Jeffrey Multer, Concertmaster
The Suzette McCune Berkman & Monroe E. Berkman Chair
After performing as concertmaster for eight of The Florida Orchestra's Masterworks concerts during the 2004/05 season, Jeffrey Multer was appointed the concertmaster during the 2005/06 season. Among his many musical posts, Multer serves as first violinist of the critically acclaimed Elements Quartet, whose New York series was named Best Classical Music Event of 2003 by The Washington Post. Multer has also appeared as soloist and recitalist at Lincoln Center in New York, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Rudolphinium in Prague, and the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery in Washington, DC.
Among his chamber music activities, Multer frequently appears with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has served as first violinist of the Oxford String Quartet and as a member of Leon Fleisher's Kennedy Center Theater Chamber Players. Concertmaster appointments include the Colorado Symphony, the Breckenridge Music Institute in Colorado, the Washington Concert Opera, and the Echternacht Festival in Luxembourg. Recently, The Detroit Free Press praised Multer for his "extraordinary precision and poise," and The Cleveland Plain Dealer called him a "prodigious and aristocratic violinist." The Washington Post lauded his recent solo recital at the National Gallery as "a dazzling performance."
Multer is currently concertmaster and head of violin faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also teaches at The Juilliard School in the pre-college division and has recorded for Albany Records.
Nancy Chang, Associate Concertmaster
St. Petersburg Times Chair
Nancy Chang, originally from Taiwan, received her bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music. As a chamber musician, Chang performed with many ensembles in North America and Europe. She performed as a soloist with the Burbank Chamber Orchestra, West Los Angeles Symphony and the California State at Los Angeles University Orchestra. Chang was a member of the New World Symphony from 2003 to 2006 in Miami, Florida. She joined The Florida Orchestra in 2006 and was appointed associate concertmaster in 2007. Chang currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Jeffrey Smick, Assistant Concertmaster
Jeffrey Smick joined The Florida Orchestra in 1996. He received his bachelor's degree at Northern Illinois University, and his teachers included Victor Aitay and Shmuel Ashkenasi. Smick has performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Denver Symphony. In addition, he has toured the United States and Europe with various chamber ensembles and orchestras.
Lei Liu, Second Assistant Concertmaster
Lei Liu joined The Florida Orchestra in 1994. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the Central Conservatory in Beijing and his master's degree in music from Temple University. Liu has performed with the Florida Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, and the Central Ballet Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician. Liu is an instructor for both the violin and viola.
Sarah Shellman, Principal Second
The Emily R. Nelson Chair Given by Progress Energy
Sarah Shellman is currently principal second violin with The Florida Orchestra; she joined the ensemble as a section violinist in 2002. Shellman also serves as concertmaster for the St. Petersburg Opera. During the summer, she performs as a member of the orchestras at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz, CA) and the Bellingham Festival of Music (Bellingham, WA). She graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in music and the University of Houston in 2000 with a master's degree in music. While living in Houston, she played with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, and as a freelance musician. In addition to her work on the modern violin, she has also performed with several early music ensembles as a violinist, violist, and mezzo-soprano. Since moving to Florida, Shellman has become involved with music education as well; she has coached chamber groups and sectionals for the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra, was a faculty member of Bay Area Music’s Summer Chamber Music Workshop, and has served as a performer/coach and on the board of FloriMezzo.
Valerie Adams
Valerie Adams joined The Florida Orchestra in 1981. She received her education from Stetson University and the Conservatoire de Nice. Adams has performed with the Illinois Chamber Orchestra and the University of South Florida Chamber Players. In addition, she has appeared at the Lake George Opera Festival and Flagstaff Festival of the Arts. She has taught at the University of South Florida, the Sewanee Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra, and Hillsborough Community College. During the summer, Adams takes part in the Lake George Opera Festival.
Toula Bonié
Toula Bonié joined The Florida Orchestra in 1978. She received her education at Conservatory in Mainz, Germany, Stetson University in Florida, Jacksonville University in Florida, and Loyola University in Louisiana. She has performed with the Philharmonica de Bogota, Colombia, Long Island Symphonic and Choral Association, Jacksonville Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Tampa Bay Chamber Orchestra, The Society Strings, Ani Kavafian Chamber Players, Manhattan School Chamber Music Alumni, Sarasota Opera, and Opera Tampa. In addition, she currently instructs students in Suzuki and Galamian methods in Tampa Bay. During the summer, she performed at Artpark in Buffalo, New York, and traveled with The Society Strings and Ani Kavafian Chamber Players.
Saundra Buscemi
Saundra Buscemi began her musical studies at age 5 on both violin and piano. She became the youngest member of the Upper Arlington Community Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio at age 12. After moving to Florida during high school, she became a member of the Rollins College Baroque Ensemble. She attended the University of South Florida on a full scholarship, graduating in music performance. Her musical endeavors, both in the United States and abroad, include 3 years with the Caracas Philharmonic in Venezuela, The Puccini Festival in Italy, Colorado Music Festival (1987-1994), and the Sarasota Opera. Locally, Buscemi established (in 1996) and directs the violin program at Community Montessori School in Tampa. She is also the conductor of the beginning string orchestra for Pinellas Youth Symphony. Buscemi joined The Florida Orchestra in 1982.
Mary Corbett
Linda Gaines
Oleg Geyer
Originally from the Ukraine, Oleg Geyer began playing violin at age three and attended the Kiev Music Academy for gifted children. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the Kiev Conservatory in the Ukraine.
