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The Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra (SaMoSO) Woodwind Quintet was first formed in 1998 by the associate first chair players of the Santa Monica Symphony. This ensemble is part of an outreach program of the joint efforts of the SMSO and the Santa Monica Arts Council to bring live music to children of all ages in schools, churches, and organizations of any kind in the city of Santa Monica and to the entire Los Angeles area. (l-r: John Petring, Sarah Kirkup, Lisa Knorr Nauful, Dana Sundene, Lisa Takeuchi Kohorn) |
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Hornist John Petring joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1998. He has previously been a member of the Santa Fe Symphony, the Prince George's County Orchestra, the Georgetown Symphony, and the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra. He was also a finalist in the Professional Division of the 1999 American Horn Competition. John holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University, as well as a Bachelor of Music Performance degree and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree from the University of New Mexico. He owns a database and website consulting business in the Los Angeles area. Bassoonist Lisa Knorr Nauful began playing that bassoon professionally at age of 15. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Performance from The Eastman School of Music and her Masters Degree from Southern Methodist University. Lisa continued with post graduate work in Vienna, Austria where she was a student of Karl Ohlberger. She has also studied with Bernard Garfield, Ruth Dalphin, Shirley Curtiss and K. David van Hoesen. For several years Lisa was a member of the Dallas Ballet and Opera Orchestras. She also performed and recorded with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She has played with the American Symphony and done extensive commercial studio work. She also toured with Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia. Currently, Lisa is a member of the Santa Monica Symphony and the West Hollywood Orchestras.
Oboist Dana Sundene earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University in Fullerton. Her principal teachers have been John Larry Granger, William Criss, and Catherine Del Russo. Dana freelances in Los Angeles and Orange Counties where she performs with the Hour of Power Orchestra at the Crystal Cathedral in Orange, the Santa Monica Symphony, the Bellflower Symphony, the Culver City Chamber Orchestra and the Palisades Symphony. Last season, Dana was a soloist with the Glendale College Community Orchestra. She also recently recorded with singer/songwriter Kyle Vincent for Kyle's new release on SongTree Records. Along with the quintet, Dana frequently participates in chamber music seminars held by L.A. Philharmonic violinist, Paul Stein. When not playing the oboe, Dana spends her days overseeing docketing for the law firm of Stout, Uxa, Buyan & Mullins in Irvine, CA. Clarinetist Lisa Takeuchi Kohorn has been a member of Santa Monica Symphony since 1999 and the SAMOSO Woodwind Quintet since 2001. An active freelancer, she has performed with various ensembles in Southern California, including Asia America Symphony, Westwood Chamber Orchestra and La Primavera Orchestra. Lisa has performed as a soloist with the Santa Monica Chamber Orchestra, Orange Coast College Symphonic Orchestra, and Orange Symphonic Band and was a youth soloist with the Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Youth Symphony. In addition to playing and managing the SAMOSO quintet, Lisa is an Anatomic, Clinical and Pediatric Pathologist at St. Joseph Hospital and Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and currently serves as Chair of the Department of Pathology for CHOC. She received her BA in Biology and her MD at the University of Hawaii. Lisa did her Pathology Residency at UCLA, Stanford and Los Angeles Children's Hospital. Lisa is a member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Monica Symphony. She resides in Manhattan Beach with her husband, violinist and running partner Larry Kohorn. |
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Violinist Yee Pang Yung began his violin studies during his high school years in Hong Kong. Yee Pang holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology from the University of New York at Buffalo, and has worked as a research scientist at the Sloan Kettering Institute in New York, and Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks. During his college years as well as his postdoctoral years in New York, Yee Pang had furthered his interest in the violin by taking chamber music classes and private lessons. He has played in a number of orchestras, including those at University of Wisconsin in Madison, the SUNY at Buffalo, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as the 92nd Street Y Symphonic workshop in New York City. Yee Pang joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 2001.
Violinist Elisabeth Scharf (right) studied violin with Mr. Brandeiss, a student of George Enescu. After attending a music high school, she studied Civil Engineering at the Institute of Technology in Hayfa-Israel, and Interior Design at Monterey Peninsula College-California. While working as an Interior Designer the last 20 years, she never gave up on her passion for music. She has played with the Bachorchestra in Munich-Germany, Monterey Peninsula College Symphony, Santa Barbara City College Symphony, West Coast Symphony, La Mirada Symphony and Santa Monica Symphony. At Pepperdine University, she has performed in West Side Story under the batton of award-winning music director Tom Osborne and director/coreographer Jon Egstrom, and also the Henry Price production of " Barber of Seville." |
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Violinist Derrick Chau (left) joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 2003 after
beginning a Spencer/RAND Postdoctoral Fellowship in education policy at
the RAND Corporation. He earned his Ph.D. in Education from the
University of Southern California after having taught high school
science for two years in Long Beach, CA as a part of the Teach For
America program. He has played in various university orchestras at USC,
Pomona, and the Claremont Colleges. In his free time, he enjoys
mountain biking and trying to play golf.
