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Music Director and Musicians

Music Director & Conductor

Ramona Pansegrau

Kansas City Ballet Music Director Ramona Pansegrau came to Kansas City via the Boston and Tulsa ballet companies, where she held the positions of principal pianist, solo pianist, music director, and conductor.

She has been called one of the best ballet pianists in the world. Robert Joffrey said of her ballet class, “The perfect music for every combination.” She was music director for Tulsa Ballet for nine years, and conductor of the Tulsa Symphony orchestra for ballet performances before she became the Kansas City Ballet music director in October 2006. She was principal pianist/solo pianist for 10 years at Boston Ballet and tenured keyboard for the Boston Ballet Orchestra for 15 years. Pansegrau was on the faculty at Aspen/Snowmass Dance Festival for 11 years, served on the faculty and as music director of seven International Ballet Competitions, and taught at the Boston Conservatory.

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Kansas City Symphony

First Violins

Jun Iwasaki^, Concertmaster,
Miller Nichols Chair
Stirling Trent, Acting Associate Concertmaster
Chiafei Lin, Acting Assistant Concertmaster
Sunho Kim‡, Assistant Concertmaster
Anne-Marie Brown
Michael Brown^
Betty Chen
Anthony DeMarco
Susan Goldenberg*
Tomoko Iguchi
Dorris Dai Janssen
Filip Lazovski ∆
Vladimir Rykov
Alex Shum*

Second Violins

Tamamo Someya Gibbs, Principal
Kristin Velicer, Acting Associate Principal
Minhye Helena Choi, Acting Assistant Principal
Nancy Beckmann
Autumn Chodorowski^
Mary Garcia Grant
Kazato Inouye
Rena Ishii
Lisa Jackson ∆
Stephanie Larsen
Sodam Lim^
Rachel Sandman ∆

Violas

MingYu Hsu^, Principal
Jessica Nance, Acting Associate Principal
Duke Lee, Acting Assistant Principal
Matthew Sinno‡, Associate Principal
Julius Adams ∆
Kent Brauninger
Sean Brumble
Marvin Gruenbaum
Jenifer Houck
Jesse Yukimura

Cellos

Mark Gibbs, Principal
Robert A. Kipp Chair
Susie Yang, Associate Principal  
Richard Hill Chair
Alexander East, Assistant Principal
Maria Crosby
John Eadie
Lawrence Figg
Rung Lee‡
Meredith McCook
Allen Probus

Double Basses

Jeffrey Kail, Principal
Evan Halloin, Associate Principal
Jeffrey Kail‡, Principal
Nils Aardahl^
Joseph Nuñez ∆
Caleb Quillen
Richard Ryan
Nash Tomey‡

Flutes

Michael Gordon, Principal
Marylou and John Dodds Turner Chair
Shannon Finney, Associate Principal
Kayla Burggraf Michal

Piccolo

Kayla Burggraf Michal

Oboes

Kristina Fulton, Principal
Shirley Bush Helzberg Chair
Alison Chung, Associate Principal
Matthew Lengas^

ENGLISH HORN

Matthew Lengas^

Clarinets

Raymond Santos, Principal
Bill and Peggy Lyons Chair

Silvio Guitian, Associate Principal
John Klinghammer

E-Flat Clarinet

Silvio Guitian

Bass Clarinet

John Klinghammer

Bassoons

Ann Bilderback, Principal
Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Chair
Thomas DeWitt, Associate Principal
Maxwell Pipinich

Contrabassoon

Thomas DeWitt

Horns

Alberto Suarez, Principal
Landon and Sarah Rowland Chair
David Sullivan, Associate Principal
Elizabeth Gray
David Gamble
Stephen Multer, Associate Principal Emeritus

Trumpets

Julian Kaplan, Principal
James B. and Annabel Nutter Chair
Steven Franklin, Associate Principal
George Goad^

Trombones

Roger Oyster, Principal
Porter Wyatt Henderson, Associate Principal
Jahleel Smith ∆
Adam Rainey‡

Bass Trombone

Jahleel Smith ∆
Adam Rainey‡

Tuba

Joe LeFevre, Principal
Frank Byrne Chair

Timpani

Timothy Jepson, Principal
Michael and Susan Newburger Chair

Percussion

Josh Jones, Principal
David Yoon, Associate Principal

Harp

Katherine Siochi, Principal

Librarians

Elena Lence Talley, Principal
Fabrice Curtis

Justin White, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Renee Hagelberg, Assistant Personnel Manager

* Non-Rotating Musician
^ New Member
‡ On Leave of Absence
Δ One-Year Member