Contact Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings

Detroit's Finest Professional Musicians

Stephen Anderson has been assistant principal trumpet with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1992. He received degrees from the University of Illinois and Arizona State University before moving on to perform with the San Diego and New Mexico Symphony Orchestras, the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and Chicago Chamber Brass.

Donald Baker has been principal oboe of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1973 and has taught and performed at Aspen, Interlochen, and the Santa Fe Opera. Prior to joining the DSO, Baker was principal oboe of the Dallas Symphony.

Douglas Cornelsen played in the United States Marine Band and the Cincinnati Symphony before joining the clarinet section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1970. He is on the faculty at Oakland University.

Philip Dikeman, Assistant Principal Flutist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, began playing with the DSO in 1992. He holds the distinction of having won first prize in both the National Flute Association's Young Artist and Orchestral Audition Competitions. Prior to joining the DSO, Dikeman was Principal Flutist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the San Antonio Symphony. He is also an accomplished pianist.

Debra Fayroian was principal cellist of gthe Toledo Symphony before joining the DSO in 1977. She serves as Artistic Director of the Manitou Music Festival in northern Michigan and was founder of the Cranbrook Summer Chamber Music Academy. In addition, she has collaborated with New York Pro Musica, the Lafayette String Quartet, Arts Poetica, and the Lyric Chamber Ensemble and the Bravo! Colorado Festival.

Penelope Fischer is principal flute of the Ann Arbor Symphony and performs regularly with a number of southeast Michigan ensembles. She has won four national music competitions and has premiered new works for flute by William Albright, Jeff Robbins, and Sonny Burnette. She was a delegate on cultural exchanges with China, Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. She is currently on the faculty at Eastern Michigan University.

Kevin Good, a co-founder of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, has served in the trumpet section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Prior to his appointment he taught trumpet, music theory, and jazz at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He teaches at the University of Michigan and is a member of the CutTime Players.

Pamela Hill received degrees from both the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Hill has served many years as principal flutist of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and she teaches in the Livonia Public Schools.

David Jackson is a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. His chamber music experience includes performances with the Canadian Brass, the American Brass Quintet, Nexus Percussion Ensemble and the Galliard Brass Ensemble. His summers are spent teaching and performing at the Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Interlochen Arts Camp All-State Division. He is currently Professor of Trombone att he University of Michigan.

Maxim Janowsky is a member of the double bass section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He studied in New York under Fred Zimmerman and has taught at many local universities and colleges.

Bryan Kennedy is a member of the horn section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Kennedy previously served as Professor of Horn at the University of Michigan. He has also played with the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Richmond Symphony, and the National Symphony of Costa Rica. He has recorded on the London, DECCA, RCA, Koch, Chandos, and Crystal labels.

Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy became a member of the Detroit Sympony Orchestra in 1998 and was recently awarded the prestigious position of Associate Concertmaster. She has been featured as soloist with the University of Michigan Sympony and the University of Michigan Chamber Orchestra, and was a winner of numerous prizes including Grand Prize in the state round of the 1997 ASTA Competition. She is also a member of the Sonnet String Quartet in residence at Oakland University.

Victoria King joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after playing bassoon for several years with the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. A co-founder of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, King received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan.

David Kuehn has been the principal trumpeter with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra of Florence, Italy. He has performed with I Soloisti di Fiorentino and was the cornet soloist with the United States Army Field Band. Mr. Kuehn also served as a faculty member at the State University of New York at Buffalo for twenty-two years. He currently serves as Principal Trumpet of the Michigan Opera Theatre.

A Detroit native, Laurence Liberson was principal clarinet with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra for five years before his appointment as assistant principal clarinet and E-flat clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1981. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he teaches privately adn has presented master classes in clarinet and chamber music throughout the U.S.

Maury Okun is Executive Director of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, as well as principal trombonist with the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. A co-founder of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, he holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University.

Sally Pituch is the English hornist/2nd oboist of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. For nine years, she was the English hornist/principal oboist of the Honolulu Symphony. Pituch has also performed with the Jacksonville, Savannah, Ft. Worth and Dallas Opera orchestras.

Christine Prince is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan. She joined DCWS in 1982, and has also been a member of the bassoon sections of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. In addition to freelancing in the Ann Arbor-Detroit area, Prince currently teaches music at Honey Creek Community School in Ann Arbor and maintains a private studio.

