The notes we play and the emotion they evoke are at the core of our practice. We are a group of self-driven musicians whose passion speaks to the soul. We feel humbled to share our experiences and dedication through the magic of live performance.
To inspire, entertain and educate through live, professional, community-connected orchestral programming.
Paul Sonner is Concertmaster of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra as well as Traverse Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his performance with the GLCO, he is Instructor of Violin at the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Formerly Principal Second Violin and Associate Concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, he has held positions of first violin in the Birmingham String Quartet, solo violin for Capriccio Concerts, violin in the Amabile Trio, and concertmaster for many other venues. He continues to be a featured soloist and has participated in a number of festivals including the Ojai (CA) Festival Orchestra and Des Moines Metro Opera. Mr. Sonner has served as Concertmaster and Soloist for the Bermuda (UK) Bach Festival as well as the Manitou (MI) Music Festival. He has recorded, as a “session” violinist and with the ASO, for a number of studios and labels in Los Angeles, Chicago, Birmingham and Muscle Shoals as well as for PBS and NPR.
His principal teachers were soloist Alice Shoenfeld and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Samuel Magad. Mr. Sonner studied in the preparatory department of the University of Southern California and has a degree in violin performance from Northwestern University (IL).
Dr. David Reimer is the Director of the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program, a founding member of the program’s faculty ensemble – The Cummings Quartet – and performs with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Baroque on Beaver Island Festival Orchestra. Dr. Reimer earned two degrees in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his doctorate from the Ohio State University. He has performed with many orchestras, including the Grand Rapids Symphony, Northwest Michigan Symphony, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Indiana Symphony, West Virginia Symphony and the Virginia Symphony. Dr. Reimer was previously professor of violin and head of the strings program at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, prior to moving to Charlevoix in 2017. While in Grand Rapids, he produced a CD of violin music entitled “Meditatio.” His previous teaching positions have included the University of Connecticut School of the Arts, Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Division, the Omaha Conservatory of Music and the College of DuPage.
Cheryl received her bachelors degree in violin performance from Michigan State University and masters degree from New England Conservatory of Music. Influential teachers include Dr. Morris Hochberg, Dr. Walter Verdehr and Masuko Ushioda. She also studied with the Juilliard String Quartet.
While at MSU, she was concertmaster, won a special scholarship to play with the Lansing Symphony and subbed with the Grand Rapids Symphony. During grad school, Cheryl won a position in the Rhode Island Philharmonic, played in the Worcester, Marlboro and Boston Academy of Music orchestras.
Upon graduation, Cheryl won a full time position in the Florida Symphony Orchestra. and was a contracted member of the orchestra for 9 years.
After returning to MI, Cheryl became a freelance musician with some favorite gigs being long runs of Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She’s a member of the Fox Theater Orchestra and has performed often at the Fisher Theater, Michigan Opera Theater, DTE, Music Hall and The Palace.
Cheryl has been concertmaster of the Grosse Pointe Symphony, the Macomb Symphony, the Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, and Livonia Symphony. She’s currently an assistant concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony and play with the Rochester Symphony, Motor City Symphony, the Traverse Symphony and Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
Cheryl has maintained a private teaching studio since 1973 teaching both violin and viola.
Ann Marie Jones is a violinist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and fondly remembers performing on our GLCO European Tour in 2017. Ann Marie currently resides in Traverse City where she is a freelance musician. She is a certified Suzuki violin teacher, an active adjudicator for state Solo and Ensemble Festivals, and has served on regional and state music education committees in Michigan. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Michigan State University and Master of Music Education from Grand Valley State University.
Emma Bieniewicz holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin and Viola Performance from Grand Valley State University. Since 2019, she has been performing as a section violinist/violist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Holland Symphony Orchestra.
Growing up in Grand Rapids, Bieniewicz studied with Caroline Freihofer, David Reimer, Megan Crawford, and Dr. Libor Ondras. Her dedication and leadership placed her as concertmaster and principal viola throughout high school and university studies.
In addition to violin and viola, Bieniewicz is an accomplished singer/songwriter performing around the Midwest.
Claudia has been a violinist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra since 2020. She enjoys traveling from Grand Rapids to Petoskey to perform with fellow musicians and share music with the community.