Prior to winning the audition at The Florida Orchestra in 1993, he served as concertmaster of the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra (Kiev, Ukraine), the Gdansk Chamber Orchestra (Poland), the Opera Theatre (Sophia, Bulgaria) and the Krakow Opera Theatre (Poland). In addition, Geyer was a first prize winner at the National Competition for the best performance of a piece by a Soviet composer.
Geyer has been well established and very active as an orchestral member, chamber musician and solo performer throughout central Florida, including Orlando and the Tampa Bay area. He has been one of the soloists in a triple concerto with Orchestra Camerata Ducale from Piemonte, Italy at the Viotti Summer Festival 2007 in Verchelli, Milan and Turin, Italy. He is a violin professor at St. Petersburg College and leads his own Allegro String Quartet.
Cynthia Gregg
Cynthia Gregg joined The Florida in Orchestra in 1990.
Linda Hall
Linda Hall joined The Florida Orchestra in 1987. She received her bachelor's degree from the Peabody Conservatory and her master's degree from Northwestern University.
Thomas Kennedy
Thomas Kennedy joined The Florida Orchestra in 1980. He received his bachelor's degree in music at the Curtis Institute of Music and his master's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Ivan Galamian and Raphael Bronstein. In addition, he took part in Suzuki Violin Teacher Training at Ithaca College.
Yan Jiang Lu
Yan Jiang Lu joined The Florida Orchestra in 1990. Lu received a bachelor's degree in music from Bowling Green State University and a master's degree in music from the University of New Orleans. Lu has also performed with the Guangzhou Symphony in China, the Toledo Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, and the Baton Rouge Symphony.
Evelyn Pupello
Evelyn Pupello joined The Florida Orchestra in 1965. She received her bachelor's degree in music from the University of South Florida. She has also performed with the Charlotte Symphony Camerata.
Claudia Rantucci
Claudia Rantucci joined The Florida Orchestra in 1982. She received her bachelor's degree in music from Indiana University. She has performed with the Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Aspen Chamber Orchestra.
Virginia Respess
Rachel Smoliar
Rachel Smoliar joined The Florida Orchestra in 2007.
Ben Markwell, Principal
Ben Markwell began playing the violin at the age of 10 in the public school system of Versailles, Kentucky. His early music education included a string of music teachers including the local band director who played trombone, a flute player, and a bass player. For six years he played with the University of Kentucky Youth Orchestra, which he credits for keeping his interest in music alive. It was not until Markwell attended college at the University of Alabama that he had his first teacher who actually played the violin. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Markwell began playing the viola. As violists were scarce, he was often asked to play the viola in chamber groups. After finishing his degree at the University of Alabama, Markwell continued with his graduate work at Northern Illinois University, where, after a year of studying the violin, Markwell decided to permanently switch to the viola.
Following his time in Illinois, Markwell played with the newly formed Graduate String Quartet at the University of Kentucky. In 1984, Markwell auditioned and won the position of principal violist with The Florida Orchestra.
Markwell has attended multiple summer camps including Meadowmount, Tanglewood, Bowdoin College, Blue Hill and Kinhaven. He is a founding member of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society, and he spends a great amount of time playing and teaching chamber music.
Kathie Aagaard, Assistant Principal
Kathie Aagaard joined The Florida Orchestra in 1982. She received her bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College and master's degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Miami. She has performed with the Florida Philharmonic, the Madison Symphony (Wisconsin), the Mankato Symphony (Minnesota), Celtic fiddle with folk groups Merriweather and Wind That Shakes the Barley, and Bayside Quartet and Camerata. She is a viola instructor at the University of South Florida.
Karl Bawel
Violist Karl Bawel has been active in the Tampa Bay area as a solo recitalist and member of The Florida Orchestra for over twenty-five years. In addition to his local performances with The Florida Orchestra, Bawel has performed throughout the United States as a violist in the Bayside String Quartet (he is now a member of the Arioso String Quartet), and he has performed numerous solo recitals throughout the United States and Europe.
Bawel is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in violin performance, and he studied violin with Ruth Pousselt and viola with Darrel Barnes. Continuing his study of the viola at Ithaca College, he earned his performance degree in viola in 1981.
Lewis Brinin
Lewis Brinin joined The Florida Orchestra in 1982. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music and his master's degree in music from Ball State University. He has performed with the Maracaibo Symphony, the Colorado Philharmonic, the Cleveland String Quartet Seminar, the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, the Austin Symphony, and the Seaside Music Theatre. He has taught at the String Project in Austin, Texas and the Mid-America Music Camp.
Karen Dumke
Karen Dumke joined The Florida Orchestra in 1988. She attended the Interlochen Arts Academy and received her bachelor's degree in music from the University of Miami and her master's degree in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has performed with the Chattanooga Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and American Sinfonietta (European Tours). She has taught and performed at Wintergreen Music as well as performed at the Woodstock Music Festival.
Alan Gordon
Alan Gordon joined The Florida Orchestra in 1986. He received his master's degree in music from The Julliard School. Gordon has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the National Training Orchestra (now the New World Symphony) when it was in New York City. During the summer, Gordon has participated in Tanglewood, National Repertory Orchestra, L.A. Institute, and Rocky Ridge Music Center.
Alison Heydt
Alison Heydt has been with The Florida Orchestra since 1991. Originally from Pennsylvania, she received both of her degrees in Ohio. She holds a bachelor's degree in music from Oberlin Conservatory and a master's degree in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. After completing school, she spent two years with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach before winning her current position with The Florida Orchestra.
