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Orchestra Biographies
2021 OPERA IN THE OZARKS ORCHESTRA
RACHEL PETERS
Concertmaster
Rachel Peters is a member of the violin section of Orchestra Iowa. She recently completed her tenure as Assistant Concertmaster in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has performed solo and orchestral concerts across the United States, Cambridge, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and more. She teaches violin, viola and piano privately to over 40 students. She currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her silky terrier named Louis.
HANNAH CARTWRIGHT
Principal Second Violin
Originally from Wichita, KS, Hannah Cartwright began studying violin at age 3. In Chicago, she has held teaching positions at Lincoln Park High School, Saint Andrew School and Frances Xavier Warde. This year marks her fourth season as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She completed her MM at DePaul University and has a BM from New York University. She has previously attended Bowdoin Music Festival, Round Top Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
HANNAH MARTINEAU
Principal Viola
Hannah Martineau is a Dallas-based freelance violist and a musical omnivore. She regularly performs with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as a substitute musician. She enjoys many diverse playing engagements ranging from chamber music recitals to rock shows. Martineau holds degrees from Rice University and Indiana University and has attended many music festivals including Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, and The Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT, she misses the mountains when she’s in Dallas – but Texas has better tacos so it’s a fair trade.
DIANE CHOU
Principal Cello
Diane Chou teaches and performs in the Chicago area. She is a member of the 3+1 quartet based in Wheaton, IL and an alumna of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She holds degrees from Wheaton College (BM) and Roosevelt University (MM). During her summers, she has attended Castleman Quartet Program, Domaine Forget, and the Meadowmount School of Music. This is her first summer at Opera in the Ozarks.
DALLAS CARPENTER
Principal Bass
Dallas Carpenter received a MM in String Bass Performance from the Ohio State University and a BM from the University of Arizona. He has played over 30 productions of operas and musicals for a variety of college theater companies across the nation. Last year, he was one of six winners in The Ohio State School of Music’s Concerto Competition. He performed Giovanni Bottesini’s Bass Concerto No. 2 with The Ohio State Symphony Orchestra. He plans to continue living and teaching in Columbus, OH where he will begin a MA in Music Theory at Ohio State next fall. This is his fourth season at Opera in the Ozarks. Outside of music, He enjoys hiking, kayaking, and most things outdoors. The Ozarks are his favorite playground for these activities!
LISA MEYERHOFER
Principal Flute
Lisa Meyerhofer holds positions as Third Flute/Piccolo with the Omaha Symphony, and Second Flute/Piccolo with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. She has also played with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Canton Symphony, and Southern Tier Symphony. She was an award winner in the 2017 Walfrid Kujala International Piccolo Competition, and has twice been a quarterfinalist in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. A native of Lancaster, NY, she received her BM from Ithaca College and MM from Northwestern University. She maintains her own private flute studio, and also tutors math and science. She enjoys reading, cooking, baking, making paper beads and photography, and marks this summer as her seventh with Opera in the Ozarks.
AUSTIN SMITH
Principal Oboe
Austin Smith is currently the oboe instructor at the University of Mississippi where he directs the oboe studio, teaches oboe methods, coaches chamber music, and plays with the faculty woodwind quintet. As an orchestral musician, Smith is currently principal oboe with the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Queen City Opera (Cincinnati). He was Second Oboe and English Horn with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra for five seasons, and has played with orchestras across the country including the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic and many others. This is his third season as principal oboe at Opera in the Ozarks, after a six-year hiatus. He also plays with the Maryland Chamber Winds, a chamber music collective based in West Maryland and can be heard on their most recent CD “Preludes and Recitations.” Besides teaching and playing oboe, he is an avid road cyclist, and enjoys spending time with his semi-fat cat, Shuri.
ORLANDO SCALIA
Principal Clarinet
Orlando Scalia is the bass clarinetist with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas as well as a frequent member of Orchestra Miami. He holds a MM from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. In his travels he has played with groups such as the Wichita, Greenville and Midland-Odessa symphonies. Scalia has taught the clarinet at all levels, from elementary through college. When he’s not fixing reeds and looking for the perfect mouthpiece, he enjoys gardening, exotic dining and growing impressive mustaches. This year marks his eighth summer as principal clarinetist, making him the current elder sage of the orchestra.
ANDREA C . BAKER
Principal Bassoon
Andrea Baker received her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Previously, she held the positions of Assistant Principal/Second Bassoon with the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Second Bassoon with the New England Philharmonic. She is the 2021 winner of the University of Cincinnati wind concerto competition, and the 2017 winner of the Boston Woodwind Society Sherman Walt Merit solo competition. An avid chamber performer, her groups have been invited artists at the 2019 Stellenbosch Chamber Music Institute, as well as at the 2018 Australasian Double Reed Society conference. She earned her MM degree from New England Conservatory studying with Boston Symphony Principal Bassoonist Richard Svoboda. She holds a BM from Penn State University, and her previous teachers include Daryl Durran and Shirley Curtiss. In her spare time, she enjoys baking bread and spending time with her two adorable cats.
MICHAEL MESNER
Principal Horn
Michael Mesner is a current doctoral student in horn performance at the University of Arizona. An avid chamber musician, he served as hornist of both UA’s Fred Fox Graduate Wind Quintet and Fred Fox Graduate Brass Quintet. He plays second horn with the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra, and appears regularly with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous other groups in southwest Arizona.
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SEAN BRESEMANN
Second Horn
See bio under artistic staff
CHASE TEAGUE
Principal Trumpet
Chase Teague, from Frisco Texas, earned his BME from Texas Christian University along with his MM and Graduate Performance Certificate from the University of Arkansas. He has performed with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Fort Smith Symphony, Ozark Family Opera Company, and the Arkansas Brassworks. This is his fourth summer as principal trumpet with Opera in the Ozarks.
CAMDEN SCARBOROUGH
Principal Trombone
Camden Scarborough is an active performer based in Chicago, IL and joins Opera in the Ozarks this summer for his first season. He received his MM from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, and his BM from Texas State University with a minor in Journalism. Scarborough has had a varied and successful freelance career performing in orchestras and musical theater productions in San Antonio, Austin and Chicago. As a high school student, he was a member of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra program, and a two year Texas All State student. He loves to spend his spare time playing board games with his friends and hanging out with his marvelous cat, Ezra.
