Tell us your news! Email to alumni@festivalhill.org and include your name as it appears in our records, instrument and year(s) of attendance. Items may be edited for length and content. Thank you for staying in touch!
Lea Fetterman, Violin (2016, 2017) Member of the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, August 2017
Isaac Thompson, Violin (2004, 2005, 2007) Appointed Vice President, Artistic Planning at the New York Philharmonic in 2017
Alfred (Fred) Gratta, Cello (1990) Member of The Florida Orchestra since 1994
Micah Wilkinson, Trumpet (2003, 2004, 2006) Principal Trumpet San Diego Symphony. Will join the faculty of Round Top Festival Institute in 2017.
Jason Shafer, Clarinet (2009) First Clarinet, Colorado Symphony. Will join the faculty at Round Top Festival Institute in 2017.
Gary Jobe Ferguson, Trumpet (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991) Pacifica Graduate Institute. Will join the faculty of Round Top Festival Institute as a performance coach in 2017.
Nicholas Stovall, Oboe (2004-2005) Principal Oboe, National Symphony (Washington, D.C.) since September 2008. Faculty member at Round Top Festival Institute since 2014.
Noah Lambert, Trumpet (2007, 2008) Assistant Principal Trumpet, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as of 2016
Eric Steffens, Double Bass (2007) Principal Bassist, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Dahlbruch, Germany since 2012
Christiano Rodrigues, Violin (2010, 2012, 2013) Joined faculty at Round Top Festival Institute in 2016. Accomplished as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and concertmaster, experienced in both traditional and period performance. Guest artist position with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, in Croatia; Master of Music degree from Rice University, where he studied with Paul Kantor
Timothy Higgins, Trombone (2002) Principal Trombone at the San Francisco Symphony since 2008, Adjunct professor at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Lecturer at Northwestern University
Megan Conley (nee Levin), Harp (2004) Principal Harpist, Houston Symphony since January 2015
John Beder, Percussion (2005, 2006, 2009) Bed Rock Productions LLC, Director/Founder
John Upton, Oboe (2012) Principal Oboe with The Florida Orchestra, appointed in 2015
Jake Hale, Clarinet (2015) Winner of the Grand Prize of the 2015 International Clarinet Association Orchestral Excerpts Competition in Madrid, Spain. Also appointed Principal Clarinet with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana in 2015.
Chung Park, Viola (2001, 2002) Director of Orchestras and String Music Education, Music Department, University of Central Florida since Fall of 2015. Artistic director and lead administrator for the UCF Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. In addition to his position at UCF, Dr. Park has also been named to the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Area Youth Symphony, for whom he will lead the Symphony Orchestra and serve as director of the MAYS chamber music program.
Maria Serkin (nee Harrold), Horn (2000) DMA, Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC since July 2015
Andrew Giordano, Violin (2010) Member of the Altius Quartet since 2011, touring internationally
Michelle Kim, Violin (1989-1990, 1992-1994) Acting Principal Associate Concertmaster, New York Philharmonic
Eugene Asti, Piano (1983-1987) Piano Faculty, Guildhall School (London, England)
John Clouser, Bassoon (1987, 1988-1991) Principal Bassoon, Cleveland Orchestra (Cleveland, Ohio) since 1997
Edwin Outwater, Double Bass (1990, 1994) Music Director, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (Ontario, Canada) since September 2007
Cynthia Phelps, Viola (1984) is currently the Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, a position to which she was appointed in 1992. She is currently a faculty member at The Juilliard School
Kevin Smith, Violin (2010-2011) joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2014
Nicole Narboni, Piano (1982) DMA from Peabody Institute. Steinway artist. Performed works by Beethoven, Messiaen and Gottschalk for the 31st Anniversary of the San Antonio International Piano Competition on November 16, 2014
Jeff Alexander, Horn (1978) President of the Chicago Symphony since January 2015. He previously served as the general manager of the Cincinnati Symphony for 12 years.
Kenneth Woods, Cello (1993-1996, 1999) Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra since 2013
Alexander G. Adiarte, Violin (1994-1995, 1997) Music Director of Germany's oldest orchestral society, the Orchesterverein Stuttgart, since 2012
Sheryl Staples, Violin (1992-1995) joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Associate Concertmaster, The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair, in September 1998 and currently serves as Acting Concertmaster, The Charles E. Culpeper Chair.