Heydt has performed at many summer music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival, the Crested Butte Music Festival and the Britt Festival.
She loves to teach, especially teenagers and adults, and she plays chamber music as much as possible. Heydt is a member of the Executive Board of Tampa Bay Local 427-721 of the American Federation of Musicians.
Kenneth Kwo
Kenneth Kwo joined The Florida Orchestra in 1984. He received his bachelor's degrees in math and viola performance from Oberlin College and his master's degree in music from the University of Iowa. He has performed with the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tri-City Symphony, the Northwood Chamber Orchestra, and at the Swannanoa Chamber Festival. Kwo teaches at the Kinhaven Music School and Hillsborough Community College.
Warren Powell
Warren Powell joined The Florida Orchestra in 1984. He received his bachelor's degree at the Eastman School of Music and earned diplomas at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was assistant principal viola in La Orquesta Sinfonica de Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. He has performed with the Canton Symphony in Ohio and participated in festivals at Tanglewood, Interlochen, and Chautauqua. Powell has held faculty positions at Eckerd College and at the Pinellas Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. He is currently an ensemble and sectional coach for the Pinellas Youth Symphony
Barbara Rizzo
Barbara Rizzo joined The Florida Orchestra in 1993. She received her bachelor's degree in music from the New England Conservatory as well as conducted her graduate studies at the conservatory. She has performed with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Florida Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony. She has provided instruction for viola and violin to the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra and Pinellas Youth Symphony.
James Connors, Principal
The Dick & Helen Minck Chair
James Connors became principal cellist of The Florida Orchestra in 1988. He has been featured as a soloist with the orchestra in the Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello and the Haydn Concerto in D Major. Prior to coming to Tampa, Connors was principal cellist of the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. From 1985 to 1987, he served as the principal cellist of the South Dakota Symphony in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and as a member of the Dakota String Quartet.
Connors received his bachelor's of arts degree in music cum laude from Amherst in 1980 and his master's degree in 1983 from Indiana University. Subsequently, his ensemble, The Eyck Piano Trio, was awarded a two-year residency at the Chamber Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under the direction of Leonard Sorkin and The Fine Arts Quartet. Connors' trio frequently performed in live broadcasts on the Chicago classical station WFMT.
Connors is the director of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society and appears frequently on the chamber music series at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. He has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds (South Carolina and Italy), and the Taos Chamber Music Festival.
Lowell Adams, Assistant Principal
The John P. Wallace Chair
Lowell Adams joined The Florida Orchestra in 1981. He received his bachelor's and master's of music in cello performance from Northern Illinois University. He has also received artist's diplomas from the Hartt School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival. Adams has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, where he was assistant principal from 1977 to 1979, the Esterhazy Quartet, and the Dorian String Quartet. His teaching experience includes being visiting professor of cello at the University of Missouri-Columbia and instructor of cello at the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, Florida Southern College, the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra, and the Suwannee Summer Music Center. He has been the principal cello at the Lake George Opera Festival since 1981.
Rebecca Bialosky
Alfred Gratta
Alfred Gratta completed his bachelor's degree in performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a student of Stephen Geber. In 1988, Gratta received an invitation from Lynn Harrell to join his studio at the University of Southern California (USC), where he completed the Advanced Studies Program and his master's degree in performance. Upon graduation from USC, Gratta accepted a one-year contract to perform with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife in the Canary Islands as Violonchelo Solista (principal cello). When he returned to the United States, Gratta joined The Florida Orchestra in 1994. He was appointed by Music Director Jahja Ling to serve as assistant principal cello from 1995 to 1997.
Praised for his enthusiastic style as a teacher, coach and chamber musician, Gratta is currently a member of the artistic staff of the Pinellas Youth Symphony, member of the Upper Pinellas Music Teachers Association, American Federation of Musicians, American String Teachers Association, cellist of the Myakka River Piano Trio and principal cellist of the Saint Petersburg Opera Orchestra.
He previously served on the faculties of The University of Tampa, Manatee Community College, Howard W. Blake High School's Magnet for the Performing Arts, Tampa Bay (Patel) Youth Orchestra, Florida West Coast (Sarasota) Youth Orchestra and Sarasota summer string programs. In addition, Gratta makes regular appearances at numerous national and international festivals including the Festival de Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, where in 1998 he performed as principal cellist under Richard Hickox for a televised broadcast of Mendelssohn's Elijah. Most recently, Gratta joined the cello section at the Bellingham Festival of Music and looks forward to his return in the summer of 2010.
For more information on Fred Gratta please visit the following sites:
http://myakkariverpianotrio.com/
http://www.bellinghamfestival.org/
Gretchen Langlitz
Gretchen Langlitz joined The Florida Orchestra in 1975. She received her education at Washington University and the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. In addition, she has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Chicago Civic Orchestra as assistant principal, Orchestra of Illinois, Chicago Festival Orchestra as assistant principal, Chicago Lyric Opera, Fiori Musici, Savannah Symphony, and Tampa Bay Chamber Orchestra.
Laura McKey Smith
Laura McKey Smith joined The Florida Orchestra in 1984. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in music at the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. Smith has performed with the Charleston Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra.
