The Cleveland Orchestra has announced three additions to its musician roster. GARETH THOMAS will join the orchestra on January 5, 2015, as second bassoon; ANALISÉ DENISE KUKELHAN on January 26 as a member of its first violin section; and CORBIN STAIR on May 11 as second oboe.
Gareth Thomas has been principal bassoon of the Toledo (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra since September 2010. The 2006 winner of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition, he holds a bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music—where he was awarded the George F. Goslee Prize in Bassoon—and received a master’s degree in music from Northwestern University in 2010. Thomas has appeared as soloist with both NACO and the Toledo Symphony, and has participated in Pacific and Sarasota music festivals.
Analisé Denise Kukelhan has been a member of the North Carolina Symphony’s first violin section since September 2012. She has played in Ohio’s Akron and Canton symphony orchestras; the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra; the University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute; and the Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific, and Kent/Blossom music festivals. Kukelhan holds a bachelor’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and a master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Corbin Stair, oboe, holds a bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music, where he continues to study with Richard Woodhams, principal oboe in the Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2009 to 2011 Stair served as principal oboe in Symphony of the Lakes (Winona Lake, Ind.). He has performed as substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in ensembles at Tanglewood Music Center—where he received the 2013 Mickey L. Hooten Memorial Award—and at Aspen Music Festival and School.
Posted December 5, 2014
Gareth Thomas photo courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra