Performers

We're lucky to have the opportunity to listen to many fine musicians share their talents with us through the Fort Bragg Center for the Arts Music Series concerts as well as through other cultural venues on the beautiful Mendocino coast.

To honor their achievements, we're profiling our key performers here (listed in alphabetical order).

Chris Barnes – trumpetist

Mr. Barnes' career typifies that of the contemporary musician. He has played with Smash Mouth, Billy Preston, on the soundtrack to Sega Dreamcast video games "NFL2K1" and "The Phloigan Brothers," several performances with the California Symphony including on the soundtrack to the musical, "Mountain Days," and with Diana Krall at the Concord Pavilion.

He has also performed with the Oakland Ballet, Peninsula Ballet, Masterworks Chorale, Sacramento Chorale Society, Berkeley and Fairfield Operas, and the Oakland, Sacramento, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Stockton, and Modesto Symphonies. Mr. Barnes is a trumpet understudy at Beach Blanket Babylon, and has played hundreds of national touring and regional shows at Sacramento Musical Theater.

He has also played with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Mike Vax Big Band, Carma Big Band, Fazmania, Realistic Orchestra, Black Market Jazz Orchestra, Mood Swing Orchestra, and at the Jazz Festivals in Montreaux, Umbria, Monterey, San Francisco, Fillmore, Concord, Santa Cruz, and San Jose.

Paula Butler – pianist

Ms. Butler, a graduate of the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music, is an active accompanist, chamber music player, church pianist/choir director, vocal coach, and piano instructor. She frequently plays at Headland's Coffeehouse in Fort Bragg on their "Sunday Evening Classical Music Series" and occasionally with the Symphony of the Redwoods as a keyboard and percussion player. She maintains a private music studio in her home in Fort Bragg.

Richard Cionco – pianist

Juilliard graduate Richard Cionco has performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, and almost every major U.S. city as well as in Japan and Taiwan. A winner of many competitions, he has performed with many orchestras worlwide and has been named a "Steinway Artist."

Formerly a teaching fellow at Juilliard, Mr. Cionco is currently on the piano faculty at California State University (CSU) in Sacramento. He has received rave reviews for his performances such as "I have rarely heard as fine a piano recital as the one Richard Cionco gave on Sunday" (Washington Post), "...sensitive pianism..." (New York Times), "dazzling musicality... masterful control over technique..." (Denmark), "...not just a terrific pianist... rarest of artists... a palette of nearly orchestral richness..." (WGTS-FM, Washington D.C.).

In 1996 he toured with, and recorded, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto and most recently has been performing the Grieg and the two Liszt concertos. A graduate of the University of Maryland and the Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship and fellowship recipient, Mr. Cionco won the Roeder Piano prize upon graduation. His major teachers include Rudolf Firkusny, Thomas Schumacher, and Audrey Bart Brown. In the summers he teaches at the Chamber Music Workshop in Sacramento and the Schlern International Music Festival in the Italian Alps.

Sandra Cosca – cellist

Ms. Cosca began playing cello after the birth of her fifth child. In addition to her many musical endeavors, she's variously employed as a Fort Bragg band teacher, orchestra personnel director and librarian, and teacher of an after-school string class at Dana Gray elementary school, in Fort Bragg. She's very happy to be playing with "the angels" in "Cello Heaven."

Julian C. Dixon – tubist

Mr. Dixon is a native of San Francisco. His career has taken him across all of North America and overseas to Japan and Finland. He has performed at the Tokyo Disneyland, Cleveland Ohio's Severance Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Dixon is the principal tuba player of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sacramento Opera, and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra. He's frequently called upon to perform with the Berkeley Symphony.

An original member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet, Farallon Brass Ensemble, and Sierra Brass Quintet, he has been on faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute EBQ Seminar and the Farallon Brass Ensemble Brass Camp at the Crowden Music School in Berkeley. Currently, he's on the faculty of California State University in Sacramento.

