Violin

Eiko Kano, assistant concertmaster

Praised as an artist with “electrifying intensity and lyrical expression” by Kyoto Newspaper and “mesmerizing interpreter” by Ongakuno-Tomo Magazine, Japanese violinist Eiko Kano is known for her sensational and dynamic performances. Eiko has a thriving international career as a soloist as well as a chamber musician frequently collaborating with distinguished artists such as principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic Albrecht Meyer, Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet and Ani Kavafian while working closely with living composers premiering new works.

Eiko Kano has won numerous awards and prizes both in Japan and Internationally. After studying in Tokyo (Tokyo Geidai) and London, Eiko relocated to New York. Since then, she has established herself as a very unique and versatile artist. Both of her innovative CDs with her own story writing and violin performances have been featured on all JAL international flights. Eiko's videography of Bach's Chaconne at Kyoto Temple “Eikando” playing on Stradivarius violin awarded to her by Nippon Music Foundation has been critically acclaimed. (available on YouTube tinyurl.com/EikoKanoChaconne)

Eiko is in high demand as a chamber musician as well as a soloist and as a concertmaster of various orchestras in both the USA and Japan. She currently serves as an assistant concertmaster in Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra since 2004, senior artistic advisor and concertmaster of Pegasus: the Orchestra since 2017 and the concertmaster for Modus Operandi Orchestra since 2022. Her performance of Bach Double concerto with her mentor and a legendary former New York Philharmonic concertmaster, Glenn Dicterow has received high accolades. She holds BM and MM in orchestra performance from Manhattan School of Music. http://english.eikonyc.com

Funda Cizmecioglu, Principal Second Violin

Violinist Funda Cizmecioglu performs across a broad musical spectrum and maintains extensive collaborations in the classical and interdisciplinary experimental music scenes in New York City. Funda frequently performs in both pop-up style nontraditional concert venues and renowned traditional concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Feldstein Immersion Room at the Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media. Recent solo and chamber projects involve several world and USA premieres by composers Marina Vesic, Magnus Martensson, Hafliði Hallgrímsson. In April 2023, Funda launched and curated first concert series, entitled “Funda-mentals”, dedicated to giving opportunity to artists with collaborations of music, poetry and visual arts including commissions by composers around the globe.

Funda made her concerto debut with Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2022. She currently holds the position Assistant Concertmaster of Mid America Productions’ Carnegie Hall series And performs with Composers Concordance Ensemble, New York Composers Circle and several Broadway productions frequently. Crossing over into the rock, pop and dance world, she has toured with Pink Martini, Peter Gabriel, Gloria Gaynor, Kishi Bashi, Frank Sinatra Jr., Johnny Mathis, Kanye West, Suzanne Vega , and Max Pollak. Funda holds a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Diploma in Violin Performance from Mannes College of The New School University in New York City. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the State Conservatory of Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey and a Performance Diploma from the International Academy at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. Funda is an avid swimmer, managing to fit miles of swimming into her everyday routine in New York City.

Ouisa Fohrhaltz

Ouisa Fohrhaltz, violinist, has been a member of the Albany Symphony since 1990 and the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Ms. Fohrhaltz is also Orchestra Director and Strings Teacher at Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, MA, a position she has held since 1979.  Ms. Fohrhaltz has a Bachelor of Music in Violin and Bachelor of Music in Education from Hartt College of Music, West Hartford, Connecticut (1973), and received her master’s degree in violin performance from the  University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1985), where she was a Graduate String Quartet member and teaching assistant. Ms. Fohrhaltz is a violin and viola teacher at the Berkshire Music School in Pittsfield, MA, and a member of the Vivante Trio.

Margret Hickey

Margret Hickey has been a member of the Albany Symphony since 1977. After graduating from the Crane School of Music in 1972, she moved to the Capital District to begin a teaching career in string instrument instruction in North Colonie and ending in South Colonie in 2010. Since retiring she has become active in the Suzuki Association of the Capital District and has a Violin/Viola Studio in her home in Clifton Park. She has been an active professional musician throughout these years and performed in the Schenectady, Skidmore, Berkshire, and Glens Falls Symphonies. Chamber music groups include the St. Cecelia Chamber Orchestra, Winds and Strings and Congress Strings. She was a guest artist with the Saratoga Chamber Players and performed a series of piano quintets at the Shenendehowa Methodist Church. Her freelance work includes work with local choral groups, Colonie Coliseum (Starlight Theatre), Washington Park Playhouse, Berkshire Opera, Cohoes Music Hall, Mac-Hayden Theatre, and SPAC.

Her teachers at Crane were Bernard Eichen and Charles Libove and 5 study grants from the Albany Symphony allowed her to do advanced work with Lilo Glick, Joseph MGauley, Gregory Fulkerson, Victor Romanul, and Carrie Reuning-Hummel.

