2007-2008

Lucy Archer, viola
Lucy is in her fourth year at OYO, and has played viola for those 4 years since switching from violin after 8th grade. She went on the Greece tour last summer, and has been the student board representative for the last two years. She will be graduating from Maybeck High School, and is headed to Wellesley College next year, where she plans to study something in the field of science, maybe Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering… she's just not sure yet. In her free time, she makes beaded jewelry, juggles flaming torches, reads science fiction and fantasy, and talks with the French girl she will be staying with for a month this summer. She also acts, sings, and is senior editor of the yearbook… and is currently a little lacking in free time, actually. She has really enjoyed these 4 years with OYO, especially watching the antics of Michael Morgan (“find your inner Caribbean woman!”) and Bryan, who is always so disappointed when the violas don’t know their notes. She would like to say thanks to her parents, teachers, and everyone else, and wish them happiness for all that is to come.

Antonio Cade, bassoon
This is Antonio's third and final season with the Oakland Youth Orchestra. Antonio was introduced to the bassoon in 7th grade while attending Central Junior High in Texas. When he first came to the Bay Area in 2003, he studied the bassoon with Ruth-Angela Fears who was a 1993-1994 OYO alumnus. He was a member of the Berkeley Youth Orchestra for two years and joined OYO in the fall of 2005. He was fortunate enough to participate in the 2007 Greece tour with OYO. Through the Young Musician Program, Antonio was introduced to musicianship of Rufus Olivier and is currently studying with OEBS bassoonist David Granger. In the fall he will attend the University of Southern California as a Presidential Scholar. He has been accepted to USC’s Virterbi School of Engineering as a computer science major with emphasis on game design. Antonio will miss his OYO family as he moves on to his next stage in life. Gamers, look for his name in the future.

Corey Cassell, flute
Corey has been playing the flute since 3rd grade. For most of those years, Susan Sigge has been his instructor. He's played in his school’s Wind Ensemble, The Diablo Youth Orchestra, The Diablo Wind Symphony, and this year, the Oakland Youth Orchestra. He's been selected for the Contra Costa Honor Band each year he's auditioned and has received the highest “advanced level” award for the Music Teachers Association Certificate of Merit. Each spring he competes in music competitions in which he wins scholarships and opportunities to play at the winners concerts. For two summers he has been a student at the Northern California Flute Camp, this coming summer he will intern for them. On June 13th he will graduate from Acalanes High School in Lafayette and this fall he will start his undergraduate studies at Cal Poly’s College of Mechanical Engineering in San Luis Obispo. He plans on continuing his love of playing the flute with the Cal Poly Symphony Orchestra.

Albert Chang, violin
This is Albert’s third and final year as a violinist in the Oakland Youth Orchestra. He began studying the violin at age eight with Art Peterson, and later studied with Doris Fukawa. He is currently studying with Zhao Chen and has learned a great deal from him. Previously, Albert was a YPSO member for two years before joining OYO in the fall of 2005. After graduating from Monte Vista High School, Albert will be attending UC San Diego this fall, where he will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Albert plans to continue pursuing music and join an orchestra or a chamber music group. Albert will surely miss his fellow OYO members and will cherish the memories of rehearsals, retreats, recitals, and the recent Greek tour for many years to come.

Joshua Chen, cello
Joshua is in his 6th year as a member of the Oakland Youth Orchestra. He has been on 2 tours, Australia and Greece, with the Oakland Youth Orchestra. Joshua tied for 1st place in the Oakland Youth Orchestra's concerto competition in his Junior Year. Joshua is currently under the instruction of the cello teacher Mildred Rosner. Joshua’s two older brothers, Lucas (cello) and Samuel (violin), have both been first chair of their respective sections in the Oakland Youth Orchestra in the past. He is currently a senior at The King's Academy and is headed for UC Davis next year. He plans to major in Exercise Biology in hopes of eventually becoming a sports trainer for a professional basketball team. Joshua would like to thank his family and friends for being so supportive of him throughout his life, Mildred Rosner for putting up with him all these years and for all of the great instruction and dedication, and most of all Joshua would like to thank God for blessing him with musical talent and for everything he has done for him.

