Albany Symphony To Welcome 10 New Orchestra Musicians, Including New Concertmaster Christina Bouey

The Albany Symphony recently held auditions and appointed ten new talented musicians including Christina Bouey (concertmaster), Amelia Bailey (violin), Ariana Cappon (violin), Colin Laursen (violin), Eliane Menzel (violin), Alisa Wyrick (violin), Caleb Breidenbaugh (principal percussion), Lauren Henning (principal bassoon), Sarah Bobrow (second bassoon), and Daniel Ketter (principal clarinet).

"We are so excited to welcome these ten extraordinary musicians to our orchestra family," said David Alan Miller, Heinrich Medicus Music Director. "They are all absolutely brilliant artists who won highly competitive auditions. We are particularly honored and delighted to welcome Christina Bouey as our new concertmaster; she is an absolutely world-class artist, as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. We can't wait to share with you how beautiful our great orchestra sounds!"

About the Musicians

The Albany Symphony's new Concertmaster, Christina Bouey, most recently won 1st prize at the Waldo Mayo Violin Competition which resulted in her concerto debut at Carnegie Hall. Other prizes include the Grand Prize at the Vietnam International Chamber Competition, 1st Prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition in the chamber division, Grand Prize at the Fischoff Competition, 1st place in the American Prize, and 2nd prize at the Osaka International Chamber Competition. Christina graduated from Manhattan School of Music, studying with Glenn Dicterow (former New York Philharmonic concertmaster) among others, and earned her Bachelor of Music from The Boston Conservatory. As a violinist, she performs with the Ulysses String Quartet, in residence at WGBH, and is an assistant professor at Ithaca College. Christina is also a coloratura soprano and composer.

Section Violinist, Amelia Bailey moved to NYC to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed a Master of Music in 2023, studying under Sheryl Staples. A native of Virginia, she graduated from the University of Virginia in 2021 with degrees in Music Performance and Environmental Science. Amelia began violin at age 3 and studied with members of the National Symphony, as well as participated in the NSO's Youth Fellowship program growing up. She has attended festivals such as the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, Curtis Young Artist Summer Program, and others. Outside of music, Amelia enjoys plant-keeping, photography, and spending time on her family's farm.

Section Violinist, Ariana Cappon has actively performed as a recitalist and collaborator since her solo debut at age 14. She has been featured on series such as the Young Arts Showcase at Lincoln Center, Richardson Chamber Players at Princeton University, St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, Downtown at Grace in White Plains, Riverside Arts, among others. She is currently a grant recipient of Chamber Music America as a member of the Ondine String Quartet. In 2019-2020, she toured in a quintet for Holland America's "Lincoln Center Stage". She has appeared in numerous festivals, including the Maine Chamber Music Seminar as a fellow, Orford Musique, Fontainebleau Academie, and the Heifetz Institute. As a New York City based freelancer, she performs regularly with Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the North-Eastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. In addition to classical violin, she enjoys playing baroque, tango, and Afro-Cuban Charanga.

Section Violinist, Colin Laursen, originally from Durham, North Carolina, studied Violin and Composition at Cleveland Institute of Music, with William Preucil and Keith Fitch. Colin has won the Winston Salem Symphony concerto competition, Durham Symphony concerto competition, and second place in the North Carolina Symphony concerto competition. At CIM, Colin was awarded the Ernest Bloch scholarship for composer-performers, as well as the Women's Committee prize for Composition and Performance. In the summer of 2012, Colin was a semi-finalist in the second Buenos Aires International Violin Competition. As a composer, Colin was a national finalist for the MTNA Composition Competition in 2010 and 2011 and won first place at the state level in 2008 and 2009. In North Carolina, Colin studied violin with David Russell, and composition with Julie Harris and Lawrence Dillon. Colin has participated in masterclasses with Tim Fain, Cho-Liang Lin, Joseph Silverstein, Lawrence Dutton and Elisabeth Pitcairn.