Christine Kim

Christine Kim is a violinist with the Albany Symphony. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance. Her principal teachers include Camilla Wicks, Mitchell Stern, Oleh Krysa and Ilya Kaler. She studied chamber music with members of the Cleveland and Ying Quartets. She has performed with orchestras throughout the Northeast including the New Haven Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. She also is a neurologist on faculty at the Yale School of Medicine, specializing in Movement Disorders. She has a particular interest in treating neurological disorders affecting performing artists. She enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.

Jamecyn Morey

Jamecyn Morey joined the First Violin section of the Albany Symphony in 2012. Ms. Morey also currently serves as Violin Faculty at The College of Saint Rose, is the Co-founder and Director of the Academy for Strings in Albany, and is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician.  

Ms. Morey appeared as a soloist with orchestra at Lincoln Center as part of their Distinguished Concerts International New York series in 2010. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Young Musicians and Artists Festival Orchestra in Oregon playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and served as solo violin with Project Copernicus, a new music ensemble in Miami, FL.

In December of 2009, Jamecyn Morey joined the Hyperion String Quartet as second violinist. Praised by The Strad magazine for their “uncommonly high level of homogeneity and confidence”, the Hyperion String Quartet has performed throughout the United States and Japan, and has held residencies with the Sembrich Opera Museum in Bolton Landing, NY and the Empire State Youth Orchestra. Ms. Morey has also performed in a Violin/Cello Duo “The Copernicus Duo” with her husband, David Bebe, for the past ten years. This ensemble was featured as part of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts “National Showcase”, and premiered a commissioned work as part of Festival Miami.

Before moving to Albany, Ms. Morey was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas, where she led the orchestra as Concertmaster with soloists including Gil Shaham and Itzhak Perlman. In Miami, Ms. Morey also served as Violin Faculty at the New World School of the Arts, was the first violinist of the Miami Music Project String Quartet and was a member of the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra.

Ms. Morey began her studies in Violin Performance at the Interlochen Arts Academy High School, and received degrees from Indiana University, studying with Yuval Yaron and Ilya Kaler, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. While in Chicago, she studied with Robert Chen, Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. As a member of the Civic Orchestra’s MusiCorp program, she held chamber music residencies with the Chicago City Colleges and Chicago Public Elementary Schools.

When not performing or teaching, Ms. Morey is busy with her two young sons, Augustin and Quentin. Her family enjoys living in Upstate New York because of the beautiful hiking, the vibrant cultural community, and the local food movement.

Aleksandra Labinska

Aleksandra Labinska is a versatile violinist performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. She frequently collaborates on contemporary music projects and is a highly sought-after violinist for solo recitals, recording, and educational outreach concerts. Aleksandra frequently ventures outside the classical music realm to pop and rock concerts, video game music, and film-scoring recordings. Aleksandra is a section member of the Grammy award-winning Albany Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and Symphony New Hampshire. She frequently performs with the Hartford Symphony as well as Cape Cod Symphony. As a chamber musician, she is a member of the Virtuoso Soloists of New York, Voyage Piano Trio, and the Mirage Violin Duo. Aleksandra toured with the Boston Chamber Orchestra in southern Japan and participated in the World Music Festival, performing throughout mainland China. She frequently collaborates with the Boston String Ensemble and Atlantic Strings on performing projects and can be heard on BMOP sounds, Naxos recording, and WGBH broadcasting. Aleksandra appeared as a soloist with the Mooredale Concerto Players in Toronto and the Ostinato Chamber Orchestra in Poland.  

Aleksandra is an Adjunct Violin Faculty at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. During the summer months, she teaches at the Luzerne Music Center in upstate NY. Aleksandra holds a Doctorate and Master's degree from the Boston University College of the Arts under the tutelage of Professor Yuri Mazurkevich. Her undergraduate studies were completed at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.

ROWAN HARVEY

Rowan is an Australian violinist who currently lives in New York City. She was awarded the Licentiate of Music with distinction from the Australian Music Examinations Board at the age of 16. Her other achievements include 1st prize in the Gisborne International Music Competition (1996) and the Nescafe Big Break Award. She has been awarded grants from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Queen Elizabeth II Trust, the Ian Potter Foundation, the PPCA Performer’s Trust and the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund. After moving to New York, she obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance from Stony Brook University. As an orchestral violinist, Rowan has performed with the Opera Australia Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra and has been a member of the Sydney String Quartet, the West Michigan Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has taught for many organizations including the Phil Ramone Orchestra for Children, the Harmony Program and the Children’s Aid Society.

