Judith Armistead Fitzpatrick, violin, has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since the 1998-99 season. Previously she performed with the New World Symphony in South Miami Beach.

While with the New World Symphony, Judith worked with Michael Tilson Thomas (Artistic Director) and performed extensively both in the U.S. and abroad including Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. Judith also teaches, and she has taught for two summers at The Brevard Music Center and is a member of The Suzuki Association of America.

Previously, Judith performed at the Echternach Music Festival in Luxembourg, and the Spoleto Music Festival in Spoleto, Italy. In 2001, she performed throughout South Africa and Zimbabwe with composer and conductor John Rutter. Active as a chamber musician, Judith has played in the Cellini String Quartet and the Coronado Piano Trio, as well as Klezmer and Bassa Nova ensembles.

John (Jack) Gardner joined the New Orleans Symphony (later the LPO) in 1984 and has served in many functions, including: associate principal horn, personnel manager, serving on several LPO committees, and as an arranger and composer.

Jack has a BA in Music and a BA in Music Education from Murray State University, Kentucky and a Masters of Music from Indiana University.
He has lived in New Orleans for more than 42 years. He serves as a part-time instructor of horn and brass at Loyola University as well as an occasional instructor at several of the other universities, University of New Orleans, Delgado, Xavier, Tulane, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the New Orleans Baptist Seminary, when there is a need.

From 1968 through the present Jack has been third and associate principal horn with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in the summer and the piano technician for the opera since 1969 along with being the Committee Chairman.

Jack has performed with many groups. He was a Guest soloist with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, including a recording of the works in that concert. He has performed with the Loyola Faculty Woodwind and Brass Quintets. He also has had to the honor to be guest concerto soloist with Loyola Orchestra(horn), Tulane Orchestra(horn) and Jefferson Performing Arts Symphony(harpsichord).

He has conducted several performances of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" for local organizations. Accompanist and rehearsal coach for Loyola productions of "The Crucible," "Music Man" and "Cosi Fan Tutte." Conductor of the Loyola Brass Ensemble for the inauguration services of Mayor Bartholemy's, 1986 and 1990, in the St. Louis Cathedral. Conductor for New Orleans Children Theater production of "Rumpelstilskin" 1988. Extra keyboard for the NOS and LPO. Nineteen years as pianist for Patti Adams and Friends at Windsor Court.

He has composed and arranged several pieces for many local groups, New Orleans Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Loyola Faculty Woodwind Quintet, Symphony Brass Quintet and Loyola student ensembles. In 1987, he arranged six pieces for full orchestra for the Papal visit.

Jack's personal life is devoted to his two greatest interests, church and family. His hobbies include computers, music (of course) and five grandchildren.

John Reeks plays Clarinet, Bass Clarinet and Saxophones in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He is one of the founding members of the Philharmonic and has served as its President. He has held the position of Clarinet Instructor on the faculty of Loyola University for fifteen years. John is married to fellow LPO clarinetist Stephanie Thompson. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist on clarinet and plays on Backun barrels, bells, and mouthpieces.

John grew up in the "Lower Ninth Ward" of New Orleans in a family filled with generations of musical and graphic artists. He has played orchestral music professionally for over 30 years. In addition to the LPO, he has also worked with the San Antonio Symphony and the orchestras of the Santa Fe and Glimmerglass Operas. He was a member of the Spike Jones Band when that group was revamped in 1992. He has been a member of the chamber music group MUSAICA since it's inception.

John has recorded with artists ranging in diversity from Randy Newman to Nine Inch Nails. His latest recording project was sponsored by Loyola University and the Yamaha Corporation. It resulted in the recently-released CD Old Wine In New Bottles, which is available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/reeksjohn . John has also presented the U.S. premiere of Dietrich Erdmann's Concerto for Bass Clarinet (with the Louisiana Philharmonic) in February, 2005. He has performed at numerous International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests, including the world premiere of Stephen Dankner's Adagio Appassionata: New Orleans, August 29, 2005. He was a Host of ClarinetFest 2001 in New Orleans.

Flutist Dean Miller has been Principal Flutist of the Louisiana Philharmonic and the New Orleans Symphony since 1969.

