Musicians
Yuki Tanaka
Sarah Schettler
Sarah Schettler
Violinist Yuki Tanaka has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since January 2000. She has served an Associate Concertmaster as well as an Assistant Concertmaster with the orchestra. Before joining the LPO, she performed with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra, and the Asia America Symphony. She has freelanced throughout Los Angeles. Born in Japan, Yuki began her violin studies at the age of three. At age eight, she made her recital debut. She holds degrees from the Toho school of Music and the University of Southern California. Her principal teachers include Angela Eto, Toshiya Eto, and Eudice Shapiro. Ms. Tanaka gives solo recitals regularly, and has performed in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Tokyo, Nagano, and Kawasaki. As a chamber musician, she plays with numerous groups, including New Orleans based ensemble “Musaica” of which she is one of the founding members. In December 2005, while displaced by Katrina, Yuki organized “the Hurricane Benefit Concert” in Tokyo to raise money for the LPO. Yuki maintains her private studio in the Mid-City area, and also teaches violin at the University of New Orleans and the New Orleans Baptist Seminary. During the summer, she appears in concerts with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan.
Sarah Schettler
Sarah Schettler
Sarah Schettler
Sarah Schettler plays second flute in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches flute at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans. She holds degrees from Millikin University, the University of North Texas, and Florida State University. Before moving to New Orleans, she taught flute and music theory at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She has performed with the Corpus Christi and Victoria Symphonies in south Texas and with the Orquestra Sinfonica deU.A.N.L. in Monterrey, Mexico. She was a semifinalist in the 2004 National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and first prize winner in the 2005 Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition. Her teachers include Trevor Wye, Stephanie Jutt, Charles DeLaney, and Terri Sundberg. Her husband, Bill, plays bass in the LPO. During the summers, Sarah teaches at the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine
Bruce Owen
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick
Bruce Owen is the assistant principal viola with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and has been instructor of viola at the Loyola University College of Music since 1999. He studied with Masau Kawasaki at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He also spent two years at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, studying with Hatto Beyerle. In addition, he had coaching on string quartet literature with the Lasalle and Tokyo Quartets at the University of Cincinnati; and was a student for four years at the Aspen Music Festival. Since 1992, he has spent his summers participating in the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, performing with professional musicians from around the country. During the post-Katrina months, Bruce had the opportunity to play with the symphony orchestras of Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Toledo, and Baltimore. In New Orleans, Bruce served for five years as one of the founding board members of the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra (GNOYO) and continues to work with violists in the orchestra as a private teacher and at its annual summer festival. Bruce rejoined the board of GNOYO from 2007 to 2013. He is also a member of the American Viola Society Bruce also performs and does master classes around the country, including, most recently, visits to Texas Tech University and University of Southern Mississippi.
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick
Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick, violin, has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since the 1998-99 season. Previously she performed with the New World Symphony in South Miami Beach. While with the New World Symphony, Judith worked with Michael Tilson Thomas (Artistic Director) and performed extensively both in the U.S. and abroad including Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. Judith also teaches, and she has taught for two summers at The Brevard Music Center and is a member of The Suzuki Association of America. Previously, Judith performed at the Echternach Music Festival in Luxembourg, and the Spoleto Music Festival in Spoleto, Italy. In 2001, she performed throughout South Africa and Zimbabwe with composer and conductor John Rutter. Active as a chamber musician, Judith has played in the Cellini String Quartet and the Coronado Piano Trio, as well as Klezmer and Bassa Nova ensembles.
Ila Rondeau
Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright
Ila Rondeau, violist, received both her Bachelor of Music degree and Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. There, she studied primarily with Mark Jackobs, but was also very active in the chamber music program which gave her the opportunity to work with Peter Salaff and the Cavani String Quartet. Before joining the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, Ila was Principal Violist for the Lima Symphony Orchestra. She also played with both the Eastern String Quartet, resident quartet at Heidelberg College, and the Odin String Quartet which was based in Cleveland. She has been on faculty at the Allegheny Summer Music Festival, the International Youth Summer Music Festival, and the Upper Valley Summer Music Festival in Vermont. Ila started playing the viola through the public school music program in Indianapolis at the age of ten.
Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright
New Orleans trombonist Matthew Wright is a performer, composer, and pedagogue. Matthew has played all over the world in orchestras, big bands, and chamber ensembles. He has recorded with Bela Fleck and was in the first horn section to play with the band Cake. He was a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, but he was dressed as Santa Claus at the time. He has played in orchestras backing James Moody, Andy Williams, Yo Yo Ma, Randy Newman, and Placido Domingo. As a composer, Matthew has written and arranged many pieces for his own solo recitals as well as for his group, Versipel New Music. Currently, he holds positions with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and teaches at Loyola University, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and the University of New Orleans. His primary teachers include Jeannie Little, Matthew Vaughn, Per Brevig, Steve Norrell, and Scott Hartman.