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Violinist Carrie Bartsch (center) joined the orchestra in 2001. Carrie hails from St. Paul, Minnesota and received her B.A. and M.A. in Creative Writing and has published a number of short
stories, more to come. Before coming to L.A., she studied violin with Rudolf Lehkter and James Riccardo. She has played in the St. Olaf Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony of the Lakes, Univesity of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Bozeman Symphony and for many summers attended the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire. Currently, she freelances and plays in a touring pop band. For work, she teaches writing at Fuller Seminary. For fun, she runs.
Violinist and webmaster Mark Wang (right) a policy analyst for the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1995, after being invited to the December 1994 concert by RAND colleague and violist Ed Keating. Mark holds degrees in physics and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). An accomplished pianist as well as a violinist, Mark performed Saint-Saens' Second Piano Concerto in 1982 with the Lawton Philharmonic in Lawton, Oklahoma; baritone Robert Merrill was featured on the same program.
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| Cellist Bob Godfrey (left) joined the orchestra in 1969 as tympanist, began learning the cello about 18 years ago and became a member of the cello section 4 years later. He has also been stage manager for the concerts for over twenty years. Bob graduated from Cal State L. A. while playing live radio and studio jobs. Drafted into the Army, he spent his second year in Europe with the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra under Henry Lewis. Bob played for many years with the Pasadena Symphony under Richard Lert. His company engineers and manufactures ground equipment for the airlines, and he is also pursuing developments in the windmill generating industry. Bob and wife Elaine have two grown daughters who both served the orchestra for many years presenting flowers to the soloists. At a recent concert one of the granddaughters assumed the job. Bob has been a member of the National Ski Patrol for over 50 years, currently at Mountain High. Summer activity includes running, biking and skating to try to stay in shape for the next winter. |  |
| Double Bassist, Joel Druckman (right) comes to the Santa Monica Symphony with a very eclectic background. From Rock & Roll, playing and recording with Britain's Bonzo Dog Band, Bobby Day, John Fahey, John Cale, and Basil Poledouris, to orchestras conducted by Richard Lert, Dan Lewis, and Ronald Ondrejka. He also plays with many jazz ensembles in the Greater Los Angeles area. Joel's principal teacher and mentor is Bertram Turetzky, and also studied with Dennis Trembly. Joel received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music History & Literature from USC, and a Master of Arts Degree in Music Performance - Double Bass, from CSULA. He is currently on the Music Faculty at Oxnard College. |
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The Kaplan Quartet
(l-r: Jennifer Argenti, Amy Ellingrod, Paul Dolid, Carla Margolis). Composed entirely of symphony members, the Kaplan Quartet has played for weddings, private parties, and special occasions at The Broadway department stores. The quartet's repertoire is varied, including selections from Bach to Scott Joplin to the Toyota theme song.
A native of Maryland, violinist Jennifer Argenti attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied violin performance at Baldwin Wallace College & Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio, and has performed in local recitals and throughout Taiwan. She is a veteran of the Santa Monica Symphony, has toured in Europe with the Santa Monica Symphony Chamber Orchestra and has continued her life-long study of violin at summer chamber music festivals. Jennifer's other passions include environmental work and surfing. |
| Violinist Amy Ellingrod has been a member of the Santa Monica Symphony since 1998. Originally from Minnesota, she attending Augsburg College in Minneapolis and was the concertmaster of the Augsburg Orchestra from 1993-1995. She holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Biology, but after 5 years working as an engineer for 3M Pharmaceuticals has followed a new career path. She currently works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Development department planning fundraising events for the orchestra. In her free time she enjoys playing in small ensembles with friends, going to concerts and movies and gourmet cooking.
