BFO Principal Strings
STRINGS | WINDS | BRASS | PERCUSSION/KEYBOARD/HARP
Ignace Jang, Concertmaster
Recognized for his ability to forge personal connections with audiences, Ignace Jang is the concertmaster of the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and the Britt Festival Orchestra, and a faculty member of the Music Department at the University of Hawaii Mānoa. He has performed throughout the United States, South America, Asia and Europe in venues such as the Tokyo Bunkamura Hall, the Seoul Arts Center and Paris Théatre des Champs-Elysées. Solo and chamber music appearances include the Hawaii Symphony, Colorado Symphony, the Versailles Chamber Orchestra, L’Orchestre Provence-Alpes- Côte-d’Azur in France, Berlioz, Trièves and Chirens Festivals in his native France, the Jeju Isle Music Festival in Korea. A featured artist of the Music Teachers National Association, Jang recently released a CD of new music with Ebb & Flow Arts. Recent collaborators include pianists Jon Nakamatsu, Jon Kimura Parker, violinists Hilary Hahn, Chee-Yun cellist Franz Helmerson and ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro. Read More
Nicola Payne, Principal Violin II
Nicola Payne has been a member of the Britt Festival Orchestra since 1995, and Principal Second Violin since 2003. Born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, Nicola earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Currently based in the Boston area, Nicola performs with Vista Philharmonic (formerly the Orchestra of Indian Hill), Lexington Symphony (violin and viola), Rhode Island Philharmonic, as well as many other groups in the Boston area including most recently the Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms Society. Nicola has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic serving as Principal Second Violin, Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony as Principal Second, then Concertmaster, and New World Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin. Nicola performed for seven seasons with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife, Spain. She has had the privilege of performing in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and has worked under the batons of world-class conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Michael Tilson Thomas, James DePreist, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, and Larry Rachleff. Read More
Amelia Clingman, Principal Viola
Amelia Clingman lives in New Orleans, where she is a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. During summer months, she holds the position of Principal Viola with the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon, and in 2014, she was named a Quarterfinalist in the Primrose International Viola Competition. As an avid chamber musician, Amelia became a founding member of the New Orleans-based Polymnia Quartet in 2015, and the Electric Yat Quartet in 2020. She is also a new music enthusiast, and has taken part in many world premiere performances, as well as performances and recordings with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Amelia also enjoys crossing into other genres, and has performed with renowned artists including the Who, Peter Gabriel, Mumford and Sons, and Tank and the Bangas. Amelia teaches violin and viola lessons privately, and has been part of many youth educational programs and masterclasses. In recent years, she has worked in various schools in New Orleans, through a grant from the Jazz and Heritage Foundation.
Amelia Clingman graduated from UMass Amherst with a BM in violin performance, and in 2008 she completed her Master’s degree in viola performance at the New England Conservatory. She has attended the Heifetz and Kneisel Hall music festivals, and served as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center from 2007-2009. Teachers include Marylou Speaker Churchill, James Buswell, Ed Gazouleas, Carol Rodland, and Kathryn Lockwood.
Naomi Barron, Principal Cello
Currently based in Toronto, Naomi Barron enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. She performs regularly with groups such as the Toronto Symphony and Canadian Opera Company and has recorded live in studio for CBC radio. An avid chamber musician, Naomi’s experience includes recent collaborations with such renowned artists as Isabel Bayrakdarian and Robert McDonald as well as performances with Group of Seven and Against the Grain. A seasoned orchestral musician, Naomi has performed under the batons of such celebrated conductors as Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev and Placido Domingo. She is a former member of the internationally acclaimed Orquesta Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain (under the direction of Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta) as well as former co-principal cellist of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife. Naomi spends her summers in beautiful southern Oregon where she is in her nineteenth season as principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra.
Dave Anderson, Principal Bass
HOMETOWN: New Orleans, LA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE/BACKGROUND: Principal Bass at Louisiana Philharmonic since 1996. Performed extensively with many diverse ensembles including the Aspen Festival, Chautauqua (NY) Festival, Colorado Philharmonic (NRO), Colorado Music Festival, the LaSalle Quartet, and as a soloist with Richard Stoltzman, Gene Bertoncini, Nigel Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, and many others. Has served as Bass Instructor for the Music School at Loyola University and also on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists (ISB) as bassist/composer.
In 1984, he began his pursuits in composition, recognizing that the solo repertoire for his instrument was limited. Since then, his published work has expanded to other solo instruments, as well as for chamber orchestras and small ensembles. He has published many works and received acclaim for his compositions. In 1995, he won first prize in the Allen Ostrander International Trombone Composition Competition, sponsored by Ithaca college. Other works include his Concerto for Double Bass, Strings & Harp, commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra and performed on the 1997-98 subscription series of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
YEARS AT BRITT: Since 1994
FAVORITE BRITT MEMORY: The commission and performance of Celebration, a tone poem for large orchestra, for the 50th Britt season in 2012.
Photo provided by Zack Smith Photography.
BFO Strings
VIOLIN I
Iggy Jang, Concertmaster+
Eric Lee, Asst. CM+*
Liuwenji Wang, Acting Asst. CM
Debbie Akerlund+
Samantha Bennett*
Anne-Marie Chubet+
Bruce Colson
Rebecca Edge
Diana Galimova
Juan Jaramillo*
Megan Karls
Clara Lee
Natalie Lee
Jimin Lim*
Louanne Lotz+
Dawn Posey*
Caroline Slack*
Bruce Sweetman+*
Jiangzhongnuo "Eva" Tao
Kevin Tompkins
Emma Votapek*
VIOLIN II
Nicola Payne, Principal+
Jennise Hwang, Asst. Principal*
Jacob Buhler, Acting Asst. Principal
Michael Blaney+*
Cynthia Burton*
Annie Daigle*
Spencer Day
Sardardjan Djumaev
Kei Fukuda*
Emily Herdeman Kelly*
Mark Lotz+
Sarah Peters*
Esther Platt
Yulia Price
Owen Ruff
Janie Spangler
Therese West
Sofie Yang
VIOLA
Amelia Clingman, Principal
Rene Salazar, Asst. Principal+*
Matthew Ross, Acting Asst. Principal
Karen Bea+
Jason Butler
Matthew Carrington
Wendy Edgar+
Mary Harris+
E. Patrick Horn+*
Jane Mitchell*
Michele Parker+*
Nicholas Pelletier
Monica Reilly+
CELLO
Naomi Barron, Principal+
Bridget Pasker, Asst. Principal
Ian Greenberg
Kirsten Jermé*
Eugene Kim
Andrew Kolb
Ruth Marshall
Lisa Truelove+
BASS
Dave Anderson, Principal+
Jim Karrer, Assistant Principal+
Robb Aistrup+
Mark Bergman+
David Connor*
Nate Farrington*
Peggy Johnston+
+ Britt Orchestra member for 20 or more years
* On Leave of Absence in 2024