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The Musicians of the KCCO...
The Kansas City Chamber Orchestra is made up of professional orchestral musicians who are committed to the high standards of the Chamber Orchestra. Some are members of the Kansas City Symphony, some are free-lance professional musicians, and some are teachers at universities in the area, including the University of Missouri at Kansas City and the University of Kansas.
Click on any musician's name below to view their biography.
- Violoncello
- Bass
- Oboe
- Trumpet
- Gary Schutza
- Harpsichord/Organ
Click here to listen to clips of KCCO performances!
Rebecca Bell, harpsichord
Harpsichordist Rebecca Bell studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she won the prize for clavichord playing while studying with Ruth Dyson and Robert Woolley. A former Rotary Foundation Scholar, she has played in concerts in the USA, Canada, England and the Netherlands. She currently also performs with the Kansas City Symphony, Summerfest, and is the organist at All Saints Episcopal Church.
Barbara Bishop, oboe
Barbara Bishop is Assistant Professor of Oboe at University of Missouri-Kansas City and plays Associate Principal Oboe with the Kansas City Symphony. She received a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School and a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota. This season she played in the Grand Teton Music Festival under Eiji Oue where many performances, including one of Milhaud's Creation du Monde, were featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today. In addition, she played Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #1 with the Chamber Music in the Vineyards festival in Napa Valley and subbed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra this year. She has served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Kansas and the University of Montana and has given master classes across the country including an orchestral audition class at the Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Bishop has been a soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra and with members of the Summit Brass, recorded on the Sony Classical and Newport Classics labels, played in the semi-final round of the Munich International Competition with the Wilson Wind Quintet, and served as Principal Oboist with the Baton Rouge Symphony, Alexander Schneider's New York String Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.
Sean Brumble, viola
Sean was born in Heidelburg, Germany. His family returned to the U.S. after his father completed his military service overseas. He began studying the viola at age 9. Early teachers include Maria Maxwell and Walter Halen. Sean holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from UMKC where he studied with Steve Kruse, former principal violist of the Kansas City Symphony. Upon graduation he received a full scholarship to Music Academy of the West where he performed in numerous recitals and masterclasses. Sean has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 1996. He also remains active as a recitalist and chamber musician performing regularly with his string quartet. His fondest musical memory is performing as soloist with his high school orchestra in Carnegie Hall. He lives in Greenwood with his wife and two sons.
Tony DeMarco, violin
Violinist Tony DeMarco is currently in his seventh season as a member of the Kansas City Symphony. His previous professional experience includes work with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet. He also held the position of assistant concertmaster of both the North Carolina Symphony and the Virginia Symphony. Tony now resides in Prairie Village with his wife Jeannine and five-year-old son, Albert.
Jeannine Elashewich DeMarco, violin
Jeannine Elashewich De Marco is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the Julliard School. She has been a former member of the New World, Akron, and Virginia Symphonies. Last year she traveled to Japan to play in the Pacific Music Festivals 10th Year Anniversary Tour. She currently lives in Kansas City with her husband and son, Albert.
Lawrence Figg, violoncello
Lawrence Figg received his bachelor's degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and was a semi-finalist at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1986. He lived in Paris for 5 years doing extensive chamber music and solo performances, as well as studio work for French radio and television. While there, he was invited to play a season with Pierre Boulez's modern music ensemble "Ensemble Intercontemporain" in Paris. He then moved to Bordeaux where he was a member of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine for nine years, the last five serving as Principal Cello. Figg is currently a member of the Kansas City Symphony.
Mary Garcia, violin
Mary Garcia received her undergraduate degree in violin performance from Rice University, where she studied with Raphael Fliegel. She received a master's degree from Queens College-City University of New York, where she studied with Ruth Waterman and Ani Kavafian. She has played with the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra in Europe and the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. Mary is a founding member of Summerfest Concerts, a chamber ensemble which performs in downtown Kansas City every July. She has been a violinist with the Kansas City Symphony since 1989.
Caroline Lee, viola
Caroline Lee relocated to the Kansas City area in the summer of 1999 when she joined the Kansas City Symphony. She received her Bachelors degree at the University of Michigan studying with Yizhak Schotten and went on to Yale School of Music where she received her masters degree and Artist Diploma with numerous academic and musical awards and scholarships. She has performed in various cities in the U.S., Canada and the Great Britain as a recitalist and a chamber musician. An active chamber musician, she has collaborated with Erick Friedman, Syoko Aki, and members of the Tokyo quartet, as well as the Grammy-nominated New Century Chamber Orchestra based in San Francisco. She also considers herself fortunate to have worked closely with some of the great composers of our time such as Gorecki, Penderecki, Ezra Laderman, and Martin Bresnick. When not playing the viola, she can be found either in her kitchen involved in experimental cooking, wandering around the Nelson Gallery, or anywhere else daydreaming about being a great martial artist someday.
