Diana Haskell - Associate Principal Clarinet, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

Diana Haskell is currently Associate Principal Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet with the St. Louis Symphony, under the direction of Music Director David Robertson. She has held Principal positions in five orchestras and has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Cuba, Europe, and Japan. Haskell began her career as Principal Clarinet with the Savannah Symphony and also joined the Charleston Symphony as Principal Clarinet for one season. Soon after, she joined the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Clarinet under the direction of Maestro Semyon Bychkov. In 1991, she joined the Milwaukee Symphony as Associate Principal, Second Clarinet and E-flat Clarinet. Later former STL Symphony Music Advisor Itzhak Perlman invited Haskell to join the St. Louis Symphony as Assistant Principal Clarinet. Robertson appointed her as Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet.

As a finalist in the Naumberg International Competition, Haskell performed a solo recital in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. Haskell was Principal Clarinet for the Grammy award-winning recording of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, an opera directed by Gian Carlo Menotti and produced by New World Records.

Haskell has taught at SUNY Buffalo, Houghton College, UW Whitewater, Savannah College of Art and Design, Armstrong State College, and Wisconsin Lutheran College. She has given master classes at universities and conservatories in Japan, Cuba, Europe, and the United States. She maintains an active private clarinet studio in St. Louis, specializing in audition preparation for high school, college, and post-graduate students. Her teaching website may be found at dianahaskell.musicteachershelper.com/home.

Haskell's students occupy positions with orchestras around the country and in bands of the Armed Forces. Former students also have become public and private school band directors, administrators, and private music instructors.

Haskell earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman School of Music, where she studied with D. Stanley Hasty, and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where she worked with Joseph Allard. Her early studies were with James Barkow, and she worked with Mitchell Lurie at Music Academy of the West. Haskell was a high school camper at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and has been Principal Clarinet in many summer music festivals, such as Santa Fe Opera, Colorado Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and Lake Placid Sinfonietta.

Haskell is a Buffet-Crampon Artist and also is an artist for Vandoren by DANSR.

Diana Haskell’s CD, Clarinet Enchantments (AAM Recordings) has received critical acclaim. It can be purchased on iTunes, Amazon, or at AAM Recordings website https://www.aamrecordings.com.

Revised 5/15

David Halen - First Violin, Concertmaster

David Halen is living a dream that began as a youth the first time he saw the St. Louis Symphony perform in Warrensburg, Missouri. Born in Bellevue, Ohio, he didn’t have to look far for his musical influences: his father, the late Walter J. Halen, was also his violin professor at Central Missouri State University; his mother, a former member of the Kansas City Symphony; and his older brother, the Acting Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Halen began playing the violin at the age of six, and earned his bachelor’s degree at the age of 19. In that same year, he won the Music Teachers National Association Competition and was granted a Fulbright scholarship for study with Wolfgang Marschner at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik in Germany, the youngest recipient ever to have been honored with this prestigious award. In addition, Halen holds a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, studying with Sergiu Luca.

Halen served as Assistant Concertmaster with the Houston Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona and Christoph Eschenbach until 1991. He then came to St. Louis, where he was permanently named Concertmaster in September 1995, without audition, by the Orchestra, and with the endorsement of then Music Directors Leonard Slatkin and Hans Vonk. He has soloed with the orchestra in much of the major concerti in the violin repertoire. In addition, he has soloed with the Houston, San Francisco and West German Radio (Cologne) symphonies.

During the summer he teaches and performs extensively, serving as Concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also soloed, taught and served as Concertmaster extensively at the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, the National Orchestra Institute at the University of Maryland, the Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. In 2007 he was appointed Distinguished Visiting Artist at Yale University, and at the new Robert Mcduffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. In the fall of 2012, Halen join the string faculty of the University of Michigan.

As cofounder and artistic director of the Innsbrook Institute, Halen coordinates a weeklong festival, in June, of exciting musical performances and an enclave for aspiring artists. In August, he is artistic director of the Missouri River Festival of the Arts in Boonville, Missouri. His numerous accolades include the 2002 St. Louis Arts and Entertainment Award for Excellence, and an honorary doctorate from Central Missouri State University and from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.

