Santa Barbara's Music Academy Collaborates with London Symphony Orchestra

31 students will spend ten days in London, experiencing what life is like for an LSO player

The Music Academy, which is based in Santa Barbara, will send fellows on its exchange with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) — which selected a record-breaking 31 students, following several competitive rounds of auditions.

The bumper crop of fellows stems from a backlog caused by the pandemic, which means that the 31 students comprise audition winners from as far back as 2019.

As part of their fellowship, the students will spend 10 days in London, where they will perform in three concerts with the LSO, as well as attending workshops and receiving individual lessons and coaching.

The selected players are as follows:

• Shenae Anderson, violin, Salt Lake City, UT
• Chas Barnard, cello, Dayton, OH, University of Colorado, Boulder, Lírios Quartet, Boulder Philharmonic
• James Blanchard, flute, Las Cruces, NM
• Aaron Blick, double bass, Los Angeles, CA
• Keoni Bolding, viola, Tucson, AZ
• Elissa Brown, flute, Boston, MA
• Kenneth Chauby, trumpet, Rochester, NY, Yale School of Music, New World Symphony
• Christine Comer, percussion, Suffolk, VA
• Ava Conway, horn, Los Angeles, CA
• Cristina Cutts Dougherty, tuba, Pretoria, South Africa
• Hannah Duncan, violin, Sioux Falls, SD
• Jordan Farber, bassoon, Las Vegas, NV
• Njioma Grevious, violin, Newton, MA
• Gene Hotta, viola, Torrance, CA
• Carlos Jiménez Fernández, tenor trombone, Algeciras, Andalucia, Spain
• Wenqi Ke, violin, Shanghai, China
• Emma Lee, cello, Orange County, CA
• Ka Long Kelvin Lee, cello, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
• Kipras Mazeika, bassoon, Durham, NC
• Gerbrich Meijer, clarinet, Groningen, The Netherlands
• Orion Miller, double bass, New York, NY
• Javier Morales-Martinez, clarinet, Los Angeles, CA
• Gabrielle Pho, horn, Falls Church, VA
• Katelyn Poetker, clarinet, Monroe, LA
• Gracie Potter, tenor trombone, Phoenix, AZ
• Noah Roper, bass trombone, Aledo, TX
• Madison Shake, percussion, Indianapolis, IN
• Ha eun Song, cello, Seoul, South Korea
• Matthew A. West, percussion, Dallas, TX
• Jonathan Yeoh, double bass, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Melody Yuan, violin, Weihai City, Shangdong Province, China

"The LSO has created extraordinary opportunities for our fellows to step into experiencing the life of a professional musician at the highest level," said Scott Reed, the President and CEO of the Music Academy. "Our partnership with the orchestra and their leaders continues to break ground with unique opportunities on an international stage."

"We always look forward to the residency of the fellows from the Music Academy," said Simon Rattle, the LSO's Music Director. "They are extremely well prepared to perform with the LSO. Our musicians really enjoy working with these emerging artists."