Musicians from the Mid-Valley and beyond

 This festival, founded in 2001, is built around performers who grew up in Willamette Valley and are now pursuing concert careers in classical music.

There are at least 26 such artists living in the US and Europe, playing in symphonies, operas, chamber orchestras, and touring ensembles, and auditioning for new opportunities.

2025 Performers

Noah Seitz, Artistic Director and cello

Noah Seitz, a Corvallis native, completed his Bachelors Degree in Cello Performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music in 2001. He then returned to Oregon as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Eugene Symphony and the Oregon Mozart Players, and regularly performs with the Corvallis-OSU Symphony, Camerata Musica Chamber Music Series in Salem, Chintimini Chamber Music Festival, and various Oregon ensembles. He also serves as the President of the Board for Camerata Musica Chamber Music Series in Salem.

Noah is adjunct professor of cello and chamber music at Pacific and Linfield Universities. He has
performed as featured soloist with Willamette Valley Symphony, Salem Philharmonia, Pacific University Philharmonic and the U of O Symphony. Beyond music, Noah holds a Private Pilot license, and loves anything to do with aviation.

Issac Beu, clarinet

Isaac Beu is a native of Austin, Texas. After meeting his partner Chloe in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and winning the 2nd and Eb Clarinet position with the Eugene Symphony, they moved to Portland, Oregon in January of 2021. In addition to his position with the Eugene Symphony, Isaac also teaches clarinet at Willamette and Linfield universities. Outside of music, Isaac is an avid SMU Mustangs Football fan, and he sincerely enjoyed watching his alma mater play in the College Football Playoff in their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is also a lifelong fan of the middling Dallas Cowboys. Isaac is an avid film buff and an emo and screamo enthusiast. He and Chloe are the proud owners of two cats, Kashi and Queso Grande, as well as two pet rats, Patches and Mr. Rat. 

Kenji Bunch, violin

Composer/violist Kenji Bunch has enjoyed a unique career of more than 30 years as a performer comfortable in venues from the world’s most prestigious concert halls to preschool classrooms, farmers markets, dive bars, sports arenas, coffee houses and sidewalks.

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Bunch studied in New York City where he spent two decades as a freelance musician performing in solo and chamber recitals, orchestras, Broadway pits, and in recording studios. He was a founding member of groundbreaking experimental groups The Flux Quartet, Ne(x)works and The Nurse Kaya String Quartet, while also playing fiddle and singing in the bluegrass band Citigrass.

In addition to performing, Bunch is a composer whose music if frequently performed worldwide, and a teacher committed to youth music education. Aside from music, Bunch’s screen credits include work as an extra in the 1992 horror film “Dr. Giggles” and work as a fake cellist in a 2023 commercial for OnPoint Community Credit Union. During the 2024-25 season, Bunch was undefeated as a volunteer deputy assistant rec league basketball coach with a record of 1-0.

Bryce Caster, violin

Bryce Caster is a violinist and violist living in the Pacific Northwest. When he was 12, his mother feared he didn’t have a passion so she had him try out a violin lesson and from the moment he held that instrument in his hands he knew it was forever. Bryce has studied violin performance at the collegiate level, and participated in many apprenticeship programs that have gained him experience in both new music and historical performance practice. Currently, Bryce lives in Portland, Oregon and runs a prolific private teaching studio while playing concerts in Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, Sonoma and beyond! Bryce’s favorite composers are Bach, Stravinksy, and Caroline Shaw. Ask him why! Bryce spends his free time walking in nature with his husband and dog, singing in choir, and generally being a little rascal.

Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington, flute

Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and a member of the Oregon Wind Quintet. As educator she has performed in residencies across the country and facilitated masterclasses at institutions including the University of Hawaii Manoa, University of Maryland, University of Texas Austin, Washington Lee University, Ohio State University and others.

She is a former member of Ensemble Connect, Carnegie Hall's chamber music collective, where she collaborated with colleagues in performances at the Weill, Trinity, Subculture, and National Sawdust Concert Series. Jacqueline has experience leading interactive performances in various community spaces including public schools, correctional facilities, and centers for adults with developmental disabilities. She completed her doctorate at the Eastman School of Music studying with Bonita Boyd with an additional certificate in World Music. Her former teachers include David Cramer, Amy Porter and Bradley Garner.

