Bios
Peter Bay, Music Director, Conductor
Peter Bay is celebrating his 13th full season as Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony, and has been Music Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, OR since 1993.
Maestro Bay’s guest appearances have included the National, Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, West Virginia, Colorado, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Richmond, Alabama, Arkansas, Canton, Eugene, Fort Worth, Springfield, Bochum (Germany), Carinthian (Austria), Lithuanian National Symphonies, the Minnesota and Algarve (Portugal) Orchestras, the Louisiana, Buffalo, Rhode Island, Tulsa, Fort Wayne and Reno Philharmonics, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Eastman (Postcard from Morroco) and Aspen Opera Theaters (The Ballad of Baby Doe), and the Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center. Summer music festival appearances have included Aspen (CO), Music in the Mountains (CO), Grant Park and Ravinia (IL), Round Top (TX), OK Mozart (OK) and Skaneateles (NY).
Peter is the primary conductor for the ASO’s performances with Ballet Austin. He made his Austin Lyric Opera debut in January 2002 with Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, conducted Verdi’s La Traviata in November 2002, Puccini’s Turandot in November 2003, and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in April 2005.
Other positions held by Mr. Bay have included Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival (CO) and four different conducting posts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. Bay and the Richmond Symphony recorded the US premiere performance of Britten’s “The Sword in the Stone” for Opus One Records. His CD Voices, featuring the percussion ensemble NEXUS and the Rochester Philharmonic, is on the Nexus CD label.
A native of Washington, DC, Mr. Bay is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Peabody Institute of Music. In 1994, he was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Leonard Bernstein American Conductors Program. He was also the first prize winner of the 1980 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductors Competition and a prize winner of the 1987 Leopold Stokowski Competition sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra in New York.
Jessica Mathaes, Concert Master, violin
Hailed as “something to behold” by the Village Voice, award-winning violinist Jessica Mathaes enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, recording artist, educator and concertmaster of the Austin Symphony. Ms. Mathaes has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, and has toured Europe several times. Her debut CD, Suites and Sweets, was released on the Centaur label in 2009 to critical acclaim in Fanfare, Audiophile Audition, and MusicWeb International (UK) among others. She also appears regularly in recital across the country, and her interpretation of Korngold’s Much Ado About Nothing was featured in 2010 on Performance Today in a segment highlighting music based on the works of William Shakespeare.
Ms. Mathaes was appointed concertmaster of the Austin Symphony in 2005, becoming the youngest person to occupy the chair and the first woman concertmaster in the symphony’s 100-year history. The Austin Chronicle selected her debut as featured soloist with the orchestra as one of the “Top 10 classical music wonders of 2007,” declaring her “a master of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto.” A champion of new music, she has premiered works of numerous composers such as Pierre Jalbert, Paul Reale, Andrew McKenna Lee, and the thrice Pulitzer-nominated composer and Austin Symphony bassist P. Kellach Waddle. In 2010 Ms. Mathaes was invited to perform a solo recital in New York City featuring multiple world premieres written for her by composers of the Random Access Music Composer’s Collective.
Ms. Mathaes has conducted master classes at universities across the United States, and has served on the faculty of the Hot Springs Music Festival and the International Festival-Institute at Round Top. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she made her orchestral solo debut at age 16, performing Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3. Ms. Mathaes holds performance degrees from Rice University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and performs on a violin crafted in 1807 by Johannes Cuypers, who is known as the Dutch Stradivarius. For more information, please visit http://www.jessicamathaes.com.
Jennifer Bourianoff, violin
Jennifer has a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Cleveland Institute of Music. She also has her minor in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. Ms. Bourianoff went on to receive her Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently a doctoral candidate at UT Austin.
Jennifer has been Assistant Concertmaster with the Austin Symphony since 1997 and has been playing with the ASO for a total of 18 years. She is also the founder and CEO of Hyde Park Strings.
Ms. Bourianoff is a native Austinite. Her mother is the Minister at Hyde Park Presbyterian Church and her Father is a Plasma Physicist working for Intel. Jennifer’s sister is a Corporate Lawyer for AT&T and also serves on the Board of Directors for Zachary Scott Theatre.