Locally, he has performed with the Mendocino Music Festival and wowed over 1,000 local children as "Tubby the Tuba" at the Symphony of the Redwoods' annual Children's Concert.

Don Ehrlich – violist

Mr. Ehrlich received a bachelor’s of music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, a master of music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Michigan.

Presently Assistant Principal Violist with the San Francisco Symphony, he also serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He performs frequently as a soloist and chamber player.

The viola Mr. Ehrlich plays is an ergonomically corrected instrument designed and built by David Rivinus of Portland, Oregon.

Richard Goodman – singer and pianist

Mr. Goodman studied voice at the Royal College of Music in London and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has performed some 70 opera roles with various companies including Berkeley Opera and Opera da Camera (both of which he founded), Novato Lyric Opera, Pocket Opera, West Bay Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Golden West Opera, Cinnabar Opera, Opera Fresca, Gloriana Opera, and the Mendocino Music Festival.

Mr. Goodman's repertoire includes Don Pasquale (which he sang with Opera Fresca in April 2002), Dulcamara, Rocco, Figaro, Bartolo, Leporello, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso, Don Magnifico, Lescaut, Ford, Falstaff, Sharpless, Michele, Fasolt, Wotan, and Rigoletto as well as many principal roles in less familiar operas including "The Immortal Hour," "Vanessa," "Albert Herring," "The Secret Marriage," "The Tender Land," "Of Mice and Men," "Martha," "Zar und Zimmerman," "Wildschutz," and "The Desert Song." As a solo recitalist, his first love is the art song literature of England.

Steve Gray – pianist

Mr. Gray has performed with Opera Fresca, Fort Bragg Center for the Arts, Footlighters, the Mendocino Art Center, and Mendocino school choruses and musicals. While in high school, he studied piano during the summers with Elizabeth Collins, and minored in piano at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. During the Vietnam War he played in the United States Steel Band, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and traveled throughout the U.S. and Central America for public relations and recruitment purposes. He retired after teaching thirty-two years at Dana Gray School in Fort Bragg.

Aileen James – pianist

Ms. James began her formal training at age five. She obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Pacific Union College and a doctorate of musical arts in performance from Stanford. She has undertaken further studies at USC, the Schubert Institute in Austria, and the Royamount Music Festival in France. She's an acclaimed performer as soloist, duo-pianist, chamber musician, and accompanist.

She has been a private teacher for many years and has served on the faculty of Pacific Union College, Stanford University, and Santa Clara University. From 1986 to 1997 she was artistic director of the American Pianists Association in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, Ms. James resides in Grass Valley, California. She continues her performing and private teaching and is currently the vice president of the TCCA Board of Directors.

Marion James – pianist

Ms. James is a pianist. She holds degrees in music from Douglas College, Rutgers University, and New York University. She's Professor Emerita of New Jersey City University, where she taught a variety of music courses for 28 years.

Since moving to the Mendocino coast in 1992, Ms. James has performed in the Mendocino Music Festival, the Symphony of the Redwoods, the Fort Bragg Center for the Arts Music Series, the Opus Chamber Music Series, and Opera Fresca. Currently, she's piano accompanist of the College of the Redwoods Choir and the South Coast Community Chorus.

Ted Kidwell – trombonist

Mr. Kidwell graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a degree in trombone performance. For 16 years, he performed as a freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay Area with Vallejo Symphony, Berkeley Opera, Marin Civic Light Opera, and the Mountain Play. Ted managed and promoted the Bel Canto Brass, which toured for several years with Columbia Artists Community Concerts.

Locally, he has performed classical music with the Ukiah Symphony, Opera Fresca, and Symphony of the Redwoods, salsa with Mambo This! and Pura Vida, and jazz with Swing Express. He served as music director for Gloriana Opera Company's production of "Funny Girl." Mr. Kidwell and his wife, Eva, own and operate the Weller House Inn and live in Fort Bragg with their two children.