David Halen plays on a 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan, Italy. He is married to Korean-born soprano Miran Cha Halen and has a teenage son.

Susan Gordon - Viola

A native of Bay Village, Ohio, Susan Gordon was appointed to the viola section of the St. Louis Symphony in March 1987. Before joining the STL Symphony, she was a member of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra String Quartet in Residence, where she studied with Dr. Jerzy Kosmala, Professor of Viola at Louisiana State University. Gordon holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Edward Ormond and later joined the class of Cleveland Orchestra Principal Viola, Robert Vernon (the two are former members of the STL Symphony). Gordon has served the STL Symphony in numerous roles including Co-Chair of the Musician’s Council for many years and with various other committees.

She is one of the founders of a local recording company, AAM Recordings, dedicated to helping local musicians make their recording projects a reality. In 2009, Gordon established the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis with her husband, Marc, which has enjoyed great acclaim in the St. Louis community. She enjoys performing chamber music in this informal environment and the challenge of administrating the organization. Outside of her musical activities, Susan Gordon enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with her husband. (Rev 6/5/13)

Jeremy Davenport

Jeremy Davenport is a vital part of the New Orleans music scene. With his original lyrics and music, Jeremy infuses his unique style and mood of storytelling creating not only a modern edge, but also the distinct feeling of a lifestyle reminiscent of a time when Jazz was at its peak of popularity. He is known for his vocal and trumpet playing skills, as well as being a born entertainer. Davenport’s showing has tempted such performers as Sting, Paul McCartney, Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall.

Jeremy Davenport was born in St. Louis, Missouri into a family of musicians. His mother has been a music educator for nearly 50 years and his father recently retired, after 40 years, from the St. Louis Symphony. From a young age Jeremy studied and played with members and guests of the St. Louis Symphony, which included an early introduction to Jazz great, Wynton Marsalis. Upon finishing high school, Jeremy was accepted to the acclaimed Manhattan School of Music, under the direction of Raymond Mase. He continued to develop a friendship with Marsalis and it was at this time that Wynton introduced Davenport to Harry Connick, Jr. Together they persuaded Jeremy to move to New Orleans. He enrolled at the University of New Orleans and began training under the patriarch of the Marsalis family, Ellis Marsalis – music educator and jazz pianist. Jeremy went on to play with Harry Connick, Jr.’s Big Band for 6 years touring around the world.

In 1996, Jeremy released his first album, self-titled “Jeremy Davenport” (Telarc, followed by “Maybe In a Dream” (Telarc) in 1998 and “Live at the Bistro” (AAM) in 2005. He was featured on the soundtrack to the Luke Perry film “Life Breath”, on the “RCA Victor” compilation, “The Only Jazz Album You’ll Ever Need”. In 2009 Jeremy released the solo album "We'll Dance 'Til Dawn" (Basin Street Records) to much critical acclaim. He has been featured in GQ Magazine, People Magazine, Cosmo; and has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the David Letterman Show.

Mark Sparks, Principal Flute, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

Herbert C. and Estelle Claus Chair

Mark Sparks was appointed Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony by the late Hans Vonk in 2000. He is a frequent soloist with the Symphony and other orchestras and has performed in the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, South America, and Asia. He has appeared as Guest Principal Flutist with many ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic.

Prior to his appointment in St. Louis Sparks was Associate Principal Flute with the Baltimore Symphony under David Zinman, and Principal Flute of the San Antonio Symphony and the Memphis Symphony. He began his career as Principal in the Canton Ohio Symphony and in Venezuela with the Caracas Philharmonic.

In the summer of 2013 Sparks returned to the Aspen Music Festival and School where he is an artist-faculty member and Principal Flute of the Aspen Chamber Symphony. He also taught his fourth annual master class at Missouri's Innsbrook Institute, and joined the faculty of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.