Brenda Sansig, trombone
With much encouragement from her junior high band director and algebra teacher, Brenda Sansig started taking trombone seriously at age twelve. By the time she was just fourteen, she was already playing professionally in Southwestern Pennsylvania as a freelance musician. As a senior in high school, she attended the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts.
Upon graduation from high school, Ms. Sansig enlisted in the United States Army Band. She was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Clayton, Panama. While in the service, she performed for such dignitaries as Ronald Reagan and Colin Powell among others.
After receiving her honorable discharge, she attended the University of Texas at Austin earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. While at UT, her primary teachers were Donald Knaub, Allen Barnhill, and Wayne Barrington.
While living in Austin, Brenda has become very busy freelancing in the area. She plays principal trombone in the Austin Symphony, Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra, and the San Antonio Opera Orchestra. She had performed with the Mid-Texas Symphony for a number of years. She had also been a regular member of the Victoria Symphony, and has appeared with the Houston Symphony and the San Antonio Symphony on numerous occasions, as well as local back-up bands.
Generally during the week it is business as usual, serving on the faculty of Texas Lutheran University where she teaches low brass lessons and masterclasses. In addition to her university duties, she participates in the private lesson program at Austin High Schools.
Steve Bryant, tuba
Steven Bryant, Associate Professor of Tuba/Euphonium at the University of Texas at Austin, also serves as Principal Tubist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra. He was a founding member of the University’s Faculty Brass Quintet, the UT Brass, and the Texas Tuba Quartet. He served as Director of Undergraduate Studies for the School of Music and as Treasurer for the International Tuba/Euphonium Association (formerly TUBA) for six years. Mr. Bryant is the Associate Director for Administrative Affairs for the Butler School of Music.
Professor Bryant received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory from The Ohio State University, a Master of Music in Tuba Performance from Wichita State University, and continued his graduate work at The University of Iowa. In 1986 he hosted an International Tuba Euphonium Conference, sponsored by UT-Austin and the Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association. He organizes and hosts the annual Merry Tuba Christmas Austin celebration.
Jack Laumer, trumpet
Professor of Trumpet since 1977 at Texas State University, Mr. Laumer has performed and taught master classes in Russia, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Brazil. Since 1977 he has played in the Austin Symphony where he is currently associate principal trumpet. He has also performed with the Austin Lyric Opera orchestra. Since 1999, Laumer has been performing on baroque trumpet with the Texas Early Music Project, the Texas Bach Choir, the Southwest Baroque Ensemble and the University of Texas Early Music Ensemble. He has studied baroque trumpet with Leonard Candelaria, Edward Tarr and Niklas Eklund. Laumer completed an undergraduate degree in music education at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where he was a finalist in the young artist’s competition of the Minnesota Orchestra. He received a Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. While in New York, he played co-principal in the National Orchestral Association Orchestra, National Orchestral Association Brass Quintet, and was first trumpet and soloist with the Goldman Band. He studied trumpet with Ron Hasselmann of the Minnesota Orchestra, Cecil Collins of the Manhattan School of Music, and William Vacchiano of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Laumer also taught and conducted classes at Music and Art High School and Performing Arts High School in New York. After conducting band, orchestra, and jazz band at Manchester College in Indiana for four years, and playing with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Laumer arrived in Texas in 1977. In 1978, Mr. Laumer established the Texas State University Trumpet Ensemble. He has rehearsed and conducted the ensemble for eight International Trumpet Guild conferences.
Leah Zeger, violin
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, violinist and vocalist Leah Zeger comes from a family of classical musicians. Having played the violin since the age of six, she has won numerous awards and soloed with orchestras in and around Texas. At 15, she made her solo debut playing the first movement of the Wiieniawski Violin Concerto with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra. That same year, Zeger began studying voice with leading American mezzo-soprano, stage director, and professor, Katherine Ciesinski. Zeger attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts from 1999-2001, and was the concert-master of the Lamar High School Orchestra from 2001-02 with which she performed the Bach Double at Carnegie Hall that spring. In 2002, Leah won a scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin. She has a a Bachelor of Arts in Opera Performance from the University of Texas. At 19 years of age, whilst studying voice and jazz improvisation, she won a tenured position in the 1st violin section of the Austin Symphony Orchestra becoming the youngest member on staff.