Jacqueline was recipient of the William D. Ford Fulbright Grant, allowing extensive study with Andreas Blau, principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic. Other performances with major orchestras include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and Louisiana Philharmonic.

Jacqueline co-founded and currently serves as co-chair of the Umoja Flute Institute, a non-profit that creates opportunities in professional development, performance, and community for black flutists around world, in 2020. She is also a board of director with Orchestra Next and the National Flute Association.  This summer she looks forward to performing in Atlanta at the National Flute Association 2025 Convention.

Jason Duckles, cello

Cellist Jason Duckles is from Vancouver, Canada, leads an active life as a chamber musician, and is a founding member of the Amelia Piano Trio which has toured extensively in the United States and abroad. Also a member of the Humboldt Streichtrio, which Volker Jacobsen and Anthea Kreston (both formerly of the Artemis Quartet), he was invited to perform in the inaugural week of the famed Elbphilharmonie Hall Hamburg. As a chamber musician, Jason has been presented with an ASCAP award (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) for adventurous programming, and top prize in both the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Munich ARD International Competition. Jason has performed as the solo cellist with the Mark Morris Dance group, and has toured with of YoYo Ma’s Silk Road Project in concerts from New York to Kazakhstan. He was a member of the Konzerthaus Orchestra in Berlin, Germany. Jason’s involvement in education has always been central part of his musical life - he has taught at several universities across the United States. He has had the honor of performing in concert with members of the Beaux Arts trio, and the Artemis, Cleveland, Orion, Emerson, and Guarneri String Quartets. Jason can be heard on the recording labels Sony, Naxos, Channel Classics, Traditional Crossroads, and Cedille Records.

Alex Ellsworth, cello

Alex Ellsworth is a critically acclaimed cellist with a diverse career as a performer, composer, and educator. His credits include an Emmy Award-winning recording with the cinematic shadow puppetry company Manual Cinema and a role as an actor-musician in the Chicago premiere of “Ghost Quartet” by Broadway composer Dave Malloy. He is a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Music Director at Holderness School, where his students continued to college programs in instrumental performance, film scoring and music therapy. He has performed his original compositions at venues across the country and his latest album “The Things We Always Think About” was released by Innova Recordings on June 6th. You can find it on your preferred streaming platform or at www.alex-ellsworth.com.

In the fall of 2024, Alex moved to Corvallis with his fiancée Delaney, a PhD student in Integrative Biology at Oregon State University. Together, they care for a flock of chickens and share a beautiful studio space behind their home, where Alex teaches lessons. Outside of music, he enjoys making excursions to the coast, experimenting with soup recipes and playing chess. He regularly works with the young string players at Albany Youth Orchestra and performs with Orchestra Next at Eugene Ballet. Alex is eager to connect with more musicians and music lovers in the Willamette Valley, so please say hello after the concert.

Adam Fishburn, viola

Violist Adam Fishburn moved to Eugene, OR in 2019 to pursue his Master’s and DMA in viola performance. Originally from Houston, Texas, Adam is inspired by the beautiful flora, fauna, and climates of the Pacific Northwest, and is proud to call the Willamette Valley home.

When time allows, he enjoys video games: mostly RPGs. Outside of classical music, Adam is inspired by video game music, rock and pop divas. He loves spending time with his (very) large Bernese mountain dog mix Charlie, and his fierce tuxedo cat Nicki.

Julia Frantz, violin

Julia has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral violinist throughout North America and Europe. A native of Eugene, she is assistant principal 2nd Violinist with the Eugene Symphony, a member of Portland Opera Orchestra, and plays regularly with several other orchestras throughout Oregon and the Northwest. Julia completed her Bachelor of Music at Rice University and her Master of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Julia has participated in music festivals throughout the United States and Europe, including Oregon Bach Festival, Sunriver Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, AIMS Institute in Austria, Round Top Festival-Institute and Astoria Music Festival. Equally comfortable outside the realm of classical music, Julia has played fiddle since the age of five and regularly performs with country, rock, and hip hop groups throughout the Northwest. In 2021, she joined acclaimed Eugene folk band Mood Area 52 and has shared the stage with country legends Mark O'Connor and Ray Price. When not playing violin, Julia enjoys hiking and running with her partner Phil and border collie Sky Pilot, and cuddling with her two cats.