Claudia found her passion for music in high school while playing in the St. Cecilia’s Philharmonic Orchestra and the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony. She received her Associate of Music from Grand Rapids Community College in 2020. There she studied violin with Libor Ondras and played with the Kent Philharmonic Orchestra as a scholarship recipient. In addition, she attended the Bayview Chamber Music Festival as a violinist in the Sentilo Quartet.
After graduating from GRCC, Claudia transferred to Western Michigan University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Violin Performance in 2022. There she studied with David Lisker, Megan Crawford, and Sophie Tang, as well as chamber music with Bruce Uchimura. Currently, Claudia is finishing her Music Education degree at Grand Valley State University while maintaining a private violin studio. She is an active performer in several local community orchestras, assists as a sectional coach for local middle school orchestras in Grand Rapids, and is a professional gig musician.
In addition to performing and teaching, she also holds the position of Music Assistant for the St. Cecilia’s School of Music and serves on the Student Advisory Committee for the American String Teachers Association.
Maggie is one of the original and founding members of GLCO. She was 9 when she started playing the violin, and 13 when she joined the Plymouth Symphony. Through the years, she has studied with several teachers including Won-Bin Yim from Julliard and Rosemary Malocsay from Interlochen Arts Academy.
Stephanie Cope is a Petoskey native and ’05 graduate of the University of Michigan with a BFA in Dance. She was an original member of the youth orchestra (now the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program) was able to perform in a number of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra’s first performances when it had just been formed, under the baton of Bob Pattengale.
During college, she was introduced to Irish fiddling and found folk music to be a refreshing way to keep music alive while training hard as a dancer. The UMS Choral Union was also a favorite “course,” with whom she was able to experience the St. Matthew’s Passion, Messiah, and Carmina Burana as an alto under Jerry Blackstone. After graduation, Stephanie came back to Petoskey rather than auditioning for dance companies. She started working hard to return to the orchestra and pass an audition while pregnant with her first son. She was also invited to participate on French Horn as part of a student wind quintet at the Bay View Music Festival summer conservatory.
It has now been 10 years since returning to the orchestra as an adult, playing as a sub at times and a core member at times. She is proud to be working as a core member once again. Stephanie has also performed with the Northern Symphonic Winds on French Horn, and she served as the Music Director at Zion Lutheran Church for 8 years. While at Zion, she curated a monthly concert series called “For the Love of Music,” which brought talented local artists to the stage to present music for the community. That concert series is still alive, run now by Brian Horning. Stephanie also writes and performs original instrumental music with her band “Boundarywater,” and teaches music at Harbor Light Christian School.
While a student at Plymouth High School, Lorna DeMeritt-Uber was an intern for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She performed with the Plymouth Symphony all through High School. Her private lesson violin teacher was Ms. Emily Mutter from the age of 12 through college. Lorna earned her BS in Special Education from Central Michigan University and her MA in Education from Michigan State University. She has been awarded The Governor’s Education Excellence Certificate for her development of Michigan’s Special Education Curriculum. Lorna has performed with GLCO since its second concert as a first and second violinist. Touring Eastern Europe with GLCO was the thrill of a lifetime. She also performs as a first violinist with the Gaylord Community Orchestra and the Alpena Symphony Orchestra. Lorna has continued master lessons with Dr. Eric Lawson. She also is an Instructor for the Dorothy Gerber String Program in 2014-2016 and 2021-present.
Kim grew up in Traverse City, MI and began her musical studies at a very young age, first on piano and eventually on violin and viola. She received a Bachelor of Music at Northern Illinois University, a Master’s in Music Performance at University of Colorado at Boulder, and completed 3 years of a Doctoral program at Arizona State University. Her principal teachers include David Holland, Richard Young, Erika Eckert, Geraldine Walther, and Nancy Buck as well as chamber music studies with the Vermeer, Takacs, St. Lawrence, Tokyo and Brentano String Quartets. Kim is currently the Principal Viola of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, the Associate Principal Viola with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and Section Viola with the Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra. She has performed with orchestras throughout the United States including Quad City Symphony, Capital City Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, among many others.
As a registered Suzuki teacher, Kim has spent much of the last two decades teaching the Suzuki Method throughout the US and Italy as well as holding teaching positions at the Anglo-Italian Montessori School in Naples, Italy, the William E. Doar Public Charter School for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and as an orchestra teacher with Traverse City Public Schools.