Leah’s eclectic range on the violin covers many musical styles including bluegrass, flamenco, jazz, and blues. She demonstrates tremendous versatility outside of classical music with numerous groups. From 2006-07, she performed as the lead singer/violinist/dancer with the international world-touring fiddle concert sensation Barrage across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Leah joined blues guitarist Aaron Loesch at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Blues Festival in Chicago in July 2007 alongside prominent artists such as Alison Krauss, John Mayer and B.B. King. She worked with Loesch on his new studio album of classically-infused blues originals with Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam) heading the project. Zeger has performed with Will Taylor of Will Taylor and Strings Attached, former member of Turtle Island String Quartet, and appears as a guest vocalist/violinist with the Austin Pops Orchestra . She has worked with the likes of Indie Rock band, Voxtrot and Austin’s own Bob Schneider. She recently recorded with the Americana group, Aaron and the Polynomials and sings/plays for Austin group, Leah and the Moonlighters (leahandthemoonlighters.com)
While in the Austin Symphony, Zeger has played with soloists including Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowitz, Yo Yo Ma, Elvis Costello, and bands such as Air Supply, Pink Martini, Asleep at the Wheel, The 4 Tops, the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, and Charlie Daniels, with whom she was selected to duel on the tune Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Zeger performed and recorded a concerto composed by Austin film composer, Graham Reynolds under Gabriel Prokofiev’s record label, NonClassical. She has performed in numerous SXSW showcases and recently performed with Pearl Jam on their live filming of Austin City Limits. Her international touring band “The Hudsons” won Best Folk Band of 2009 in the Austin Chronicle Awards.
Leah recently opened for American Idol finalist, Jason Castro, at an event in Austin. She has also toured with the Trans-siberian Orchestra on their Texas tour and performs at various corporate events in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Zeger currently resides in Austin and Los Angeles.
Stephen Girko, clarinet
Presently principal clarinetist with the Austin Symphony, Stephen Girko was appointed as principal clarinetist with the San Antonio Symphony for the 1999-2000 season. Prior to that, he was the principal clarinetist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1975 through 1998. He made his debut appearance with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra by performing the Clarinet Concerto of Aaron Copland, with the composer conducting. Since then Mr. Girko has appeared as soloist performing the concertos of Mozart, Nielsen, & Weber, as well as the Introduction, Theme & Variations of Rossini & the Premiere Rhapsodie of Debussy.
Stephen Girko was born in New York City. He attended the State University College of New York at Potsdam, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in music education in 1965. The following year, he received his Master of Music degree in performance from The Manhattan School of Music. After a year of teaching, Mr. Girko fulfilled his military obligation by performing with the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, N.Y. While at West Point, he also played principal clarinet with both the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra. Upon leaving the military, Stephen was appointed principal clarinetist with the Oklahoma City Symphony, a position he held for four years. He subsequently served as associate principal clarinetist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra for a year before coming to Dallas.
Mr. Girko has also enjoyed an active career as a teacher, having taught at Oklahoma University for four years as well as Southern Methodist University for 18 years. His students are represented in orchestras and colleges throughout the United States. Mr. Girko is a frequent soloist and clinician at various clarinet symposia, as well as having been a member of Music in the Mountains, a summer chamber orchestra festival held in southwestern Colorado and The Carmel Bach Festival.
Mr. Girko is presently on the faculty of San Antonio College, Our Lady of the Lake University, The University Of The Incarnate Word and Saint Mary’s University as well as teaching clarinet in the San Antonio public schools.
Mr. Girko, a skilled cook, owns and operates a small catering company called “Eat My Pizza!” Steve takes to his client’s home the ingredients with which to make New York style pizzas as well as an incredibly delicious salad. After the guests have observed his culinary skills and have filled themselves with the fruits of his labor, he will then entertain them by performing both classical and popular music on his clarinet.