Cellist Paul Dolid was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and presently resides in Culver City near the Culver Studios in a bungalow once inhabited by one of the Little Rascals. Paul attended the University of California at Riverside, where he majored in economics and business, and spent his junior abroad at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. He is a Wholesale Credit Receivables Control Manager for Kubota Tractor Corporation. Besides music, Paul's hobbies include investing, chess and golf. Violist Carla Margolis joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1998. Before joining the symphony, Carla attended Texas Tech University, where she majored in international economics and minored in music and was principal violist of the university symphony. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she got her law degree and masters degree in Latin American studies. She has performed with several ensembles in Texas, New Mexico, and California, including the Lubbock Symphony, Roswell Symphony, Austin Civic Orchestra, and West Hollywood Orchestra, to name a few. Carla now works as an attorney in Southern California Edison Company's law department. |
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Violist Jennifer Pfeifer joined the symphony in 2001. She studied with Ben Simon as an undergraduate at Stanford University and was also principal violist in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. Originally from beautiful (and rainy) Oregon, she played with the Portland Youth Philharmonic and studied there with Anna Schaum. Now a doctoral student in psychology at UCLA, she spends most of her time studying children, social cognition and neuroscience. If she catches a spare moment, you might find her with her nose in a book at the beach, out shopping, or taking a leisurely walk to get coffee.
Violist Jeffrey Hagen (right) joined the symphony in 1998 because he needed a new pick-up line. After 30 years in the city of Seattle where it rains so much that the pavement occasionally turns green (no kidding), he relocated to Los Angeles where he can be heard rattling on about being a symphonic musician to anyone who will listen. While in Seattle, Jeffrey received a degree in Economics from the University of Washington and spent four years with the Seattle Youth Symphony under the direction of Vilem Sokol. He is currently working in Human Resources at TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising until they become wise to him. |
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Violinist David Bendett (left) a native of Brooklyn, NY and a veteran music industry personal manager, is President of the Symphony's Board of Directors.In the past, he has also served as the orchestra's Executive Director, negotiating all contracts and handling every last minute crisis such as finding final dress rehearsal space when all facilities were suddenly closed after the 1993 earthquake.
Violinist Ray Knapp (right) is a Musicology Professor at UCLA, with degrees from Harvard University, Radford University, and a Ph.D. in musicology at Duke University. He is well known to symphony audiences for his insightful pre-concert lectures and program notes. Although his principal research interests are in the 18th and 19th centuries, he has published and given talks on music ranging from the 14th century to the present, including Landini, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, Dvorak, Mahler, Chaikovsky, and Bartók. His book, Brahms and the Challenge of the Symphony, was published in 1997, and he has recently drafted a book about Mahler's early symphonies. He also composes mostly tonal music and plays second violin with enthusiasm. |
| A native of Long Beach, violinist Larry Kohorn joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 2000. After graduating from Yale University in 1978, Larry joined the New Haven Symphony and continued his violin studies in New York. Taking an indirect route back to LA, Larry has lived in Venezuela and played with the Caracas Philharmonic Orchestra before attending UCLA Law School. Currently, he is also a member of the Mozart Classical Orchestra of Newport Beach, the Chamber Orchestra of St. Matthews in Pacific Palisades, and the Crazy Rhythm Hot Society Orchestra, a jazz band specializing in music from the 1920's. Larry's favorite clarinetist/pathologist, Lisa Takeuchi, calls him ("affectionately," she says) a "gig pig" since he plays in as many string quartets and chamber ensembles as he can find. Larry is VP of Music Business Affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment, responsible for soundtracks to films including "Charlie's Angels" and "America's Sweethearts" and television programs such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Dragon Tales." Larry considers his greatest accomplishment to be finishing the LA Marathon in under 4 hours, and surviving to play a concert the same night. |  |
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Violinist Tim Cruz (left) joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1995. As an undergraduate, he performed with the Stanford Chamber Orchestra and the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the University of Arizona Opera Orchestra. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology, Tim moved to Los Angeles to attend the UCLA School of Medicine. He performed with the Symphony throughout his four years of medical school and three years of residency training. He is currently practicing pediatrics in Mission Hills. During his free time, he enjoys daydreaming, reading at Starbucks and discovering new classical and electronic sounds.
Violist Erin Templeton (center) joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1998 after attending Penn State University. While in Pennsylvania, Erin was the principal violist for the Nittany Valley Symphony. She also performed with the Altoona Symphony, the Pennsylvania Centre Chamber Orchestra, various ensembles at Penn State University, and the Music at Penn's Woods summer music festival. In addition, she was the assistant director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra from 1992-1995. Erin graduated from Penn State University in 1995 with a B.A. in English, and minors in music and history; she completed her M.A. in English at Penn State in 1998, and she is currently working on her Ph. D. in early 20th Cent. American literature at UCLA. |
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Cellist Diane Petring (right) joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 2000. She attended the University of New Mexico, where she earned a B.A. in psychology. Of course, this has nothing to do with her present vocation of running her own database consulting business! Since high school, she has played in numerous ensembles, including the Albuquerque Youth Symphony and the University of New Mexico Symphony. More recently, she played with the Occidental/CalTech Symphony Orchestra, the Georgetown Symphony, Fairfax Chamber Orchestra, and the George Mason University Orchestra. In her free time, she enjoys playing her new piano, going to Disneyland, and hanging out with her Santa Monica Symphony buddies.