A native of Ohio, he studied at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia prior to receiving a Fulbright Grant for advanced study in Vienna, Austria. He has performed with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Positions he has held before coming to New Orleans, include Principal Flutist of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Principal Flutist of the Minnesota Orchestra, and Principal Flutist of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra.

Carole Shand has been a viola player for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra ever since her return in 1992.

Prior to joining the New Orleans Symphony in 1966, Carole Shand graduated from St. Olaf College with a Bachelor of Arts.

After spending time at the Univ. of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, earning her Bachelor of Science, she returned to the LPO.

Byron Tauchi is currently the principal second violin in the Louisiana Philharmonic.

He has served as concertmaster of the National Orchestral Association, the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and as associate concertmaster of the San Jose Symphony. He has been a faculty member at the Brevard Music Festival since 1992 and has served as the chair of the string area. He has also been a member of the faculty at the University of Santa Clara and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Tauchi has performed as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Spain, Denmark, Italy and the Ukraine. Recent performances have been in Nevada, California, Washington, Oklahoma and North Carolina. He made his first concerto appearance with orchestra at the age of thirteen.

Tauchi attended the Manhattan School of Music studying with Raphael Bronstein and Ariana Bronne. He also holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Benjamin Atherholt is currently the assistant principal bassoonist and contrabassoonist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Ben began playing with the LPO in 2006. Ben won his position while pursuing his graduate degree at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Ben received his Bachelor of Music in bassoon performance with a minor in composition from Oberlin Conservatory.

Ben and Amy, his younger sister, grew up in Houston, Texas in a very musical family. His mother, Paula Castrucci, is a singer and choir director and was featured frequently with her church choir. She also plays and teaches piano. Ben's father, Robert Atherholt, is currently principal oboist of the Houston Symphony, since 1984. He is also professor of oboe at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.

Ben's principal teachers include Benjamin Kamins, George Sakakeeny, and Jeff Robinson. In 2006 Ben performed a transcription of selections from Rossini's Barber of Seville for two bassoons with Frank Morelli at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. Ben has performed with the Houston and Alabama Symphonies, and enjoys composing in his free time.

PATTI ADAMS is solo piccoloist and Assistant Principal flutist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Music Festival and recorded and toured internationally with the Mexico City Philharmonic as co-principal flutist.

She has been a frequent concerto soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, most recently performing the Liebermann Piccolo Concerto in the Spring of 2000. In addition to her musical duties with the LPO, Patti played an active role in the start-up period of the orchestra, serving as Director of Marketing for three seasons. She continues to participate in the governance of the LPO, currently serving as a member of its Board of Trustees, an honorary member of the Symphony Volunteers and was President of the Orchestra for the 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 seasons.

Patti is Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Flute Association and, in 1997, produced and hosted the NFA's 25th anniversary convention in Chicago, attended by over 5000 flutists from around the world. She has performed at numerous NFA conventions including New York, Orlando, Boston, St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City, and Albuquerque and was featured as the cover story of the February 2004 Flute Talk magazine.

She is on the faculty of Loyola University and maintains a busy performing schedule, presenting recitals and masterclasses throughout the country. She has appeared as guest artist at numerous flute festivals around the country including Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Raleigh, NC and has presented masterclasses at Rice, University of Michigan, Ohio State University and others. Her major teachers include Julius Baker and Everett Timm. She performed in masterclasses with Jean-Pierre Rampal, Maxence Larrieu, Sam Baron and William Bennett. She was a finalist in the Geneva and Naumburg Flute Competitions and a prize winner in the Charleston Symphony and National Flute Association's Young Artist Competitions.

She is a member of the Community Advisory Board of WWNO radio and is a member of the Classical Arts Award Committee for Gambit Weekly. Since 1984, she has coordinated chamber music activities for the acclaimed Windsor Court Hotel and performed for Afternoon Tea.

Patti enjoys all things artistic, including painting in oils and water based media. She is an award winning member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society and studies at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art, where she is a student of Auseklis Ozols. She was the Rex Proclaimation artist for 2008 and her artwork was featured on the 2006 Windsor Court Christmas card. As a calligrapher, her work has appeared in Bon Appetit, Southern Living and Victoria magazines, at Mardi Gras for the Pickwick Club and throughout the Windsor Court Hotel. She spends her summers in Colorado with her husband, LPO timpanist Jim Atwood, in their tiny mountaintop cabin with their very large Old English Sheepdog, Gracie.