Arnaud Ghillebaert, viola

Originally from Paris, violist Arnaud Ghillebaert has performed with The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera, and toured Europe for two summers with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under the baton of Sir Colin Davis and Herbert Blomstedt. Other orchestral highlights include England’s Southbank Sinfonia, the Oregon Bach Festival, New Haven Symphony and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra (where adventurous brass players lured him into experiencing skydiving for the first – and possibly last – time).

He is a founding member of the Elsewhere Ensemble in New York and a dedicated chamber musician who has collaborated with pianists Anton Nel, Kelly Kuo, violinists Jasper Wood and Anthea Kreston. He was invited to perform at the Louis Moreau Institute in New Orleans and in the “Starry Nights” music series at the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University alongside Colin Carr, Eugene Drucker (Emerson String Quartet) and Nick Cords (Silkroad Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider).

 He received his Masters from the Royal College of Music in London and completed his Doctorate in Violin and Viola performance at Stony Brook University in 2016, and has been viola instructor at the University of Oregon since 2017. Since arriving in Oregon he has greatly enjoyed baking multiple French pastries (his spouse got him an ice cream machine for one of his birthdays), has been the principal violist of the Oregon Mozart Players and was appointed principal violist of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and Eugene Opera in 2022. He has been playing concerts with Chamber Music Amici and microphilharmonic (violin and viola), as well as the Delgani String Quartet. His two very opinionated cats Fiona and Billy remind him daily to not take himself or music too seriously.

Matt Fuller, violin

Originally from San Jose, California, violinist Matthew Fuller has been a member of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and became Principal Second Violin in 2007. Prior to moving to Oregon, Matthew earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice University, where he studied with Kathleen Winkler and Kenneth Goldsmith, and a master’s degree from Wichita State University, where he studied with John Harrison and was also a member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. Since moving to Oregon, Matthew has continued to be an active chamber music and orchestral performer, and has performed with the Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, Eugene Ballet, Ballet Fantastique, Oregon Bach Festival, Oregon Festival of American Music, and Orchestra Next.

In 2011, Matthew embarked on a second career to pursue his interest in technology, and went on to complete a second bachelor’s degree in computer science. In his role as a software developer, Matthew has contributed software to support videoconferencing, health information systems, and cloud platform infrastructure. He currently works as a cloud software developer for Microsoft.

When he’s not performing or sitting in front of a computer, Matthew enjoys spending time with his family, exploring the Oregon coast, and snuggling with his cats, Croc and Gator.

Fritz Gearhart, violin

Violinist Fritz Gearhart has performed for audiences from coast to coast. He has appeared in major halls in the United States including Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center as well as several concerts in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie. Internationally, Gearhart has performed in South Korea, Austria, Croatia, Spain and Germany. His recordings are heard frequently on National Public Radio, including live broadcasts on WFMT Chicago, WQXR in New York and KQAC in Portland Oregon. Gearhart has also been featured on NPR’s nationally syndicated program Performance Today.

Up until 2022, Gearhart spent much of his career teaching on the university level with positions at East Carolina University, Indiana University at South Bend, University of Oregon and University of Colorado Boulder. Recently he launched a music festival and nonprofit — the Redfish Music Festival on the southern Oregon coast. Gearhart is also a singer-songwriter and performs his original material accompanying himself on guitar or piano. You can find older material on various platforms under “Mod Robert” but as of 2025, all of the new material will be released under Fritz Gearhart, and he has a new album coming out this summer. His website contains information about his varied musical life: fritzgearhart.com.

