Violinist Stephen Tavani is Assistant Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra and has appeared as guest concertmaster with many other orchestras including the Indianapolis, Houston, and Kansas City Symphonies. The New York Times wrote of his playing that “…Tavani sometimes cooled his tone to the smoothness of frosted glass, adding a soft-focus filter to the chiseled melodies…” He has collaborated as soloist with conductors Carlos Miguel Prieto, Andrew Litton, and Miriam Burns. Before joining The Cleveland Orchestra in 2018, he was concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia for one season.

Kathleen Collins joined the second violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1995, the same year she earned a master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Collins holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Paul Biss, James Buswell,  Bernhard Goldschmidt, and Rosemary Maloscay. Before joining The Cleveland Orchestra, Ms. Collins was a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ms. Collins attended Interlochen Arts Academy, where she won the Young Artist Award.Ms. Collins enjoys participating in the Learning Through Music education programs of The Cleveland Orchestra.  Raised in a musical family, with a mother who was a violin teacher, she is married to Jonathan Fields, a former professional trumpet player. The couple’s children — Maya, Daniel, and Matthew — play the piano, violin, cello, and flute.

Stanley Konopka joined The Cleveland Orchestra in 1991 and has been assistant principal viola since 1993. He previously served as principal violist and soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra and was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Konopka won several notable awards at the Interlochen Arts Academy before attending the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) as a student of Cleveland Orchestra Principal Viola Robert Vernon. Currently a faculty member at CIM, Mr. Konopka has taught at the Encore School for Strings and has performed at the chamber music festivals of Banff, Taos and Pensacola.

Mark Jackobs joined The Cleveland Orchestra in 1993, after serving as a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
A faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mr. Jackobs previously taught at the Encore School for Strings. He has been an adjunct faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  Mark Jackobs is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and an artist diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers include Heidi Castleman, Rosemary Malocsay, William Preucil, Sr., and Robert Vernon.
 

Alan Harrell has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1995. He attended the University of Alabama and the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was awarded the 1994 Cello Prize. A winner of numerous competitions, Mr. Harrell was given the Alabama Society for the Fine Arts Emerging Artist Award in 1998. He is currently on the faculty at Cleveland
State University and several summer music festivals. Mr. Harrell has been a Cleveland Orchestra “Learning Through Music” artist for the past ten years in Cleveland and Miami schools and has given masterclasses throughout the country.

Mark Atherton has been with The Cleveland Orchestra since 1983.  A graduate of the Boston University School of Music, he has been a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He has also played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Atherton studied with David Cobb and Henry Portnoi, former principal bassist of the Boston Symphony. He is currently on the faculty of Kent State University. In addition to teaching double bass privately, Mr. Atherton regularly visits Cleveland-area elementary schools as a teaching artist with the Cleveland Orchestra’s “Learning Through Music” school partnership program.

Frank Rosenwein joined The Cleveland Orchestra as principal oboe in 2005. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Rosenwein served as principal oboe of the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera. He also has served as guest principal oboe with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Born in Evanston, Illinois, Mr. Rosenwein holds a bachelor of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with former Cleveland Orchestra Principal Oboe John Mack, and a master of music degree from the Juilliard School.  An avid chamber musician, Mr. Rosenwein has spent two summers at the Marlboro Festival and has performed with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

Jessica Sindell joined The Cleveland Orchestra in October 2018.  Prior to winning this audition, she was the solo piccolo player of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.  After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, she won her very first orchestral audition at the age of 22 to be principal flute of the Oregon Symphony.  Ms. Sindell has been performing with the Lake Tahoe Music Festival orchestra since 2012, and also acted as principal with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego as well as the Colorado Music Festival. She has also performed and recorded at the new Tippet Rise Arts Center.  A Cleveland native, Jessica Sindel was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (2005-2007) and is a high school graduate of Western Reserve Academy.

Robert Woolfrey joined the clarinet section of The Cleveland Orchestra in November 2008. Prior to his appointment, he was the principal clarinet of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (2007-2008) as well as a member of the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician Mr. Woolfrey has collaborated with Michael Tilson Thomas, Dawn Upshaw, and musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra. In recent summers, he has participated in a variety of music festivals, including Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Woolfrey studied with Joaquin Valdepeñas and at Yale University with David Shifrin, where he received a master’s degree in music. Mr. Woolfrey is also an alumnus of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.

Jeffrey Rathbun joined The Cleveland Orchestra as assistant principal oboe in 1990. From 2001 to 2003, he served as principal oboe. Prior to joining the Orchestra, he served in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (1988 to 1990), San Francisco Symphony (1986 to 1988), Oakland Symphony (1984 to 1986), and Honolulu Symphony (1983 to 1984). Born in Lockwood, Missouri and raised in Texas, Jeffrey Rathbun began studying oboe in the fifth grade. He earned a bachelor of music degree from the University of North Texas, where he studied with Charles Veazey. He received a master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with John Mack. Mr. Rathbun is a faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, and Kent/Blossom Music. He won first prize in the 1988 Lucarelli International Competition for Solo Oboe Players, held at Carnegie Hall.

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Hans Clebsch joined The Cleveland Orchestra as third horn player, appointed by Christoph von Dohnanyi, in 1996.  Mr. Clebsch previously was acting associate principal horn of the Houston Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach.  He is a former member of the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the Seville Symphony Orchestra (Spain), and the Mexico City Philharmonic.  He has previously performed as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the State of Queretaro, Mexico.  He has given master classes in such diverse locations as the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Ching, the Istanbul Conservatory of Music in Turkey, and the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, Mexico.

Shachar Israel joined The Cleveland Orchestra as assistant principal trombone in 2008. Previously, he was the principal trombone of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the principal trombone of the Haddonfield (New Jersey) Symphony. In 2008, he won the Lewis Van Haney Philharmonic Prize Tenor Trombone Competition. He has been a guest of the Canadian Brass, with whom he has also recorded. Mr. Israel earned a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and his previous teachers include: Nitzan Haroz, Joseph Alessi, Mark Lawrence, Mitch Ross, and Micha Davis.

Trina Struble was appointed principal harp of The Cleveland Orchestra in October 2007. She joined the orchestra as assistant principal harp in 1992, after graduating from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor's degree in both harp and violin. She subsequently earned master of music degrees in harp and violin from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). At Oberlin and CIM, her harp teacher was Alice Chalifoux, former principal harp of The Cleveland Orchestra. Before joining the Orchestra, Ms. Struble toured with the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, serving as a violinist and as principal harp. She also performed as principal harp, violinist, and soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, as well as with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, and Houston Symphony. Ms. Struble currently teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Yasuhito Sugiyama began his tenure as principal tuba of The Cleveland Orchestra in January 2006. Prior to joining the Orchestra, he was a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) from 2003 to 2005. A native of Hyogo, Japan, Mr. Sugiyama is a graduate of Soai University in Osaka, where he studied with Shuzo Karakawa of the Osaka Philharmonic. He also studied with Rex Martin at Northwestern University and with Robert Tucci of the Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Philharmonic.​

Donald Miller has been a member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1972. Prior to joining the Orchestra, he was a member of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, where he also performed as a soloist. Mr. Miller received a bachelor of music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has studied with Robert Bell, Peter Kogan, Michael Rosen, and Richard Weiner. Mr. Miller has held teaching positions with the Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University, and the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts. His compositions have been published by Ludwig Music, Kalmus Music, Master Music, Henry Carl Music, and Belle Press.