Zsuzsanna Varosy
Zsuzsanna Varosy joined The Florida Orchestra in 1977. She received her bachelor's degree in music from the Bela Bartok Conservatory in Budapest, Hungary. In addition, she received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music. She has performed at the International Chamber Music Festival in Munich, Germany, the Sessione Seuese Per La Musica in Siena, Italy, the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, and with the National Orchestral Association in New York. Her teaching experience includes the Kodaly Method in Budapest, Hungary, the Bronx House Music School in New York, Settlement Music Schools in New York, Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, The University of Tampa, and St. Petersburg College. During the summer, Varosy takes part in the International Chamber Music Festival, master classes and coaching by the Alban Berg String Quartet, Sessione Seuese Per La Musica and the Eastern Music Festival.
Sasha von Dassow
Cellist Sasha von Dassow is a multi-faceted musician who has been a performer, teacher, and conductor in the greater Tampa Bay area for many years. He is a member of the cello section of The Florida Orchestra, music director of the North Port Orchestra in North Port, Florida, and on faculty at Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida, where he is the director of orchestra and an instructor.
He is also an active chamber musician in the region; he is a founding member of two Sarasota-based groups: Duo Vivo, a cello/piano recital duo, and MOB-Musicians Out of the Box, an eclectic string quartet.
He arrived in Sarasota in 1991 as a member of the Florida West Coast Symphony, where he was assistant principal cello and a member of the New Artists Piano Quartet for four seasons. He has been a soloist with Florida West Coast Symphony, the Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra, and the Sarasota Pops in recent years, among others.
His training includes a master's degree in performance from the University of Memphis and a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
Von Dassow has premiered works written for him by William Sydeman and Ted Dollarhide, and his recent work on the soundtrack to the movie Southernmost Point has been heard at film festivals in Sarasota and Sedona, Arizona.
Merrilee Wallbrunn
Merrilee Wallbrunn joined The Florida Orchestra in 1985. She received her bachelor's degree in music from the Eastman School of Music and her master's degree in music from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Dee Moses, Principal
Dee Moses has been the principal double-bass of The Florida Orchestra since 1975. His career, in addition to symphony and opera, has encompassed solo playing, chamber music performance, composition, and teaching.
He presently serves as adjunct instructor of double-bass at the University of South Florida, maintains a private studio, and presents master classes and recitals. Moses received his high school diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts. His bachelor's and master's degrees are from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a student of Lawrence Angell.
Summer affiliations have included the Florimezzo, Musica Viva, Cooperstown, Scotia, Eastern, Bowdoin, and Taipei festivals. In the summer of 2005, Moses began performing as principal bass of the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in the mountains of Virginia. In 1996, Moses first performed chamber music with the esteemed musicians of La Musica International Chamber Music Festival, with whom he has subsequently collaborated frequently. In April of 1999, Moses performed the Koussevitsky Concerto for Double Bass on the Masterworks concert series of The Florida Orchestra and also appeared as soloist in March 2006 with the Paganini Moses Fantasy.
Recently, Moses has delved back into contemporary composition and performance in collaboration with his wife, the modern dancer and choreographer Elsa Valbuena, who is often joined onstage by daughter Josianne. Their group, Gaudere Danza, was featured in a full-length evening as part of the first Cali En Danza contemporary dance festival in Cali, Colombia in June of 2006.
Moses has also been featured soloist in the Florida premiere of the John Harbison Concerto for Bass Viol as part of a consortium of orchestras whose co-commission was organized by the International Society of Bassists.
James Young, Assistant Principal
James Young joined The Florida Orchestra in 1981. He received his bachelor's degree in music from Oberlin Conservatory. He has performed with the Youngstown Symphony, the Warren Chamber Orchestra, and the Oberlin Orchestra.
John DiMura
John DiMura joined The Florida Orchestra in 1978. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Miami.
Roger Funk
Roger Funk joined The Florida Orchestra in 1983. He received his formal training under the tutelage of Dr. Nancy Cuitelli at Appalachian State University and Dr. Lucas Drew at the University of Miami. In addition, he participated in master classes with Peter Rofe at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Harold Robinson at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Paul Ellison at Rice University, and Jeff Turner at the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, the Southwest Symphony, and the Savannah Orchestra.
Alan Glick
Alan Glick joined The Florida Orchestra in 1993. He received his education at The Julliard School and Tanglewood. He has performed with the Florida Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal bass from 1978 to 1993. His teaching experience includes Rollins College in Orlando and Blake High School for the Performing Arts.
James Petrecca
James Petrecca joined The Florida Orchestra in 1991. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the New England Conservatory. He has performed with the Boston Pops, the Opera Company of Boston, and the Boston Ballet.
Deborah Schmidt
Clay Ellerbroek, Principal
Clay Ellerbroek became acting principal flutist with The Florida Orchestra in the spring of the 2007/2008 season and was awarded the position of principal flutist in March of 2009.
He performs regularly with the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera and Mainly Mozart Festival. He has also played with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony and Mladi Chamber Orchestra in Los Angeles as well as performed at Tanglewood, the Grand Teton Music Festival and La Jolla Music Society Summerfest. At the request of Maestro Jahja Ling, Ellerbroek also performed as acting principal flute for the San Diego Symphony's 2005/2006 season.
Ellerbroek began his studies at the age of thirteen in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Later, he studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy with Jacqueline Hofto and Christopher Kantner and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he mentored with Leone Buyse and Paula Robison.
In his first year at the conservatory, Ellerbroek was invited by John Heiss to perform with the New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble and held principal flute positions with the New England Chamber Orchestra, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra and the Middlesex Chamber Orchestra. In 1992, he was a finalist in the Concert Artist Guild competition as a member of the Cirrus Wind Quintet.