Sparks is an enthusiastic teacher and maintains a private studio in St. Louis. He is a former full-time faculty member of the Peabody Institute, and frequently presents clinics and recitals in the U.S. and abroad. Sparks has recorded two solo albums, appearing on the Summit and AAM labels, and a new recording of French repertoire for flute and piano is planned for release in 2013. Sparks is also an avid writer about flute playing, and is a regular contributor to Flute Talk magazine's feature "From the Principal's Chair."

Born in 1960 and raised in Cleveland and St. Louis, Sparks graduated Pi Kappa Lambda from the Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Robert Willoughby, winning the 1982 Oberlin Concerto Prize.

Rev. 2/13.

Clinton Adams, Piano

Clinton Adams, pianist, was born in Hartford Connecticut. He studied with Raymond Hanson, Artur Balsam, Fernando Laires and Nina Svetlanova. As a teenager he won a number of competitions and has performed with many orchestras in the USA as a concerto soloist. As a collaborative artist he has accompanied many world-renowned artists in North and South America, Europe and Africa. He holds degrees from the Hartt College of Music, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Since 1983 he has been on the faculty of Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. In spite of his full teaching schedule, Mr. Adams is in constant demand as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative artist. He has toured extensively under the auspices of the Gregor Piatagorsky Foundation, and has recorded on the Summit and Leonarda labels. His playing has been acclaimed internationally as "elegant, sensitive, colorful, and meticulous."

Gerry Pagano

Now into my 4th decade of life as a professional musician, my path has been a long and winding one, and this (not too short!) bio describes much of my travels along the way. I hope you can relate to some of it, and see your own experiences reflected somewhere in all of it. Take a deep breath, .. now ready..go!

I started out playing my dad's trombone (I found in a closet) and was a very poor student. I became more serious about it around the 7th grade,( the same year I met Steve Norrell, lifelong friend and high school and college buddy) and really became interested when I first made Georgia Allstate band in 9th grade. I was drum major of my high school marching band, and went to Brevard Music Center summer of my junior year. This really got my attention, and I met Charles Vernon for the first time. My first paying gig was as a senior in high school, in a dixieland band. (along with Philip Clark, fellow Cedar Shoals student, now trumpet in the Kansas City Symphony)

College was four years at UGA, a music ed major, until my senior year, when a jazz quartet I was working weekend gigs with got me thinking about performing instead of teaching. After my 4th year at UGA, I had the chance to join a group out of Atlanta, The Cody Marshall Band, and spent the next year and a half traveling and playing such places as Saudi Arabia, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Reno and Lake Tahoe Nevada.

As my time was coming to an end with Cody, I found an opportunity to move to Phoenix, Arizona, where I had hopes of working. (here I was reunited with my old pal, Steve Norrell, who was playing with Phoenix at the time) I spent 4 years freelancing there, and played shows such as Chorus Line, Annie, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. Liberace, and started taking orchestra auditions. I tried out for the Phoenix Symphony a few times, never advancing, and won a job with the Tucson Symphony on bass trombone.

At this point, I realized if I was going to win a full time orchestra job, I would need further schooling. I was able to get into Juilliard, and once again was helped by, you guessed it, Steve Norrell, now in the Met orchestra. 3 years in New York gave me some wonderful experiences, in and out of school. I played with the Met, and was Fortunate to play Die Valkyrie, along with a fair amount of other extra work. I went with the Juilliard Orchestra on the Asia tour in 1987, and after completing my BM and MM in June that same year, won the Bass Trombone job in the San Francisco Ballet the following October.

I spent eight great years living in the Bay area, and had more opportunities there, including performing the 1990 Ring Cycle with the San Francisco Opera, recording the Alpine Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony in 1988, and making great friends along the way (such as Peter Wahrhaftig). I met my wife there, and we got pregnant just prior to the audition in St Louis in June 1995. With this extra incentive, I won the position, and we moved to St Louis September. My daughter Emily was born on my birthday in October that year.

