Violin 1
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Sheryl Staples, concertmaster
Sheryl Staples joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Associate Concertmaster in 1998, and made her solo debut with the Orchestra in 1999. She has appeared as soloist with more than 40 orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic; participated in the Santa Fe, and Seattle chamber music festivals; and been a faculty artist at the Aspen, Bowdoin, and Sarasota music festivals. She is a former member of the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio, and currently performs with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles and the Lyric Chamber Music Society. She earned an artist diploma from the University of Southern California.
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Jeanne Skrocki
Jeanne Skrocki is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony and former Concertmaster of the Opera Pacific Orchestra. Her teachers include Bonnie Bell, Manuel Compinsky and the legendary Jascha Heifetz. She made her solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 14. Ms. Skrocki is on faculty at the University of Redlands, and a member of the California Quartet and Peter Sprague String Consort.
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Bryan Lee
Bryan A. Lee studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Pamela Frank. Mr. Lee has performed twice as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and was a top prize winner at the Albert M. Greenfield, Stulberg International and Kingsville International Competitions. He has attended Ravinia's Steans Institute for Young Artists, Music from Angel Fire's Young Artist Program, ENCORE School for Strings, Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West and Perlman Music Program.
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Xiaoxiao Qiang
Xiaoxiao Qiang began musical studies at the age of four with her father, later attending the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She received her master’s degree from Rice University, where she studied with Cho-Liang Lin. She has earned top prizes at the Ruth Burr and Corpus Christi String Competitions and performed with the Houston and St. Louis Symphonies.
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Violin 2
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Sonja Harasim
Sonja Harasim, a native of Houston, Texas, has performed at festivals including Schleswig-Holstein, International Holland Music Sessions, Tanglewood, and Aspen. She holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University, where her teachers were David Updegraff and Kenneth Goldsmith. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts as a student of Cho-Liang Lin.
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Joel Link
Joel Link was a top prize winner of the Music Teachers National Association Junior High Strings Competition, Johansen Triennial International Competition and the first place winner and chamber prize winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Gwinnet Philharmonic, Prince George Philharmonic and served as concertmaster of the Curtis Institute Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Joseph Silverstein and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music.
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Julie Gigante
Julie Gigante is in demand as a chamber musician, soloist and recording artist. Educated at the Eastman School of Music, her solo appearances include performances with the New York String, Music Academy Festival and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras and the National and Phoenix Symphonies. Active in the motion picture recording industry, she was assistant concertmaster of the Phoenix Symphony and has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1986.
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Viola
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Zachary Carrettin
Zachary Carrettin completed Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance at Rice University, where he studied with Kenneth Goldsmith. He holds additional degrees in orchestral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the National University of Music in Bucharest. He has performed as soloist with the American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica and Camerata Pacifica.
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Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and collaborated with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Michael Tree and Joseph Silverstein. She has been a top prize winner at the Tertis and Tokyo International Viola Competitions and spent summers at the Marlboro, Bravo! Vail Valley and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals. She studied with Roberto Diaz and Michael Tree at the Curtis Institute of Music.
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Travis Maril
Travis Maril was a top prize winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, has had performances broadcast on "Performance Today" and collaborated with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Maril plays frequently with the San Diego Symphony, and is Lecturer and Studio Artist Teacher of Viola at San Diego State University. Recent festival appearances include La Jolla Music Society's SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.
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Cello
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Trevor Handy
Trevor Handy made his solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age 15. A graduate of The Juilliard School, his primary teacher was Leonard Rose. As cellist of the Griffon String Quartet he won grand prize at the 1991 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and works for Hollywood’s motion picture and recording studios.
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Camden Shaw
Mr. Shaw has collaborated in chamber music with such artists as Mark O’Connor, Matt Haimovitz, and Ida Kavafian as a guest artist at Music from Angelfire. In addition to his love of chamber music, Shaw has an active career as a recitalist and soloist—highlights from the 2009-10 season include a concert series with the Kansas City Symphony performing the Brahms Double Concerto., and the release of his solo album by the audiophile label Unipheye Music.