Paula Bird, violin
Paula E. Bird, an accomplished violinist and pianist, received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, her M.M. from Texas State University, and is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio. She also studied music performance (violin and piano) at Temple University in Philadelphia with Helen Kwalwasser and Marian Filar, where Bird received the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award. A former member of the San Antonio Symphony and the Austin Lyric Opera, Bird has been a member of numerous professional symphony orchestras in Pennsylvania and Texas, including the Harrisburg, Waco, Victoria, and Corpus Christi Symphonies. Bird has also played with the Winters Chamber Orchestra (Soloist and Assistant Concertmaster) and the Laredo Philharmonic. Bird has performed in numerous master classes as a violinist and pianist with Jaime Laredo, Elmar Oliveira, Leonard Rosen, Franco Gulli, and Eugene Fodor. Bird currently plays first violin with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and serves as Associate Concertmaster and Master Class Clinician with the Sunriver Music Festival in Oregon. She is also a principal player, soloist, and chamber player with the Conspirare Choir and the Victoria Bach Festival under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson. Paula currently teaches theory, chamber music, private violin lessons, Mariachi violin sectionals, and String Techniques classes at Texas State University. She is also a certified teacher of Dr. Suzuki’s Talent Education Method and maintains an extensive private studio in Wimberley, TX. In addition to her responsibilities with Texas State University, including the University Summer Strings Camp, Bird is a faculty member of the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio summer camp and was the Director of the former Texas State University Suzuki String Institute. As a pianist, Bird has accompanied recitalists at UTSA and SAC in San Antonio, Indiana University, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Texas Lutheran College. Bird was also the accompanist for the San Antonio Symphony’s Operation Opera and for Richard Stoltzman (clarinet) in school concerts for the Austin Symphony.
Paula also has a passion for mini long-haired dachshunds and breeds them. See her website http://dachshundmini.com
Joan Ely Carlson, violin
Joan Ely Carlson is a tenured violinist in the Austin Symphony Orchestra and also a member of the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra. She performs on baroque violin regularly with La Follia Austin Baroque and has performed with the Texas Early Music Project and as part of the St. Cecilia Series’ Baroque Festival at First Presbyterian Church in Austin. Also a singer, she has been a member of Conspirare since 1998 and sings in the Compline Choir of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, often serving as cantor for the short, meditative service of ancient evening prayer. In the civilian world, Joan is a recovering lawyer and a Crossfitter who can deadlift her body weight and then some. This keeps her in shape for doing her main thing: joyfully doing the bidding of her two daughters: Clara, four, and Emma, seven.
Richard Kilmer, violin
Richard Kilmer began playing the violin at the age of four in Tulsa, Oklahoma and quickly became an accomplished young violinist under the early tutelage of Mazie Kilmer, Richard’s mother and first violin teacher. Richard performed on many recitals as a young man in Tulsa and decided to attend the Eastman School of Music where he was Concertmaster during an historic University Orchestra tour to the USSR in 1960. After achieving the Artist Diploma from Eastman, he moved overseas to study with Authur Grumiaux at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and with Szymon Goldberg in Amsterdam where he performed in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. Richard lived in Amsterdam for fifteen years as a member of the famed Amati Quartet and the Mendelssohn Trio, performing worldwide with these ensembles. In addition, he has appeared as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Michoacan (Mexico) and with the Sinfonica Nacional de El Salvador. He is currently Principal Second Violin with the Austin Symphony and maintains a busy teaching schedule of private violin students and chamber music ensembles.
Bruce Williams, viola
Bruce Williams began his professional career at age sixteen and three years later won a position with the Fort Worth Symphony. Four years later, he traveled to Israel to become principal violist in the Haifa Symphony and a member of the Haifa Clarinet Trio, performing all over Israel and Europe. Upon returning to the United States, he became a member of The Orchestra of Santa Fe as assistant principal. During that time, he was in great demand as a free-lance player as well, traveling all over Texas performing with various musical organizations. Currently Bruce is the principal violist in The Victoria Bach Festival and The Austin Symphony and in 2003, won The Austin Critics’ Table award for Outstanding Instrumentalist for his performance with the ASO of “Harold in Italy” by Hector Berlioz. He is also a member of the Allegro Chamber Trio with Flutist Megan Meisenbach and harpist Mary Golden. This group has been touring the United States for years and has been featured on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and recorded on Centaur records as The Meisenbach / Golden Duo. Bruce also recently finished a recording project on the Harmonia Mundi label with the twice Grammy Award nominated Choral group Conspirare conducted by Craig Hella Johnson and featuring the music of the popular young British composer Tarik O’Regan.
