Faye Seeman (NRO 1977), Principal Harp with the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra Faye Seeman is principal harpist with the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra, and professor of harp studies at both Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University. Faye has distinguished herself as one of the most versatile harpists in the Chicago area, often venturing away from playing traditional classical repertoire. She and several well-known jazz musicians collaborated to establish the "ZigZag" jazz harp quartet (piano, harp, bass and drums), exploring an eclectic blend of jazz, classical and new age styles of music. As a soloist, she produced and recorded her first solo CD in 2010 at Bastyr University Chapel in Seattle, Washington. The disc features several of her own compositions, along with transcribed favorites.
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Jerome Simas (NRO 1992), Clarinet with the San Francisco Symphony
Mr. Simas' career since the NRO has been quite varied from teaching music in public schools to freelancing with the Bay Area's wonderful regional orchestras to university and conservatory teaching to winning tenure with the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) as bass and utility clarinet. He is also teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory and San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and is active in the San Francisco new music scene as solo clarinetist with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.
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Toru Tagawa (NRO 2001) Co-Founder of the Tuscon Repertory Orchestra
"The NRO has been the best orchestra experience of my life. It is because of the NRO that my orchestra is named Tucson Repertory Orchestra (TRO)," shares Toru Tagawa. After his summer in Breckenridge, he won a job with the Arkansas Symphony, where he played in a String Quartet with several other NRO alumni. In the summer of 2007, Mr. Tagawa worked as the Ensemble Manager at Interlochen for WYSO (World Youth Symphony Orchestra) under Jung-Ho Pak. With Jung-Ho Pak's encouragement, Toru co-started the Interlochen Repertory Orchestra as a conductor. He also co-founded the Tucson Repertory Orchestra in 2011, where he remains the Music Director and Conductor.
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Are you an NRO alumni and would like to share your story? We want to hear from you! Please contact us at [email protected] or 970-453-5825.