Kim is currently a Piano Instructor at Northwestern Michigan College, is co-director for Traverse Symphony’s Suzuki program, and maintains a very active private studio of violin, viola and piano students. Kim also enjoys playing with the viola quartet Los Altos, and fiddling, singing, and playing stand up cello with the honky-tonk country band, Mountain Gloom and Mountain Glory.
Anne Schoelles has been a GLCO member for 10 years and is a retired music educator, and is a dog trainer as well as a musician.
Steve attended the GLCO’s first concert in 2000, and has played in most of them since. He also spends time sailing, cycling and woodworking.
A native of Wauseon, Ohio, Elizabeth Bert was born into a musical family. Her father, John Merrill, sister, Mary Nieuwenhuis, brother in law Bruce Nieuwenhuis, daughter, Deanna Erwin, and son-in-law Michael Erwin are all professional musicians. She began piano studies at age 7, and cello studies at age 10 under the tutelage of famed string educator Elizabeth Green. She has also studied cello with Gretchen Dalley, Louis Potter, Peter Howard and Paul Katz. She attended Michigan State University as a string education major, and subsequently transferred to the University of Toledo to finish her Bachelors of Education in instrumental music education, and her Masters degree in Guidance and Counseling.
Ms. Bert is Principal Cello with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra. She also served as Principal Cello with the Traverse Symphony for over 40 years, having recently retired from that post. She also continues to perform with the TSO and Sault Symphony Orchestras. In addition she has played with the Marquette Symphony, Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra, Northwood and Midland Symphony Orchestras, and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra as well as 15 years with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra as well as currently performing regularly with the Cummings Quartet, part of the Gerber String Program.
Marga Eickholt joined the GLCO in the Fall of 2002 after moving to the area from Saginaw, Michigan where she played in the Saginaw Symphony, later renamed to the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, from 1976 – 2002.
In her free time she’s found riding her Indian Motorcycle with sister, Sue McRae (Bass).
Christine Kyprianides grew up in Ann Arbor and began playing cello at the age of eleven. She attended the Interlochen Arts Camp and Arts Academy, and then studied music at the Peabody and New England Conservatories. In Boston her participation in performances of Bach cantatas at Emanuel Church inspired an interest in early music, and she took up the viola da gamba.
After a year as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Antwerp (Belgium) Philharmonic, Christine continued her studies of Baroque music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. After nearly three decades concertizing throughout Europe and beyond, she returned to the US. In 2017, she was named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Ionian University of Corfu (Greece). Christine now lives in Traverse City.
Gary Gatzke, principal double bass of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, has also held the principal double bass position with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra since 2006. In addition to his artistic work, Gary served as the Interim Executive Director, while also continuing as Director of Development working with concert patrons, financial supporters, volunteers as well as the internal creative team at the Symphony.
A native of northern Michigan, Gary studied double bass in the Traverse City Area Public School system, Interlochen Arts Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy. Gary then continued his studies at The Juilliard School in New York City, completing his Bachelor of Music degree in 2002 and his Master of Music degree in 2004.
In 2004, Gary joined Juilliard’s development team in the Office of National Advancement and Alumni Relations, where he worked until returning to northwest Michigan in 2006 to assume the role of Director of Alumni Engagement at Interlochen Center for the Arts (2006-2013).
Gary is also a private instructor of cello and double bass and collaborates with various performing ensembles across northwest lower Michigan.
Sue McRae is a bassist with GLCO and is also a member of the Midland and Traverse Symphony Orchestras.
The product of a musical family, she studied piano at the age of ten and was chosen for the bass in junior high. She took a few lessons, but was primarily self-taught. While in high school, Sue toured Europe as the principal bass in the Blue Lakes International Orchestra and was a member of the Saginaw Symphony.
Her musical passion was reignited in 1999 when her husband surprised her with a trip to Bavaria (Germany- her mother’s homeland) to purchase a new bass. She found a Poellmann bass, and also met and befriended the Luthiers, whose family has hand-crafted basses for over 100 years. Although the instrument was new, its wood was aged for 40 years and was “broken in” by the principal bass of the Viennese Philharmonic.
Sue has also performed with various pit orchestras, Midland Music Society and the Gaylord Chamber Orchestra. She was fortunate to tour Europe with GLCO in 2017.
