Guest Artist Biographies
ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ
Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the principal pops conductor of the Nashville Symphony and Pacific Symphony, as well as the principal conductor of the Dallas Symphony Presents. This season, Lopez-Yañez has been named principal pops conductor designate of the Detroit Symphony, a position he will begin in the 2024.25 season. Lopez-Yañez is quickly establishing himself as one of the nation’s leading conductors of popular music and is becoming known for his unique style of audience engagement. An active composer and arranger, Lopez-Yañez has been commissioned to write for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Omaha Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, National, Seattle, and Utah symphonies, among others.
This season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Trisha Yearwood, Tituss Burgess, Jefferson Starship, Portugal. The Man, Aida Cuevas, and Lila Downs. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Milwaukee Symphony, as well as make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and more. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout North America, including the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony, among others.
As artistic director and co-founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. Symphonica manages a wide breadth of pops, family, and education productions that “breathe new, exuberant life into classical programming for kids and families” (Nashville Parent Magazine).
JOSÉ SIBAJA
José Sibaja is one of the most highly acclaimed Costa Rican trumpet players of his generation, with worldwide audiences and broadcast media in the classical, Latin, jazz, and pop genres. His career ranges from international appearances as an orchestral soloist, as with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, to worldwide tours with Ricky Martin for the Vuelve and Living la Vida Loca tours. Currently, Sibaja plays lead trumpet with the world-renowned Boston Brass.
Having received his musical training at the New World School of the Arts and the University of Miami, Sibaja’s vast musical repertoire and masterful artistry make him a prominent figure in a new generation of musicians. He has held positions as principal trumpet with the Miami Symphony, the Sinfonietta de Caracas, and Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, as well as a position with the Dallas Brass.
With televised performances on the American Music Awards, the MTV Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the Latin Grammy Awards shows, as well as appearances on Conan O’Brian, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and
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MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 33
Guest Artist Biographies
numerous television appearances in more than 40 countries, Sibaja’s talents are not limited to live audience performances. Having recorded with such artists as Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Enrique, Rey Ruiz, Tito Nieves, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan, among others, Sibaja redefines the idea of a concert artist with a rich mix of styles, pushing back against the stereotype of today’s classical musician. Sibaja can be heard with the Boston Brass on Rewired, Reminiscing, and Simple Gifts, as well as his solo records, Inner Voice and Spanish Air.
Sibaja currently serves as a performing artist for the Yamaha Music Corporation, giving concerts, clinics, and master classes worldwide. Proclaimed internationally as “a major young talent, the next Wynton Marsalis,” Sibaja played his solo debut at age 17 with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra with only five years of trumpet and music training.
Sibaja is associate professor of trumpet for the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
MÓNICA ÁBREGO
Mónica Ábrego is one of Mexico’s leading sopranos. She has performed on stages around the world with a diverse repertoire, which includes opera, lied, oratorio, folk, and popular music. Ábrego has performed with a number of orchestras, including the San Diego, Colorado, Iowa, Key West, Delaware, La Jolla, Aguascalientes, and Bulgaria symphony orchestras, as well as the Chihuahua Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she toured Mexico and the U.S. She has performed the roles of Serpina (La serva padrona), Norina (Don Pasquale), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Gilda (Rigoletto), Magda (La rondine), Violetta (La traviata), Manon (Manon), Musetta (La bohème), Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann), Nanetta (Falstaff), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), María (María de Buenos Aires), and recently as Micaela (Carmen).
Ábrego made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2003 as a soloist for the Pacific Opera Encore company; she also has sung in Lincoln Center’s Merking Hall and has continued to perform in these venues on numerous occasions. Her passion for music has given her the opportunity to proudly perform traditional Mexican music alongside Mariachi Champaña Nevin, both in Mexico and the U.S., including several concerts at the Jacobs Music Center. In 2012, her first album, Alma Mía, was released by Vientos del Sur Productions. Her debut recording includes bossa nova, Mexican music, musical theater, and tango.
Ábrego holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She has received awards from the USA National Association of Teachers of Singing (1998), La Jolla Symphony & Chorus in California (1997-1998), RYLA Rotary International Club (1998), Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (1999-2002), and the Musical Merit Foundation of San Diego (1998-2002). She currently lives in New York City, where she continues to develop professionally.
36 MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
2023.24 SEASON
KEN-DAVID MASUR
Music Director
Polly and Bill Van Dyke
Music Director Chair
EDO DE WAART
Music Director Laureate
RYAN TANI
Assistant Conductor
CHERYL FRAZES HILL
Chorus Director
Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair
TIMOTHY J. BENSON
Assistant Chorus Director
FIRST VIOLINS
Jinwoo Lee, Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair
Ilana Setapen, First Associate Concertmaster
Jeanyi Kim, Associate Concertmaster
Alexander Ayers
Yuka Kadota
Elliot Lee**
Ji-Yeon Lee
Dylana Leung
Kyung Ah Oh
Lijia Phang
Yuanhui Fiona Zheng
SECOND VIOLINS
Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Second Violin Chair
Timothy Klabunde, Assistant Principal
John Bian, Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Glenn Asch
Lisa Johnson Fuller
Paul Hauer
Hyewon Kim
Alejandra Switala**
Mary Terranova
VIOLAS
Robert Levine, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair
Georgi Dimitrov, Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Viola Chair
Samantha Rodriguez, Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Elizabeth Breslin
Nathan Hackett
Erin H. Pipal
Helen Reich
CELLOS
Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Cello Chair
Nicholas Mariscal, Assistant Principal*
Shinae Ra, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus
Madeleine Kabat
Peter Szczepanek
Peter J. Thomas
Adrien Zitoun
BASSES
Jon McCullough-Benner, Principal, Donald B. Abert Bass Chair*
Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal
Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Brittany Conrad
Teddy Gabrieledes**
Peter Hatch*
Paris Myers
HARP
Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Harp Chair
FLUTES
Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Flute Chair
Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
PICCOLO
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
OBOES
Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony League Oboe Chair
Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal
Margaret Butler
ENGLISH HORN
Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin
CLARINETS
Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Clarinet Chair
Benjamin Adler, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair*
Taylor Eiffert*
Madison Freed**
E-FLAT CLARINET
Benjamin Adler*
BASS CLARINET
Taylor Eiffert*
Madison Freed**
BASSOONS
Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Bassoon Chair
Rudi Heinrich, Assistant Principal
Beth W. Giacobassi
CONTRABASSOON
Beth W. Giacobassi
HORNS
Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family French Horn Chair
Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal
Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair
Darcy Hamlin
Kelsey Williams**
TRUMPETS
Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Trumpet Chair
David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal
Trumpet Chair
TROMBONES
Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Trombone Chair
Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal
BASS TROMBONE
John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair
TUBA
Robyn Black, Principal, John and Judith Simonitsch Tuba Chair
TIMPANI
Dean Borghesani, Principal
Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal
PERCUSSION
Robert Klieger, Principal
Chris Riggs
PIANO
Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair
PERSONNEL MANAGER
Françoise Moquin, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Paris Myers, Hiring Coordinator
LIBRARIANS
Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, Anonymous Donor, Principal Librarian Chair
Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist
PRODUCTION
Tristan Wallace, Production Manager/ Live Audio
* Leave of Absence 2023.24 Season
** Acting member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2023.24 Season
