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The success of the Santa Monica Symphony can be attributed to its unique mixture of some of the best Los Angeles-area professionals, emerging pre-professional musicians, and accomplished volunteer non-professional community musicians.
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Director | Roster | Musicians | Rehearsals
The success of the Santa Monica Symphony can be attributed to its unique mixture of some of the best Los Angeles-area professionals, emerging pre-professional musicians, and accomplished volunteer non-professional community musicians.
First Violin Section
Michael Emery
Concertmaster Michael Emery is also concertmaster and soloist with the Utica, Catskill, and Schenectady Symphonies, having acted in that capacity for several other orchestras including the Vermont Symphony, BC Pops Orchestra and the Glimmerglass Opera Festival.Cindy Bandel
Cindy joined SMS in 2006. She is an engineer at The Aerospace Corporation and, with her husband, is the busy parent of three teenagers.Second Violin Section
Jennifer Argenti
An 18-year veteran of the Santa Monica Symphony and Kaplan String Quartet, Jennifer freelances as a violinist in a wide-variety of musical genres including classical, country, pop and rock and she recently brought home the prestigious 'Instrumental Artist Of The Year' award from the Los Angeles Music Awards. Jennifer's other passions include environmental conservation, animal ethics and surfing and she holds the 2007 WSA 'Women's Shortboard West Coast Champion' surfing title. www.JenniferArgenti.comThomas Kang
Thomas works for Avid Technology as a consultant to animation/VFX/game studios all over the world. He also teaches digital animation courses at the USC Cinema School.Raymond Knapp
With degrees from Harvard and Duke, Ray is Chair of the UCLA Department of Musicology. He is the author of books on Brahms, Mahler, and the American Musical, and gives pre-concert letters and writes the program notes for the Santa Monica Symphony.David Outcalt
David recently joined the SMS. He is Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and has also served on the faculties of the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and University of California, Santa Barbara.Julia Tranner
The Deputy to the President and Manager of Board Relations for the Getty, Julia and her husband are the parents of 12-year-old twins.Viola Section
Charles A.T. Brown
The son of a Los Angeles area violinist, Charlie works for a non-profit company that helps community groups build affordable housing for families with incomes that are less than 60% of the Area Median Income.George Goldberg
After recently relocating to Los Angeles, George works for Ingenix, a division of United Health Care.
Cello Section
Ernest Ehrhardt, cello
Ernest Ehrhardt began his professional career as the youngest cellist hired with the Houston Symphony under the direction of Sir John Barbirolli and Andre Previn. The youngest cellist hired with the L.A. Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. He has served principal with the Tulsa Philharmonic while teaching at the Oral Roberts University and University of Tulsa, and a member of the Tulsa Philharmonic Quartet.Paul Dolid
A member of SMS since 1992, Paul is the Director of Financial Services for Kubota Tractor Corporation. Paul is a member of the SMS Board and is its currrent Treasurer. Additionally, Paul is a founding member of the Kaplan String Quartet, dedicated to Jordan Kaplan, a former violinist of the SMS, who passed away in 1993. www.kaplanquartet.comKen Klein
A graduate of Northwestern and UCLA, Ken is Director of Engineering for Steven Label Corporation in Santa Fe Springs, and father of two children with wife Becky.Ann Joshi
Her cello studies began at UNM, then a BM from CU-Boulder, and WI-Madison. In Topanga, her life revolves around raising their two talented children, work as an RN at UCLA, chamber music, horses & hiking and every year helping Guido Lamell organize the Topanga Philharmonic at The Will Geer Theatricum BotanicumBass Section
Reginald Jackson
Newly elected to the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra Board, Reggie is a Vice President with Morley Builders.Aaron Kohen
A credentialed music teacher, Aaron has taught in the public schools for the last seven years, first at Foshay Learning Center and now at Calabasas High School in the Las Virgenes Unified School District.Michael Polcino
A member of the symphony since 1997, Michael is animation director on The Simpsons TV show, plays straight ahead jazz around town, and is part owner of Theory FX, an effects house in Santa Monica.Wind Players
David Shostac, Flute
Mr. Shostac has been principal flutist of the St. Louis, Milwaukee and New Orleans Symphony Orchestras as well as the Mostly Mozart, Ojai, Carmel Bach Festival and Aspen Chamber orchestras. In addition to his long tenure with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he has also been performing as principal flutist with the Aspen Festival Orchestra since 1982.Judy Karinen, Flute
A graduate of the University of Southern California and California State University, Long Beach, and a member of SMS since 1967, flutist Judy Karinen is a dentist in private practice in Beverly Hills.Sherril Wood, Flute
A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Sherril has performed as a baroque flutist with a number of groups in southern California. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Amadeus Music Academy, a nonprofit community music school in Santa Monica.Catherine Del Russo, Oboe
Catherine Del Russo, oboist is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Robert Sprenkle. As a freelance musician, Catherine has performed with almost every orchestra in Southern California. Currently, she is the principal oboe of the Santa Monica Symphony, the Downey Symphony and the Beverly Hills Live Orchestra and performs regularly with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra.Lisa Kohorn, Clarinet
Clarinetist Lisa Kohorn earned her Bachelor of Arts and Doctorate degrees from the University of Hawaii and did her post-graduate studies at UCLA and Stanford. Her main teachers have been Gary Bovyer and former principal clarinetist and assistant conductor of the Honolulu Symphony, Henry Miyamura.
Lisa has performed as a soloist with the Santa Monica Chamber Orchestra, Orange Coast College Symphonic Orchestra, and Orange Symphonic Band and as a youth soloist with the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Youth Symphony. Lisa has been the Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) principal clarinetist since 2005 and the Santa Monica Symphony (SMS) associate principal clarinetist since 1999. She has also performed with the Asia American Symphony, Video Games Live 2011, Chamber Players of Los Angeles, Southern California Master Chorale, and San Diego Opera Ensemble. Lisa has performed with film and video game composers Jeffrey Schindler, Stu Phillips, Wataru Hokoyama, William Stromberg, Christopher Tin, Gerard Marino, Christopher Lennertz, and Austin Wintory. An active chamber music performer, Lisa is a member of Vista Winds, SMS Woodwind Quintet, and GSPO Woodwind Quintet, and is a core musician in the GSPO small ensemble series. A strong proponent of new music, Lisa has had the pleasure of premiering pieces by composers Austin Wintory, Peter Senchuk, Steven Fox, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Jennifer Higdon.David Riddles, Bassoon
David Riddles, a native Californian, has been playing the Bassoon professionaly in one way or another for the past 35 years. Prior to coming to L.A. in 1976 he received a Masters Degree from Indiana University, Bloominton, Indiana and taught university level music in the mid-west for 4 years.Jennifer Adrian-Thiroux, French Horn
Jennifer is a GEAR UP Counselor at Eagle Rock Junior-Senior High School. She is a founding member of the Avenel Chamber Players and the Observatory Orchestra in the Los Feliz area, which offers concerts in community parks, libraries and schools.
Director | Roster | Musicians | Rehearsals