Cleveland Orchestra Welcomes Three New Members

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra have announced the appointments of three new Orchestra members: Gareth Thomas joins the Orchestra on January 5, 2015 as second bassoon. Analisé Denise Kukelhan joins the first violin section on January 26, 2015. Corbin Stair joins the Orchestra as second oboe on May 11, 2015.

Gareth Thomas joins The Cleveland Orchestra as second bassoon in January 2015. He has served as principal bassoon of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra since September 2010. Mr. Thomas received his bachelor of music degree with academic honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) in 2009 and his master of music degree from Northwestern University in 2010. His teachers have included John Clouser, principal bassoon of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Christopher Millard, principal bassoon of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Thomas received the George F. Goslee Prize in Bassoon at CIM and First Prize at the 2006 National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and has participated in the Pacific Music Festival and the Sarasota Music Festival.

Analisé Denise Kukelhan joins the first violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in January 2015. She has been a member of the first violin section of the North Carolina Symphony since September 2012. She has also been a member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, and the West Virginia Symphony. She has participated in the Spoleto Festival USA, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute (serving as concertmaster in 2008), and the Kent/Blossom Music Festival. Ms. Kukelhan received her bachelor of music degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, where she studied with Kathleen Winkler, and her master of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster William Preucil.

Corbin Stair joins The Cleveland Orchestra as second oboe in May 2015, after completing his bachelor of music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studies with Richard Woodhams, principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other major teachers have included Elaine Douvas, John Ferrillo, and Reid Messich. Mr. Stair served as principal oboe of the Symphony of the Lakes in Winona Lake, Indiana, from 2009-2011. He has performed as a substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra and in orchestras and chamber music ensembles at the Aspen Music Festival, MasterWorks Festival, and at the Tanglewood Music Center, where he received the 2013 Mickey L. Hooten Memorial Award.