People
American conductor Jeffrey Milarsky is highly acclaimed worldwide for his impeccable musicianship, exhilarating presence, and innovative programming. He has been hailed for his interpretations in a wide range of repertoire, which spans from Bach to Xenakis. In recent seasons he has worked with accomplished groups such as the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, MET Chamber Ensemble, Bergen Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New World Symphony, and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. In the United States and abroad, he has premiered and recorded works by many groundbreaking contemporary composers, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and IRCAM in Paris.
Mr. Milarsky has a long history of premiering, recording, and performing American composers and in keeping with that, he was recently presented with the prestigious Ditson Conductor's Award. Established in 1945, it is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music. Past honorees have included Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, and Alan Gilbert. His interest and dedication have brought forth collaborations with esteemed composers such as Adams, Babbitt, Cage, Carter, Corigliano, Crumb, Davidovsky, Druckman, Gordon, Lang, Mackey, Rouse, Shapey, Subotnick, Wuorinen, and an entire generation of young and developing composers.
A dedicated teacher, Mr. Milarsky is a Senior Lecturer in Music at Columbia University, where he is the Music Director and Conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra. In addition to conducting the Juilliard Orchestra, he is the Music Director of AXIOM, The Juilliard School’s critically acclaimed contemporary music ensemble, and serves on the conducting faculty at Juilliard.
A much-in-demand timpanist and percussionist, Mr. Milarsky has been the Principal Timpanist for the Santa Fe Opera since 2005. In addition, he has performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has recorded extensively for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records.
Jeffrey Milarsky received his Bachelor's and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in the arts.
Kristupas Bubnelis (b. 1995) is a young Lithuanian composer. Having explored various styles and genres, he currently combines the techniques of post-spectralism and poststructuralism with improvisational and experimental sound generation processes. He has composed for orchestras, ensembles, and solo instruments. His works have been performed in Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany, and other countries.
Kristupas has received multiple awards from the Lithuanian Composer’s Union for best chamber music composition (2024, 2022), the Audience Prize (2022), and the Young Composer’s Prize (2022). In 2021, he won the International Eduardas Balsys Composers’ Competition. In 2020, he graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London (composition classes of Prof. Rubens Askenar and Edmund Finnis), receiving a master’s degree and the DipRAM Award for an outstanding portfolio. In 2019, he received a bachelor’s degree from the same institution (composition class of Prof. Christopher Austin) and was awarded the G. V. Turner-Cooke Composition Award. In 2017, he won the Arthur Hinton Memorial Prize.
Kristupas has participated in several international festivals and workshops, including the Lucerne Festival Academy (2023), California Festival (2023), Krakow International Festival of Composers (2023), and Crossroads (2017). He has worked with Ensemble Modern (DE), IEMA Ensemble (DE), Caput Ensemble (IS), New Art and Music Ensemble Salzburg (AT), London Young Sinfonia (UK), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, St. Christopher’s Chamber Orchestra, and Chordos String Quartet, among others.