She resides in Saginaw with her husband John. She works as a corporate travel agent, is an aspiring author and enjoys traveling, gardening and riding her Victory motorcycle with her sister, Marga Eickholt (cello).
Praised for her “brilliance and beauty of tone” by the Baltimore Sun, Powell Artist Nancy Stagnitta is a leading crossover artist as both classical flutist and jazz artist. Her versatile artistry and passion for teaching have led to concert engagements and masterclass appearances in Africa, Europe, Asia, and across the U.S. She recently served on the jury for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and appeared as a guest artist at Sir James Galway’s International Festival and the Clazz International Music Festival in Italy.
Her album with Grammy Award winning jazz pianist and composer Bob James, “In the Chapel in the Moonlight,” has garnered acclaim across musical genres. She has also recorded contemporary American classical repertoire for Capstone Records, and was featured on the Voice of America Broadcast Network, American Public Media’s Performance Today, and Classical KING FM in Seattle.
Appointed as U.S.I.A. Artistic Ambassador to Africa, she presented concerts and masterclasses in Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Namibia. She also gave the Asian premier of David Amram’s Giants of the Night Flute Concerto with the China National Symphony in Beijing, and has performed and taught at many festivals and universities throughout the US and abroad, including the Shanghai Conservatory, Detroit Women in Jazz Festival, and the Mannes School of Music in New York. A two-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Solo Artist Award, she is the former piccoloist with the Baltimore and Sarasota Opera Orchestras and performed with the Spoleto Music Festival orchestra.
Stagnitta currently serves as Instructor of Flute at Interlochen Arts Academy and principal flutist with the Traverse Symphony and Great Lakes Chamber Orchestras. She earned her degrees from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she received the Ashworth Prize. Her teachers include Robert Willoughby and Timothy Day.
Grace attended Western Michigan University where she studied flute with Dr. Charles Osborne and earned a degree in Music Therapy. She has performed with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Macomb Symphony Orchestra, Lake St. Clair Symphony Orchestra, and the Northern Michigan Flute Choir.
Grace has been a member of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra for fifteen years, performing as second chair flute/piccolo. She also is Principal flute with the Gaylord Community Orchestra, and enjoys being a member of several musical ensembles including; the GLCO Woodwind Quintet, Gaylord Community Band, Pit orchestra for Gaylord Community Productions, and Northwinds Quintet. She also provides special music for church services.
Grace teaches private flute and piano lessons and provides music therapy to those with special needs. In addition to sharing her love of music, Grace is employed by North Country Community Mental Health as a Program Assistant for the Director of Specialty Services.
Grace is fortunate to share her musical interests with her family, and often performs alongside them in various musical groups. She resides with her husband, Chris, in Gaylord.
Lynn Hansen received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Michigan. After two years with the Albion High School Bands she moved to Traverse City where she served as band conductor at West Junior High School for twenty-two years. After earning a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Central Michigan University, Lynn continued to share her commitment and passion for all things kid-related as one of WJH’s principals for the next eleven years, retiring in 2012. She is especially proud to have shared both the classroom and the stage with many of her former students.
Making music is what feeds her soul and she enjoys playing great music with good friends. Lynn has continued to perform on oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn throughout her career; including 42 seasons with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, 15 seasons with the Baroque on Beaver Island Festival Orchestra, and 2023 marked her 10th season with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, where she greatly enjoys the variety of small ensemble repertoire when performing in the Sunday Series chamber music programs and the Little Waves children’s concerts. She has also enjoyed opportunities to play with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, the Sault Ste. Marie Symphony Orchestra, the Gaylord Community Orchestra and the Alpena Symphony Orchestra.
When not playing the oboe or working on reeds Lynn enjoys working on home improvement projects, putzing in her yard, riding her motorcycle, cooking & food-related adventures, reading, enjoying her pets, hanging out with her family & friends, and her truly unique neighborhood on Silver Lake.
John McCutcheon studied oboe at Wayne State University from 1972 to 1976, with Ronald Odmark of the Detroit Symphony. While at Wayne, John played in the Concert Band, the Symphony Band, and during his final year, the Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Union orchestra. Also while in Detroit, John played with the Oak Park Symphony, the St. Clair Shores Symphony, the Orchestra of Old Christ Church on Jefferson Ave., and an Easter broadcast of the complete St. Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Woodward Ave.