Daphne Soellner, Assistant Principal
Lewis Sligh, Piccolo
The Gregory & Elizabeth Sembler Chair
Lewis Sligh has been a member of The Florida Orchestra since 1995, performing both flute and piccolo. He began his musical studies on the violin and continued with the flute during junior high school. Two years later, he was invited to perform with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, eventually attending The Juilliard School.
Before joining The Florida Orchestra, Sligh was the principal piccolo with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra for eight seasons. As a frequent performer with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he participated in seven of their critically acclaimed recordings, including Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand under the direction of the late Robert Shaw.
In the summer of 1990, Sligh toured England, where he performed as a soloist at the famous St. John's Smith Square in London, St. David's in Cardiff, Wales, and at the cathedrals in Norwich and Bristol. He has also performed at many summer music festivals, including the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico, the Britt Festival in Oregon and Festival Musicale di Salerno in Italy.
Katherine Young, Principal
Katherine Young was appointed principal oboe of The Florida Orchestra in March 2007. Previously, she completed a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, where she served as principal oboe on numerous occasions under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and during residencies at the Accademia de Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, and New York's Carnegie Hall. Young has served as a guest principal oboe in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony. She has performed in the music festivals of Tanglewood, Spoleto USA, Banff, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and with the National Repertory Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Young has participated in chamber music festivals in Sarasota, Florida, and Norfolk, Connecticut, and has presented recitals in Washington, DC, Columbus, Ohio, and throughout south Florida. She is a passionate advocate for music education and maintains a small private teaching studio. Young will join the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, this summer and currently serves on the faculty at The University of Tampa and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in western Michigan. A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Young holds a bachelor's degree in music and the prestigious performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a master's degree in music from Rice University’s Shepherd School. Her primary teachers include Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt, and Donna Conaty.
Lane Lederer, Assistant Principal
Lane Lederer joined The Florida Orchestra in 1980. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida and his master's degree in music from Michigan State. He participates in extensive chamber music work, especially Baroque music and woodwind quintets. His teaching experience includes being a teaching assistant at Michigan State, private instruction, and ensemble coaching.
Jeffrey Stephenson
Jeffrey Stephenson joined The Florida Orchestra for the 2009/10 season as acting solo English horn and was awarded the English horn position in February of 2010. He has held previous positions with the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras as acting principal oboe, and at the age of 20 he was awarded a section oboe position with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed with the Houston Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Aspen Festival Symphony and the New World Symphony.
In 2007, Stephenson won first prize in the prestigious Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox International Solo Oboe Competition and was a featured soloist at the 2007 International Double Reed Society Conference in Ithaca, NY. In that same year, he was selected to perform in a collaborative recital for the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage Concert Series as a representative of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He has also been a featured soloist in Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin with the Houston Ballet Orchestra and at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Barber's Capricorn Concerto and Copland's Quiet City with Chamber Music Rochester, and Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela with The Florida Orchestra. In 2005 he performed as principal oboe of The Eastman Wind Ensemble on tour at Carnegie Hall. Stephenson has participated in numerous summer festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, AIMS in Graz-Austria, The National Orchestral Institute, BRAVO! Vail Valley Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Sarasota and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals.
A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Stephenson received his master's in music from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and his bachelor's in music and the coveted performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music. His major teachers include Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt and Rebecca Nagel.
Brian Moorhead, Principal
The Bertelstein Family Chair
J. Brian Moorhead, associate professor in applied music studies/clarinet, has taught clarinet performance and chamber music at the University of South Florida since 1985. He has been principal clarinet with The Florida Orchestra since 1976, where he has also been featured as an orchestral soloist. He has collaborated in various solo, chamber, and orchestral works in Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New York, with international invitations to Taipei, Taiwan and Le Havre, France. He has been active with the USF Faculty Chamber Players, Marly Room Recital Series at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, Resident Artist Series at USF, Tampa Bay Composers' Forum premiere performances, Encore Series programs at the St. Petersburg Palladium Theater, The Florida Orchestra Chamber Players, the USF Clarion Society, and the Quantum Winds Quintet in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Clearwater. He served as guest artist at the Highlands/Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, North Carolina, for eleven years, collaborating with the Cavani, Alexander, Audubon, and Lark String Quartets. As featured festival principal clarinet, he performed solo, chamber, orchestral and opera works at the Crested Butte Music Festival, Colorado, in July 2006 and 2007. In USF service, he has been a rehearsal consultant, adjudicator, clinician, and performer, working with public and private schools and youth orchestra programs. He has facilitated the Florida Bandmasters Association for Allstate high school musician selection procedures and USF workshops. Moorhead earned his bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida and his master's degree at the Northwestern University School of Music, Evanston, Illinois.
Erika Shrauger, Assistant Principal/E-Flat Clarinet
Erika Shrauger has been assistant principal/second/E-flat clarinet of The Florida Orchestra since 1991. She also serves concurrently as second clarinetist of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. She holds a bachelor's degree of music in clarinet performance from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her major teachers included Donald Montanaro and James Pyne. She has held orchestral positions with the Colorado Symphony and the New World Symphony and appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic. She has extensive chamber music experience and teaches clarinet privately in the Tampa Bay area.
