Lisa Eckstein, conductor
In the company of Don Freund, composer

Kim Walker has enjoyed a prolific career as bassoonist, educator, senior administrator, author, and speaker on six continents. She is a celebrated soloist and recording artist with 33 CDs on Decca, GALLO, Collins, and Regent labels. In 1985, she was the first woman invited to play principal bassoon in the London Symphony. Kim enjoyed a decade as principal bassoonist performing with leading European orchestras and decades as a chamber musician in major festivals such as Marlboro, Prades, Schleswig-Holstein and the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society.

Also front and center is Contrabassonist, Spencer Phillips.  His part is the second main character of this music opera.

Spencer has been the Principal Bassoonist of the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra since 1983, and he served as the Principal Bassoonist of Orchestra London Canada from 1995 until its bankruptcy in 2015. Other orchestras of which he has been a member include the North Carolina Symphony, Orquestra Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal), the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, and the Albany (NY) Symphony. Ensembles with which he has performed include the Toronto Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra. He is an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Duke University, and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and he has a first prize from the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève.

Julianna Nickel, performer and flute professor at George Mason University, runs Juli Nickel Consulting for aspiring musicians applying to college. https://www.julinickelconsulting.com/

Josh Faison is an oboist who has lived in the Maryland/Virginia area his whole life. He has undergraduate music study at University of Maryland College Park. Josh loves teaching his private woodwind and general music students, and recently has begun engaging in freelance performance opportunities in the area. He also spends his summers working at a music camp in Maine.

Nick Thompson is a versatile musician and educator based out of the Washington D.C. area. He frequently appears as a soloist and chamber musician and has per- formed with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, and Apollo Orchestra, among many others. Nick holds a BM from George Mason University, and MM from the University of Michigan, and is currently finishing his DMA at the University of Michigan. Nick is a clarinetist with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra.

Dr. Susan Rider (trumpet) grew up in Iowa and also lived in Indiana and Texas be- fore coming to Washington, D.C. Among the many groups she has performed with, included are The West Texas Symphony, Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, New World Symphony, Owensboro Symphony and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony. Locally she has performed with the Alexandria Symphony, Concert Artists of Baltimore, and the Harrisburg Symphony. Currently, she is a member of the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, Monarch Brass, Stiletto Brass Quintet, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. Susan received degrees from The University of Northern Iowa (B.M.) and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (M.M. and D.M.).

James Nickel is the Acting Associate Principal Horn with the National Symphony Orchestra. He is also Professor of Horn at George Mason University.

Shannon Gunn is the Director of the NOVA Nighthawks Jazz Ensemble, Adjunct Instructor of Jazz Trombone at VCU, and an in-demand freelance jazz trombonist. As a musician, she actively uses her music for social justice causes. In 2015 she co-founded, with local non-profit CapitalBop, the Jazz and Freedom Festival, which has in turn raised funds and support for non-profits such as Empower DC, Black Lives Matter DMV, WPFW-FM, and ICE Out of DC. She is the Artistic/Executive Di- rector of the non-profit Jazz4Justice, which creates collaborative partnerships be- tween the legal community and music community to raise funds for Legal Aid and jazz studies. In 2019, she founded Jazz Girls Day DC to empower young women to pursue jazz without boundaries from gender.

Dr. Wendy Olson Posner holds degrees in violin performance from Indiana Univer- sity (bachelor’s) and The University of Michigan (master’s and doctorate). An avid chamber musician, she was a member of the Denver-based DaVinci String Quartet and a founding member of the Fairfax Chamber Ensemble. Dr. Posner performs with ensembles around the D.C. area and serves as violin instructor at NOVA’s An- nandale campus.

Anna Kong is an active freelancer and teacher in the DMV. She holds both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance, with notable teachers being Peter Haase, Jennifer Kim, Zino Bogachek, and Herbert Greenberg. Besides per- forming with ensembles such as the Richmond Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, and more, she also enjoys gigging with her fellow friends in the Kennedy Quartet and teaching young players at the Music Spectrum School for the Arts.

Gene Pohl is a graduate of Ithaca College and Boston University, where she received a master’s degree in viola performance. As a fellowship student at Tangle- wood, she played under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. She has played with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera, and with various ensembles at Wolftrap, the Kennedy Center, the Warner Theater, Constitution Hall and the Folger Theater. She was principal violist of the Fairfax Symphony for 30 years and currently plays with the Alexandria Symphony.

Ariana Nelson is based in the DC area and is the cellist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet. When not on tour with her quartet, she frequently performs with the National and Baltimore Symphonies and the Washington National Opera. Additionally, she maintains a private teaching studio and is a coach for the Crescendo cham- ber music program and the American Youth Philharmonic. Before moving to DC, Ariana was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and served as an adjunct cello professor at Texas Southern University. Originally from Seattle, Ariana studied at Rice University and The Juilliard School.

Dr. Minji Kim, a native of South Korea, is an active soloist and chamber musician who has performed across the United States, South Korea, Czech Republic, and Russia. She has performed at venues such as Hill Auditorium and Detroit Steinway Gallery, and has performed as a soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. She recently completed her DMA in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan under Christopher Harding, as well as a Certificate of Art Leadership and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Kim is currently a piano faculty member at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C.

Upcoming Performances