Douglas Harvey, cello
Douglas Harvey performed his first concert as a member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra at the age of seventeen. At the age of eighteen, he won an audition to become the Orchestra’s Acting Principal cellist and performed his first concert in that position shortly after. In 2002 the position became his, following a national audition, thus making him the youngest Principal Cellist in the almost 100 year history of the Orchestra. In 2003 Harvey shared the stage as soloist with celebrated news anchor Hugh Downs, Peter Bay, and the Austin Symphony, in a performance of Dan Welcher’s massive oratorio, “JFK: The Voice of Peace,” for solo cello, narrator, symphony orchestra, and choir. The Austin-American Statesman said, “ASO principal cellist Douglas Harvey, in his first solo appearance with the orchestra, provided a strong and expressive musical representation of JFK, choosing to emphasize the more inward, sensitive aspects of the man.” The success of his performances led to the presentation of a J.B. Vuillaume cello, the JFK Award, presented by the Amatius Foundation, and the world premieres of two additional works, one of which written for him by the composer (Welcher), in New York’s Steinway Hall.
Harvey began playing the cello at the age of 9 in the fourth grade public school program in San Antonio, Texas. Two years later he began private study with Mrs. Annette DiGiosia, cellist with the San Antonio Symphony, and over the next several years he won numerous first place awards in every local competition that he entered. He began further study at age thirteen with Emeritus Professor Paul Olefsky of the University of Texas at Austin.
Douglas performed his first concerto as solo cellist with the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio at the age of 13, and made his debut as soloist with the San Antonio Symphony at the age of 15. At the age of 15, he began study of the Kodaly Sonata for Solo Cello Op. 8, which he has performed at two World Cello Congress events in College Park, Maryland. At age 16 he was the youngest cellist in history to be invited by the University of Texas at Austin to perform a full recital on its campus. He won first place awards in the 2000 William C. Byrd International Competition, the Idyllwild International Young Artists Competition, and the Corpus Christi International Competition, as well as two first place solo Bach prizes awarded at the Corpus Christi and Kingsville International Competitions.
Since then, Mr. Harvey has performed almost 20 different works for cello and orchestra including works by: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Boccherini, Dvorak, Elgar, Faure, Haydn, Lalo, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Vivaldi, and others. In 2007, Douglas gave the Texas premiere of the Concertino for Cello and String Orchestra by Irving Schlein in the presence of the composer’s son, the late Dr. Peter Schlein, with conductor Anthony Corrora and the Austin Symphony during the Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park series. Last summer he performed the Brahms Double Concerto in Bear Valley, California, with violinist Larry Shapiro, and conductor Carter Nice.
He has given performances for St. Austin’s Catholic Church, the Austin Chamber Music Center, the Amatius Chamber Music Series at the Dell Jewish Community Center, Austin’s Classical Guitar Society, Into the Light Live, the University of Texas at Austin Jessen Series, the UT PAC at Bates, Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas State University in San Marcos, and performs regularly with the Chamber Soloists of Austin, and in intimate chamber music concerts with the Salon Concert Series. Harvey has also been the Principal Cellist of the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra since 2005.
Douglas Harvey, as a member of the Tosca Strings, has twice toured through America and abroad with David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. Live broadcasts from the tours have included, David Letterman (CBS), On the Record with Bob Costas (HBO), Later with Jools Holland, London BBC, and Live at the Union Chapel, London BBC DVD. The tour featured performances at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and many others and was named in the top-ten of live touring shows by Rolling Stones Magazine, and the number one live show from the Dallas Morning News. Harvey has also recorded and worked locally with Ray Benson (Beyond Time), David Byrne (Grown Backwards), Matt Morris and Justin Timberlake (When Everything Breaks Open), Andrew Heller (Christmas Wonder, Places), Disney’s (Merry Little Christmas), and others.