Jason Kirkman – pianist

Dr. Kirkman began piano lessons at age 7 and studied for 10 years with the late Mary Elizabeth Lehigh in San Gabriel, California. He was a music minor while pursuing premedical studies at the University of California, Davis. After completing his medical training, Dr. Kirkman moved to Fort Bragg in 1983 and later resumed classical piano study with Carolyn Steinbuck. He has performed regularly in chamber music recitals on the Mendocino coast since 1990 and has played with the Mendocino Children’s Choir, the Symphony of the Redwoods, and in the Mendocino Music Festival.

John Koningsmark – violinist

Mr. Koningsmark began studying the violin at the age of five and has pursued the instrument with exuberance to this day. His professional career of 40 years is one of great diversity, having performed as soloist on either violin or viola, in orchestras, in chamber music, and throughout the USA and abroad.

In 1969, while pursing his Doctor of Music degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Koningsmark was drafted, and consequently won the position of violist with the West Point String Quartet. While in New York, he was able to study with the eminent Oscar Shumsky at The Juilliard School. His ensemble training continued with such distinguished musicians as Berl Senofsky, Adolph Baller, Gabor Rejto, Ferenc Molinar, and Emanuel Bay.

Chamber music is his most cherished endeavor, having started playing in a piano trio at the age of twelve. Residing in Healdsburg since 2001, Mr. Koningsmark has created Classical Touch Music, a violin-harpsichord duo, and established the Healdsburg Society for Music and the Arts (HSMA). HSMA includes a music conservatory that provides a school for music education and a performance platform for local musicians and students alike.

Elaine Miksak – soprano

Ms. Miksak has sung with the Oakland Opera, Lamplighters, Marin Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Chorus.

Since moving to Mendocino, she has performed oratorio, cabaret, opera, art songs, motets, and masses. Ms. Miksak is a founding member of Opera Fresca and performed the role of Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan tutte" ("Women Are Like That"), Rosalinda in "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat"), and Countess in "Le nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro"). Ms. Miksak counts among her teachers Nancy Middleton and James Schwabacher.

Matthew Miksak – singer

Mr. Miksak graduated with a major in vocal studies from San Francisco State University and continued his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and in Germany. He has performed with the San Francisco Opera Chorus, West Bay Opera, Marin Opera, the Lamplighters, and Oakland Opera.

In the Mendocino Music Festival, he appeared as Colline in Puccini's "La Boheme," the Commendatore in Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Sparafucile in Verdi's "Rigoletto," Don Bartolo in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," Angelotti in Puccini's "Tosca," Sarastro in Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Don Magnifico in Rossini's "La Cenerentola," and Uberto in Pergolesi's "La Serva Padrona."

With Opera Fresca, he has performed as Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," Frank in Strauss's "Die Fledermaus," Figaro in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro," and Falstaff in Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor."

Mr. Miksak owns and operates Mendocino Market with his wife, singer Elaine Miksak, yet still finds time to concertize in the Northern California region.

Doug Morton – trumpetist

Mr. Morton received his bachelor's degree in trumpet with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the New England Conservatory, studying with Armando Ghitala, Gunther Schuller, and Daniel Pinkham. He founded and directed the Scholarship Brass Quintet.

Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, Morton has performed with the Sacramento, Berkeley, Monterey, and California symphonies and has been featured as soloist with the Santa Rosa, Monterey, Bay Area Concerto, and Concord Pavilion orchestras. He has been principal trumpetist in the Santa Rosa Symphony since 1992.

Mr. Morton performs with such diverse groups as the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, CARMA, Mental Floss, The Grateful Dudes, the Clubfoot Orchestra, SF Mime Troupe, Beach Blanket Babylon, and the Bohemian Club Jinks Band. As composer and arranger, he has been commissioned by and his works have been performed by the California Shakespeare Festival, ACT, SF Chamber Singers, Napa Valley Chorale, Santa Rosa Chamber Players, and KQED. Currently, he performs with Orient Express, a world music group, CJQ, a cross-over jazz combo, and the Epiphoné Brass ensemble.

Jon Oldfather – French horn-player

A native of San Anselmo, Mr. Oldfather has been playing professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1983. A founding member of Bel Canto Brass, he has performed with the Rohnert Park Symphony, Vallejo Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and various other groups throughout the Bay Area. He's currently a member of the Quorum Ventorum Woodwind Quintet.

Locally, he has performed with the Ukiah symphony and Opera Fresca and is a member of the Symphony of the Redwoods. Mr. Oldfather combines his musical pursuits with a career in real estate and construction.

Emeline Oliphant – pianist

Ms. Oliphant, a junior at Fort Bragg High School, has been playing piano since age 6 and currently studies with Paula Butler. She has participated in the California Association of Music Teachers (CAPMT) auditions for many years, consistently receiving superior ratings. CAPMT sponsors an honor's program which Emeline won in the Northern California Districts level B at age 13. She's now preparing for level C, a tough competition with only one winner.

Abigail Rowland – singer

Ms. Rowland, a native of Fort Bragg, began singing in local choirs at age 8. She was accepted to numerous regional, state, and national honor choirs while in high school, and made her opera debut as a spirit in the Mendocino Music Festival’s 1999 production of "The Magic Flute." Shortly thereafter she sang a principal role in "The Ruined Maid" for a previous incarnation of the Mendocino Chamber Opera.

In 2005 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with professor Ruby Pleasure. For Mendocino Chamber Opera, she has performed the title role from "The Ballad of Baby Doe" and Semour Barab's "The Ruined Maid."

Vincent Russo – singer

Mr. Russo started his career as an actor and dancer performing with summer stock touring companies. He made his operatic debut in the role of Papageno in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" with the Los Angeles Opera Guild. Since then he has performed operatic roles professionally with opera companies in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Santa Fe and has given voice recitals in the U.S. and Europe.

While with the San Diego Opera, he performed the role of Cascada in the televised PBS broadcast of "The Merry Widow" with Beverly Sills.

Mr. Russo has a master of arts degree in voice from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D in Music from the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) as well as a License de Concert from the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, France. He's a professor of voice and vocal pedagogy.

In Mendocino, he has served as vocal director for Gloriana Opera and Opera Fresca as well as choral director for the Mendocino Music Festival. His roles with the Mendocino Music Festival and Opera Fresca include Zuniga in "Carmen," Don Basilio in "The Barber of Seville," Alaidoro in "La Cenerentola," the Sacristan in "Tosca," Papageno in "The Magic Flute," the Baron in "La Traviata," Don Alfonso in "Cosi fan tutte," Dr. Falke in "Die Fledermaus," the Count in "The Marriage of Figaro," Mr. Ford in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," and Sharpless in "Madama Butterfly."

In April 2002 Mr. Russo performed the role of Dr. Malatesta in Opera Fresca's production of "Don Pasquale."

Irina Samarina – violinist

Ms. Samarina was born in Nijny Novgorod, Russia. She toured Russia as a soloist, served as concertmaster for several orchestras, and worked in such ensembles as the Moscow State Chamber Orchestra and the International Symphony Orchestra in Israel.

She taught at the Kyrgyz National Conservatory and the Republic Music School. As first violinist of the Semetei Quartet, she has performed at Carnegie Hall as well as at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF).

Burke Schuchmann – cellist

Mr. Schuchmann studied in London with William Pleeth for five years, making his debut at age 19. He also studied for extended periods of time with Margaret Rowell and Colin Hampton. After finishing his studies in England, he became principal cellist and soloist with the Salzburger Solisten in Austria.

He has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and the U.S. Mr. Schuchmann has served as principal cellist and soloist with the Sacramento Symphony and the Mendocino Music Festival. A gifted teacher known for the depth of his musical interpretation, he's greatly sought after as a chamber music coach.

Mr. Schuchmann is the artistic director of the Palomarin Chamber Music Foundation and conducts the Berkeley and Marin Chamber Music Workshops as well as a chamber music workshop near Siena, Italy. He has recently inaugurated an all-cello workshop, "Cello Heaven," in Mendocino. Mr. Schuchmann has taught on the faculties of California State University in Chico (CSUC) and at the University of California in Berkeley (UCB) and is currently on the staff of San Domenico School's Conservatory of Music.

