Orchestra Personnel

Music Director Larry Rachleff

The 2010-2011 Season is Music Director Larry Rachleff’s 15th with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also the  Director of Orchestras and the Walter Kris Hubert chair at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston. Mr. Rachleff has guest conducted with the Utah, Houston, Seattle, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Phoenix and Toledo Symphonies and the Dayton Philharmonic, among many others. His Summer Festivals include Tanglewood, Aspen, Interlochen, Brevard Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

A former faculty member of Oberlin Conservatory, where he was Music Director of Orchestras and Conductor of the Contemporary Ensemble, he also served as conductor of the Opera Theatre at the University of Southern California. He has conducted and presented masterclasses all over the world, including the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Zurich Hochschule, the Sydney and Queensland, Australia conservatories, the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory and Royal Northern College in the U.K.

Larry is an enthusiastic advocate of public school music education. He has conducted All-State orchestras and festivals in virtually every state in the United States as well as throughout Europe and Canada. He has also served as principal conducting teacher for the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Conductors’ Guild and the International Workshop for Conductors in the Czech Republic.

He is a dedicated advocate of contemporary music and has collaborated with leading composers including Samuel Adler, the late Luciano Berio, George Crumb, Michael Daugherty and John Harbison, among others.
Larry lives in Houston with his wife, soprano Susan Lorette Dunn, and their young son, Sam.

Resident Conductor Francisco Noya

The 2010-2011 Season is Francisco Noya’s 13th with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. As Resident Conductor, he presents pre-concert talks and serves as “cover” conductor for all Classical concerts. He conducts the education concerts, the POPS-PHIL-PPAC Series and Summer Pops concerts. He joins Music Director Larry Rachleff representing the Philharmonic artistically and educationally throughout Rhode Island

Mr. Noya began his career in the United States in 1979 and since that time he has guest conducted with the Baltimore, San Antonio and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, among others. He was Music Director of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in Albany, New York for ten seasons.

Mr. Noya is a prominent figure in the New England music scene. He was Music Director of the Longwood Symphony in Boston for 12 seasons. He is currently on the Conducting Faculty of the Berklee College of Music and is the Music Director of the Berklee College Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Venezuela, Mr. Noya served as Assistant Conductor of the Caracas Philharmonic and Assistant to the Music Director of the Teatro Teresa Carreño. He has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras in Brazil, Venezuela, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Russia.

During the summer of 2008 Mr. Noya returned to Venezuela where he held Master Classes for 25 young conductors of the famed El Sistema,  the world-renowned music-education program of that country. He also conducted two concerts in Caracas for the Miranda State Orchestra, one of the El Sistema orchestras.

Mr. Noya currently resides in Providence and can frequently be spotted on the tennis courts at Roger Williams Park.

Musicians of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra

Violin I

Charles Sherba, Concertmaster
Charles Dimmick, Assistant Concertmaster
Katherine Winterstein
Abigail Karr
Sophia Herman
Etsuko Ishizuka
Barbara Lefkowitz
Megumi Stohs
Omar Guey
Alexander Romanul*
Ella Leone
Alexey Shabalin
Nikola Takov*
Zoia Bologovsky

Violin II

Amy Rawstron, Principal
Lois Finkel, Assistant Principal
Anyoaneta  Angulova
Tera Gorsett
Anna Korsvnsky
Ann Samuelson
Laura Gulley
Sasha Callahan
Melody Albanese
Mina Lavcheva

Viola

Abigail Cross, Principal
Susan Culpo, Assistant Principal
Sarah Darling
Robert Meyer
Christine Orio
Russell Wilson
Stephanie Fong
Harold Lieberman

Cello

Alexei Gonzales, Principal
Melanie Dyball, Assistant Principal
Jan Pfeiffer-Rios
Jing Li
Sara Stalnaker*
Rebecca Thornblade
Mark Schroeder
Sandra Kiefer

Bass

Barry Boettger, Principal
Robert Caplin, Assistant Principal
Eliot Porter
Anthony D’Amico
Joseph Higgins
Nancy Kidd

Flute

Susan Thomas, Principal
Kathleen Boyd
Rachel Braude

Oboe

Cheryl Bishkoff, Principal
Denise Plaza-Martin
Jane Murray

Clarinet

Ian Greitzer, Principal
Aline Benoit
Tom Parchman

Bassoon

Ron Haroutunian, Principal
Shoshana Dobrow*
Margaret Phillips

Horn

Kevin Owen, Principal
Kathy Hunt
Whit Hill
Elizabeth Dean Gates

Trumpet

Joe Foley, Principal 
Gene Crisafulli
Mary Lynne Bohn

Trombone

Darren Acosta*, Principal
Gabriel Langfur

Tuba

Greg Fritze, Principal

Timpani

Craig McNutt, Principal

Percussion

Robert McEwan, Principal
Vallerie Smalley

Harp

Hyunjung Choi

* Leave of absence

Personnel Manager
Gene Crisafulli

Librarian
Jean Gress