After college, John worked in his father’s boat shop and did not play for 23 years. He resumed playing in 1999. After practicing and taking more lessons for a year, John played with the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band, the Grand Valley State University Orchestra, the Charlevoix City Band, the Kent Philharmonia Orchestra, Encore Winds in Traverse City where he also played in the Old Town Playhouse pit orchestra and, of course, the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
Jeanmarie Riccobono, Principal Clarinet with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, is the Adjunct Clarinet Instructor at Northwestern Michigan College and recently joined the highly acclaimed chamber ensemble Manitou Winds and is presently the co-principal clarinetist of the TC Philharmonic Orchestra. She performed as principal clarinetist of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra (re-named the TC Phil) for 25 years and has performed with numerous American orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Savannah Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Riccobono has participated in the summer music festivals of Chautauqua, Aspen, Bay View, Sarasota and the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2023 she performed in double bill Puccini Opera orchestra performances as Principal Clarinetist with the Bay View Music Festival and the Soo Theatre Opera Orchestra. Ms. Riccobono spent several summers performing chamber music concerts and mentoring collegiate wind chamber ensembles at the Bay View Music Festival and has served as an interim clarinet instructor at the Interlochen Arts Academy and summer faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp. She was a Grand Prize Winner of the Buffet/Boosey and Hawkes North American Clarinet Competition which resulted in a solo recital at the Paris Conservatory, is an in-demand clinician for area schools in Northern Michigan and maintains a private teaching studio. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University and resides in Traverse City, MI.
Jayne Bennett-Winchester performs as Principal clarinetist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra as well as the GLCO Woodwind Quintet. Jayne graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Music Education & Performance and an Elementary Endorsement. She also plays 1st clarinet for the Charlevoix City Band, Northern Symphonic Winds and West Michigan Concert Winds, the latter of which performed at Carnegie Hall in June of 2016. Jayne plays Alto Saxophone for the Foghorn Jazz Band, Pine River Jazz Band, and the Charlevoix Saxophone Quartet. She has retired as a Band Director and Elementary Music Teacher for Charlevoix, Ellsworth, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, and Northview Area Schools in Grand Rapids. Jayne loves sewing and has a special interest in designing quilts.
Charlie MacInnis has been a member of GLCO’s clarinet section for many years. A serious amateur, he has played in community bands throughout the state and occasionally solos at his home church, Emmanuel Episcopal, in Petoskey. Charlie worked in public relations for Consumers Energy for 23 years. For the past decade, he served as a county commissioner in Emmet County. He holds a commercial pilot license and takes aerial photos of Northern Michigan for the Harbor Light newspaper in Harbor Springs.
Deanna Erwin began her musical journey as a violinist, but as an Intermediate camper at Interlochen Arts Camp she took a class that would change the direction of her musical life. The class was called Instrument Exploration, it gave her opportunity to try out every instrument of the orchestra and that was how she found the bassoon.
The following summer Dee returned to camp and studied with Frank Wangler, then attended the Interlochen Arts Academy where she studied with Robert Barris. After graduating from IAA, she went on to the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied with Eric Arbiter.
When she returned home, Dee joined the Traverse Symphony Orchestra as Principal Bassoon. At that time, she also started with Grand Traverse Rural Fire Department and Green Lake Township EMS, yet continued to play with many of our regional orchestras throughout the area. She has been a featured soloist with both the TSO and the Encore Society. Dee retired from the Fire Service to pursue certification as a Pharmacy Technician, a comfortable career shift following her decades as an EMT. She never put the bassoon down, and continues to play as Principal of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and as Second Bassoon with the Sault Symphony and the Baroque on Beaver Island festival orchestra.
Evie Cunningham, bassoonist, is a graduate from Charles Stewart Mott Nursing Program
Following retirement as an OR Nursing in 1996, she and her husband tend a small hobby farm in Ellsworth where they raise show rabbits, Kinder goats and many breeds of chickens. They also maintain a large garden and have started raising honey bees. Tom and Evie play in the East Jordan Community Band, Charlevoix Summer Band and sing in their church choir. They were also long time members of the National Cherry Festival 2nd Time Around marching Band.