Andrew Cheng, cello
This is Andrew’s fifth and final (hallelujah!) year as a cellist in the Oakland Youth Orchestra, having had his fill of international tours (Australia, New Zealand, and Greece!) and having thoroughly exhausted Michael Morgan’s patience with the first stand's antics during rehearsals.
He began studying the cello at age seven with Sieun Lee, and has since also studied with Mildred Rosner and Jonathan Koh. He is currently under the tutelage of Vicky Wang and has learned so much in what is yet only a fraction of his decade-long cello career. Andrew also plays the piano, albiet not very proficiently, sings in his school’s Chamber Chorale, and is the president of the chamber music club. He will graduate from Mission San Jose High School very soon, and this fall he will attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where he plans to major in English. But Andrew will always keep music in his life because he would wither away without it. Literally.
Big thanks to my family and my friends at Interlude, who have kept me sane and kept me singing all these years, and props to the amazing 07-08 celli *ahem.bestsection* —we rock! Thank you God for everything you’ve done in my life. And much love to Josh, Christine, and Peter, the last-standing survivors of OYO’s tour to Australia and New Zealand (which was my incentive to join in the first place, so many years ago) and the real veterans of this gig. We’re pretty much awesome, you know.

Ryan Day, trombone
Ryan began his musical career as a fourth-grader imitating the sound of an airplane falling out of the sky on his newly rented trombone. His older sister, a flutist, persuaded him to take up trombone as she had noticed a need for capable trombonists in both the jazz and symphonic bands at school. His parents encouraged him also, knowing his great-grandfather, a band leader in the British Army, would have been pleased. Ryan studied privately with Frank Davis during his middle school years, while playing in school Jazz and Symphonic Bands. He currently studies with Don Kennelly of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, who has offered his inspired and patient instruction these past four years. Ryan has enjoyed playing in both his high school Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble for four years under the direction of Norm Dea, where he has held 1st chair for the past three years. While in high school, he participated in two band tours to Hawaii where they took top honors among school bands from across the Pacific Rim. He was selected for the Contra Costa County High School Honor Band and the County Honor Jazz Band the past three years, and the California All-State Honor Band in 2007. Last summer, he was chosen to participate in the Honor Chamber Ensemble at CSU Stanislaus, where he will return again this year. During the 2006-07season he performed with YPSO, and was very happy to continue the orchestral experience with OYO this past year! Ryan will graduate from Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, where he has been an NCS qualifying varsity swimmer. In the fall, he will head to California State University, Long Beach, where he has been offered a scholarship to major in trombone performance.

Gillian Freed, trumpet
During her first year as a member of OYO, Gillian was lucky enough to tour in Greece with them. This season will be her second and final year with the orchestra. She began her trumpeting career in sixth grade at A.P. Giannini Middle School, and began taking lessons with Paul Pacak in 2004. At the San Francisco School of the Arts, her love of the trumpet blossomed. She currently studies with Catherine Murtagh, and would like to thank her for helping and believing in her for the past three (or so) years. Next fall, Gillian will be attending the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington where she does not know anyone, studying trumpet performance under the direction of John Rommel. Gillian has also been ice skating for eight years, and will, perhaps, continue skating and teaching, if she has time. She will miss everyone in the Bay Area very much, and she would like to thank her parents for getting her to all the auditions and for putting up with countless hours of practice.

