Esteemed violist Cynthia Phelps’s wide-ranging career has taken her to stages across the world as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic for over two decades, she is a regularly featured soloist with the orchestra both at home and abroad, in a variety of repertoire, including two world premieres written solely for her. Other concerto appearances have been with the Minnesota Orchestra, Shanghai, Vermont, Santa Barbara, Eastern Music Festival, and San Diego Symphonies, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao, and Rochester and Hong Kong Philharmonics.  Known for her emotional nuance, virtuosic technique, and plush tone, she is a founding member of both the New York Philharmonic String Quartet and Les Amies trio and is a frequent guest with chamber series across the globe. She has been featured in several nationwide "Live from Lincoln Center" telecasts, on National Public Radio, Radio France, Italy‘s RAI, and in regular broadcasts from the 92Y, including collaborations with Emanuel Ax and Daniil Trifonov. She is on the faculty of The Juilliard School Shanghai Academy, Music Academy of the West, and Mannes College of Music.

Ms. Phelps attended the Music Academy in 1979 and 1983, and was named a recipient of the Music Academy's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001.

Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “astoundingly gifted”, violinist Helen Kim enjoys a versatile career as performer and teacher. She is the Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and served as the Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Francisco Symphony from 2016 to 2022. In recent seasons, Kim has made solo appearances with the St. Louis Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and performed concertos under conductors Peter Oundjian, Jun Märkl, and Nicholas McGegan, among others. She is a dedicated interpreter of contemporary music and has performed works such as Salvatorre Sciarrino’s Sei Capricci on San Francisco Symphony’s Soundbox series as well as Pierre Boulez’s Anthèmes II and Morton Feldman’s evening-length For John Cage on the Pulitzer Arts Foundation’s contemporary music series. Kim lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two sons.

Cellist Ani Aznavoorian has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops. An avid chamber musician and teacher, she is the principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica and appears regularly at chamber music festivals around the world. Additionally, she has served on the music faculty at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. She received the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Medal from  President Bill Clinton, the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award, and was a prize winner of the International Paulo Cello Competition. A vigorous proponent of new music, she has premiered concertos by Lera Auerbach, Ezra Laderman, and chamber music by John Harbison, Clarice Assad, David Bruce, and Bright Sheng. This season features her Ravinia debut, along with a tour of Spain and Slovenia. Aznavoorian records for Cedille Records, and proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago.

Eugene Izotov is one of the leading wind players of his generation. His playing continues to receive wide acclaim for its "luminous beauty” (San Francisco Chronicle), “lyrical gold” (Chicago Tribune), and “fiery Russian temperament” (Boston Globe). Appointed by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2014, Eugene Izotov is the principal oboist of the San Francisco Symphony. He previously served as the principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony, appointed by Daniel Barenboim, principal oboist of the Metropolitan Opera, appointed by James Levine, and as guest principal oboist with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Izotov is the first Russian-born musician in history to hold a principal wind position in any major American symphony orchestra. His numerous awards include top prizes at solo competitions in Saint Petersburg (1991), Moscow (1990), New York (1995), and at the Fernand Gillet International Competition (2001).

Izotov has appeared over 70 times as soloist with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Pacific Music Festival Orchestra, and has collaborated with Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Nicholas McGegan, Edo De Waart, Ludovic Morlot, Ton Koopman, and Michael Tilson Thomas performing works by Mozart, Strauss, Marcello, Haydn, Martinu, Vivaldi, Carter, Hummel, Krommer and Bach. Eugene Izotov has recorded for Sony Classical, BMG, Boston Records, Elektra, SFSMedia, CSOResond, and was a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of John Williams on the Oscar-nominated recording for Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln. He has also recently been a guest soloist on NPR’s Live from Here with Chris Thile. A prolific chamber musician, Eugene Izotov has collaborated regularly with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, as well as with Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Jamie Laredo, Yo Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, André Watts, and the Tokyo String Quartet.

Eugene Izotov teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at The Colburn School. He has also served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, DePaul University, and Pacific Music Festival. He regularly presents master classes at conservatories across the nation and abroad, such as Aspen, Oberlin, New World Symphony, Boston University, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Vanderbilt, University of Michigan, Tanglewood, Verbier, Domaine Forget, and Interlochen. Eugene Izotov has served as an oboe mentor for the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra during its residency at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, which included a live internet simulcast to over 30 million of worldwide viewers. In 2019 Eugene Izotov was invited by Valery Gergiev to serve on the first-ever woodwind jury of the Tchaikovsky International Competition. Izotov’s former students are enjoying careers in symphony orchestras of Chicago, San Francisco, Saint Louis, Montreal, Kansas City, Buffalo, San Diego, Lexington, Ontario, Atlanta, Osaka, Fort Worth, Jerusalem, and others.

Born in Moscow, Russia, Izotov studied at the Gnesin School of Music with Ivan Pushechnikov, Sergey Velikanov, and Alexander Izotov (his father). After immigrating to the United States, he studied at Boston University with Ralph Gomberg.