Andrea Silverstein – cellist

Ms. Silverstein is a newcomer to northern California but a lifelong cello music lover. She has studied with Marcia Sloane since September 2000 and plays in the Ukiah Symphony. Ms. Silverstein feels fortunate to share in "Cello Heaven" with so many fine cellists – her favorite thing to do!

Carolyn Steinbuck – pianist

Ms. Steinbuck has been active in the musical life of the community as a pianist, conductor, and teacher for almost 30 years. With a bachelor of arts degree from Douglass College in New Jersey and a master degree in music from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she continued her piano studies with Karl Ulrich Schnabel for more than 20 years.

Ms. Steinbuck performs regularly as a soloist and chamber player, teaches music classes at College of the Redwoods, directs the College of the Redwoods Choir and the Highway 1 Jazz Choir, and appears regularly as a guest conductor with the Symphony of the Redwoods. She also teaches privately at her home in Elk, California.

Iris Stone – violinist

Ms. Stone grew up in Germany, where she was a member of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and had the opportunity to tour Europe, Asia, and America.

She now resides in San Francisco and has been assistant concertmaster of San Francisco's Women's Philharmonic and principal of the Monterey Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Stone currently performs with the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

Abigail Summers – cellist

Ms. Summers was born in England, where she studied cello and piano at the Royal College of Music. She has lived in northern California for the past 17 years, raising a family in the mountains outside Willits with her artist husband, Marco Donner.

She's responsible for the string program at the Waldorf School of Mendocino County. She also directs the Inland Youth String Ensemble and is cello coach for the Redwood Youth Orchestra on the Mendocino coast.

A recent graduate of Yoga Mendocino, Ms. Summers hopes that the calming yogic effect will help her in "Cello Heaven"'s harder passages.

Warren Van Bronkhorst – violinist

Mr. Van Bronkhorst studied at San Jose State University and the Eastman School of Music. His teachers included Ralph van Courtright, William Laraia, Gibson Walters, Andre de Ribaupierre, and Millard Taylor. He studied chamber music with the Griller Quartet and Gabor Rejto. He has appeared as a soloist with symphony orchestras in Rochester, Honolulu, San Jose, Monterey, Sacramento, and Stockton.

Mr. Van Bronkhorst served as professor of violin and director of the symphony orchestra at the UOP Conservatory of Music for 24 years and as concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony for 19 years. Prior to that he held faculty positions at the University of Hawaii, California State University in Chico (CSUC), and Southern Illinois University. As performer, he served as concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony, first violinist of the Rochester Philharmonic, and first violinist of both the Illinois and Sierra String Quartets.

Susan Waterfall – pianist

Ms. Waterfall received her early education at the University of Michigan and Chicago Musical College. She studied with Ivan Moravec in Chicago and Prague and subsequently with Karl Ulrich Schnabel. Enriching her understanding of music in culture, she lived several years in Madras, studying and performing South Indian classical music with the prestigious Dhanammal family.

Ms. Waterfall has presented numerous lecture recitals on Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant Jesus." She created multimedia-scripted settings for chamber music including "Voyage a Paris" (2001), "Argentina: Gauchos and Tangos" (2002), "Bartok's Women" (2003), and "Adventures in a Parisian Salon" (2004), chronicling the fascinating life and time of Winnaretta Singer, the Princesse de Polignac.

Eva-Maria Zimmermann – pianist

Ms. Zimmermann is a native of Switzerland, where she performed in numerous solo recitals and concerto performances with major orchestras.

Since moving to San Francisco, she has continued her European performances and has managed to find time for chamber music performances, lieder recitals, and teaching. Ms. Zimmermann has been a faculty member at the University of San Francisco and now teaches at the Nueva School, which was founded by Yehudi Menuhin.

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