Douglas plays on the Grand Prize winning “Emperor” cello made c. 1860 in Paris by Gand Freres, commissioned by the Emperor Napoleon III.
Elaine Barber, harp
Elaine Barber began playing the harp at the age of ten, and began playing professionally in her native Mississippi four years later. She earned her master’s degree at the Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, studying with Beatrice Rose. Ms. Barber is Principal Harpist for Austin Symphony and Austin Lyric Opera. She has been a featured soloist at the American Harp Society National Conference, and with Austin Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Shepherd Symphony, and Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral musician she has performed with Spoleto USA, San Antonio Symphony, Houston Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Mississippi Symphony and Mississippi Opera. She has performed with Ray Charles and Pavorotti, for the King of Norway and the Governor of Mississippi, on movie and video game soundtracks and children’s TV shows. She plays with central Texas chamber music groups such as Cactus Pear Music Festival, Chamber Soloists of Austin, Musical Bridges Around the World, Musical Offerings, Salon Concerts, Texas Early Music Project, Victoria Bach Festival and Viola By Choice. She has recorded for the Naxos, Nonesuch and Matador labels, and has premiered solo and chamber works by Gordon Jones, James Sclater, Peter Stopschinski, and P. Kellach Waddle. Ms. Barber maintains a private teaching studio in Austin and has been on the faculty of Austin Chamber Music Center, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Abilene Summer Music Festival, University of Texas Harp Camp, and Mississippi College. She has two nicely grown children and a sweet old dog.
Colleen McCullough, violin
A native of Kansas, violinist Colleen McCullough has established herself as a gifted young artist in many arenas of the violin world. Ms. McCullough has performed for important dignitaries, including President George W. Bush at the Hall’s mansion in Kansas City and the Bob Bullock museum in Austin, as well as for Secretary of State Madeline Albright at the Truman Library in Missouri. As an orchestral soloist, Ms. McCullough has performed Vieuxtemps’ Concerto No. 4 with the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra. She was also a featured soloist at the Kansas Music Educators Association Convention in January 2007. As winner of the UTSO String Concerto Competition in 2008, Colleen performed Mozart’s Concerto No. 4 with the UT Symphony at University of Texas, and the Meyerson Center in Dallas, TX.
Active also as a chamber musician, Ms. McCullough was invited to perform the Shostakovich Octet in concert with the Miro Quartet in September 2006. Other chamber music performances include Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale with The University of Texas New Music Ensemble, and Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe KV548 with the Breckenridge Music Festival. One of Colleen’s greatest honors was being chosen to perform the inaugural recital of the Green Recital Series at the Carnegie Cultural Center in Ottawa, KS in 2007.
An experienced orchestral musician, Colleen was the youngest member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra at the age of 18. She currently holds positions in the first violin sections of the Austin Symphony, Waco Symphony, and Breckenridge Music Festival orchestras. Ms. McCullough has served as concertmaster for the University of Texas Symphony and Opera Orchestras, the Blanton Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Symphony Orchestra at the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to performing frequently, Colleen teaches privately, and is the professor of violin at Austin Community College.
Ms. McCullough began her violin studies at age two under the direction of Alice Joy Lewis. Ms. McCullough received an undergraduate degree in violin performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA, where she completed her studies with Eric Rosenblith. She received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in violin performance from The University of Texas at Austin under the tutelage of Brian Lewis.
Joseph Smith, violin
Joseph Daniel Smith is originally from Charlotte, NC; moving to Austin in 2003. Although he started on piano at the age of 6, Joseph switched to violin at 10 and quickly fell in love with the instrument. He began his studies with Wolfgang Roth and Ernest Pereira of the Charlotte Symphony, and served as concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra and North Carolina All-State Orchestra before moving to Texas.