Brian Carter has been a participant and soloist in the Vianden International Chamber Music Festival in Vianden, Luxembourg, the Ischia International Chamber Music Festival in Italy, the White Lake Music Festival in Montague Michigan, Baroque on Beaver Music Festival on Beaver Island and the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Upper Michigan. In addition to being a member of the GLCO, he is also Principal Horn of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber music performer he is a member of the Marquette S.O. Brass Quintet and CANUSA Wind Quintet.
Vern is a practicing Ophthalmologist and has been an orchestra member since 2012. He also enjoys skiing, bicycling, and visits to Shanghai.
Pat Jarve has been a member of the trumpet section of the GLCO since 2012. He is also starting his 33rd year of music education in the Gaylord Public Schools.
Mr. Jarve earned a B.A. in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music in Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University.
Mr. Jarve has studied trumpet with Byron Autrey, Byron Pearson, Clifford Lyllia, Anthony Plog, Jean Moorehead-Libs, Kristian Steenstrup, and Vincent Cichowicz. He has performed under the direction of Leonard Falcone, Colonel Arnold Gabriel, Alfred Reed, Larry Rachleff, John Knight, Mallory Thompson, Frank Ticheli, and Robert Reynolds.
In addition to GLCO, Mr. Jarve has performed with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Concert Band, Northern Michigan Brass Band, Northern Symphonic Winds (Charlevoix, MI), Gaylord Concert Band, and the Gaylord Chamber Orchestra. He is also in high demand to perform with chamber groups as well as weddings around Northern Michigan.
Raymond R. Reynolds received his degree in Music Education BME from Northern Michigan University and held teaching positions in Marquette Public Schools, Ishpeming Public Schools and Alpena Public Schools, retiring in 2016. In addition, Mr. Reynolds was a faculty member of the prestigious Interlochen Summer Arts Camp from 2009-2019. During his tenure in Alpena, his junior high bands consistently received top honors at district and state levels. In January 1994 and January 1999, his 8th Grade Symphonic Band was a featured concert band at the Midwestern Conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Raymond was selected as conductor for the District 9 Junior High Honor’s Band in January 1995 and the District 2 Junior Honor’s Band in January 2003. His colleagues elected him Director of the Year for District 9 in 1998 and 2016.
Mr. Reynolds is an active member emeritus of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association and has held several offices at both district and state levels. He is an active adjudicator for the State of Michigan and an active member of the American School Band Director’s Association. Raymond has enjoyed numerous invitations to be guest conductor, performer and clinician at various schools throughout Michigan. Mr. Reynolds performs with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, Gaylord Community Orchestra and has conducted the Alpena Symphony Orchestra and Alpena City Band.
Ed Bahr is Professor Emeritus from Delta State University and currently GLCO principal trombone, principal euphonium with Northern Michigan Brass Band and Encore Band (Traverse City). Ed is also a member of the International Trombone Association and an author, lecturer, and clinician.
Ward Lamphere is a free-lance trombonist and choral singer. For 35 years he played trombone with the highly acclaimed Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, as well as the BBSO Brass Quintet. As a member of the BBSO he has performed with many leading artists, including the Moody Blues (on three occasions), Henry Mancini, Mitch Miller, Yanni, Art Garfunkel, Neil Sedaka, and Smokey Robinson. He was also a member of the popular Motor City Brass Band. Ward taught trombone and euphonium privately for several years, serving students in the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills school systems. For many years he directed and made arrangements for the Birmingham First Presbyterian Church Trombone Choir.
An experienced choral singer, Ward was a member of several Detroit area professional choral groups, including the Detroit Choral Artists and the Detroit Symphony Chorus, where he was privileged to have performed with some of the world’s great conductors and soloists. In 2004 he founded and directed the Michigan District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Moving to northern Michigan in 2010, he is currently a member of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Encore Symphonic Winds. Ward also appeared as the Bishop in the Old Town Playhouse 2013 production of Les Misérables. He is a retired marketing executive at General Motors and holds BA and MBA degrees from Michigan State University.
Mitchell grew up in Williamsburg, Michigan and started playing the trombone at the age of 12. He studied tenor trombone at Northwestern Michigan College and Central Michigan University. At Grand Valley State University he switched to Bass Trombone and never looked back. Mitchell is the bass trombonist with Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra and Encore Symphonic Winds. Over the years, he has played in numerous groups with musical styles including; theater, opera, jazz, blues and rock. When he is not playing trombone, Mitchell enjoys woodworking, cooking and traveling.
Andre has performed with the GLCO since 2006, grew up in Traverse City, MI, and resides with his wife and daughter in Edwardsville, IL. He is Principal Percussionist of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Director of Percussion Studies/Spirit Band at McKendree University, and is Percussion Director of the award winning Belleville West High School Percussion Program. He holds performance degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, and Central Michigan University. He has attended the Tanglewood Music Center, and Aspen Music Festival as a Percussion Fellow, and is endorsed as a Performing Artist/Educator by both Zildjian and Vic Firth.
“I always look forward to my trips up north to play with some of my earliest music mentors in the GLCO!”
Tim Mocny is a performer, educator, and arranger based in mid-Michigan. He is the principal percussionist for the Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra, the co-principal percussionist for the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, and the section percussionist with the Saginaw Bay Symphony. He has performed as a substitute with the Traverse Symphony, the Midland Symphony, the Michigan Sinfonietta, the Flint Symphony, and the Lansing Symphony. In the educational sphere, Tim coaches the drumline of the Chippewa Marching Band at Central Michigan University, and maintains a studio of over 40 private students at B’s Music Shop in Mt. Pleasant, where he also serves as the coordinator of the lesson and recital program. He also enjoys working with area schools, most recently Gladwin and Breckenridge. Finally, he creates all of the percussion arrangements for the Chippewa Marching Band. His hobbies include long-distance running, gardening, fixing his vehicles and home, and spending time with his wife and four children.
Robert Sagan studied with Robert Hohner at Central Michigan University, earning a Bachelor of Music Education with Minors in Performance and Computers as well as a member/soloist and conductor of the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble. Amongst many National Convention Performances, Mr. Sagan was a soloist in the Premiere of Michael Colgrass’s Deja’Vu for Percussion and Wind Ensemble at the 1988 CBDNA Convention at Northwestern University.
Mr. Sagan toured Europe as Timpanist/Principal Percussionist with members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the May Festival Chorus under the direction of John Lehman.
Mr. Sagan holds the distinctions of being a member of the first Percussion ensemble to be invited to the Notre Dame Jazz Fest, and is the only soloist ever to receive an award at the Aquinas Jazz Fest (Judges created the one time award after his performance on vibraphone/“20 Minutes off the Pavement” -David Friedman.)
His Masters degree is from Boston University, where he studied with Thomas Gauger and Charles Smith of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He won the 1990 Concerto Competition at B.U., for which the top prize was the opportunity to solo with the Boston Pops. While in Boston, Mr. Sagan played in various orchestras, shows, jazz clubs, taught at B.U. and was “in residence” at Boston College. Mr. Sagan’s experience also includes being the Director of Bands at Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools for 13 years.
Currently, Mr. Sagan is the Principal Percussionist and Associate Principal Timpanist with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, guest performs with the Faculty at Interlochen Arts Academy where he assists with percussion juries and college audition preparation.
Mr. Sagan is active performing and recording new music. Some of his favorites include leading the 9-member percussion section in the premier of “Completing Fire” by Robert Hart, and recording all percussion parts for “The Laramie Project” (play) music by Cynthia Van Maanen each of which he enjoys immensely.
Formerly Principal Timpanist & Percussionist with GLCO for a decade. Mr. Sagan took several years off to focus on being Dad to his dancing daughter Marija. This included becoming the President of the Northwest Michigan Ballet Co and many sailboat races. He is glad to be back with GLCO and more glad to have the support of his wonderful wife Mya.
Lynne Aspnes is Professor Emerita of Harp for the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and formerly on the faculty of the Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Concurrent with her academic teaching career, Aspnes served in music administrative positions at Michigan as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Chair of the String Department, and Director of the Center for Career Development, and at ASU as Associate Dean for the Herberger Institute. Aspnes’ performing and teaching career has taken her around the globe, from festivals in Australia, Europe, and South American, to concerts in Southeast Asia and across the North American continent. She can be heard in recordings on the Collins Classics, Clarion, CRI, ProArte, ProOrgano, RCA Red Seal, SoundSet, and Virgin Classics labels. Aspnes is a past president of the American Harp Society (2018-2022) and continues to serve the AHS as Chair of National Events and member of the Governance committee.