Orchestra Manager: Emma Braunberger
Librarian: Eric Shen
Stage Manager: Joshua Song
Graphic Designer: Paul Wagner
Photographer: Alida Delaney
Violin 1
Andromeda Kepecs − Co-concertmaster, Spring
Ana Isabella España − Co-concertmaster, Fall
Minji Kim
Liyu Chen
Hannah Park
Ariane Lee
Sebastian Park
Jocelyn Ho
Yuli Choi
Ethan Shin
Gigi Chen
Eliana Weinsaft
Alanna Xue
Lillian Zhi
Ariel Yu
Eric Shen
Violin 2
Jessica Wu − Principal
Katie Liu − Assistant Principal
Grace Chen
Nathan Gendler
Justin Wang
Kento Hong
Ziyan (Kevin) Li
Rayson Dai
Sarah Hong
Fanglin Yuan
Ksenia Fefilova
Julian Wu
Esme Smith
Eva Sharman
Susie Yang
Peter Aliprandis
David Martin Osorio
Viola
Robert Fornos − Principal
Cindy Oh − AssistantPrincipal
Raul Rodriguez
Joshua Wang
Jayden Wu
Jordan Pak
Francis Deng
Arnika Alikhani
Eian Tsou
Casey Lamb
Gabrielle Hrung
Lela Kornfeld
Violoncello
Natalie Kwok − Co-Principal, Spring
Joel Kim − Co-Principal, Fall
Sua Choi
Ari Freed
Chuanji (Joseph) Wang
Violet Weizer
Chenyang Sun
David Fu
Matthew Lee
Eva Kates
Ruogu Wang
Brittany Deng
Sarah Rivas
Contrabass
Benjamin Levin – Principal
Zachary Domach
Dio Gelman
Lifu Liu
William Charles
David Gima
Chia-Chun (Leo) Tsou
Flute
Rachmaninoff
Fl 1: Eric Miao
Fl 2: Nithin Chilakapati
Fl 3/Picc: Rinaz Jamal
Tchaikovsky
Fl 1: Joey O'Neill
Fl 2: Rinaz Jamal
Brahms
Fl 1: Alicia Chang
Fl 2: Nithin Chilakapati
Oboe
Rachmaninoff
Ob 1: Ruth Lipskar
Ob 2: Zoe Schnadower
EH: Emma Braunberger
Tchaikovsky
Ob 1: David Holtz
Ob 2: Zoe Schnadower
Brahms
Ob 1: Ruth Lipskar
Ob 2: David Holtz
Clarinet
Rachmaninoff (in B♭)
Cl 1: Eleanor Koo
Cl 2: Evan Lei
Cl 3: Nene Van Winkle
Tchaikovsky (in A)
Cl 1: Eleanor Koo
Cl 2: Nene Van Winkle
Brahms (in A)
Cl 1: Evan Lei
Cl 2: Richard Li
Alto Saxophone
Rachmaninoff
Emma Lacy
Bassoon
Rachmaninoff
Bsn 1: Hiroshi Nakagawa
Bsn 2: Noah D'Souza
Contra: Maya Krouse
Tchaikovsky
Bsn 1: Hiroshi Nakagawa
Bsn 2: Noah D'Souza
Brahms
Bsn 1: Noah D'Souza
Bsn 2: Hiroshi Nakagawa
French Horn
Rachmaninoff (in F)
Hn 1: Sara Olszewski
Hn 2: Nick Martin
Hn 3: Irene Choi
Hn 4: Nik Cook
Tchaikovsky (in F)
Hn 1: Nik Cook
Hn 2: Jessica Weinfeld
Hn 3: Elizabeth Newell
Hn 4: Nick Martin
Brahms
Hn 1: Sara Olszewski (in D)
Hn 2: Irene Choi (in D)
Hn 3: Nik Cook (in E)
Hn 4: Nick Martin (in E)
Trumpet
Rachmaninoff (in C)
Tpt 1: Daniella Davia
Tpt 2: Nicholas Olszewski
Tpt 3: TBA
Tchaikovsky (in D)
Tpt 1: Nicholas Olszewski
Tpt 2: Daniella Davia
Brahms (in D)
Tpt 1: Daniella Davia
Tpt 2: Nicholas Olszewski
Trombone
Rachmaninoff
Trb 1: Isabel Linton
Trb 2: Liam Davis
Trb 3/Bass: TBA
Brahms
Trb 1: Isabel Linton
Trb 2: Liam Davis
Trb 3/Bass: TBA
Tuba
Rachmaninoff
TBA
Tchaikovsky
TBA
Brahms
TBA
Harp & Piano
Rachmaninoff
Harp: Ella Brown (1)
Harp: Molly Rose Keller (doubles certain passages)
Piano: Sophia Lin Hackler
Timpani & Percussion
Rachmaninoff
Timpani: Julian Jimenez-Pardo
Perc 1: Irene Ruyun Yang
Perc 2: Haozhen Xu
Perc 3: Eric Chang
Tchaikovsky
Timpani: Irene Ruyun Yang
Brahms
Timpani: Eric Chang