Richie Hawley ranks among the most distinguished clarinetists of his generation. As principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), he impressed audiences around the world with his virtuosity and the velvety, sonorous tone that has become his trademark. The Cincinnati Enquirer has praised him for the “seamless flowing tone so many clarinetists long for and few can achieve.”

In 2011, Mr. Hawley left the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and moved to Houston, Texas to become the Professor of Clarinet at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Mr. Hawley appears on stages around the world regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and recitalist. During the summer he is in residence as the clarinet teaching and performing artists at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Highlights of this year’s season include the premiere of Georgina Derbez’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra with the UNAM orchestra of Mexico and the debut duo album with Conor Hanick featuring the music of Higdon, Copland, Tower and Jalbert. Mr. Hawley made his debut at the Marlboro Music Festival in 1999 and toured with the legendary “Musicians from Marlboro” for the 50th anniversary performance at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Hawley has garnered awards as both performer and educator. He won the Coleman-Barstow prize at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 1988 with Trio con Brio, and that same year was one of five musicians to receive the Gold Medal as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts from Ronald Reagan in a ceremony at the White House. He has received the Léni Fé Bland Foundation Career Grant twice, and was awarded the 2009 Glover Award for outstanding teaching at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Originally from Los Angeles, Mr. Hawley began his clarinet studies with Yehuda Gilad at the Colburn School of Performing Arts at age 9. He made his orchestral solo debut at age 13 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at age 14 performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic. While a student of Donald Montanaro at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Hawley appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

As a D’Addario performing artist, Mr. Hawley performs exclusively on a reeds and mouthpieces that he helped to develop. He is also an artist for Buffet Crampon and performs on the Tosca model of clarinet.

He has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 2005.

William Short was appointed Principal Bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2012 and has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Temple University since 2016. He has performed and taught at the Lake Champlain, Lake Tahoe, Mostly Mozart, Stellenbosch, Strings, and Verbier Festivals. William received his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Daniel Matsukawa and Bernard Garfield, and his Master of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. A Fox Artist, William plays on a Model 750, which he is proud to have helped develop.

Natasha Kislenko has performed extensively as a soloist and a collaborative pianist across Europe, Middle East and the Americas. A highly sought after collaborator, Ms. Kislenko has enjoyed a varied performing career as an active chamber musician, an orchestral keyboardist with the Santa Barbara and San Diego Symphony, and recitalist with singers and instrumentalists. Her distinguished partners include Michelle Bradley, Leone Buyse, Tadeu Coelho, David Cohen, Marcus Groh, Frank Huang, Chavdar Parashkevov and Zvi Zeitlin.

Natasha gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and has appeared as a concerto soloist with Orquesta del Congreso Nacional (Paraguay), the Varna Chamber Orchestra (Bulgaria), the Eskisehir Municipal Symphony Orchestra (Turkey), New West Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Ms. Kislenko has been on the piano faculty of UC Santa Barbara since 2007. Previously, she served on the faculties of California State University Fresno and Meadowmount School of Music (New York). An alumna of the Music Academy of the West (2001), Ms. Kislenko has been a member of the faculty since 2004. Ms. Kislenko holds graduate degrees in piano from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) and Stony Brook University, NY, where she completed her doctorate with Gilbert Kalish.

Pianist Margaret McDonald, a native of Minnesota, is an Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder.  She joined the College of Music keyboard faculty in the fall of 2004. She helped to develop the College’s graduate degree program in Collaborative Piano and the undergraduate collaborative curriculum. Praised for her poetic style and versatility, Dr. McDonald enjoys a very active performing career and has partnered many distinguished artists including the Takács Quartet, Kathleen Winkler, Zuill Bailey, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Ben Kamins, David Shifrin, David Jolley, Ian Bousfield, Joseph Alessi, Steven Mead, and Velvet Brown.  She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Dr. McDonald received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of California – Santa Barbara.  Her principal teachers include Lydia Artymiw and Anne Epperson.  She received fellowships to study at both the Music Academy of the West and the Tanglewood Music Center where she worked closely with Dawn Upshaw, Robert Spano, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Dr. McDonald is active throughout the country giving master classes at institutions including The Juilliard School, Indiana University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Arizona State University, University of California - Santa Barbara, and Louisiana State University.  She has released recordings with Velvet Brown, tuba, Aaron Tindall, tuba, and Erika Eckert, viola for Potenza Records and Meridian Records.

Dr. McDonald has been a staff accompanist at the Meadowmount School for Strings in New York and an official accompanist at the Music Teachers National Association competition and the National Flute Association annual convention. McDonald is an alumna of the Music Academy of the West and has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 2005.

