Thirteen-year-old Ysenia is an eighth grader at Oakland School for the Arts and is the fourth of five children. She’s been singing since before she could walk. Ysenia has performed for Latinos Unidos in her school at the Fox Theatre for the last two years. Recently she won 2nd place in “Oakland’s Got Talent” at Oakland’s First Friday’s and was invited to perform another show with her older sister. She enjoys doing her own makeup and styling hair, but her passion has always been singing! She hopes to someday attend college at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Elizabeth Michurina is twelve years old and lives in Pleasant Hill, California. She plays piano, bass, and acoustic guitar. Besides music, her passions are drawing portraits, singing, and writing. She started saving money in 2020 to eventually publish a book, which she is currently writing.

Cellist Fiona Huang, 14, studies with Jonathan Koh at the pre-college division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Fiona made her solo debut with the HNU Symphony Orchestra and has appeared on NPR’s “From the Top” show #402. Previously, she was invited to perform at the Presidio Concert Series in San Francisco and the Junior Bach Festival. Fiona has won first prizes in cello competitions including MTNA State, US International Music Competition, MTAC VOCE SF, and KAMSA. She has also received top prizes at the MTNA Southwest Division, MTAC VOCE State, CalASTA State, Pacific Music Society, and Houston International Music Competition. Fiona has participated in summer festivals including Chamber Music Northwest Young Artist Institute, Music @ Menlo’s Young Performers Program, Heifetz PEG, and Tateuchi Institute of Music. She has also played in master classes for David Finckel, Peter Stumpf, Brinton Smith, Dmitri Atapine, Thomas Mesa, Andrew Mark, Brannon Cho, and Zlatomir Fung. She is currently a member of Young Chamber Musicians and California Music Preparatory Academy. She loves bringing her music to senior living homes and hospitals. In addition to music, she enjoys photography and soccer.

Jackie Koval is eight years old and from East Bay. She has been playing violin and piano for two years. In addition to music, she enjoys synchronized swimming as a hobby.

Violinist Kayla Lee is a freshman at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California. She began playing violin in first grade and is now studying with Ms. Zhao Wei at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division. Kayla has won first place in the following competitions: USOMC with the Outstanding Gold Medalist, KAMSA, and Silicon Valley as a Grand Prize winner with a scholarship. She has also won the CYS Associate Orchestra Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist during the 2021–2022 season. She was the concert master of the CYS Associate Orchestra last season and is currently the principal violinist for the Senior Orchestra. Additionally, she participated in the 2022 CASMEC Junior High All-State Orchestra and the 2021 KAMSA orchestra as the principal chair. Kayla has been coached and taught by musicians Danielle Belen, Ayke Agus, Kurt Sassmanshaus, and Janet Ying. She has attended the Young Musicians’ Chamber Music Academy at Crowden Music Center, Summer Music Institute at Tateuchi Hall, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival in the past few years. Other than playing violin, she enjoys ballet and baking.

Violist Zoe Yost is a gritty, imaginative way finder dedicated to spreading and diversifying music through performance and collaboration. A Delawarean, she began studying viola at age seven and has received prizes in numerous international competitions, including Grand Prize Virtuoso. A passionate advocate of new music, she participates regularly in premieres of works by living composers. She is currently earning her B.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Dimitri Murrath.

Sophie Koval is twelve years old and from the East Bay. She has been playing violin for five years. She plays six total instruments. She was a finalist at the Junior Olympics as a synchronized swimmer.

Thirteen-year-old Uma Rohatgi is an eighth grader at Castilleja School in Palo Alto. Uma is an avid cellist and has been playing since age five. She is a student in the pre-College program and SFCM and currently studies with Vicky Wang and previously with Jonathan Koh. She is the winner of local and international competitions, including the 2021 CalATA and USIMC Competitions (2nd and 3rd place), 2020 Enkor International String Competition (1st place), and MTAC VOCE Junior Solo Strings Category (3rd place State Competition 2019, 1st place SF Branch, 2019 and 2020). Outside of music, Uma enjoys running on her school cross-country team, playing tennis, and spending time with her family and identical twin sister.

Vivian Pham Nguyen, an eighth grader from Diablo Vista Middle School in Danville, started playing piano when she was four years old. Currently, she is studying piano at Pleasanton Academy of Music in California under the professional guidance of her teachers, Ms. Tatiana Kubatina and Dr. Alexander Lazarev. Vivian has achieved many notable accomplishments, such as winning grand prizes, first prizes, and the Outstanding Gold Medalist award at various competitions including New York Concert Festival International Competition, US Open Music Competition, US International Music Competition, Music Through the Centuries Competition, and the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition. One of her most memorable achievements was performing at the prestigious Carnegie Hall when she was nine years old as a Grand Prix Prize winner from the New York Concert Festival International Competition. She also performed at other international concert halls including the Mozarteum in Austria and the Concertgebouw in the Netherlands. In 2021, she was invited to participate in the International Goldberg Variation Charity Project for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with other talented musicians around the world. She enjoys performing piano and listening to other talented musicians at competitions and recitals. Vivian appreciates a broad range of music styles and repertoires as each music period presents unique characteristics which she loves to explore and master. Besides piano, she also enjoys participating in Speech and Debate and other community service activities.

Jay Trottier, Music Director

One only needs a brief conversation or a snippet of rehearsal to recognize Jay’s overwhelming passion for music. Influenced by his mother who sang in the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, he began piano lessons at the age of eight and pursued clarinet and oboe in high school and college. He exercised his vocal cords as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music and Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, as well as serving as music director of The Music Man in community productions. Jay founded and conducted the Solano Community Symphony 30 years ago, and began directing the Temple Hill Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Though he has been instructed by Robert Lenz, assistant director of the Utah Symphony, and Denis de Coteau, director of the San Francisco Ballet, his greatest teacher has been his heart – he simply feels music!
Jay and his wife Becky are parents of four children and live in Fairfield, California.

Board of Directors

Michael Linney, President
Max Adams, Treasurer
Robert Dellenbach, Secretary
Daren Blonski
David Downer
Peggy Jellinghausen
James Nearon
Jay Trottier