Yoonshin Song was appointed as Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in August 2019. Prior to that, she held the same position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons. In Europe, Yoonshin has served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer for several years, and she has led the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under numerous top-tiered conductors, such as Sir Simon Rattle, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Harding, Mikhail Pletnev, and Antonio Pappano. She also served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra.

Beyond her first chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

She has also participated as a soloist and a chamber musician in various roles in leading music festivals, including the ones in Verbier, Lucerne, Samos, and Bayreuth in Europe; and the Marlboro, Great Lakes, and Deer Valley in the United States.

Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition, the Lipinski and Wieniawski International Violin Competition, the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition, and first prize at the Stradivarius International Competition in the United States.

She studied under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory and with Robert Mann, Glenn Dicterow, and Lisa Kim at the Manhattan School of Music.

Sophia Silivos, violin, has been a member of the Houston Symphony since 1992. Silivos began her career as first violinist of the Dakota quartet and then was named principal second violinist of the New Mexico Symphony. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and served as Associate Concertmaster for the 2005–06 season.

An ardent proponent of chamber music, Silivos has appeared with ensembles throughout the United States and has performed live for public radio stations in Chicago, Houston, and Minneapolis. Here in Texas, she is a featured violinist for the St. Cecilia Chamber Music concert series.

She has served on the faculties of the University of Houston and Augustana college, teaches privately, and gives master classes.

In the summer of 2007, Silivos was an invited participant in a three-week tour of China, giving master classes and performing recitals and solos with orchestra.

Joan DerHovsepian is the newly appointed Principal Viola of the Houston Symphony after winning the international audition held in May 2023. She first joined the viola section of the Houston Symphony in 1999, hired by Christoph Eschenbach, won the audition for Associate Principal Viola in the fall of 2010 during the tenure of Hans Graf, and now begins serving as Principal with Music Director Juraj Valčuha. Recent solo performances with the Houston Symphony include Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Concertmaster Yoonshin Song in October 2022 and Bruch Double Concerto with Principal 2nd Violin MuChen Hsieh in March 2022. Joan was formerly Principal Viola of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as guest principal viola with the Chicago and Cincinnati symphonies.

Joan is Artist Teacher of Viola at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, instructing students in viola orchestral repertoire and independent study. Students who have come through her course have gone on to win positions in the Cincinnati Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Houston Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, National Arts Center Orchestra, National Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington National Opera, among others. She is regular guest faculty for the New World Symphony and has given masterclasses in the study of orchestral excerpts for viola students of the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory and the University of Melbourne Conservatorium.

Recent festival and chamber music appearances include the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Ft. Worth TX and Melbourne Australia), Music in Context, Peninsula Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and Lake Lure Chamber Music Festival.

She was the violist of the award winning Everest Quartet, top prize winners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Joan was the second prize recipient of the Primrose International Viola Competition. She attended the Eastman School of Music studying with violist James Dunham, and the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg Germany, with violist Kim Kashkashian.

Hailed by audiences across North America and Europe for his commanding and expressive performances, Venezuelan/American violinist and violist Paul Aguilar currently resides in Houston, Texas. As an orchestral musician, he was recently appointed as a member of the Houston Symphony viola section, and he also maintains an active solo and chamber music
performance schedule of over 40 recitals every year.

As a chamber musician, Paul has appeared on concert series and in concert halls across North America and internationally, including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Ravinia Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, La Jolla Summerfest, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Schneider Concert Series, the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, and the Emilia-Romagna Festival. Equally comfortable on both violin and viola, Paul has won top prizes in nearly every major chamber music competition, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, the Melbourne International String Quartet Competition, and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He was selected as the only Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Performance Fellow for the 2020-2021 season, and he also performs regularly as a member of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble. His chamber music collaborators have included artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Phil Setzer, Lawrence Power, Paul Watkins, Desmond Hoebig, Jon Kimura Parker, Frank Cohen, and Shirley Brill.

Bringing total dedication and commitment to everything he does, Paul strives to educate the next generation on the importance of true excellence in every area of life, and of classical music’s role as simply a tool along that path. As an educator, Paul has appeared as guest artist faculty at festivals and institutions across the United States including Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program, the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, and the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC. He is actively involved with the Sphinx Organization in both performance and outreach and was a 2019 MPower Grant recipient.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Paul counts Jaime Laredo, Jan Mark Sloman, and Si-Yan Darren Li as some of his most formative musical influences; he also holds a degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music where he participated in their String Quartet Residency. Paul pursued further chamber music studies in Europe at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where he was fortunate to study under Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Johannes Meissl, and Avri Levitan.

In addition to his busy travel and performance schedule, Paul is committed to regularly sharing music in schools and organizations throughout his community. When not involved with music, Paul enjoys running, reading, and spending time with his family. Paul plays on a very fine violin and viola that were commissioned from master luthier Kevin Lee.

Christopher French is the associate principal cellist of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986, he held titled positions in both the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. French is the seventh of a full octave of musical siblings. He enjoys performing with the Bad Boys of Cello, the alter ego of the Houston Symphony cello section. The Bad Boys have played in homeless shelters and elementary schools in an effort to eliminate the classist misconceptions about classical music.

French is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, where he won the Performance Award. In addition to three concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, he has appeared on the Chamber Players series, and with Da Camera of Houston and the Greenbriar Consortium. He participates in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

French teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University.

Cellist Charles Seo was appointed cellist of the Houston Symphony in the summer of 2018 at age 22. Previously, he served as principal cellist in the Colburn Orchestra. Charles, who made his solo orchestral debut at age 10, has performed as guest soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and San José Chamber Orchestra.

He is silver medalist of the 2014 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and bronze medalist of the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2013, he was the gold medalist of the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, the Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition, the Schmidbauer International Competition, and the 30^th Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. Charles performed Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with Christopher O’Riley on NPR’s From the Top.

Charles has collaborated with cellists Lynn Harrell, Robert deMaine, Clive Greensmith, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, David Geringas, Steven Isserlis, Jian Wang, Myung-wha Chung, Lluís Claret, Li-Wei Qin, Bion Tsang, and Laurence Lesser. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Clive Greensmith.

Robin Kesselman was appointed Principal Bass of the Houston Symphony Orchestra in 2014. He has performed as Guest Principal Bass with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic, travelled internationally with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and appeared with the National, Atlanta, and Baltimore symphonies.

Kesselman has appeared multiple times as soloist with the Houston Symphony, in subscription performances of the Koussevitzky Concerto for Double Bass, Missy Mazzoli’s concerto Dark with Excessive Bright, and Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante with Gil Shaham. Previous season highlights include Krzysztof Penderecki’s Duo Concertante during the composer’s Carnegie Hall residency in collaboration with the Curtis Institute and Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 with the Houston Civic Symphony. Recent festival engagements include leading the bass sections of the Grand Teton, Mainly Mozart, Arizona Musicfest and Aspen Festival orchestras.

Kesselman frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician and presents recital programs and masterclasses at the Nation’s top universities. He has also served as faculty for the National Youth Orchestra – USA, Curtis Institute’s Summerfest, the Richard Davis Bass Conference, and the summer residency of the Youth Philharmonic of Colombia. He recently released Bow Speed Geography, a method book and video series dedicated to the improvement of legato and sustain from the standpoint of bow speed. Kesselman holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. His primary teachers have included David Allen Moore, Harold Robinson, Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, Chris Hanulik, and Virginia Dixon.

Aralee Dorough began her tenure with the Houston Symphony as second flute in 1985, becoming the orchestra’s principal flutist in 1991. Dorough teaches orchestral repertoire at the Texas Music Festival and the Festival-Institute at Round Top and is an affiliate artist on the faculty of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.

She first appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony performing Mozart’s Concerto in C Major for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra with internationally-renowned harpist, Marisa Robles, and led by then-Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, for the 1992–93 season Opening Night gala concert. Dorough also performed Mozart’s Concerto in G Major with Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony in 1993 for a triple CD set released by IMP Records in 1994, and again in concert in 2004 under former Music Director Hans Graf. Her latest performance of the popular D major flute concerto completed her personal “Mozart cycle.”

Dorough gave the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s concerto, Flute Moon in 1999, which was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and broadcasted live on PBS. In 2003, she gave the U.S. premiere of a Salvador Brotons’s concerto, which Brotons himself conducted for the National Flute Association Convention. In 2006, Dorough and Houston Symphony colleagues presented the premiere of a chamber work by composer Gabriela Frank on a collaborative program between the Houston Symphony and the Da Camara Society. Other solo appearances with the Symphony have included Quantz’s Concerto in G major with conductor Nicholas McGegan and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with conductor Joshua Rifkin and violinist Eric Halen.

An avid chamber player and contemporary music performer, Dorough has played with the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, whose recording of Schoenberg’s Quintet for Winds on the Koch label has been met with critical acclaim. She has also performed with the Da Camera Society of Houston, The Foundation for Modern Music, Musiqa, the Festival-Institute at Round Top, and Chicago’s Ravinia Festival in collaboration with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. Dorough can be heard on over 20 Houston Symphony recordings and performances aired on PBS and American Public Media’s Performance Today, and she has worked with a distinguished roster of conductors and guest artists including Eric Leinsdorf, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

She also collaborated with her father, jazz artist and Schoolhouse Rock composer Bob Dorough, on The Houston Branch CD project in 2005, available at cdbaby.com. The album features Dorough along with her husband, father, and three of Houston’s top jazz musicians performing standard tunes and her father’s originals, including one of her own compositions. Because of her father, Dorough has been peripherally involved with jazz and studio work throughout her career, including a speaking part on “My Hero Zero” for ABC TV’s Schoolhouse Rock at age nine.

Dorough received her undergraduate degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1983, where she studied with master teacher Robert Willoughby and met her future husband, Houston Symphony oboist Colin Gatwood. She continued her studies as a graduate student at the Yale School of Music where she worked with renowned teacher, the late Thomas Nyfenger.

Along with their son, Corin, Dorough and her husband enjoy traveling, most recently on the Houston Symphony’s The Planets–An HD Odyssey tour to the UK. They also participated in the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Ireland.

Anne Leek was educated at Juilliard where she received her bachelor of music, master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees. During her time in New York, she performed on a recital in Carnegie Hall sponsored by the Artists International Contest, which she won. During the 1980s, Leek was Solo Principal Oboe of the Mannheim Orchestra in Germany.

Before joining the Houston Symphony, she played a two year position as principal oboe in the Pittsburgh Symphony, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Along with her career as an orchestral musician, Leek has taught at Indiana University, Arizona State University and has taught at the University of Houston. As a recital soloist and chamber musician, she has appeared in numerous major cities across the world.

Colin Gatwood was born in Cleveland, Ohio but grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his father was principal oboist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and his mother, a violinist, was a freelance musician and teacher. He began his musical studies on the piano at age 5, but by the time he was nine, he had begun taking oboe lessons from his father.

Gatwood is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. His first orchestra job was with the Pittsburgh Symphony, playing second oboe for four years. From there, he went on to join the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, and in 1991, he won the position of second oboe with the Houston Symphony.