Section Violinist, Eliane Menzel was born and raised in Germany. A student of Prof. Katrin Scholz in the pre-college division at the Academy of Arts Bremen from 2008-2017, she was concertmaster of the German Youth String Orchestra from 2014-2018 with which she performed on concert tours throughout Europe. In 2015 she did a broadcast production of S.Saëns, Rondo Capricciso at the NDR Hamburg which was transmitted in 2016. In the same year she won the 1st prize at the VIII. International competition "Szymon Goldberg".
Eliane has attended Festivals such as the "Young Artists Program" founded by Pinchas Zukerman, the "Heifetz International Music Institute" and the "Keshet Eilon Mastercourse" as well as masterclasses with Rachel Podger, Rainer Honeck, Silvia Marcovici, Igor Ozim,Hagai Shaham, Shmuel Ashkenasy, Ilya Kaler and Itzhak Rashkovsky. She attended the Manhattan School of Music in the "Zukerman Performance Program" with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec from 2018 - 2022 and is now, after the completion of her Bachelor of Music degree pursuing her Master's Degree at the Juilliard School of Music with Joel Smirnoff. She is a scholarship recipient from the DAAD and a recipient of the Gluck Fellowship 2023-2024.

As a soloist Eliane Menzel has performed with orchestras such as the Oldenburger Schlossorchester, Kammersinfonie Oldenburg, MainKammerorchester Frankfurt, the Ensemble Bremen-Frankfurt and the Oldenburg State Orchestra. In addition, she has also performed at the German Embassy in Ottawa as well as in the German Embassy in New York and recently in Weil Hall, Carnegie Hall. She regularly performs with her father, oboist Prof. Fabian Menzel. In 2017 they started their own concert series, the "Schlosskonzerte Neuenburg" in the Castle of Neuenburg with numerous performances every year.

Section Violinist, Alisa Wyrick is both a violinist and violist as well as an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New York area. Most recently, Alisa has been playing as a guest with the New York Philharmonic since 2016. She has been a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra since 2006. She served as Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony, and has performed a wide variety of chamber music around the world-playing with contemporary ensembles in Japan and Hawaii commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Pearl Harbor; performing orchestral music all over the US, South America, Europe, China, and Japan; as well as solo performances in the US and Italy. As a well-rounded musician, Alisa is familiar with orchestral, opera, ballet, contemporary, chamber and solo repertoire while having performance and teaching experience around the world.

Principal Percussionist, Caleb Breidenbaugh is an active performer all along the East Coast. In addition to the Albany Symphony, he also holds positions in the New World Symphony, the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Caleb studied at Temple University with Chris Deviney, Phil O'Banion, William Wozniak, and Alan Abel. He enjoys disc golf, board games, and backpacking with his family.

Principal Bassoonist, Lauren Henning is a bassoonist originally from Western New York, and is currently a freelance musician in the Pittsburgh, PA area. As an orchestral musician, she is currently the Principal bassoonist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, and is the Second bassoonist in The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. She is also an active substitute in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. She has performed with the Erie Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Canton Symphony, and Youngstown Symphony, to name a few. In 2021 she participated in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Symposium where she was named one of ten finalists in the competition. In 2024, she attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival as a New Horizons Fellow. She received a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from SUNY Fredonia, a Master's degree in Bassoon Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and an Advanced Music Studies Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University. Her primary teachers include Laura Koepke, Barrick Stees, and Nancy Goeres.

Bassoonist, Sarah Bobrow is an active orchestral and chamber musician based in New York City. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic. She has also been heard in a number of festivals, most recently including Spoleto Festival USA, Music Academy of the West and National Repertory Orchestra. A passionate educator, Sarah maintains a private bassoon studio and was a Music Advancement Program fellow at The Juilliard School. In 2023, she was a winner of the Keston MAX Competition, and in 2021 she was a finalist in The Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition. Sarah earned her master's degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Kim Laskowski and her bachelor's degree from The Eastman School of Music where she studied with George Sakakeeny.

Principal Clarinetist, Daniel Ketter is a recipient of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada Award of Excellence, Italian Academy of Clarinet 2021 Clarinet online contest Second Prize, Interlochen Arts Camp Fennel Scholarship, and the New York Youth Symphony Vargas-Vetter/Ukena Fellowship. He holds the Principal Clarinet position with the Albany Symphony Orchestra and has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in the Aurora and Horizons Tour, NJSMA Region 1 Orchestra as Principal Clarinet, and the New Jersey All-State Band as First Chair clarinet. Daniel manages a private teaching studio as well as working as a mentor in the online Clarinet Transformation Community. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia where he studied with Jose Franch-Ballester and obtained his Bachelors in Clarinet Performance.

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