Archives: Musicians

Violinist William Shaub was appointed Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in May of 2017. Since his concerto debut with the Canton Symphony Orchestra at age 12, he has captivated audiences as a soloist, in recitals, and from the concertmaster chair. The winner of an inaugural Academy Fellowship with the New York Philharmonic and a […]

Gordon Tsai has served as the Associate Concertmaster for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra since 2012. As a member of the KSO Principal String Quartet, Gordon is featured on the KSO’s Q Series, a lunchtime concert series highlighting the Principal String Quartet and Woodwind Quintet. He is often featured on the KSO’s Concertmaster Series, an intimate […]

Zofia Glashauser joined the KSO for the 2016-17 season. She is currently the Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, the Assistant Concertmaster of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Zofia is also a very active chamber musician, playing violin with the acclaimed Michigan City Chamber Music Festival […]

Rachel Loseke began her musical studies on piano at age 5, taught by her mother. She soon picked up the violin and eventually came under the tutelage of Dr. Raymond Sidoti in her hometown, Sioux Falls, SD. During high school, Rachel’s violin talent flourished, leading her to win 3rd prize in the Lucy Weed String […]

Violinist Kyle Venlet joined the Knoxville Symphony in October 2019. Formerly, he was Associate Principal 2nd Violin of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and performed with Midland, Lansing, Battle Creek, West Michigan, and Southwest MI Symphony Orchestras. As a chamber musician, he has enjoyed collaborations with violinist Dmitri Berlinsky and the International Chamber Soloists, Camerata Michigan […]

Violinist Tobias Elser is a versatile performer and educator, equally at home on the concert stage and in the teaching studio. A founding member of the Dior Quartet, he has appeared internationally as both chamber musician and orchestral violinist. With the quartet, he served as Quartet-in-Residence at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music from 2021–2024, performed […]

Mary Ann Fee Fennell, Principal violinist with the Knoxville Symphony, joined the KSO in 1970.  During her years of musical service in the KSO, Mary Ann has also taken on leadership position that include serving as an elected member of the Orchestra Committee, as a member of the contract negotiation committee, and as an orchestra […]

Originally from St Louis, Sarah grew up in a musical family. In her early years she was particularly influenced by listening to her mom play string quartets with friends and perform with the St Louis Philharmonic as associate concertmaster. After earning a B.A. in history from Covenant College, Sarah attended the Hartt School of music […]

Ms. Mary Pulgar is currently a member of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Professor of Strings at Carson-Newman College, and Instructor of Violin at the Community School of the Arts. Since beginning her position at Carson-Newman, Ms. Pulgar has contributed considerable time and effort towards building a string program. Her students have played for such prestigious […]

Originally from Boise, Idaho, Jennifer joined the Knoxville Symphony in September of 2022. Previously, she was a member of the Naples Philharmonic for 6 seasons from 2016-2022, where she received tenure under the baton of Andrey Boreyko. During that time, she spent her summers performing with the Charlottesville Opera as a core second violin. Prior […]

Jeff Brannen has been a member of the KSO since 1997. He is also principal second violin of the Symphony of the Mountains and a violinist and sometimes violist with the Oak Ridge Symphony. Jeff’s teachers include Eliot Chapo at Florida State University, Alan Bodman at the University of Akron, and Mark Zelmanovich at the University […]

Bing Kuang Fang has been playing violin with the Knoxville Symphony since 1995. He was born in Shanghai and graduated from Shanghai Conservatory. After graduation, he played violin with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for 10 years. He has two daughters who are violinists in the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra.

A violinist and conductor trained by the National Youth Orchestra System of Venezuela (currently known as “El Sistema”), Edward Pulgar was born in Caracas and began his musical studies at age eight in solfège, percussion, and violin. At thirteen years old, he won his first violin competition at the Juan Bautista Plaza V National Violin […]