Anthea Kreston, violin

Currently first violinist of the Delgani Quartet, she was a member of a major European string quartet, Germany’s Artemis Quartet, the only American violinist to hold such a position. She travelled the world, performing on some of the most legendary stages a person could dream of, from Carnegie Hall to Wigmore - from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to Seoul. She was a Professor at the Universität der Kunste Berlin, where Clara Schumann and Schoenberg taught, a Master Teacher at the Queen Elizabeth Chapel in Brussels, and enjoys returning to teach at the Curtis Institute of Music, from where she graduated. 

Her recent release on Warner Classics received both the Echo Award (Europe's Grammy Award), and the Diaspason D’Or, France’s highest award from music critics.  She has hosted her own podcast from the Boulez Hall in the heart of Berlin and has played in the Berlin Philharmonic as well as concertmaster of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Her teachers include Ida Kavafian, Shmuel Ashkenasi, the Emerson Quartet and Isaac Stern. But most of all, she loves being with her family, growing tomatoes, and petting guinea pigs. 

John Livingston, piano

John Livingston has worked extensively as a collaborative pianist, getting his start at the age of 13. Since then he has had a continuous stream of collaborative experiences ranging from choirs, to musical theatre, to college instrumental lessons and recitals, and more. In 2009, John partnered with a local community theatre company, Pentacle Theater, in their production of “My Fair Lady”. Hooked by this initial foray into musical theater, he continued to work with Pentacle Theater on six of their following musical productions.

At the University of Missouri-Kansas City, John studied Piano Performance under Dr. Robert Weirich, earning his Bachelor’s of Music degree. He was subsequently accepted into the Master’s program at UMKC and was awarded one of the Opera Accompanying graduate assistantships. John has served as rehearsal pianist for Hänsel und Gretel, Poulenc’s La voix humaine, Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, and Johan Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus. During his time at UMKC, John also did instrumental accompanying, playing for lessons and recitals for cellists, violinists, oboists, trombonists, and more.

John is a founding member and principal accompanist of Choral Spectrum, a LGBTQ and supporting choir which is the first of its kind in Kansas City. He completed his Master’s degree at UMKC having studied with the 2013 Van Cliburn third prize winner, Sean Chen. In recent years, John has developed a relationship with the Midwest Chamber Ensemble in Kansas City and the Kansas Lyric Opera. John serves as Adjunct Faculty at Avila University where he teaches Applied Piano, Music History, Music Theory, and serves a staff accompanist.

Elizabeth Moss, piano

Elizabeth Moss is a pianist, teacher and pickleball enthusiast based in Corvallis, Oregon. She’s the Coordinator of Piano Studies at Oregon State University, where she works with an inspiring crew of students and colleagues. Elizabeth loves bringing music to life on stage, whether it’s through solo performances, chamber collaborations, or cheering on her students from the wings. When she’s not at the piano, you can find her chasing after her kids, overwatering houseplants, dreaming up her next recital program—or getting way too competitive on the pickleball court.

Charles Noble, viola

Charles Noble grew up in Puyallup, Washington where he started on violin in his elementary school music program. After going to college and enduring intolerable weather conditions on the eastern seaboard, 17 years later he joyfully returned (now as a violist) to the Pacific Northwest in his current position as assistant principal viola in the Oregon Symphony. Warm days, and cool nights. Craft beer and pinot noir. Espresso and pour-over. Mountains, seashore, and desert. All reasons he loves Oregon and continues to make it his home. If not playing the viola, you can also find Charles out on the open road riding his bike thousands of miles each year. He also loves cooking, reading a wide variety of fiction, snuggling his two cats, and gardening and sharing his life with his wife Stephanie.

Monica Ohuchi, piano

Monica Ohuchi is the pianist and executive director of Fear No Music, and also performs locally with Chamber Music Northwest, Classical Up Close, 45th Parallel, in collaboration with the Oregon Ballet Theater and can be often heard on All-Classical Portland. Monica has performed with the Chintimini Chamber Music Festival since 2007.  

