Monday (5/20) on the Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) blog Culture Club, Sarah Bryan Miller reports, “The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has filled some major holes in its musical ranks and announced four new hires. … The new principal timpani, taking the place of the late Rick Holmes, is Shannon Wood. He has served as principal timpani with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra; he’s been assistant principal with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Naples Philharmonic, and performed with an impressive array of other ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and toured extensively through the United States, Europe, New Zealand and South America. … As principal harp, the SLSO has engaged the felicitously named Allegra Lilly to fill the former chair of longtime principal harp Frances Tietov. … Lilly, a student of famed harpist Nancy Allen, has both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. At long last, a piccolo: she’s Ann Choomack, third flute/piccolo with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and a veteran of music festivals ranging from the Festival Lyrique en Mer to the Kent-Blossom Chamber Music Festival and Tanglewood. … The fourth new member of the SLSO is Ann Fink, in the first violin section. She’s currently a violin fellow with the New World Symphony.”
Posted May 21, 2013
