cello

MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Ilana Setapen, associate concertmaster
Benjamin Adler, assistant principal clarinet

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA
Gregory Milliren, associate principal flute

NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
James Zimmermann, principal clarinet
Patrick Kunkee, co-principal trumpet

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Paul DeNola, bass

NEW YORK CITY OPERA
Montgomery Hatch, percussion

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
Michelle Kim, assistant concertmaster
Roger Nye, bassoon
Cynthia Phelps, principal viola
Sheryl Staples, associate concertmaster

NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY
Sunrise Kim, cello

OREGON SYMPHONY
Silu Fei, viola                                                                               

Seth Bigolini, cello

PACIFIC SYMPHONY
Rose Corrigan, principal bassoon
Maia Jasper, violin
Marisa Sorajja, violin

PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
Brook Speltz, cello

PHOENIX SYMPHONY
Viviana Cumplido, principal flute

RENO PHILHARMONIC                                                       

Makena Clark, violin

SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY
Marisa Bushman, viola
Martha Long, principal flute

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY
Benjamin Jaber, principal horn
Rose Lombardo, principal flute
Julia Pautz, violin                                                                 

Johanna Nowik, viola                                                                

Yao Zhao, principal cello

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Yun Chu, violin
Yun-Jie Liu, associate principal viola
Brian Marcus, bass
Bruce Roberts, horn
Daniel G. Smithassociate principal double bass

SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY
Nigel Armstrong, concertmaster

SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Eduardo Rios, 1st Assistant Concertmaster                         

Sayaka Kokubo, viola                                                             

Dana Jackson, 3rd Bassoon/ Contrabassoon

SHANGHAI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA                                 

Julian Zheng, principal horn

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Yu Ling Duan, violin

SPOKANE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Zhe Song, violin

ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY
Anna Spina, horn

SYMPHONY TACOMA                                                             

Carrie Rexroat, horn

TORONTO SYMPHONY
Theodore Chan, bass

TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Gabrielle Castriotta, oboe
Laura Odegaard-Stoutenborough, principal clarinet
Conrad Jones, principal trumpet

U.S. AIR FORCE
Christine Lightner, cello

U.S. ARMY FIELD BAND
J.G. Miller, principal horn

VANCOUVER SYMPHONY
Ryan Zwahlen, principal oboe

VIRGINIA SYMPHONY
Gabriel Campos Zamora, principal clarinet

Alumni News:

Recent Accomplishments by AYS Alumni include:

EDUCATION:

Mariko de Napoli, first violin ’20: Accepted at Northwestern University for grad school

Mark Lillie, bass ’20: Aceepted to The Julliard School

Miles Mateus, contrabassoon ’20: Accepted to Glenn Gould School for grad school

Tatum Hodgson, cello ’20: Accepted to Cleveland Institute of Music

Johanna Nowik '20

ORCHESTRA POSITIONS:

Johanna Nowik, principal viola ’20: viola section member for San Diego Symphony

Devan Jaquez '19

COMPETITIONS:

Devan Jaquez, flute ‘19 won the 2nd prize for the 2021 Sphinx Excerpt Competition for the Woodwind Division

Sergio Coehlo, Principal Clarinet (2015-present):
Runner up in the Classics Alive Young Artists Auditions, and finalist in the 2018 Hennings-Fischer Young Artists Competition.

 

Garrett McQueen '11
Coleman Itzkoff '17

SOLO ENGAGEMENTS AND MORE:

Adam Mendelsohn, violin ‘05 received his PhD in Bioengineering at UCSF/ UC Berkeley and founded a company (www.nanoprecisionmedical.com) which develops implantable devices that deliver medicine over many months for treatment of chronic diseases, starting with Type 2 Diabetes.

Coleman Itzkoff, cello ‘17 featured on NBC News in February 2021 for his virtual concerts with COVID-19 and Cancer patients with Project: Music Heals Us. 

Garrett McQueen, Principal Bassoon ’11 hosted SiriusXM Symphony Halls Living American show in February 2021. Listen to Garrett weekly on his podcast, Trilloquy

Geneva Lewis, violin ‘16 was awarded the 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Yvette Holzwarth, violin ‘08 released a new album Luka on Croatia Records in February 2021.

Geneva Lewis '16 Photo Credit: Motti Fang-Bentov

Congratulations to these talented members and alumni! We love seeing our musicians succeed. If you have news about an AYS musician, email ays@aysymphonyorg, and we'll be happy to share your announcement with our community. ​