Musicians

Violin
· Brian Lewis, Concertmaster
· Brinna Brinkerhoff
· Aloysia Friedmann
· Jonathan Godfrey
· Andrés González
· Rachel Jordan
· Rasa Kalesnykaite
· Kana Kimura
· Maxine Kuo
· Tammy Linn
· Deborah Tien Price
· Oleg Sulyga
· Amy Thiaville

Viola
· Matt Dane
· Suzanne LeFevre
· Tawnya Popoff
· Lorento Golofeev

Cello
· Richard Belcher
· Julia Cleworth
· Erika Johnson
· Shino Hayashi

Bass
· Sandor Ostlund
· Erik Gronfor

Harp
· Mollie Marcuson

Flute/Piccolo
· Christina Jennings
· Jennifer Keeney

Oboe
· Alecia Lawyer

Clarinet
· Nathan Williams
· Maiko Sasaki

Bassoon
· Kristin Wolfe Jensen
· Daniel Chrisman

Horn
· Danielle Kuhlmann
· Gavin Reed

Trumpet
· Jens Lindemann
· Dan Shipman
· George Chase

Trombone
· Brian Logan

Percussion
· Matthew McClung

Piano
· Kimi Kawashima
· Rodney Waters

Maiko Sasaki Instrument: Clarinet Originally from: Chiba, Japan Now reside in: Houston, TX Age: 36 Birthday: December 31

How did you get started? At age 7, I joined a band program at a local public school. I was assigned to play trombone first, and then bassoon. Finally, the band director realized I was too small for either instrument. So he sent me to the clarinet section, a salvage part for kids who couldn’t get other instruments… THANK GOD! I LOVE CLARINET!!!

How long have you performed with ROCO? I played in the very first ROCO performance. However, I had to wait for 3 years to join them again according to the schedule conflict with the school.

What do you do when you’re not playing with ROCO? I am a DMA student at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. I perform at various occasions in Houston such as Opera in the Heights and String Divisi. Also, I travel back to Japan for concerts from time to time.

What are you listening to on your iPod? Yo-Yo Ma.

Personal info: Single.

Interests outside music: Computer, swimming, movies.

Links: www.facebook.com/people/Maiko-Sasaki/628617104

Education: BM & MM: Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music; currently working on DMA at Rice University.

Bio: A native of Chiba, Japan, Maiko Sasaki has performed with prestigious arts organizations throughout the musical spectrum, appearing with The Houston Grand Opera, Da Camera of Houston, Musiqa, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Opera in the Heights, The Texas Repertory Theatre Co., Bayou City Concert Musicals, and Main Street Theater. She is also an active recitalist, and has been invited as a guest artist at Houston’s Japanese Consulate and Houston Young Artist Concerts. In addition, Ms. Sasaki has been featured at the Kennedy Center with The Conservatory Project. Also, she has appeared as a soloist of Concerto works by Alvin Etlar and Carl Nielsen with the Shepherd School Orchestra, and collaborated with Benjamin Kamins in the Richard Strauss’s Duett Concertino.

Also active as a period instrument (five-keyed clarinet) player, Ms. Sasaki has served as principal clarinetist of the Orchestra Symposion, and has toured with Anner Bylsma, and the Bach Collegium Japan. In addition to her passion for classical and romantic repertoire, Ms. Sasaki finds her interests in working with contemporary composers. She has commissioned numerous works by a Japanese composer Kunihiro Kato and these recordings, Suite Nostalgia, Two Clarinet Sonatas, and Adieu Todoroki can be found on the Office Makina label. She also appears on the recording of Society of Composers, Inc. “Musings” published by Capstone Records which features the work of Karim Al-Zand.

Ms. Sasaki has won numerous awards for her work, including first prize in the International Clarinet Association Orchestra Audition Competition, the Shepherd School of Music Concerto Competition, and the JILA Music Competition in Tokyo. Ms. Sasaki holds a Master’s degree in music from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and is currently studying for her doctoral degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music with Professor Michael Webster. Her doctoral studies have been aided by a scholarship from the Nomura Cultural Foundation and she was awarded a prestigious Presser Award, a grant for musician’s summer project.