Christine Hsia, cello
A sixth year veteran of OYO, Christine will be graduating from Northgate High School in Walnut Creek this June. She has been on numerous retreats with the youth as well as the Australia/New Zealand tour in 2004 and the recent trip to Greece in 2007. She began playing cello at the age of five and has had private study with Ariel Witbeck and Mildred Rosner. Christine is currently under the instruction of Sergei Riabtchenko and will be studying with Jean-Michael Fonteneau. She has won first several times in the Contra Costa String Association competition, placed second in the 35th Yen Liang Young Artist Award, and tied Honorable Mention in the Oakland Youth Orchestra’s concerto competition in December 2007. She has also played in school orchestra as principal cellist for all four years and was principal cellist of the California State University East Bay Symphony Orchestra. In her spare time, she enjoys playing piano, singing, reading, watching movies, traveling, and playing in string quartets, duos, and piano trios. This fall, Christine is planning to major in Cello Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She will miss her many friends in OYO and would like to thank them for the memorable moments in and out of orchestra as well as Bryan Nies, Michael Morgan, and Barbara Stack for their dedication. She would also like to thank all her cello teachers, her mother and younger sister for being a musical inspiration.

Peter Hung, violin
As a violinist and the occasional keyboardist, Peter Hung is a fifth year veteran of OYO. He knows that the tours to Australia/New Zealand and Greece, the many retreats, and the Michael Morgan antics will be the most memorable times from the most awesome orchestra around. He has studied violin since he was a wee child of five with Heghine Boloyan and began piano at four, currently studying with Virginia Cockrell. Peter is graduating from Hercules High School, where he has played in the orchestra as concertmaster for all four years. He is also involved with producing the school newspaper as editor in chief and consuming various AP textbooks. During his free time, he enjoys playing video games, drawing, solving his Rubik's Cube more than the necessary number of times, and fiddling around on the piano (as odd as that sounds). Peter is planning to concentrate in bioengineering at Harvard University next fall, where he also plans to continue pursuing his musical interests.

Anna Kent, clarinet
Anna began playing alto saxophone in the 4th grade, clarinet in the 8th grade, and in the 9th grade learned the flute. She is currently studying clarinet with Diane Maltester and both jazz and classical saxophone and flute with Mary Fettig. Anna has played in school jazz bands and symphonic bands through Walnut Creek Intermediate and Las Lomas HS. She has played in the Contra Costa County HS Honor Band on clarinet for four years, the Contra Costa County Honor Jazz Band on bari sax for three years, the CA All State Honor Band on clarinet for three years, and ventured to the CA All State Honor Orchestra this last year. As a junior she won the Outstanding Jazz Musician of the year at Las Lomas HS, and spent her orchestral time with YPSO. Anna has played at Yoshi’s with the Diablo Valley College Night Band for two years, and was the youngest to perform with Dave Eshelman's Jazz Garden Big Band this past winter. Having spent many weeks attending countless music camps, Anna plans to give back this summer by working as a councelor at Cazadero Performing Arts Camp. Anna will enter UCLA in the fall as a freshman clarinet performance major in Professor Gary Gray's studio, and hopes to pull off the tricky business of being a professional woodwind doubler. Anna thanks her Wonder Women teachers Diane and Mary for the inspiration, and her mum and dad for the lessons, ears, and love!

Grant Lipson, tuba
I began playing tuba in the fourth grade after hearing that playing an instrument might help my lungs and my, incredibly bad, asthma. I am now asthma free and I attribute it to the many hours and years spent blowing on the tuba. The last 3 years with OYO have made an enormous impact on my life. I was fortunate to travel to Greece, and have made so many friends, all of whom I will miss.
During the last 5 years I have performed with the All-State Honor Band and the County Honor Band. I have also played with the following groups during middle and high school: Danville Community Band, Young Artists Symphony Orchestra, San Ramon Valley Community Band, SRVHS Symphonic Band, SRVHS Jazz Ensemble, and the Young Musicians Program.
My future plans include majoring in music at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I have received a scholarship, based upon my audition, and I am excited to be attending college in the beautiful California Central Coast. I also plan to minor in Marine Biology with the hope of spending time exploring our oceans. I have enjoyed my participation with OYO and I hope someday to be able to give back to those who have helped me make it through my senior year at San Ramon High. BIG thanks to my parents!