She is currently a  Program Director at Reed College in the Performing Arts Music Division, where she also teaches piano and chamber music.  Ohuchi holds advanced degrees from the Juilliard School in Piano Performance.  In her spare time, Monica enjoys impromptu kitchen dance parties with Kenji and their two children, traveling to Japan to visit her parents and exercising with friends.  www.monicaohuchi.com

Victoria Parker, violin

Violinist Victoria Parker’s musical experience spans from Baroque to unhinged. She is equally comfortable in concert halls, recording studios and eclectic venues playing solos, improvising or collaborating with colleagues and friends. Her love of chamber music emerged at age 5 when she began touring with her family quintet. She has been a featured soloist with many orchestras and music festivals and recorded a violin concerto composed for her by Roupen Shakarian.

Victoria performs with the Seattle Symphony and Opera and can be heard on numerous popular albums and soundtracks, many of which feature her arrangements and improvisations. Parker is also a conceptual artist who explores and creates in a variety of mediums. She relishes finding magic in the mundane and is strongly motivated by morning coffee and dark chocolate. Her favorite activities include forest bathing, beachcombing and watching films. Victoria lives in Seattle with her family, which includes an apricot Bernadoodle named Ginger.

Jeff Parsons, harp

A native of Corvallis, Jeff has wandered all the way over to Albany, where he works as a substitute teacher and occasionally delivers Amazon packages.  The things musicians do to make ends meet!  He also plays regularly with the Corvallis-OSU Symphony and Vancouver Symphony, and has taught harp at various colleges in the Willamette Valley including Oregon State University.  He has served as a member of the board for the American Harp Society Foundation and on the editorial board for The American Harp Journal.  He has a very timid cat named Amelia, and spends free time reading, swimming and playing board games.

Anne Ridlington, cello

Anne Ridlington is a Corvallis based cellist. She is principal cellist of the Eugene Symphony, and the Corvallis-OSU Symphony. She also performs with Orchestra Next, the Corvallis Repertory Singers and the Eugene Opera. She was surprised to discover she loves teaching students of all ages, having napped and/or eaten lunch during cello pedagogy in college. She teaches group strings classes through the Corvallis  Elementary Strings program, teaches college level cellists at Oregon State, and has a private cello studio at her house. She loves hiking with her kid, meeting random cats (felines, not the jazzy human variety), mystery podcasts and shenanigans.

Kimberlee Uwate, viola

Kim Uwate is founding violist of the Delgani String Quartet and spend nearly a decade building community, providing educational programs and performing in concert throughout the state of Oregon. As an orchestral musician, she can be found performing with the Eugene Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, and Orlando Philharmonic. She has over ten years of collegiate teaching experience, with past studios at Willamette University, Millikin University and the University of Illinois. She has taught youth through Delgani’s summer String Quartet Academy and adults through Delgani’s weekend Chamber Music Workshops.

Kim is a proud alum of University of California at Davis, Manhattan School of Music, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She completed her doctorate in viola after writing her dissertation, Toward a Business History of the String Quartet: How the String Quartet Became a Career Path in the United States (2019), about American string quartet ensembles and the economic systems that have supported them. She plays a late eighteenth-century viola named Abby, loves cuttlefish and sea otters, roots for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and grew up in Monterey, California.

Lara Wickes, Oboe and English Horn

Lara is the principal oboist of the Pasadena, Santa Barbara and New West symphonies, and also performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Musica Angelica and many more. She holds a doctoral degree from the University of Southern California, a masters from the California Institute of the Arts, and a bachelors from the University of Oregon.

Originally from Corvallis, Oregon, Lara moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to study with renowned oboist Allan Vogel. Pursuing freelance work alongside her academic pursuits, she eventually became a regular in the recording studios, and has performed solo oboe and English horn on over 200 motion pictures. Some credits include Star Wars episodes VII-IX, Rogue One, an American Pickle, the new Mulan and Lion King, Incredibles 2, Coco, Marriage Story, Ready Player One, Sing, Finding Dory, Frozen 2, Bridge of Spies, Big Hero 6, and Avatar.

She has also been privileged to record with several legendary artists, appearing on albums by Barbra Streisand, Neil Young, Celine Dion, the Who, Seth MacFarlane, Leslie Odom, Jr., Trisha Yearwood, Jimmy Eat World, Ke$ha, and Alice Cooper. She has also appeared on television with Prince, Mariah Carey, and Andrea Bocelli.