Francesca Manheim, violin
Francesca received her Bachelor's Degree from New England Conservatory where she studied with Paul Kantor. She has performed in many chamber music series in Cape Cod, Massachusetts including a concert with Colorado String Quartet and Jean-Pierre Rampal, and in Florida with members of the New World Symphony. She has also played at the Kent/Blossom Chamber Music Festival. Her orchestral experiences include New World Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival. She is currently a member of the Kansas City Symphony.
Ken Mitchell, bass
Ken Mitchell received his B.M. and M.M. from Indiana University in music performance and studied at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Mitchell has performed since 1980 with the Kansas City Symphony. During that time, he also served as Principal Bass for the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra for 12 seasons, taught Bass for 11 years at UMKC and appeared at the Grand Teton and Colorado Music Festivals. Dr. Mitchell also holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in telecommunications and computer networking and is Assistant Professor of Telecommunications Networking at UMKC.
Ted Nelson, violoncello
Ted Nelson grew up in Vermont, where his first cello teacher was Elsa Hilger. One of the first women in a major American orchestra, she sat first stand in The Philadelphia Orchestra. Ted received his Bachelor's Degree at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Pamela Frame and his Masters at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Alan Harris. Ted then spent two years playing in the Toledo Symphony Orchestra before becoming Associate Principal of the Kansas City Symphony last August.
Victoria Olson, viola
Victoria Olson is the founding Artistic Director of the Heartland Chamber Music Academy offering chamber music opportunities for young musicians. She received her performance degrees from Indiana University and the University of Colorado, where she served as teaching assistant to Denes Koromzay of the Hungarian Quartet. After finishing her graduate degree, Ms. Olson stayed in Colorado and held principal positions with the Colorado Springs Symphony, Breckenridge Music Institute and Colorado Ballet Orchestra. For seven years she was the violist in the Colorado Camerata String Quartet that was sponsored by the Denver Chapter of Young Audiences and presented hundreds of concerts throughout the state. She also performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival and was guest artist at the Rocky Ridge Music Center. Since moving to Kansas City, Ms. Olson has maintained a private viola studio and taught at William Jewell College for ten years. She was associate principal with the Kansas City Camerata and is a frequent substitute with the Kansas City Symphony. She is an avid tennis player and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Alex Shum, violin
Alex Shum is a member of the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. He also enjoys organizing small ensembles for various functions, including weddings. A native of Hon Kong, Alex was a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Since coming to the United States, Alex has earned degrees from St. John's University, Minnesota and the California Institute of the Arts. He won the Carmel Chamber Music Competition and was a Leonard Bernstein Fellow at the Tanglewood Festival. Alex and his wife, Joanna, are the parents of 5 children.
Tamamo Someya, violin
Tamamo Someya, a native of Yokohama, Japan, began studying the violin at age three. She received her bachelor of music degree at Toho School of Music in Tokyo. Tamamo came to the United States to join the New World Symphony in Miami, where she served as an Assistant Concertmaster and a Principal Second Violin. In the 1995-96 season, she appeared as first violinist of the Sacramento Symphony in California. Tamamo is the Principal Second Violin of the Kansas City Symphony.
Elizabeth Suh-Lane, violin
Elizabeth Suh-Lane has performed chamber music and solo recitals throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Japan in such venues as London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Berlin's Philharmonie and Venezuela's Teatro Teresa Carreno. She has performed at the major international festivals of Tanglewood (where her string quartet was in residence), Britten-Pears, Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific Music, Bach Aria and the Mozart Festival. She was the first American violinist to join the London Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and in 1998, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Music of the Baroque. Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Music from UMKC, and Master of Music from the Yale School of Music. She is founder and artistic director of the Bach Aria Soloists.
Kristin Velicer, violin
Currently in her sixth season with the Kansas City Symphony, Kristin Velicer is enjoying her new position as Assistant Principal Second Violin. Upon joining the Symphony in 1996, Kristin was a member of the first violin section until winning a national audition for her present title. Ms. Velicer has performed with numerous major orchestras including the Houston Symphony, the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Kristin has appeared on National Public Radio as a featured soloist and chamber musician on Performance Today and Houston in Concert. Since her arrival in Kansas City, Ms. Velicer has served on the faculty of the Music/Arts Institute, maintains a small private teaching studio, and most recently was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Kansas City Symphony.
Jessica Wakefield, violin
Jessica Wakefield has performed as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra member throughout the United States and Western Europe, as well as Russia, Japan, and Costa Rica. She is currently a member of the Kansas City Symphony. Before accepting her position in Kansas City, Ms. Wakefield served as Associate Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony, and prior to that, she held a joint position as Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony and Artist-in-Residence at Washburn University. She earned a Bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School and a Master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her major teachers include Donald Weilerstein, Roland and Almita Vamos, Joseph Fuchs and Masao Kawasaki. Ms. Wakefield has worked extensively with major artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Leonard Bernstein, Bobby McFerrin, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and James Conlon. She has also worked with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Guarneri, and American String Quartets. Ms. Wakefiled has been in residence at numerous music festivals, including Tanglewood, Taos, Sarasota, Pacific (Japan), and Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). Recent solo engagements include a performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Gulf Coast Symphony of Fort Myers, Florida, a performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, and a performance of "Fall" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Virginia Symphony.