Jim Atwood began as timpanist with the New Orleans Symphony (now, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1988 under music director Maxim Shostakovich. Jim's performing experiences over three decades are many and varied, ranging from the recording studios of the advertising world (where he also was a writer and arranger) to performances in concert halls around the world as timpanist and percussionist with the Mexico City Philharmonic. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the National Repertoire Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival as well as his critically acclaimed LPO performances in 1998 of David Schiff's timpani concerto, "Speaking in Drums". He has performed as a guest with many orchestras and chamber music groups, including the Hamburg Symphony, The New York Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, and the Bläserquintett der Staatskapelle Berlin. Most recently, he appeared as a featured artist at the Festival Internacional de Percusion de Patagonia in Argentina.

Jim is the director of the nationally renowned Cloyd Duff Timpani Masterclass at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri at Kansas City, sponsored by Adams Musical Instruments, and appears in masterclasses, clinics and percussion festival events across the country in presentations covering every aspect of the timpanist's art and craft. He has recorded on the Forlane label (including a Grand Prix du Disque), Decca, Centaur, Albany, Nonesuch and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

Violinist Yuki Tanaka has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since January 2000.

Before joining the LPO, she performed with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra, and the Asia America Symphony. She has freelanced throughout Los Angeles.

Born in Japan, Yuki began her violin studies at the age of three. At age eight, she made her recital debut. She holds degrees from the Toho School of Music and the University of Southern California. Her principal teachers include Angela Eto, Toshiya Eto and Eudice Shapiro.

Ms. Tanaka gives solo recitals regularly, and has performed in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Tokyo, Nagano and Kawasaki. As a chamber musician, she plays with numerous groups, including New Orleans based ensemble "Musaica" of which she is one of the founding members.

In December 2005, while displaced by Katrina, Yuki organized "the Hurricane Benefit Concert" in Tokyo to support the LPO.
During the summer, Ms. Tanaka participates in the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Also, she plays with the Nagoya Philharmonic and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras in Japan.

Valborg Gross has been a violist in the Louisiana Philharmonic orchestra since 1994, and played violin in the orchestra during its first two seasons. She is currently chair of the orchestra's Concert Committee and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, and formerly served as Treasurer and President of the organization.

In addition to her work with the LPO, Val has taught viola at Tulane University as an Adjunct Instructor since 1987. In June 2006 she was honored to perform in the World Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris, France.

Val received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Vassar College, followed by a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she was a student of Lillian Fuchs. She is a member of the American Sinfonietta, and performed with this chamber orchestra on four European tours and at the Bellingham Festival of Music from 1993-2002.

Prior to moving to New Orleans, she was a member of the Florida Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, and Principal Viola in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Maracaibo in Venezuela. She was a faculty member and performer at the Eastern Music Festival from 1987-1996, and studied at the Aspen Music Festival and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival.

She is married to Bob Gross, and they have two children, David and Elizabeth.

Stephanie Thompson is enjoying her 10th year as the Assistant Principal/Second/E-flat Clarinetist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and currently serves as Orchestra President. Prior to her position in New Orleans, she performed with numerous orchestras in the United States and Canada and spent a season with the Sarasota Opera Company after Hurricane Katrina.

An active chamber musician and teacher, she is a founding member of Musaica, an eclectic performing ensemble based in New Orleans, and teaches at Loyola University New Orleans. Stephanie received her Doctorate in Clarinet Performance from the University of Michigan; her teachers have included Clark Brody, Fred Ormand, Ted Oien and Mark Nuccio.

Her business, Stephanie Thompson Woodwind Services, specializes in repair and restoration of clarinets and oboes.

She is married to LPO bass clarinetist John Reeks, has two cats named Esme and Harlowe, and likes to run, read, and ride roller coasters.

Sarah Schettler joined the LPO in September of 2007 as second flutist.

She also teaches flute at Tulane University and the
University of New Orleans. Sarah holds degrees from Millikin University, the University of North Texas, and a doctorate from Florida State University. During the 2005-2006 academic year, she was one of six flutists worldwide to be accepted into Trevor Wye's Flute Studio, located in southern England.