London-based conductor William Long continues to showcase his “masterful command of challenging, multi-stylistic works” (Opera News) with some of the world’s premier musical institutions. Recent highlights include his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican, conducting Washington National Opera’s production of Carmen and the world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones with Opera Theater Saint Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

This upcoming season, Long returns to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Terence Blanchard’s Champion, San Francisco Opera for the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra and concerts with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra & Chorus, and Washington National Opera for La bohème. Long will also continue his relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra as a Cover Conductor where he has assisted in a wide variety of programs since 2020, working with Sir Simon Rattle, Gianandrea Noseda, and John Wilson. He also continues his posts at the prestigious Music Academy in Santa Barbara, California.

Long’s previous work has included appearances as Cover Conductor at the Kennedy Center for productions of Eugene Onegin, Candide, and the world premieres of Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up and Terence Blanchard’s Champion. A native of California, he has worked extensively with San Francisco Opera as Assistant Conductor on productions of Arabella, Hänsel und Gretel, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, and with Los Angeles Opera as Cover Conductor for Gordon Getty’s Usher House and The Canterville Ghost.

From 2013-2018 Long served as Assistant Conductor at San Francisco’s Opera Parallèle, where he prepared productions of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and At the Statue of Venus, Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Jonathan Dove’s Flight, Tarik O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness, and Philip Glass’ Les enfants terribles, among other projects.

Long holds a B.A. in Piano Performance and an M.A. in Conducting from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied with Maria Ezerova and Nicole Paiement. He also studied with Harold Farberman at the Conductor’s Institute at Bard College and Vance George at Westminster Choir College.

YELIN YOUN 23, born in Seoul, Korea, is earning her Artist Diploma at The Royal Conservatory of Music: Glenn Gould School, studying with Nora Shulman and Kelly Zimba. Yelin has performed as a substitute musician with both the Victoria and New World symphonies, and as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Bartholomew Poyser.

ELIZABETH KLEIBER 24, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has recently completed her master's degree at Rice University Shepherd School of Music, where she studied with Marianne Gedigian. She won First Place at the 42nd James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2022.

ANNIE PHAM 25, born in Bellevue, Washington, is a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She performed several string quartet concerts in spring 2025 at venues like Fulton Recital Hall and WNDR Museum, and played as a substitute section violinist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, conducted by Marcelo Lehninger.

ESTHER CHAE 23, born in Miami, Florida, is earning her master's degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Astrid Schween and Clara Minhye Kim. She won the LISMA International Competition in 2023, performed as a soloist at Zankel Hall in November 2024, and holds the Morse Teaching and GLUCK Community Service Engagement Fellowships. She also teaches privately.

SAEYEONG KIM 24, born in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, Korea, is earning her Doctor of Musical Arts at New England Conservatory, studying with Cynthia Meyers. She won the 45th Annual James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition in 2025 and has served as Principal Flute with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra under George Stelluto.

GRAEME SUGDEN 26, born in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, completed his master's degree, studying with Thomas Robertello. He serves as Third Flute/Piccolo with the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a substitute with the Detroit and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras, and regularly plays with the Indianapolis Symphony and Chamber orchestras.

JAMIE YOOJIN LEE 24, born in New York, New York, completed her master's degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Elaine Douvas. She won the 2020 Dong-A Music Competition and the 2017 Japan Wind and Percussion Competition. She has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra, Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, and Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.

JACOB GLASER 21, born in New York City, New York, is earning his bachelor's degree at Rice University Shepherd School of Music, studying with Richie Hawley. He won the 2022 Leone Buyse Prize, performed as Principal with the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra, and was appointed as a Section Clarinetist with "The President's Own" United States Marine Band.

CALEB HUTCHINGS 23, born in San Rafael, California, recently completed his bachelor's degree at The Juilliard School, studying with William Short. He serves as Acting Section Bassoon/Contrabassoon with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He won the 2019 Oregon Sinfonietta Concerto Competition and has performed with Symphony in C.

DREW PATTERSON 23, born in Hesperia, California, is earning his bachelor's degree at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Kevin Rivard. He has performed as assistant principal horn with San Francisco Opera in The Handmaid's Tale under Karen Kamensek, and as Fourth Horn with San Francisco Ballet in The Nutcracker under Martin West.

JESSE SILVERBERG 22, born in Silver Spring, Maryland, has recently completed his bachelor's degree at Case Western Reserve University, studying with David Brockett and Sean Yancer. He won the 2023 Case Western Reserve University Concerto Competition and the 2024 Joan Terr Ronis Memorial Recital Prize, and has performed with the Akron Symphony.

HYESONG PARK 24, born in Seoul, Korea, is earning her master's degree at The Juilliard School, studying with Joseph Lin. She won the Korea Young Artist Competition in 2017 and has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra. She is also a member of Orchestra Ensemble Seoul.

SUNG IN CHO 26, born in Seoul, Korea, is earning her master's degree at New England Conservatory, studying with Paul Biss. She received the Grand Prize in the Korean American Culture Exchange Association Competition and has participated in masterclasses taught by Novus Quartet and Soovin Kim.