Vicky Newcomb
Vicky Newcomb joined The Florida Orchestra in 1991. She received her master's degree in music from De Paul University. She has performed with the Florida Philharmonic, the Sarasota Opera, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Anthony Georgeson, Principal
Maurizio Venturini, Assistant Principal
Maurizio Venturini received his master's degree of music in bassoon performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1998. In 1979, he received his doctorate in bassoon performance from the Conservatorio di Musica di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. He also received a degree in music cultural knowledge from the Latium Literary Center and a diploma in geology from the High Institute of Science, both in Rome, Italy. He has studied with many noted bassoonists, such as W. Winstead, K. Thunemann, M. Constantini, and M. Turkovic at the Mozarteum Conservatory of Music in Salzburg, Austria.
Venturini was the principal bassoon of the Rome Opera Orchestra from 1982 to 1990 and the principal bassoon of the Naples Philharmonic from 1990 to 1995. He is the assistant principal bassoon of The Florida Orchestra, a position that he has held since 1999. In addition, he has played with the Rome Chamber Orchestra, the Roman Philharmonic Orchestra, the International Chamber Ensemble, and the Bulgarian Chamber Orchestra as principal bassoon. He has also played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 1998 and the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, Italy.
While with the Rome Opera Orchestra, Venturini was the principal bassoon for the movie soundtracks of The Godfather 3, Conan the Barbarian, Marco Polo and Lonely Lady. He was also the principal bassoon in a recording for The Three Tenors (Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti) with Z. Mehta conducting and in two recordings with A. Kraus. He is also the principal bassoon in a recording of Aida with the Rome Opera Orchestra conducted by Z. Mehta. On three separate occasions, he was recorded as a bassoon soloist for RAI. While studying for his master’s degree in Ohio, he recorded as principal bassoon with the Cincinnati 18th Century Ensemble and the Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra. While the principal bassoon of the Naples Philharmonic, they recorded The Nutcracker and Tubby the Tuba, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1993. He has also recorded for RCA, London, Summit, EMI, Columbia, RAI, and Erato labels. He has been a featured soloist on radio broadcasts in Ohio, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Italy. In addition to the recordings, while principal bassoon of the Rome Opera Orchestra, a concert with the Three Tenors conducted by Z. Mehta and a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni conducted by P. Maag were broadcast worldwide on live television.
After winning the Lanciano International Competition, he was a featured soloist of Mozart, Weber, Danzi and Vivaldi bassoon concertos on 11 different occasions in concerts throughout Italy. In the United States, he has been the featured soloist in performances of bassoon concerti by Mozart, Danzi, Hummel, Weber, Vanhal, Kozeluch, Devienne, Vogel, Stamiz, Daugherty, Jolivet, Walker, Bruns, Parodi, Villa-Lobos, Bach, Muthel, Bozza and Vivaldi. In Europe, he has also performed in Dresden, Berlin, Salzburg, Wiesbaden, Budapest, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice, Florence, Naples, Palermo, Brescia, Helsinki and Joensuu. In the United States, he performed in Cincinnati, New York, Austin, Indianapolis, Dayton, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, San Antonio, Kansas City, Chicago, Dallas, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Montreal. In addition to his experience with The Florida Orchestra, Venturini has also played with such esteemed conductors as G. Pretre, M. Rostropovich, F. Ferrara and G. Sinopoli.
In addition to his position as assistant principal bassoon of The Florida Orchestra, Venturini is also an adjunct faculty member (bassoon) at The University of Tampa and the Hillsborough Community College. He is also bassoon instructor at the Patel Conservatory. He was also the bassoon professor at Edison College and was the secondary bassoon Instructor at the Conservatory S. Cecilia in Rome, Italy. Venturini is also principal bassoon with the St. Petersburg Opera, which is involved with the IDS, the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra and Florimezzo.
John Kehayas
The Suzette McCune Berkman & Monroe E. Berkman Chair
John Kehayas is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he was awarded The Naumburg Foundation Scholarship for excellence in music performance. He also attended the Indiana University School of Music. Kehayas was an inaugural member of the New World Symphony under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic and concertized throughout Japan, China, South America as well as the United States. His teaching experience includes being on the faculty of the University of South Florida and The University of Tampa. He was invited to Princeton University to premier and record new American compositions. In addition, he coached and performed extensively as a faculty member of the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine.
Brandon Beck, Assistant Principal
The Iris and Alvin Bernstein Chair
Andrew Karr
Carolyn Wahl
Carolyn Wahl joined The Florida Orchestra in 1974. She received her bachelor's degree from the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory. She has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic. Her teaching experience includes St. Petersburg College, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont, the Pinellas Youth Symphony as the brass section coach, and private instruction and sectional coaching at many high schools.
Richard Sparrow
Richard Sparrow has played fourth horn with The Florida Orchestra since 1984. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Columbus State University in 1980. He received a master's degree in performance on horn from the University of South Florida in 2005.
He is presently on faculty at The University of Tampa, where he plays with the Tampa Brass Quintet and teaches horn.
Robert Smith, Principal
The Community Foundation of Greater St. Petersburg Chair
Robert Smith joined The Florida Orchestra in 1984. He attended Northwestern University and was a fellow at Tanglewood and the Berkshire Music Festival. He has performed with the Dallas Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. In addition, he is a member of The Florida Orchestra Brass Quintet. His teaching experience includes The University of Tampa and the University of South Florida.
Kenneth Brown, Assistant Principal/Utility
Kenneth Brown joined The Florida Orchestra in 1996. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of South Florida. He has performed with the Grand Rapids Symphony, the South Bend Symphony, the West Coast Symphony, and the American Wind Symphony.
