Nadya Tichman joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1980. She served as Associate Concertmaster through July 2022, holding the San Francisco Symphony Foundation Chair, and as acting concertmaster from 1998–2001. She was a founding member of the Donatello Quartet and co-director of Chamber Music Sundaes. She has served on the faculty of California State University, Sacramento, and plays a 1724 Stradivarius violin purchased by the SF Symphony for her exclusive use. She studied at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.

(11/2022)

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)

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.

POLINA SEDUKH, a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia, joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2007. She was previously a member of the Boston Symphony and made her solo debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Liepaya in Latvia at age of seven, followed by recital tours in US, Germany, and Austria.

Raushan Akhmedyarova is a native of Kazakhstan and comes from a family of musicians. She won first prize at the National Violin Competi- tion of Kazakhstan, the International Competition of Asia in Tashkent, the UNISA International Competition in Pretoria, and the Geneva International Competition. She graduated from the Kazakh State Conservatory and studied privately at the Moscow Conservatory, and in 1994 she received a full scholarship to study at Southern Methodist University. Ms. Akhmedyarova was previously associate concertmaster of the New Century Chamber Orchestra and on the faculty of the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. She joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2006. For more about Raushan Akhmedyarova, visit sfsymphony.org/raushanakhmedyarova.

 

Katie Kadarauch joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2007 as Assistant Principal Viola. A native of the Bay Area, she was principal viola of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra and earned a bachelor’s degree and graduate diploma from the New England Conservatory. She also studied at the Colburn School, during which time she performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded film scores. She plays on a Peter Rombouts viola ca.1720, on loan from the SF Symphony.

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.

Robin McKee is Associate Principal Flute of the San Francisco Symphony, occupying the Catherine & Russell Clark Chair. A native of Tulsa, OK, she began her music studies on piano before switching to flute. She later studied with Robert Willoughby at the Oberlin Conservatory. Before joining the SFS in 1984, she played piccolo in the Richmond (Virginia) Symphony and served as assistant principal flute of the Baltimore Symphony. For more on Robin McKee, turn to page 14 of this Playbill or visit sfsymphony.org/robinmckee.

Robert Ward joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Horn in 1980 after holding positions in the Atlantic Symphony of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Denver Symphony. As a composer and arranger, his works have been performed on the San Francisco Symphony chamber music series and by Bay Brass. A graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory and a Tanglewood Music Center fellow, he now serves on the faculty of 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)

Bruce Roberts joined the SFS in 1988 and currently serves as Assistant Principal Horn. He studied with George Cable of the San Diego Symphony, with Fred Fox and Lawrence Christianson at California State University Northridge, and with Ralph Pyle at the California Institute of the Arts. He was a founding member of La Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México was previously a member of the Utah Symphony. Mr. Roberts teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, appears regularly at the Grand Teton Music Festival, and has also performed as a soundtrack recording artist.

(November 2019)