Joan Raeburn Holland is Resident Instructor of Harp for the Interlochen Arts Academy and Interlochen Arts Camp, and Associate Professor of Harp for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance of the University of Michigan. In addition to her strong commitment to teaching, she maintains an active career in solo, chamber, concerto performances and orchestral performing. She is currently principal harpist for the Midland (MI) Symphony Orchestra, co-principal of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and is substitute harpist for other Michigan orchestras. Before joining the faculty at Interlochen, she was principal harp for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Ballet Orchestra. She has performed as substitute harpist for the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Raeburn Holland began her harp studies under the tutelage of Eileen Malone in the preparatory department of the Eastman School of Music. From the age of twelve and continuing through college, she studied with Alice Chalifoux, earning a Bachelor’s in Harp Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Ms. Raeburn Holland and her husband, David Holland, professional violist and conductor, have two children, Jennifer and her family, and John, both are actively involved in music and visual arts.
Cynda Coleman began playing piano at a young age. Beginning in 6th grade, she was the accompanist for various choral groups and moved on to musicals during her high school years. Cynda holds a bachelor’s degree from Augustana University in biology and German. For 30+ years she has participated in church worship services and is currently serving as pianist at the First Presbyterian Church in Harbor Springs. Cynda has performed over the past several years with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and currently serves as the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra Chorus pianist. She is also the pianist for the Northern Michigan Chorale and the Great Lakes Treble Choir.
Maureen received her Bachelor of Music degree from Western Michigan University and taught elementary music for five years before becoming an academic catalog librarian. In 2014 after retiring from Lake Superior State. University, Maureen and her husband, John, moved to Petoskey where she is active in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra as the music librarian and harpsichordist, the Little Traverse Choral Society, and as a substitute organist in the area. Maureen has sung leads in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan productions in Sault Ste. Marie, as well as roles in productions of the Soo Opera, including The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus, and The Marriage of Figaro.
Dr. Robert Pattengale, music professor emeritus, retired from Minnesota State University, Moorhead in 1997. Dr. Pattengale taught at MSUM for 29 years, during which he chaired the Music Department for 17 years. A musicologist by discipline (Master of Music and Ph.D., Musicology, University of Michigan), Pattengale directed graduate courses in music history, performed as harpsichordist with the faculty baroque members. He provided the program notes and performed as harpsichordist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra for over 20 years. Pattengale was awarded the distinction of being named the Burlington Northern Professor of the Year in 1992 at Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
In 2001 Pattengale worked with colleagues to create the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, now in its 21st season bringing orchestral music to northern Michigan. He served at different times as the Executive Director, Orchestra Manager, Administrative Director (volunteer Executive Director), Co-Artistic Director, and Board Member. He is presently serving as an advisor to the Board of Trustees. He continues to provide program notes, sing in the GLCO Chorus, and perform on harpsichord with the GLCO.
In 2005, the Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, Michigan presented Pattengale with an individual “eddi” award for his contributions to the arts community. The Board of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra created the “Pattengale Award” in 2006 in recognition of his volunteer efforts on the orchestra’s behalf.
Violinist, violist, conductor and professor Dr. Eric Lawson has had a varied career in performance and education. Past performances as a conductor, soloist and lecturer have taken him to Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Romania and Scandinavia. Before returning to his home state of Michigan, he was based in North Dakota where, in addition to serving as a violin instructor at Bismarck State College, Jamestown College, and the University of Mary, he was also concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and established the Bismarck-Mandan Youth Symphony. Other former academic appointments have included Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Central College in Pella, Iowa and the University of North Dakota where he founded the string program and the UND Chamber Orchestra.
Here in Michigan, Dr. Lawson as been very active with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra as its concertmaster, conductor and president of the board. He also performs with many other orchestras in Northern Michigan and participates in the Traverse Symphony as a first violinist, in the Gaylord Symphony as concertmaster and as assistant concertmaster in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
And finally, in what has been one of the most important experiences of his life outside of music, he also served almost four years as an Alpena County Commissioner, representing Ossineke and Sanborn Townships. In addition to serving as chair of the Salary and Personnel Committee, he also served on the Airport, Ambulance, District Court, Circuit Court Management and Jail Committees. He also represented Alpena County in Gaylord with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity Substance Use Disorder Board and continues to serve on the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Board. Dr. Lawson resides in Ossineke with his wife and two children.