Aleo Mok, violin
Aleo (pronounced uh-LEE-oh, not uh-LAY-oh, ALE-oh, or Aloe as in aloe vera) Mok has been a member of OYO for three years and has had the privilege to experience the tour to Greece (yippee for sunburns and early wake-up calls). Aleo’s musical career began at age four with the piano and a near-annual change of piano teachers. He now learns from the conductor of the Pro Art Symphony Orchestra, Maestro James Gardner. A short while after beginning piano, he began playing violin in the studio of Art Peterson. He soon auditioned for OYO for his sophomore year and successfully managed to be accepted (thank God). He currently learns from Debbra Schwartz. Since 6th grade, he has played violin in his school orchestra and is now the concertmaster of Northgate High School Orchestra. He will be graduating this year and will become a freshman at University of California, Berkeley (yeah, Cal!) in the fall. As a musician, he plans to continue his musical pursuits in college and contemplates auditioning for Cal orchestra. Much thanks to friends and family and teachers and everybody, really, for making Aleo’s progress possible.

Cadence Peckham, French horn
Cadence is on her third instrument in 7 years, in her 4th year on the French Horn, has been principal horn in the Las Lomas HS Wind Ensemble this past two years, principal horn in the county honor band this year, participated in the State Honor Orchestra this year, and has attended State Honor Band twice. She is very fond of the contemporary composer Ticheli as a result. Last year she played in the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and this year played with OYO to continue her growth in orchestral performance. A Girl Scout for over a decade, she also completed 11 years of soccer this year, 3 at a Class I level of club play. Cadence will enter the 5 year double degree program a Lawrence University in the Fall, with a scholarship at the music conservatory there. Appleton WI is known to be the coldest place on planet Earth from time to time, so she is looking forward to her international sojourns already.

Kirk Robinson, trombone
Kirk has been a member of the Oakland Youth Orchestra for two and a half years and was able to tour in Greece with them in 2007. He has been playing the trombone for eight years and has been under the instruction of music teachers Bill Harrington and Don Benham. Kirk has played in numerous musical groups in and out of school. Before joining OYO he was the principal trombone in the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. At Patten Academy he is the principal trombone in the school's orchestra and the jazz combo. He has participated in the ASCI Honor Band and Symphony for the past five years and has marched in the 2006 Rose Bowl Parade with the Salvation Army Marching Band. Kirk has also played in the Patten University Symphonette and Brass Ensemble here in Oakland and the Jenny Lin Summer Music Program in Castro Valley. Outside of playing trombone, Kirk has sung in his school's chorus, plays as a midfielder on the soccer team, is Activity Chairman on Patten's Student Council, and plays electric bass and piano in the band at his youth group. He enjoys reading, going to the movies, hanging out with friends, and plans to continue these activities when he attends UC Berkeley in the fall. Although not positive on a major, he is contemplating something relating to international studies and thinks he will join the Cal Band and Orchestra.

Arturo Rodriguez, Oboe/English Horn
Arturo has been with OYO for five non-consecutive seasons. He is an accomplished flutist and also performs with the Young People's Symphony Orchestra. Arturo started his musical career at the age of 8 as a cellist in his elementary school and continues to play cello. He attended Gloria R. Davis Academic Middle School where he picked up on the Flute and the year following, the oboe, while he received lessons from the school's band director, Jill Hendricks. He then attended San Francisco School of the Arts and joined the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. Arturo has been given many high ranks in Solo and Ensemble Competitions. In August of 2003 his flute coach Gail Edwards took him to the National Flute Association Convention in Las Vegas, where he entered the High School Division Solo Competition. He has also performed with the Hayward Honor Band in 2004 as first chair flutist of the symphonic band. Mr. Rodriguez also composes music from chamber ensemble to original orchestral pieces for his school orchestra. Arturo works for a non-profit, Pesticide Action Network, that focuses on the ban of pesticides in everyday life. He has also volunteered with the Young Workers Union in helping find balances between youth employees and their employers. He currently attends San Francisco City College where he is majoring in music performance and plans to minor in biology. He plans on auditioning for Boston and New England Conservatory and hopes to make music a profession. This year Arturo will travel with YPSO to Australia. He wants thank so many people that have contributed to his success in music, especially his family and instructors. He wants to especially thank his mother who has pushed him to move forward in his academic endeavors and is his inspiration in life. He also wants to thank Michael and Bryan for being a powerful influence in his continuing growth and music and wishes nothing but the best for the group, the individuals within the orchestra, and both conductors. Arturo would like to add:
“These past five seasons have been with nothing but growth. I have matured both as musician and as an individual. I thank OYO for such positive energy. The orchestra is more than just group to perform with; it's a family of individuals who were joined together to perform and make a beautiful, uniform sound that steps beyond boundaries and can touch the hearts of many people. Music is a universal language and what better way than the youth to communicate that message through their instruments, extending far beyond human comprehension and touching those around them. I would like to wish you nothing but the best, the musicians, the conductors of the group, and the many people that have contributed to it's success. Continue to be a positive influence on the youth today as you have touched my heart.”