I have been in the SLSO ever since that time. It has been a wonderful, varied life, filled with great music, many friends, and a love of trombone. I have played everything from salsa, Chinese funerals, opera, ballet, brass quintet, Broadway shows, Dixieland, marching band, and others I can't recall. I have been to music festivals at Tanglewood, Bear Valley, Carmel Bach, Teton Festival, Great Woods, Waterloo, Interlochen, taught at Scottsdale Community College, UC Santa Cruz, University of Missouri St Louis, master classes at Mizzou, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, Millikin College, Illinois State University, UMKC, Eastern Trombone workshop, ITA, traveled to most of the 50 states, Europe, asia, latin america. I greatly enjoy my work now with my colleagues, as we have formed The Trombones of the St Louis Symphony, and have a CD to be released soon. We have also established the St. Louis Low Brass Collective, a non profit organization designed to further the appreciation and understanding of low brass, through master classes, concerts, workshops in the St Louis area. Through my life in music, I have many friends around the country, and continue to explore the wonderful world of trombone. Who knows what's next, maybe a concert near you. If you do see me, please come up and say hello, and I hope you enjoy.

Sarah Coburn

American soprano Sarah Coburn is captivating international audiences with her "precision placement, mercury speed, and a gorgeous liquid gold tone, gilded by a thrilling top and bottom register" (The Globe and Mail). Following her performances as Lucie de Lammermoor at Glimmerglass Opera, the New York Observer noted "she turns out to have qualities that have made legends out of so many of her predecessors, from Adelina Patti to Maria Callas: stage charisma, a thrilling upper register and, crucially, a fearlessness about abandoning herself to opera’s most abandoned heroine … this is a palpably exciting voice ... Ms. Coburn is a budding prima donna of exceptional promise."

Ms. Coburn's 2017-2018 season includes concerts with tenor Lawrence Brownlee, both at the Tivoli Festival with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and in Jurmala, Latvia. The season will also include a role and company debut as Manon in Opera Santa Barbara’s production of Manon, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Choral Arts Society of Washington at the Kennedy Center.

Ms. Coburn's 2016-2017 season included a return to the Tivoli Festival for a concert with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Adèle in Le comte Ory with Seattle Opera, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera San Antonio, and a role and company debut as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Atlanta Opera.

Ms. Coburn has appeared in concert with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic at the Tivoli Festival, and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra; and Handel & Haydn Society as soloist for Elijah and Messiah. She has also sung Messiah with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra; Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Wind Symphony; and has joined the Seattle Symphony for Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

Ms. Coburn has appeared in concert with Bryn Terfel with Florida Grand Opera, as well as in a duo-recital for the United States Supreme Court; in recital with Lawrence Brownlee for the Vocal Arts Society, with Los Angeles Opera and the Mark Morris Dance Group in Handel’s “L’allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato” and in recital at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Ms. Coburn has received awards from the George London Foundation, The Richard Tucker Foundation, The Jensen Foundation, The Liederkranz Foundation, Opera Index, and was a National Grand Finalist in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Haruka Watanabe

No biography available at this time.

Hideki Watanabe, organist

No current biography available at this time.

Peter Henderson, piano

A versatile pianist, Peter Henderson is active as a performer in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings. Since fall 2005, Mr. Henderson has served as Assistant Professor of Music at Maryville University. He performs frequently as an ensemble keyboardist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and made his first appearance as a subscription-concert soloist with the SLSO in January 2008. Over the past five seasons, he has often given Pre-Concert Perspectives from the SLSO's Powell Hall stage prior to subscription concerts. Mr. Henderson has coached chamber music at the San Diego Chamber Music Workshop each summer since 2001, and was an orchestral and chamber keyboardist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony during its 2004 and 2006-2009 seasons. In 2003, he was a winner of the St. Louis-based Artist Presentation Society's auditions. Mr. Henderson holds the degree Doctor of Music from Indiana University-Bloomington (having studied piano there with Dr. Karen Shaw); before attending IU, Mr. Henderson studied piano at the University of Idaho with Dr. Jay Mauchley.

Mr. Henderson’s ongoing musical partnerships include the St. Louis-based Ilex Piano Trio, featuring SLSO musicians Kristin Ahlstrom, violinist (his lovely wife), and Anne Fagerburg, cellist. Mr. Henderson is also an advocate of new music, having given several premieres of solo piano works during the past several years. He and his wife live in St. Louis's South City with their willful but charming dog Zack.