Katarzyna Bryla joined the San Francisco Symphony viola section beginning with the 2022–23 season. She was born into a family of musicians and has earned more than two dozen prizes and awards in the US, France, and her native Poland. In 2019 she became a co-principal violist of Orchestra of St. Luke’s and a member of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. She has also been a member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the New York Pops. She has performed at Classical Tahoe, Napa Valley Music Festival, and Music@Menlo.

(11/2022)

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.

Jessie Fellows is Assistant Principal Second Violin with the San Francisco Symphony. Prior to her appointment, she performed frequently with the Saint Louis Symphony and New York Philharmonic. Born into a musical family, she began her studies at the age of three under the direction of her mother in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Daniel G. Smith was appointed Associate Principal Bass of the San Francisco Symphony in 2017. He previously served as principal bass of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and he was a member of the San Diego Symphony. He has served as guest principal and associate principal bass with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and guest principal of the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, MN. Mr. Smith received his Bachelor of Music from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music under the tutelage of Timothy Pitts.

Matthew Griffith joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet at the beginning of the 2022–23 season. He previously served as acting assistant principal clarinet with the North Carolina Symphony and the Nashville Symphony and was a member of TŌN (The Orchestra Now), a graduate-level training orchestra based at Bard College.

Mr. Griffith has performed as guest soloist with the Boston Pops, Milwaukee Symphony, Ocean City Pops, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, United States Army Field Band, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. In 2014 Yale University published The Algorithm of Jazz, a video following his experience performing Artie Shaw’s concerto with the Yale Symphony Orchestra.

After graduating from Yale University with distinction in both majors of music and computer science, Mr. Griffith earned graduate degrees in clarinet performance at the New England Conservatory. He was a Tanglewood Music Center fellow, where he was awarded the Gino B. Cioffi Memorial Prize and returned as a New Fromm Player. His teachers included Michael Wayne, David Shifrin, Todd Levy, and Jill Hanes. He grew up in Sheboygan, WI, and enjoys writing computer code and designing videogames.

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.

Jesse Clevenger is currently Acting Assistant Principal Horn with the San Francisco Symphony and has been assistant principal with the Houston Symphony and Sun Valley Music Festival. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Toledo Symphony.

Leonid Plashinov-Johnson joined the San Francisco Symphony viola section at the beginning of this season. Previously a member of the St. Louis Symphony, he is a laureate of multiple competitions, most recently the Primrose International Viola Competition, and has participated in the Yellow Barn, Ravinia, and AIMS festivals. Born in Russia, he graduated from New England Conservatory, where he won the concerto competition.


(11/2022)

Anne Richardson joins the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Cello at the beginning of the 2024–25 season. She was most recently an academy fellow with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and has performed with the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Pittsburgh Symphony. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Louisville Orchestra, Massapequa Philharmonic, Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and Juilliard Orchestra, and has been featured by Lincoln Center’s Great Performance Circle, Juilliard in Aiken Festival, and Vail International Dance Festival. She has also performed extensively as a chamber musician at the Nymphenburger Sommer in Munich, Tegernsee International Music Festival, Wasserburg Rathauskonzerte Series, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, United Nations Chamber Music Society, and with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Richardson completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Juilliard School as a student of Richard Aaron, and earned a doctor of musical arts at the University of Michigan. She was named the Kentucky Center’s Gheens Artist in Residence in 2019 and was a guest faculty member and artist in residence at the 2018 Tennessee Cello Workshop.

Blair Francis Paponiu joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Flute, holding the Catherine & Russell Clark Chair, at the beginning of the 2023–24 season. She previously held the Susan and Tom Brown Chair as assistant principal and second flute with the Naples Philharmonic in Florida, and performed with the New York Philharmonic as acting section flute for two seasons. She has also been a member of the Austin Symphony and has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Oregon Symphony.

The recipient of numerous awards, Mrs. Francis Paponiu won second prize in the 2020 National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition. She has been an instrumental fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, and Brevard Music Center.

She received a professional studies certificate in orchestral performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a master of music from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor of music from the University of South Carolina, where she graduated summa cum laude and received the Presser Scholar Award. Her teachers include Robert Langevin, Marianne Gedigian, Jennifer Parker-Harley, and Cynthia Hopkins.

Katherine Siochi joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Harp beginning in the 2023–24 season. She was previously principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest with the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic. She was the gold medalist of the 2016 USA International Harp Competition.

As a soloist, Ms. Siochi has performed in China, Hong Kong, Israel, and at Lyon & Healy Hall in Chicago. She has served as a concert artist for the American Harp Society, presenting solo concerts and masterclasses across the United States. Recently she also served as artist-faculty at Aspen Music Festival and School, teaching and performing with the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Ms. Siochi earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School as a student of Nancy Allen, and also studied piano as a secondary instrument. In 2021 she released her debut album, Nocturne, on Lyon & Healy Records.

Jonathan Vinocour joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Viola in 2009 and was previously principal viola of the St. Louis Symphony and guest principal of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chicago Symphony. He has frequently soloed with the SF Symphony and has also played concertos with the St. Louis Symphony, La Jolla Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and New World Symphony. With NWS, he is also a frequent coach and was a featured artist at their Viola Visions Festival alongside Tabea Zimmerman, Kim Kashkashian, Roberto Diaz, and Cynthia Phelps.
 
As a chamber musician, Mr. Vinocour is a regular guest of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Marlboro Music Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Salt Bay Chamberfest, and ChamberFest Cleveland. His chamber music partners have included Yefim Bronfman, Yo-Yo Ma, Augustin Hadelich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Igor Levit, and James Ehnes, among others. He also performs frequently on the SF Symphony Chamber Music Series and as a recitalist around the country.  
 
Mr. Vinocour graduated from Princeton University with a degree in chemistry and from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Kim Kashkashian. An active and dedicated teacher, he serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as the Aspen Music Festival and School. He plays on a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni viola on loan from the SF Symphony.
 
(1/2024)