Mark Inouye joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Trumpet in 1999 and holds the William G. Irwin Charity Foundation Chair. He previously held principal trumpet positions with the Houston Symphony and Charleston Symphony and performed with the New York Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic. He has toured the United States with Toccatas and Flourishes, the nationally acclaimed organ and trumpet duo, and was a member of the Empire Brass Quintet.

With the San Francisco Symphony, Mr. Inouye has been a featured soloist in Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, J.S. Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor with Jean-Yves Thibaudet. In 2015, he was soloist and leader for a summer program of jazz and classical favorites. He has also made solo appearances with the New World Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Tanglewood Wind Ensemble. As a composer, his works Tribute to Beaky, Find the Cheese, and The Bull Behind the Horns–A Jazz Suite, have all been performed on the SF Symphony chamber music series.

Equally at home in classical music and jazz, Mr. Inouye was a founding member of the Juilliard Jazz Sextet at Lincoln Center and a guest performer at the Hollywood Bowl in the Playboy Jazz Festival. He appeared as soloist in Wynton Marsalis’s video Marsalis on Music, on a Disney Channel production featuring The Who at Carnegie Hall, and released his own debut jazz album, The Trumpet & The Bull.

Mr. Inouye graduated from the Juilliard School, where he transferred after two years as a civil engineering major at University of California, Davis

Jacob Nissly joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Percussion in 2013. Previously, he was principal percussion of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony. He also spent two years as a fellow in the New World Symphony.

Nissly is chair of the Percussion Department and professor of percussion at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is also a regular coach at the New World Symphony. He previously taught at the Eastman School of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music. He has served as a percussion coach for the Aspen Music Festival since 2019, National Youth Orchestra-USA, Verbier Festival, and others.

Nissly can be heard on recordings with the San Francisco Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. He also played drum set on the St. Louis Symphony's Grammy award-winning recording of John Adams's City Noir.
In 2019, Nissly premiered Adam Schoenberg’s percussion concerto Losing Earth with the San Francisco Symphony. He has performed the piece with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Omaha Symphony and will perform it with the Nuremberg Symphony in 2026.

Nissly holds a Bachelor of Music and Jazz Studies degree from Northwestern University and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. He endorses Vic Firth drumsticks, Zildjian cymbals, Kolberg percussion, and Remo drumheads.

For more on Jacob Nissly, visit sfsymphony.org/jacobnissly.

Eliot Lev holds the Isaac Stern chair of the violin section with the San Francisco Symphony. Prior to joining the orchestra, he performed with the Utah Symphony as a member of the first violin section and acting assistant concertmaster, and with the Charlotte Symphony as a tenured associate concertmaster. Mr. Lev is an active solo and chamber musician and has recently appeared with the San Francisco Civic Symphony, Davies Chamber Series, Chamber Music Sundaes, and Ensemble SF. He is a regular guest coach with SF Academy Orchestra and has recently started a private studio. Mr. Lev is an active volunteer with Musicians on Call, a non-profit organization bringing live music to thousands of hospital patients throughout the country. An alumnus of Roosevelt University where he studied with Vadim Gluzman, Mr. Lev went on to join the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, where he was also featured as a soloist. He plays on a 1710 Mezzadri violin and an Ouchard bow generously purchased for him in part by the Carey family from Boston, MA. Mr. Lev is proud to be the first openly transgender musician in a major American orchestra. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Stephanie MacAller, and their rescue dog and two cats. For more on Eliot Lev, visit sfsymphony.org/eliotlev. 

(September 2018)

Barbara Bogatin joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1994. Previously she was principal cello with the Milwaukee and New Jersey symphonies and played as a substitute with the New York Philharmonic for ten years. She studied cello in the preparatory division of the San Francisco Conservatory, and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. Along with her neuroscientist husband, she has led workshops on meditation and music practice at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, the Esalen Institute, Stanford University, and in Italy and South Africa. She is a proud parent of two University of California graduates.

David Neuman, who has been a clarinetist with the SFS since 1986, received a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute. Before joining the SFS, he served as principal clarinet of the Korean Broadcast Symphony, and as assistant principal and E-flat clarinet with the Cincinnati Symphony. He served for nearly twenty seasons as principal clarinet of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho. A former coach for the SFS Youth Orchestra, he is owner of VuPorts, an international reseller of videoconferencing equipment.

(September 2018)

Jerome Simas joined the San Francisco Symphony as bass clarinet in 2012. Prior to that, he was principal clarinet with the California Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and IRIS Orchestra. He has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, and Naples (Florida) Philharmonic.
 