Kristopher Marshall
Dwight Decker, Principal
The St. Petersburg Times Chair
Dwight Decker joined The Florida Orchestra in 1973. He received his bachelor's degree in music from Wheaton College. Decker was a founding member of The Florida Orchestra Brass Quintet. In addition, he has performed with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and at the Shenandoah Music Festival. His teaching experience includes work with St. Leo University, Hillsborough Community College, the University of South Florida, and The University of Tampa.
Donald Zegel
Donald Zegel joined The Florida Orchestra in 1978.
Harold Van Schaik
Harold Van Schaik has been with The Florida Orchestra since 1993. Previously, he had been with the Honolulu Symphony for four seasons. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Van Schaik received his bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern University and his master's degree in music with a performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Outside the symphonic realm, Van Schaik is an active soloist, clinician, chamber musician, and jazz performer. He was awarded first prize in the 1987 International Trombone Association solo competition. He has presented recitals, master classes and clinics throughout the country. Van Schaik has been a featured soloist with several university ensembles as well as the U.S. Military Academy Band, U.S. Army Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony and The Florida Orchestra. He also performs as a member of the Nay Palm Bones trombone quartet, presenting recitals and recording on the Summit label. In the jazz field, Van Schaik has played with the big bands of Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown, and Jimmy Dorsey, as well as locally with the Jazz Legacy Big Band. He can also be heard on numerous soundtracks, jingles and as a backup musician for pop and commercial artists. Van Schaik has performed in the pit orchestras of several major Broadway shows including Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Cats. During the summer, Van Schaik can be found performing in the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, Skyline Brass Festival, and Wintergreen Festival.
William Mickelsen, Principal
William Mickelsen joined The Florida Orchestra in 1979. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Colorado and his master's degree in music from Yale University. In addition, he performs with The Florida Orchestra Brass Quintet.
John Bannon, Principal
John Bannon has been the principal timpanist with The Florida Orchestra since 1988. He has served in the same position with the Anchorage Symphony, Oklahoma Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City, Honolulu Symphony, and Colorado Music Festival. In addition, he was a percussionist with the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony from 1973 to 1978. He also conducts the band and orchestra and teaches conducting at St. Petersburg College. During the summer, he coaches chamber music and teaches percussion at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont.
He received his early musical training in the public schools in Anchorage, Alaska and in St. Petersburg, where he graduated from Northeast High School. He earned degrees in percussion performance from the University of South Florida (B.A.), the University of Michigan (M.M.), and in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Miami (D.M.A.). He studied timpani and percussion with Saul Goodman, Robert McCormick, Charles Owen, Salvatore Rabbio, and Cloyd Duff.
Bannon lives in St. Petersburg with his wife Carmen Newell Bannon, who is a flutist with the Florida West Coast Symphony in Sarasota, and their two children.
John Shaw, Principal
The Dick & Helen Minck Chair
John Shaw is the principal percussionist with The Florida Orchestra, a position he has held since 1996. He previously served as a section percussionist with The Florida Orchestra beginning in 1992.
A native of Milton, Florida, Shaw earned a bachelor's degree in music from Florida State University, where he studied with Gary Werdesheim, and a master's degree in music from Temple University as a student of Alan Abel. He received additional training at the Aspen Music Festival and Grand Tetons Orchestral Seminar.
In addition to his duties with The Florida Orchestra, Shaw is the head of the percussion studio at St. Petersburg College, where he teaches lessons, percussion ensemble, and steel drum band. In 2008, he joined the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In March of 2000, Shaw made his first appearance as a soloist with The Florida Orchestra, performing the Concerto for Percussion by Joseph Schwantner. His seven-member steel drum band, the Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra, was featured with The Florida Orchestra in March 2005 in a program entitled Music of the Islands as part of the orchestra’s Pops series; the performance coincided with the release of the band’s first recording. The band returned to play with The Florida Orchestra in October of 2009. In November of 2005, Shaw was once again featured as one of four soloists in Bartok’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion. In December of 2008, he performed James MacMillan’s percussion concerto, Veni, veni Emmanuel as part of The Florida Orchestra’s Masterworks series.
Shaw lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Florida Orchestra Principal Harpist Anna Kate Mackle, their three children Avery, Audrey and Madeline, and Louise the cat.
E-mail: p.drummer@yahoo.com
Website: www.tampabaysteelorchestra.com
David Coash
Percussionist David Coash has been a member of The Florida Orchestra in Tampa, Florida since 1978. Dr. Coash received his doctorate of musical arts degree from the University of Michigan, School of Music, in 1999 and also holds a master’s degree in performance from Northwestern University and degrees in music and music education from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Dr. Coash is currently the principal percussionist with the Lake George Opera and is the co-founder and director of Spectrum Contemporary Ensemble. He is also a member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek, appearing with them at the Boosey and Hawkes National Brass Band Championships at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England in October 1998 and at the National Association of Brass Bands in America (NABBA) championships in Cincinnati in April 2002. He has performed with the London Symphony at the Florida International Festival (1999) and with the Detroit Symphony, including a tour to Carnegie Hall (1994), and in 2001 and 2002 he served as timpanist for the Eisenstadter Sommerakadamie in Eisenstadt, Austria. Dr. Coash has also performed at the Bowdoin Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine (1996) and at Music at Gretna, in Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania (1995 and 1997) and at the Pine Mountain Music Festival (1997)
Dr. Coash has been a member of the faculty at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida since 2005 and also at The University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida since 1983. He was also a member the faculty of Stetson University from 1999 to 2004.
In the fall of 2006, Dr. Coash was appointed music director and conductor of the Junior Philharmonic, part of the youth orchestra program at the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
A frequent recitalist, Dr. Coash has performed numerous recitals and educational performances with Spectrum Contemporary Ensemble and has performed with the Michigan Chamber Players. Dr. Coash has performed at both the 2002 and 2003 Percussion Summit concerts in Naples, Florida and appeared as soloist in 2002. As part of the 2001 Bonk Festival of New Music, Dr. Coash gave the world premiere performance of Campaign 2000 by composer Robert Constable and gave the U.S. premiere of Ziqquratu II by Lithuanian composer Sarunas Nakas. In 1992, in conjunction with Spectrum, he performed in recital at the Florida chapter of the Percussive Arts Society State convention. He has collaborated with the University of South Florida’s Institute for Research in Arts and Technology in performing Smarter Than Dogs, a multi-media performance work, and in March of 1998, he was the soloist in a performance of Marimba Spiritual on The Florida Orchestra’s On the Fringe music series. Dr. Coash has performed and presented master classes in orchestral percussion, marimba, timpani and contemporary music performance at major universities in Florida, Texas, Missouri and Michigan.
As an adjudicator, Dr. Coash has worked at both the district and state levels for the Florida Bandmasters Association since 1986. In 2002, he served as a panelist for the Solo and Ensemble Adjudication Clinic presented at the Florida Music Educators Association convention in Tampa, Florida. He presented a hand-drumming clinic for the Michigan Music Therapists State Convention in 1993, and in 1998, he was the music specialist for the Hillsborough County Arts Council’s Emerging Artists Grant Panel. Dr. Coash served as president of the Florida chapter of the Percussive Arts Society from 1985 to 1988 and as the vice president of the society from 2002 to 2007. He hosted the chapter’s State Day of Percussion in 1986, 1988 and 2003. In 1998, he was accepted into the Eta Lambda chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda.
Dr. Coash has appeared on several recordings for his work with The Florida Orchestra, The Brass Band of Battle Creek, Chuck Owen’s Jazz Surge and Equilibrium. In 1996, he became a member of Bogus Pomp, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of the music of Frank Zappa, where he plays marimba, vibraphone and percussion. In addition to their many live performances throughout the Tampa Bay area, Bogus Pomp has performed in concert with the a cappella vocal group The Persuasions (2000) and with both The Florida Orchestra (1999 and 2000) and the Buffalo Philharmonic (2000) in all-Zappa concert performances. In addition, Bogus Pomp was invited to perform at the 16th annual Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany in August of 2005. Bogus Pomp released its live CD, A Pungent, Steaming Affair, in June 2001.
Kurt Grissom
Kurt Grissom joined The Florida Orchestra in 1984 under then Music Director Irwin Hoffman. He graduated high school from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan in 1979 and did his undergraduate studies at the University of South Florida, New England Conservatory of Music and The University of Tampa (bachelor's degree in music in 1985).
He was a Florida Gulf Coast Symphony Young Artist Concerto winner in 1977, attended the Tanglewood Music Festival on a fellowship in 1987, and has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein as well as the Naples, Jacksonville and Orlando orchestras of Florida. Grissom also held the position of personnel manager of The Florida Orchestra from 1991 to 1999.
He has been the percussion instructor at Hillsborough Community College for over 15 years and has taught privately since 1983. He also has been active with the Pinellas Youth Symphony as a percussion coach since 2001.
His outside interests primarily include spending his free time with his three daughters and distance hiking and backpacking during the summer months. Since 2002 he has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, Vermont's "Long Trail" and extensively in the Austrian Alps in 2005.
Anna Kate Mackle, Principal
The Dick & Helen Minck Chair
Anna Kate Mackle is the principal harpist of The Florida Orchestra, a position she has held since 1999. Prior to joining the orchestra, she served as principal harpist with numerous orchestras and summer festivals, including the New World Symphony, Sarasota Opera, Spoleto Festival Orchestra (both in Italy and the USA), National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, Ohio Light Opera Company, and the touring companies of the Broadway production of State Fair, the San Francisco Ballet and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Originally from New York City, Mackle spent her college and graduate school years in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied with Alice Chalifoux, earning a bachelor's degree in music from Baldwin-Wallace College and an master's degree in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
In addition to her TFO duties, Mackle is an active soloist, chamber musician and teacher. She has performed concertos with The Florida Orchestra, New World Symphony, Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony and Mansfield Symphony orchestras. She has appeared as a chamber musician with members of The Florida Orchestra in venues around Tampa Bay, and she teaches privately at St. Petersburg College and Pinellas County Center for the Arts. During the summer, she serves as faculty member and principal harpist at Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2007, Creative Loafing magazine named Mackle one of the top ten female musicians in Tampa Bay.
Mackle has served as a member of TFO’s orchestra committee, contract negotiation committee, assistant conductor and personnel manager search committees and chair of the Artistic Advisory Committee.
Mackle performs on a Lyon & Healy Style 23 harp, which she transports to and from the more than 150 services the orchestra plays.
Mackle lives in St. Petersburg with her husband, TFO Principal Percussionist John Shaw, their daughter Madeline, stepchildren Avery and Audrey, and Louise, the cat.