Before moving to New Orleans, Sarah was Assistant Professor of Music at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where she taught flute and music theory. She has performed with the Corpus Christi and Victoria Symphonies in south Texas and with the Orquestra Sinfonica de U.A.N.L. in Monterrey, Mexico. Sarah was a semifinalist in the 2004 National Flute Association Young Artist Competition and first prize winner in the 2005 Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition.

Sarah lives in New Orleans with her husband, Bill, a bassist in the
LPO, her Miniature Schnauzer puppy, Minnie.
Ms. Schettler can be contacted at smg1974@yahoo.com

Robert Nunez has served as Principal Tuba of both the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera since 1992. In addition, he performs as tubist with both the Louisiana Philharmonic Brass Quintet, and the New Orleans Uptown Brass quintet.

Mr. Nunez is currently Adjunct Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at both the Tulane University and the University of New Orleans. He has held previous appointments as Professor of Tuba at both Delgado University and Loyola University of New Orleans, as well as serving as Brass Instructor for the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps from 1988-1996. In 2006, Mr. Nunez performed with both the New York Philharmonic and the Nashville Symphony in a series of collaborative concerts with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

His teachers include legendary pedagogue Arnold Jacobs, Principal Tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1944-1988, Neal Tidwell, former Principal Tuba of the New Orleans Symphony and Richard Erb, former bass trombonist of both the New Orleans Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in New Orleans and raised in Chalmette, Louisiana, Robert’s family has robust historical roots as ancestors from both branches of his family were colonists who preceded the Louisiana Purchase; the Cantrell family arriving to New Orleans in 1724, and the Nunez family residing in St. Bernard Parish in 1789. Robert Nunez is the great-grandson of Alcide "Yellow" Nunez, the pioneer Dixieland clarinetist who performed with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Louisiana Five, The Moonlight Serenaders, and Papa Jack Laine’s Reliance Brass Bands from 1912-1934.

A diverse and eclectic artist, Mr. Nunez demonstrates exceptional proficiency as a soloist and performer within a myriad of ensembles and musical genres (orchestral, opera, chamber, choral, Dixieland, Jazz, rock et. al.). Mr. Nunez’s solo presentations include his performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto in f minor with the Louisiana Philharmonic in the 1999-2000 season, and his presentation of the Concerto for Horn No. 1 in Eb by Richard Strauss with the New Orleans Concert Band in May 2010. Mr. Nunez has performed with numerous brass ensembles; including the Fanfare Brass Quintet, a school outreach ensemble for disadvantaged children. He is a founding member of both the New Orleans Uptown Brass quintet and the Houston Metropolis Brass Quintet. Mr. Nunez has appeared with the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, and remains active in many Dixieland groups both in and around New Orleans. Robert Nunez has twice joined forces with Ray Charles and his Orchestra, played with both of the rock bands’ Kansas and The Moody Blues, and performed with luminary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck and his quartet during a joint endeavor between Dave and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

Mollie Pate has served as the principal hornist of the Louisiana Philharmonic since 1996.

She received her Bachelor's degree in Music Performance in 1993 from Lamar University, Beaumont, TX and her Master's and Graduate Diploma degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1995, 1996, where she studied with Jay Wadenpfuhl, third horn, Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Mollie's musical career has taken her all over the country and much of Europe. She has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, Phoenix Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Pacific Symphony, where she joined them on their European Tour to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She has been the lead studio horn player in Nashville, and has also done some recording in the Los Angeles area. Ms. Pate frequently tours with the Burning River Brass based out of Cleveland, OH. This group is one of the premier brass ensembles in the country and has been featured on many concert series, including one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The past eleven summers she has held the principal horn position with the Pageant of the Masters, Festival of the Arts Orchestra in Laguna Beach, CA and has participated in numerous other festivals including the Tanglewood Institute, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Spoleto Music Festivals in both Charleston, SC and Spoleto, Italy.

Mollie’s hobbies include CrossFit and Triathlons. In September 2009, Ms. Pate placed 12th at the Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Australia. Most recently, she placed 6th overall at the South Central Texas CrossFit Games in March and in May 2010, she and a partner opened their own CrossFit facility, CrossFit NOLA, which is the very first affiliate in New Orleans.

Mollie has this to say about the LPO, “I perform with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra because the musicians are some of the highest caliber I have ever played with. I truly believe our brass section is one of the best in the country and I am honored to be a part of it.”