heather frank-olsen

Heather Frank-Olsen has been playing with the Albany Symphony Orchestra since 2004. Heather attended Swarthmore College and then completed her master’s degree and artist diploma at SUNY Purchase. She performs with several orchestras, including the Harrisburg Symphony, The Orchestra Now, New England Symphonic Ensemble, The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, New Camerata Opera, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and many more. She enjoys having a varied freelance career that includes regularly performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. When not playing or teaching violin, Heather enjoys reading, cooking, baking, traveling, and running marathons. She lives in New York City in a household with teenage kids, cats, a dog, and never a dull moment. 

myles mocarski

Myles Mocarski has established himself as a dynamic and engaging orchestral violinist across the East Coast. He has been a member of the Albany Symphony since the fall of 2021 and recently joined the Richmond Symphony (Richmond, VA) as Principal Second Violin for the 20232024 season. He previously held a section contract with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony and has been engaged on a substitute basis with the Washington National Opera as well as numerous regional orchestras. He has a been a runner-up and finalist for tenure track and one-year positions with the Air Force Strings, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Myles received a dual degree in music and speech language hearing sciences from the University of Connecticut in 2016, where he was the recipient of a full-tuition scholarship. He graduated summa cum laude and as an honors scholar. Myles subsequently completed a Master of Music degree in violin performance and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance at the University of Maryland in 2019 and 2023 respectively where he held an ensemble assistantship. His primary teachers include Solomiya Ivakhiv, James Stern, Salley Koo, and Mark Rike.

paula oakes

Paula Oakes has been a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra first violin section since 1986.  In 2006, she was awarded a stationary position and has been a recipient of Vanguard scholarships in 1987, ’90, ’94, ’96, 2004, and 2023.  Currently living in Boston, Paula performs regularly with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, and is Principle Second of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.  An active chamber musician, Paula just completed an eighteen year tenure with the Lavazza Chamber Ensemble and currently performs with the Landmarks Principles String Quartet.  The Quartet has garnered a reputation in the greater Boston area for its Music and Memory initiative, performing especially designed programs that foster connections with the memory impaired at retirement communities and nursing home facilities.  

When not performing, Paula devotes time to her extensive flower gardens which now include over two-hundred different varieties of Daylilies.  Currently, Paula is working toward a Bachelors degree in Political Science at Southern New Hampshire University.

EMILY garrison

Violinist Emily Garrison is a multi-faceted freelance performer based in the Lower Hudson Valley/New York City area. She has performed in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. Emily regularly performs with orchestras all over the Tri-State area, including the Albany Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Binghamton Philharmonic, and the NEPA Philharmonic, where she sits assistant principal 2nd violin. Her role as an orchestral musician includes the Grammy Award Winning recording of Christopher Theofanidis’ Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra with the Albany Symphony and the premiere of Wayne Shorter’s opera “Iphigenia”.

In addition to her orchestral career, Emily has had the honor of participating in chamber music projects throughout the northeast, including the NEPA Philharmonic’s chamber series, where she has performed challenging works such as Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. She is an active member of the NYC-based Lotus Chamber Music Collective, a string quartet featuring female/female identifying composers, as well as POC and LGBTQ+ artists and community members, at the forefront of their programming.

At home, Emily enjoys exploring unconventional instrumentation with husband and jazz saxophonist/composer Matt Garrison. Together they formed Scroll & Reed in 2019, a duo which features unique arrangements of jazz standards and pop tunes, as well as original compositions.

Gabriela rengel

Gabriela Rengel is a Venezuelan born violinist and violist emanating from the internationally acclaimed music development program, El Sistema in Venezuela, and has been a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra since 2005. In addition to her orchestral work with ASO, she has performed with the Hudson Valley Symphony, Allentown Symphony, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Plainfield Symphony, and the Oratorio Society of Queens. Gabriela enjoys playing a variety of genres, always dedicated to playing with groups that bring attention to the repertoire of Latin composers, such as the Association of Dominican Classical Artists (ADCA), the Multicultural Music Group, and the Música de Cámara Organization.

Most recently, Gabriela has been performing on Broadway, serving as concertmaster for the revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, and has played on shows Ain’t Too Proud, Tootsie, The Music Man, Funny Girl, & Juliet, A Beautiful Noise, and Sondheim’s posthumous musical, Here We Are. Gabriela is eternally passionate about chamber music, having performed with the Madison String Quartet for many years. She collaborates regularly as a guest artist with the Sweet Plantain String Quartet, and regularly partners with ASO colleague and principal second violinist, Funda Cizmecioglu, exploring new violin duet repertoire by living composers. Gabriela holds a Master degree in Music Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College where she focused her studies on chamber music. She performs on a modern violin made in New York by luthier Martin Nitsche.