Cathy Anderson
Cathy Anderson
Cathy Anderson
Catherine Anderson is in high demand as a free-lancer in the New Orleans area, providing harp music for the region’s professional arts organizations and a plethora of clients, from business corporations to universities to brides. She has appeared as solo harpist for the Ritz-Carlton tearoom since its inception in 2000, and enjoys performing with touring shows, such as Stevie Wonder, Johnnie Mathis, Frank Sinatra Jr., Perry Como, and Natalie Cole. Mrs. Anderson received a BM and MM in harp performance from Indiana University School of Music, with additional studies at Oberlin Conservatory and the Salzedo Harp Colony. Ms. Anderson is on the music faculty of Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, and has also taught at Louisiana State University, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the New Orleans Suzuki Forum, and the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra. Catherine serves on the boards of the American Harp Society, the Greater New Orleans Suzuki Forum, the Musaica Chamber Ensemble, and the Louisiana Music Teachers Association. She has toured internationally with the Boston Camerata, performing Medieval drama on historical harps, and is Area Coordinator for the Music for Healing and Transition Program, training musicians of all instruments to work in clinical settings to bring beauty and healing to those suffering from illness. An advocate of new music for harp, she is married to composer David Anderson, and they have premiered a number of his works for bass and harp.
Dave Anderson
Cathy Anderson
Cathy Anderson
Dave Anderson, a professional double bassist, joined the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans as principal bass in 1996. He has performed and recorded regularly with orchestras including the Louisville Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Since 1994, he served as principal bassist in the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon. He has performed extensively with ensembles including the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua Festival, Colorado Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, and Bobby McFerrin. A composer as well as a performer, David Anderson has published bass duets and quartets, including a bass quartet that was performed to acclaim at the Chamber Music Festival at Indiana University in 1993. Several years ago he completed a concerto for bass trombone, commissioned by his father, Edwin Anderson, former bass trombonist with the Cleveland Orchestra. His Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra principal bassist Hal Robinson, was premiered at the ISB Convention in June of 1997 and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra season, Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. David has been with the Loyola University College of Music faculty since 2003.
Jane Gabka
Diana Thacher
Diana Thacher
Jane Gabka is Professor of oboe at Loyola University and a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic. She received her Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, her Master's degree from Baylor University and has supplemented her education by attending numerous music festivals such as Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Chamber Music Festival, Colorado College Music Festival, Santa Fe Opera and the John Mack Oboe Camp. She teaches private oboe and reed making lessons in her home and only beats her students occasionally.
Diana Thacher
Diana Thacher
Diana Thacher
Diana Thacher received her Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Bachelor of Music degree from Kazakh National Conservatory. She was the first prize winner at the International Siberia Piano Competition in Novosibirsk, Russia (2002) as well as 2nd prize winner at the Tolyatti International Chamber Music Competition, Russia (2005). As a soloist, Diana has performed with the Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra, the Shenzhen Music Academy Chamber Orchestra (China), and has toured throughout Germany with the Symphony Orchestra of Central Asia. Diana is an active collaborative pianist and teacher and is on staff at the Loyola University of New Orleans since 2013. She taught at the Fresco Academy of Performing Arts in Eagle (ID, 2011-2013) and presented master-classes as a visiting guest artist at the Medicine Hat College (Alberta, Canada). She has performed in various chamber groups throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as part of the project “Classical Revolution”, appeared as a guest artist at the McCall Music Festival, the Utah Summer Music Festival, the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra (ID), in chamber series with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and recently became a new member of the chamber ensemble “Musaica” in New Orleans. Currently Diana is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in piano performance at Louisiana State University.
David Rosen
Daniel Parrette
Daniel Parrette
A native of Los Angeles, cellist David Rosen received his Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, his Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami. His major teachers include Stephen Geber and Steven Doane. Rosen was a winner of the Coleman Chamber Music Competion in Pasadena, California and was a guest lecturer in chamber music studies at Tulane and Southeastern Louisiana University. He has participated in the music festivals of Aspen, Banff, Blossom, Boulder, Chautauqua, Steamboat Springs, as well as Heidelberg, Germany, and L’Aquila, Italy. Rosen has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Los Angeles Opera. He was a member of the New Orleans Symphony from 1989-90 and has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since 1991.
Daniel Parrette
Daniel Parrette
Daniel Parrette
A native of Cornwall, NY, Daniel Parrette began his clarinet studies at the age of 8 with his father, John. He completed his schooling in Boston at New England Conservatory where he studied under Michael Wayne of the Boston Symphony. He went on to become a member of the New World Symphony, an orchestral academy in Miami Beach, FL under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Daniel recently moved to New Orleans to join the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as their new principal clarinetist. An advocate for music education, Daniel was deeply involved in community music programs in Boston and Miami, and looks forward to forming new relationships with the city of New Orleans. When he is not playing the clarinet, Daniel enjoys being outside playing a myriad of sports including basketball, baseball, golf, and soccer.