Michael Severance, bassoon
Michael has been a member of OYO for just one year. Prior to switching to bassoon in 2007, he had played saxophone for seven years and had been Principal Alto Saxophonist at All-State Honor Wind Symphony, All-Northern Honor Band, Solano County Honor Band, and Benicia High School's Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. Michael has also enjoyed providing music lessons to elementary and middle school fledgling saxophonists over the past four years. Michael’s greatest musical inspiration has been his saxophone teacher, Dann Zinn, and currently enjoys bassoon study with Stephen Paulson. Michael is looking forward to attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the fall, where he plans to major in Bassoon Performance. Michael thanks his family for all their love, support, and especially their patience during the countless hours of home practice. A special thanks goes to his dad for the endless miles he drove criss-crossing the Bay Area, shuttling Michael to and from music lessons over the years.

Jonathan Stein, bass
Jonathan has been a member of OYO for one year. He is also an acclaimed Jazz bass player and performs frequently on acoustic and electric bass in numerous ensembles throughout the bay area. Along with performing among many styles, Jonathan composes and arranges for his jazz groups, and also has written several orchestral pieces including two full-length symphonies. Jonathan is currently studying music with Pat Klobas, Dann Zinn, David Arend, and Kai Eckhardt. He will graduate from Skyline High School and would like to thank his parents for holding it all together. Jonathan will be attending Manhattan School of Music as a classical bass performance major.

Charlene Wang, violin
After dedicating four years of her life to the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Charlene is finally saying goodbye. She will miss so many members of the orchestra, who she was able to bond with on the 2007 tour to Greece. She attends Campolindo High School, where she reigns as concertma’am of the orchestra. Currently, she is studying under the guidance of the magnificent Phil Santos who’d she like to thank for always being overwhelmingly (sometimes intimidatingly) enthusiastic. In her spare time, Charlene enjoys obsessing over politics and too-embarrassing-to-name television shows. She also played on her school’s varsity tennis team, but predicts that whatever skill she had and has will probably devolve to mush within the near future. Next year she is attending Columbia University, where she plans to major in biomedical engineering, find out if New York people are as rude as they are rumored to be, and of course, continue her musical studies. She’d like to give a special thanks to her little sister for a) teaching her so much about life and b) just being so darn cute. Charlene will miss her dearly next year.

MengRuo Yang, flute
MengRuo has played flute with OYO for two seasons and enjoyed it immensely. She would like to thank her conductors and peers at OYO for this positive experience. A dedicated musician, MengRuo plays principal flute in the Campolindo band and symphony orchestra. She is also a member of the Young Musicians Program of UC Berkeley, and was selected for the Contra Costa County and California All-State honor bands. MengRuo has studied flute with Michelle Caimotto for four years, and would like to thank her instructor for being an inspirational teacher and friend. This fall, MengRuo will attend Harvard College, where she hopes to study music and economics.