Mr. Simas is a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and performs with the Sierra Chamber Society and on the SF Symphony chamber music series. He won grand prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, first prize at the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, and first prize at the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition, and participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and Tanglewood Music Center. Previously a fellow at the New World Symphony, he is featured in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto on the New World Symphony’s RCA Victor Red Seal recording New World Jazz with Michael Tilson Thomas.
 
A dedicated music educator, Mr. Simas is professor of clarinet and chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is a coach with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet Franklin Cohen.

Steven Dibner served as Associate Principal Bassoon of the San Francisco Symphony from 1983 until his retirement from the Orchestra at the end of last season. He previously played with the New Jersey Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and has performed at the Aspen and Marlboro festivals. He studied at Indiana University and the Juilliard School.

Jessica Valeri joined the San Francisco Symphony horn section in 2008. Prior to her appointment, she was a member of the St. Louis Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, and Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. She has also performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, and Mainly Mozart.

A native of Minnesota, Ms. Valeri holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University, and she currently serves on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Yun Chu joined the SFS violin section in 2002. He received his early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and served as concertmaster on two concert tours with the Asian Youth Orchestra under Sergiu Commissiona, where he also performed as soloist with Yo-Yo Ma. While a student at the University of Southern California (where he received the Jascha Heifetz scholarship), he was selected to participate in the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, and was subsequently appointed concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra. Learn more about Yun Chu at sfsymphony.org/yunchu.

(September 2018)

Amy Hiraga studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Juilliard School. She has been a member of the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Hiraga spent one year as a member of the SFS before returning to the East Coast with her husband, SFS Associate Principal Cello Peter Wyrick. She worked as a freelance musician in New York and joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1991, then rejoined the SFS when she and Mr. Wyrick returned to San Francisco in 1999.

(September 2019)

Nanci Severance has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony since 1982. Before joining the Orchestra she attended Oberlin College, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and Northern Illinois University and her primary teachers were Denes Koromzay and Bernard Zaslav. Ms. Severance has appeared with and been a member of many Bay Area ensembles, including the Donatello Quartet, San Francisco Contemporary Music Ensemble, PARLANTE Chamber Orchestra, and the Stanford String Quartet. She has participated in such summer festivals as the Grand Teton Music Festival, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, and the Eastern Music Festival.

(September 2018)

Matthew Young joined the SFS viola section in 2012. He was a founding member of the Verklärte Quartet, which won grand prize in the 2003 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He currently performs as a member of Ensemble San Francisco. Winner of a 2007 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians and the Robert Vernon Prize for Viola Performance, he attended the University of Kentucky, Yale School of Music, and Cleveland Institute of Music. 

(November 2019)

Peter Wyrick was a member of the San Francisco Symphony cello section from 1986–89, rejoined the Symphony as Associate Principal Cello from 1999–2023, and retired from the Orchestra at the end of last season. He was previously principal cello of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra and associate principal cello of the New York City Opera. He has appeared as soloist with the SF Symphony in works including C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major, Bernstein’s Meditation No. 1 from Mass, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major, and music rom Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Concerto.

In chamber music, Wyrick has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Jeremy Denk, Julia Fischer, and Edgar Meyer, among others. As a member of the Ridge String Quartet, Wyrick recorded Dvořák’s piano quintets with pianist Rudolf Firkušný on an RCA recording that received the Diapason d’Or and a Grammy nomination. He has also recorded Fauré’s cello sonatas with pianist Earl Wild for dell’Arte records. Born in New York to a musical family, he began studies at the Juilliard School at age eight and made his solo debut at age 12.

Amos Yang joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2007 as Assistant Principal Cello and holds the Karel & Lida Urbanek chair. He was previously a member of the Seattle Symphony and a member of the Maia String Quartet. 

Born and raised in San Francisco, he was a member of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra and San Francisco Boys Choir. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and now serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.

Catherine Payne joined the San Francisco Symphony as piccolo player in 1996. She previously performed with the Boston Symphony as acting second flute and served as principal flute of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and associate principal flute and piccolo player with the Portland Symphony. A native of Hartford, Connecticut, Ms. Payne graduated from New England Conservatory and Tufts University. She is currently a flute coach for the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra.

James Button was appointed Associate Principal Oboe of the San Francisco Symphony in September 2017. A native of Australia, he made his solo debut with the Melbourne Symphony at the age of 17. He later attended Temple University and the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Jonathan Blumenfeld and Eugene Izotov respectively. He has also studied with John Mack, John de Lancie, and Joseph Turner. Mr. Button was previously a member of the Nashville Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, New World Symphony, and has appeared as guest principal with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony. He has performed at the Verbier, Edinburgh, and Tanglewood festivals, as well as Italy’s Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. His live recording of Jennifer Higdon's Oboe Concerto with the Nashville Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2018.