San Francisco Symphony Welcomes Four New Members

The new appointments include a second violin, second bassoon, associate principal flute, and an assistant librarian

The orchestra and its music director Esa-Pekka Salonen have welcomed four new musicians to the group as of this 2023/24 concert season.

Olivia Chen has been appointed a second violin, Justin Cummings will become second bassoon, Blair Francis Paponiu will serve as associate principal flute, and Matthew Searing will join the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) as assistant librarian.

The four new members also join new SFS musicians principal flute Yubeen Kim and principal harp Katherine Siochi, whose appointments were announced in August.

Chen, Cummings, and Francis Paponiu will debut in their new roles with the SFS for its Opening Night Gala and all San Francisco concerts on September 22 and 23, this season.

At 21 years old, Chen is SFS’s youngest member. Born in Houston and a longtime resident of Maryland, Chen started violin playing at age four. She has performed with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Baltimore Symphony, and as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. A graduate of the Peabody Institute, her mentors included Herbert Greenberg and Victor Danchenko.

“It is with extreme gratitude that I’d like to share that I will be joining the San Francisco Symphony this fall,” Chen wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to my friends, family, and mentors who have supported me over the years.”

Previously principal bassoon of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and a fellow of the New World Symphony, Cummings has performed as a guest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He is an alumnus of the SFS Youth Orchestra, Colburn School, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with SFS principal bassoon Stephen Paulson. 

Francis Paponiu was previously the assistant principal and second flute of Florida’s Naples Philharmonic, a member of the Austin Symphony, and was acting section flute with the New York Philharmonic for two seasons. A Manhattan School of Music, University of Texas at Austin, and University of South Carolina graduate, she has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Oregon Symphony.

Searing has served as assistant librarian for the Florida Orchestra and the Sarasota Orchestra and has been a library fellow with the New World Symphony. Though he studied horn at the Montclair State University, he has since worked in the libraries of the Subito Music Corporation, Brevard Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Utah Symphony and Opera, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, National Symphony, NY Phil, and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra.

SFS’s additional musician updates include the leave of its associate principal horn Mark Almond, as he serves as principal horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and the leave of utility horn Daniel Hawkins while he performs with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as principal horn.

This season, the SFS also welcomes two one-year substitutes: Jesse Clevenger, who will be acting third and assistant principal horn; and Michael Kemp, who will serve as acting assistant principal timpani and section percussion.

Founded in 1911, the SFS comprises over 80 musicians. In the 2020/21 season, the orchestra appointed conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen as its 12th music director — a partnership that has since led them to create an artistic leadership model anchored by eight Collaborative Partners, including Nicholas Britell, Julia Bullock, Claire Chase, Bryce Dessner, Pekka Kuusisto, Nico Muhly, Carol Reiley, and esperanza spalding.