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Ken Klein has been a cellist with the Santa Monica Symphony for almost a decade. He enjoys playing chamber music, and hosts the annual "Music at Millard" chamber music gathering, as well as occaisional group recitals and other musical events. Ken works on the symphony's Kaplan-Srinivasan Memorial Fund in honor of his late friends. He and his wife are also very busy enjoying their year-old son, Jordan Perry, named in honor of Jordan Kaplan.
Cellist Nancy (Bubar) Friedmann (center) joined the orchestra in the mid-1970's as a young teaching therapist for deaf children and has since married, raised four children, formed her own string quartet, and commutes weekly to symphony rehearsals from her home in Long Beach. Linda Bourque joined the orchestra in 1979, as the eleventh of 12 cellists, all women. She previously played in the Indiana University Philharmonic (very briefly!) as an undergraduate and the Duke University Symphony orchestra as a graduate student. She is a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at UCLA's School of Public Health, where she teaches courses on research design, questionnaire development and data analysis, is Associate Director of the Center for Public Health and Disaster Relief, and conducts research on California earthquakes and ophthalmic refractive surgeries. |
| Violinist Ann Lekven joined the orchestra in 1982, the same year as conductor Yehuda Gilad. She is a long-time Los Angeles resident, currently residing in West LA. Traveling and music are her passionate hobbies, which she has combined as a member of the Santa Monica Symphony's summer European tours.
Cellist Steve Hirschhorn joined the orchestra in 2000. He was the principal cellist of the Cornell Symphony orchestra from 1985-1988, attended the Tanglewood summer music program, and has studied under John Hsu and Richard Serbagi in New York. Steve holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell and a JD/MBA from UCLA. |
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Violinist Francis Gaskins joined the symphony with Sam Fordis in 1996. He studied violin with Alice Schoenfeld in Los Angeles and also at the Julliard School of Music in New York City, before graduating from Princeton University. During high school he was concertmaster of the All Northwest Orchestra and was one of 100 national audition winners who attended a two month International String Congress in Puerto Rico. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, is Editor of Gaskins IPO Desktop (http://gaskinsco.com) and hosts two weekly IPO webcast shows for RadioWallStreet.com. In the past he has enjoyed running, kick-boxing and windsurfing. |
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Violinist John Dunkelberger joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1993, after a long professional career in music. Early training in Chicago was followed by studies at the University of Nebraska and the University of Wichita (now Wichita State). More recently, he studied with Herman Clebanoff and Linda Rose in Los Angeles. He gained his professional experience in the Dallas Symphony, conducted by Walter Hendl where he was also privileged to play under guest conductors Bruno Walter, Antal Dorati and Sir Thomas Beecham. As an orchestra member, John has accompanied many legendary soloists, including Fritz Kreisler, Jasha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, William Kapell, and Artur Rubinstein. Currently he is a retired Financial Advisor (MBA from USC) and dabbles in various hobbies such as Astronomy, Photography, and playing Chamber Music with his wife, Elizabeth and other friends.
Liz Dunkelberger, wife of violinist John Dunkelberger, has played viola in the Santa Monica Symphony since 1993. She has played viola since childhood, and studied for 6 years at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. She has studied with Sven Reher, Myra Kestenbaum, Virginia Majevsky and Marilyn Baker. In professional life she is Elizabeth Galton, M.D., a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Santa Monica. She is very active with the local, state and national psychiatric associations, and has held all elective positions in her local society. She is also active with the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute. She is active as an advocate for the severely mentally ill, working with various chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and this year is president of the California Coalition for Mental Health, an advocacy organization. She is also active with the L.A.County Medical Association. In addition to orchestral playing, she also enjoys playing her viola with her husband and friends in chamber music. |
| Violinist Julie Tranner (left) joined the symphony in 1988. As a full time employee at the Getty Museum and mother of young twins, she is especially grateful for the chance to continue her music education via the symphony. In addition to playing the violin, she enjoys singing and playing the piano, and has worked as an accompanist to choral groups and soloists. She has also performed improvisational music with ensembles in local clubs and in recording studios.
Rhoda Coleman (right) joined the Santa Monica Symphony in 1972. A violinist, she is so happy to be with such a friendly and talented group of musicians. Rhoda graduated from UC Berkeley in 1969 and got her teaching credential at Berkeley in 1970. She teaches a 3rd/4th grade class at the Open Charter School in Los Angeles. Rhoda enjoys traveling throughout the world with her husband and 2 daughters, attending opera and concerts as often as possible. |
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