Craig Rifel has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's double bass section since 1980. He has also appeared with the Orchestra on many occasions on the piano, harpsichord, organ, and electric bass. Prior to joining the DSO, he played for two years with the Syracuse Symphony and was the principal bass of the Florida Symphony Orchestra for two years.

Marcus Schoon was the principal bassoon of the Cleveland Ballet and Chamber Symphony, and second bassoon of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra and Cleveland Opera. Prior to joining the DSO in 1992 as bassoonist and contrabassoonist, he also was head of the woodwind department at the Cleveland Music School Settlement.

Gordon Simmons studied at Wayne State University and Wheaton College, and is a member of the trumpet section of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. Simmons is one of Detroit's most sought-after trumpet instructors.

Kenneth Thompkins is currently principal trombonist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has previously held positions in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, and the New World Symphony in Miami.

Sam Tundo, percussionist, has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1968. A native Detroiter, Tundo has also performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic and at the Sante Fe Opera Festival.

James VanValkenburg became Assistant Principal Violist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after a satisfying career in chamber music. As a founding member of the International String Quartet, he toured the world with concerts in Europe, the Far East, South America, as well as the U.S. The quartet won several notable prizes, including the Munich Competition, East & West Artists of New York, and was the first prize winner of the Premier Grand Prix at the International Chamber Music Competition in Evian, France.

Corbin Wagner has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 1979. A prize winner in three international horn competitions, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan.

H. Robert Reynolds - Artistic Director
Currently, H. Robert Reynolds is the Principal Conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. This appointment followed his retirement, after 26 years, from the School of Music of the University of Michigan where he served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, Director of University Bands and Director of the Division of Instrumental Studies.

Robert Reynolds has conducted recordings for Koch International, Pro Arte, Caprice, and Deutsche Grammophon. In the United States, he has conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Kennedy Center (Washington, D. C.), Powell Symphony Hall (St. Louis), and the Academy of Music (Philadelphia). In Europe, he conducted the premiere of an opera for La Scala Opera (Milan, Italy), and concerts at the Maggio Musicale (Florence, Italy), the Tonhalle (Zurich, Switzerland), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, Holland) as part of the Holland Festival, and at the 750th Anniversary of the City of Berlin. He has conducted numerous premiere performances and has won the praise of composers: Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Aaron Copland, Michael Daugherty, Henryk Gorecki, Karel Husa, Gyorgy Ligeti, Darius Milhaud, Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and many others for his interpretive conducting of their compositions.

Mr. Reynolds holds degrees in Music Education and Performance from the University of Michigan where he was the conducting student of Elizabeth Green. He began his career in the Onsted Michigan Public Schools, then moved to Anaheim (California) High School before beginning his university conducting at California State University at Long Beach. He subsequently moved to the University of Wisconsin prior to his tenure at the University of Michigan. He received the Citation of Merit from the Alumni Association of the School of Music at the University of Michigan for his contributions to the many students he has influenced during his career.

Professor Reynolds is Past President of the College Band Directors' National Association and the Big Ten Band Directors' Association. He has received the highest national awards from Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Band Association, and the American School Band Directors' Association, and he was awarded the "Medal of Honor" by the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic. He is the recipient of a "Special Tribute" from the legislature of the State of Michigan signed by the leaders of the House, Senate and the Governor. Currently he is one of three members serving on the National Awards Panel for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and in 2001 he received a national award from this organization for his contributions to contemporary American music. His frequent conducting appearances have included (among others) the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, the National Arts Camp at Interlochen, and the National Wind Ensemble each year at Carnegie Hall.

Robert Reynolds has been a featured conductor and lecturer at international conferences in Austria, Norway, Belgium, England, Holland, and Switzerland. He has conducted in many of the major cities of Japan and his numerous visits to Sweden include concerts with the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, Linkoping Wind Orchestra, and the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. He has served as master teacher for the Sverges Orkesterforeningars Riksforbund in Stockholm, Gothenberg, Udevalla, Orebro, and Linkoping, Sweden. In addition to being the master conductor/teacher for the Europaisches Seminar fur Dirigenten von Blasorchestern at the Bundesakademie in Trossingen (Germany), the Austrian Wind Band Conductors Association, the Mid-Europe Conference, and the wind conductors of Slovenia, he is the only American to have conducted the famed Kongelige Musikkorps Koncertfond (Royal Danish Band) of Copenhagen, Denmark. Many of his former students now hold major conducting positions at leading universities.