Joseph moved to Austin to attend the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance in 2007 studying with Vincent Frittelli. Joseph is a member of both the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra the Austin Symphony Orchestra and can be seen throughout the Austin area playing chamber music with both Salon Concerts, Inc. and the Austin Chamber Music Center. He recently sat as Assistant Concertmaster with Golden Hornet Project’s performance of Graham Reynold’s Symphony VI, which won an Austin Critic’s Table Award for Best Symphonic Performance. Joseph is also on faculty at the Austin Chamber Music Center, participating in school outreach concerts and in-school chamber music programs. An avid teacher, Joseph maintains a private violin studio of several students.
He has participated in several major music festivals including Eastern Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Roundtop, and also served as Principal Second and concert soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra. He has also performed with both the Charlotte Symphony and the New World Symphony.
When not playing the violin, Joseph likes spending time at his church and enjoying fine wines. Passionate about health, Joseph is very active and regularly practices ashtanga yoga and attends Body Pump. Joseph is a firm believer that creating a healthy body, both mentally and spiritually, is necessary to be a healthy musician.
Robin Burwell, violin
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Ms. Burwell began her violin studies at the age of 10. She attended the University of Toledo and graduated with a degree in Music Performance at Toledo University. While attending the university, Ms. Burwell was the featured soloist with the university orchestra performing, Havanese by C. Saint Saens. Her musical development has been influence by studying with the concertmaster of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Symphony, private instructors, the late Betty Foster and the late Lorene Gunderson. Ms. Burwell continued her studies at Penn State University and performed with the graduate chamber orchestra which toured in Poland. Ms. Burwell returned to Ohio and was the concertmaster of the Lima Symphony Orchestra and a violinist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra for 4 years.
Upon moving to San Antonio, Texas in 1983, Ms. Burwell taught orchestra in the Alamo Heights School District, and the San Antonio Independent School District along with performing with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, Ms. Burwell moved to Austin where she excelled as an orchestra teacher in the Austin Independent School District. Ms. Burwell holds a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from Texas State University. Currently, Ms. Burwell is a 8th grade assistant principal at Running Brushy Middle School in Leander Independent School District. In prior years she was an elementary assistant principal in Pflugerville Independent School District for thirteen years. Ms. Burwell has also taught third and fifth grade at Sims Elementary School in Austin Independent School District.
Pflugerville ISD has benefited from Ms. Burwell’s skill as a musician. In 2000 a district youth orchestra was formed under her leadership. The youth orchestra was such an early success that the orchestra received a resolution from State Representative Jack Stick for their orchestral accomplishments at their first competition. As a result of Ms. Burwell efforts of establishing an orchestra program in PISD she received the Administrator’s Excellence Award from the Texas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association at the 2009 Texas Music Educators Convention held in San Antonio, Texas. This award is given to an administrator who has made a significant contribution to a school orchestra program either by imitating a string program or expanding an existing string orchestra program.
Ms. Burwell continues to perform extensively with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Due to her dedication in motivating and inspiring students to excel in music, Ms. Burwell performs with the Austin Symphony Orchestra each spring for high schools along with the young peoples concerts held in the Austin area.
In the spring of 2010, Ms. Burwell was honored with the Connie Yerwood-Conner African American Women’s Profile of Prominence award in the area of Arts/Music. This award is given to outstanding African American women in the Austin Metroplex area.
Ms.Burwell professional affiliations include the Texas Secondary Principals and Superviosrs Association, American String Teachers Organization, TexASTA, The Women’s Symphony League of Austin, and has recently joined the Texas Music Administrators Conference along with serving on the Austin Chamber Music Board. Ms. Burwell is the proud mother of a 26- year old daughter who is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin and a graduate from Connally High School in PISD. Like her mother, she has followed the path of fine arts in the area of film and music in California.