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Lachezar Kostov
Bulgarian cellist Lachezar Kostov was the National Winner at the 2006 MTNA competition and gave his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009. His first commercial CD was released by NAXOS in 2011 and includes the complete music for cello and piano by Nikolai Roslavets. He holds degrees from Yale University, North Carolina School for the Arts and the National Music Academy in Bulgaria.
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Bass
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Samuel Hager
Samuel Hager has been a member of the San Diego Symphony since October of 2006. Mr. Hager studied at Indiana University and USC with Bruce Bransby and David Moore. Mr. Hager has also played with the Oregon and Long Beach Symphonies and the Riverside and Los Angeles Philharmonics. He plays on a modern Italian double bass circa 1930 made by Giuseppi Tarantino.
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Flute
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Pamela Vliek Martchev
Pamela Vliek Martchev is principal of the Boulder Philharmonic, and often plays with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Diego and Pacific Symphonies. She can be heard on many soundtracks including The Green Hornet, The Tourist and Spiderman 3. Ms. Martchev has performed with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Billy Childs, Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey. Ms. Martchev attended the Manhattan School of Music and currently teaches at SDSU.
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Oboe
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Andrea Overturf
Andrea Overturf plays English Horn with the San Diego Symphony, a position she previously held with the Florida Orchestra. Equally adept at the oboe, she received second prize in the 2007 International Double Reed Society Gillet-Fox Solo Oboe Competition. Ms. Overturf is the first oboist ever from The Juilliard School to receive an artist diploma after completing her master’s degree. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music.
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Lara Wickes
Lara Wickes is the Principal Oboist of the Santa Barbara Symphony. She is an active performer in the Los Angeles area, playing regularly in many orchestras in the region, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in the film and television music industries. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California.
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Bassoon
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Valentin Martchev
A native of Bulgaria, bassoonist Valentin Martchev joined the San Diego Symphony in 2001 as acting principal bassoonist, and was appointed principal bassoon in 2004. Prior to coming to San Diego, he was principal bassoon of the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the performance faculty at the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2001. His festival performances include Tanglewood, Mainly Mozart and Marlboro. He is on the faculty of SDSU and plays on a 1985 Heckel Biebrich.
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Ryan Simmons
Ryan Simmons plays Second Bassoon with the San Diego Symphony and Principal Bassoon with Orchestra Nova San Diego. Mr. Simmons has also played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, his teachers include Bernard Garfield, Steven Maxym and Norman Herzberg. He has played and participated in many festivals including Marlboro, Tanglewood, National Repertory Orchestra, Mainly Mozart and La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest. In addition to performing, Ryan Simmons is the owner of RS Woodwinds, a woodwind repair shop.
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French Horn
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Keith Popejoy
Keith Popejoy is principal horn of the Pacific Symphony and has been principal horn of Opera Pacific, and assistant principal horn of the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera. He is a native of San Diego, where both parents and two grandparents played with the San Diego Symphony. Keith has played frequently with La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and was featured in the nationally broadcast performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #1.
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Tricia Skye
Currently in her thirteenth season with the San Diego Symphony, Tricia Skye has performed concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic as well as La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, the Mainly Mozart festival and Orchestra Nova. She studied privately with Jerry Folsom, James Decker and Joseph Meyer. Ms. Skye has worked as a recording musician playing for numerous records, television shows and movies.
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Trumpet
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Ray Nowak
Ray Nowak is a founding member of the San Diego based brass quintet Presidio Brass. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Philharmonics Orchestra, and the Pacific and San Diego Symphonies. He is currently a member of the Santa Barbara Symphony and the California Philharmonic, and was Assistant Principal Trumpet of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife. He holds degrees from California State Long Beach and UCLA.
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Bill Owens
Bill Owens is a member of the Los Angeles-based national touring ensemble, Presidio Brass. Mr. Owens plays in southern California’s only brass, organ and percussion ensemble, Millennia Consort. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony and the Ojai Festival Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s degree from The Julliard School in 2005.
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Timpani
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Jason Ginter
Former Principal Timpanist of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Ginter’s varied career includes solo performances with orchestra, appearances on recordings and authoring a book of exercises for percussionists. He founded JGpercussion, a company with the goal of creating the highest quality timpani mallets available. Mr. Ginter is a protégé of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist Timothy Adams, Jr., with whom he studied at Carnegie Mellon University.
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