In 1987 Mand taught orchestra for Austin Independent School District for 6 years. In 1993 Ms. Burwell taught third and fifth grade at Sims Elementary School in AISD. She also holds a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from Texas State University. Ms. Burwell is presently an assistant principal in the Pflugerville Independent School District for the past twelve years where the PISD Youth Orchestra was formed under her leadership. One of the most distinct honors the youth orchestra received was a resolution from State Representative Jack Stick for the orchestra accomplishments at their first competition. Ms. Burwell continues to perform extensively with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and takes the time to perform with the symphony for High School concerts along with young peoples concerts held each spring. Ms. Burwell professional affiliations include the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association, American String Teachers Organization, TexASTA, The Women’s Symphony League of Austin, and has recently joined the Texas Music Administrators Conference. Ms. Burwell is the mother of a 24 –year old daughter who graduated from Connally High School in PISD and is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin.
Jeffrey Wang, cello
Cellist Jeffrey C. Wang is recognized for his sensible interpretation and harmonious musicianship. In a concert career spanning twenty years, he is equally at home with orchestra, in recital, playing chamber music, as in a teaching studio.
Since his debut performance of the Haydn C major Cello Concerto with the North America Elite Youth Orchestra in 2000, he has toured throughout the globe as a performer and educator. Wang has appeared as a recitalist on the Seattle Chamber Music Festival’s Emerging Artist concert. As a grand prize winner of the Seattle Ladies Musical Club competition, he was invited to give concert lectures in more than 15 cities. His honors include 2-time Seattle Symphony Gold Medalist Award, Concerto soloist and Presidential Scholarship recipient and Dean’s List at the University of Washington and University of Texas at Austin School of Music, a prize winner of Chamber Music International, Sorantin, Alexander & Buono International String Competition, amongst others. He is named an Honorary Citizen of Taiwan and Richardson, Texas.
Wang has been a featured artist with the American Repertory Ensemble, Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices, Shoreline Arts Festival, The Sound of Pride Austin, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Viola By Choice. He has premiered and recorded works by composer Stephen Louis Bayne. His collaboration disc with cellist Jou-An Hou on Graziani’s cello works can be found on the Naxos label. He has also appeared on numerous radio and television broadcasts locally and abroad.
Born in Taiwan, he started his basic keyboard music fundamental skills with the Yamaha Music Foundation at age 6. In a fateful encounter with the cello in his school Chinese Music Ensemble, followed by his family’s move to the U.S., he started his first formal cello lesson in Seattle when he was 12 years old. He went on to study with Toby Saks at the University of Washington, and Bion Tsang at the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed his graduate work. He has also studied extensively with Raymond Davis and has participated in master classes with Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Lynn Harrel, Pieter Wispelwey, Nathaniel Rosen, Matt Haimovitz, Amit Peled, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Pamela Frame, Norman Fischer, Tanya Tomkin, Eric Wilson, Cordelia Miedel, John Michel, David Tonkonogui, Amos Yang, the Guarneri and Miro String Quartets.
He has been a member of the Austin Symphony since 2004. He has served on the faculty of Austin Lyric Opera’s Armstrong Music School, UT String Project, and Austin Chamber Music Center. He currently teaches at Blackerby Violin studio and privately. He is also an ASO Building Blocks and Music on the Move educator for AISD in Austin, Texas.
Rachel Lopez, flute
Rachel Lopez has played with the Austin Symphony since 2006. Originally from Houston, TX, she started playing the flute at age 11. She received a Bachelor of Music in flute performance from the University of Houston, Master of Music from the University of North Texas, and an Orchestral Studies Diploma from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Her teachers include Claire Johnson, Catherine LeGrand, Terri Sundberg, Leslie Fagan, Jean Berkenstock, and Donald Peck. Honors include prize winner for the National Flute Association Orchestral Audition Competition, Mid-South Flute Society Young Artist Competition, and finalist for the Myrna Brown Artist Competition. She was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, has performed with the San Antonio Symphony & the Dubuque Symphony, and also plays piccolo/3rd flute with the Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan. In the summers, she has performed with the Texas Music Festival, Henry Mancini Institute (CA), International Festival-Institute at Round-Top (Texas), & the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She enjoys private teaching & currently has many talented students in the Austin area. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her pets, listening to 80s & 90s alternative-rock/dance music, playing guitar & bass guitar, writing rock music, singing karaoke, & doing pilates/yoga.
