Kim Laskowski joined the New York Philharmonic in September 2003 as Associate Principal Bassoon. Born in Brooklyn, she attended the High School of Music and Art and The Juilliard School, where she studied with Harold Goltzer, former Associate Principal Bassoon of the New York Philharmonic. While at Juilliard she won the Walter and Elsie Naumburg Award for Orchestral Excellence. She completed a master’s degree at Juilliard while playing in the National Orchestral Association, and has also participated in the Tanglewood and Spoleto festivals. Recipient of a Fulbright grant for foreign study, she attended the Conservatoire National Superieure de Paris, where she was a student of Maurice Allard. While at the Conservatoire, she toured Europe as a member of the Orchestre des Prix.

As an active player on the New York musical scene, Ms. Laskowski has appeared with ensembles such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony Orchestra, and Eos Orchestra. She can be heard on numerous television, radio, and film scores, and holds two platinum records for CDs recorded with the rock group 10,000 Maniacs. As a chamber player, she has performed and recorded several CDs with Music Amici in classical, jazz, and 20th-century works for mixed ensembles.

Before joining the Philharmonic, Ms. Laskowski played second bassoon in the New York City Ballet Orchestra. She was principal bassoon of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra from 1999 through 2003.

Kim Laskowski resides in Manhattan with her husband, Zaharis Kalaitzis, and her two children, Lana and Theo.

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Violist Dawn Hannay has been a member of the Philharmonic since 1979. Before joining the Orchestra, she was principal violist with the Omaha Symphony and the Nebraska Sinfonia, and was a member of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. She also served as artist-in-residence at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia, and was a member of Ensemble I, a sextet specializing in works for unusual instrumentation.

Ms. Hannay enjoys performing chamber music, appearing often with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles. She has spent the last few summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, playing with the Grand Tetons Music Festival. She is an avid reader, athlete and nature enthusiast; her interests include hiking, camping, skiing, bird watching, tennis, and her cat and dog.

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Sumire Kudo joined the Philharmonic as a cellist in June 2006. Previously she taught at Indiana University–South Bend and was the cellist of the Avalon String Quartet. She is a member of the New York-based new-music group counter)induction, a composer/performer collective. Born in Tokyo, Japan, Ms. Kudo began cello studies at age four with her father, cellist Akiyoshi Kudo. She came to the United States in 2000, after establishing herself in her native country through solo performances and recordings. Her honors include the Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award, which she received from the Sony Music Foundation after being chosen by Seiji Ozawa and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi as the most promising cellist in 2005, and prizes at the Sapporo Junior Cello Competition and 62nd Japan Music Competition. Ms. Kudo is a graduate of Tokyo’s Toho School and The Juilliard School. She has participated in the Nagano-Aspen Music, Aspen Music, Santa Fe, and Marlboro Music festivals. Record Geijutsu, Japan’s leading classical music magazine, named her second solo CD, Love of Beauty, Best Recording.

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Percussionist Daniel Druckman is active as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and recording artist, concertizing throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. He has appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Composer’s Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic’s Horizons concerts, the San Francisco Symphony’s New and Unusual Music series, and in recital in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tokyo. He has been a member of the New York Philharmonic since 1991, where he serves as Associate Principal Percussionist, and has made numerous guest appearances with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the American Brass Quintet, the Group for Contemporary Music, Orpheus, Steve Reich and Musicians, and the Philip Glass Ensemble. Mr. Druckman has also participated in chamber music festivals at Santa Fe, Ravinia, Saratoga, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, Tanglewood, and Aspen.

An integral part of New York’s new music community, both as soloist and as a member of the New York New Music Ensemble and Speculum Musicae, Mr. Druckman has premiered works by Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Oliver Knussen, Poul Ruders, Joseph Schwantner, Ralph Shapey, and Charles Wuorinen, among many others. Recent appearances include collaborations with Alan Feinberg at Dartmouth College, with Fred Sherry at BargeMusic, with Dawn Upshaw at Carnegie Hall, and solo concerts at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and Merkin Concert Hall in New York. Recent solo recordings include Elliott Carter’s Eight Pieces for Four Timpani and Jacob Druckman’s Reflections on the Nature of Walter on Koch International. Mr. Druckman is a faculty member of The Juilliard School, where he serves as chairman of the percussion department and director of the percussion ensemble.

Daniel Druckman was born and raised in New York City. The son of composer Jacob Druckman, he had invaluable exposure to music and musicians at an early age. He attended The Juilliard School, where he was awarded the Morris A. Goldenberg Memorial Scholarship and the Saul Goodman Scholarship, receiving both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music in 1980. Additional studies were undertaken at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, where he was awarded the Henry Cabot Award for outstanding instrumentalist. He currently resides in Orangeburg, New York, with his wife, harpist Barbara Allen, and two daughters.

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Associate Principal Oboe Sherry Sylar joined the New York Philharmonic in 1984. Previously she performed with the Louisville Orchestra and taught at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Her most recent solo performance with the Philharmonic was in J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin in March 2005. In 2001 the Boston Symphony Orchestra invited her to perform solo principal oboe in tour performances led by Bernard Haitink, which concluded with a concert at Carnegie Hall, and in 2003 she substituted for an ailing principal oboist for the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France’s Carnegie Hall debut conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. She was also invited to China as a judge in the Beijing National Orchestra’s first-ever auditions. Ms. Sylar earned her bachelor’s degree in music at Indiana University and her master’s degree from Northwestern University. She gives master classes internationally, has participated in the Aspen and Grand Teton Music Festivals, and performs chamber music regularly, including at Merkin Concert Hall and the 92nd Street Y. She is on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music.

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Violinist Fiona Simon, a member of the Orchestra since 1985, made her Philharmonic solo debut in November 1989, performing Vivaldi’s Concerto for Three Violins. Ms. Simon began her career in her native England, where she studied with Szymon Goldberg and won major prizes in the Carl Flesch and Jacques Thibaud competitions. For three consecutive years, she was London’s Young Artist of the Year. She has performed with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, and the English Chamber Orchestra, among others. She has also been featured in many recitals and concerts broadcast over the BBC, and has made numerous appearances throughout Europe. Ms. Simon is a member of the Vanderspar String Trio and the Simon String Quartet. She was married to the late New York Philharmonic violinist Richard Simon, and has a son, Michael Paul, a poet.

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Violist Judith Nelson joined the Philharmonic in 1983. A native of Portland, Oregon, she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Washington (Seattle) and also holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. As a student, she received the University of Washington’s highest music award, the Brechemin Scholarship, and performed concertos by Mozart, Hindemith, Walton, and Bartók with the University Symphony and the Seattle Symphony.

Time in the outdoors is important to Ms. Nelson. Vacations are spent hiking and cycling, often in her native West; at home in New York, she blades, runs, and practices yoga. Other interests include books, especially twentieth-century fiction and poetry, languages, and jazz. A favorite recreation is reading string quartets with friends. Ms. Nelson’s recording of David Kechley’s Sonata for Viola and Piano can be found on Liscio Recordings.

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Robert Langevin, holder of The Lila Acheson Wallace Chair, joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Flute at the start of the 2000–01 season. In May 2001, he made his solo debut with the Orchestra in the North American premiere of Siegfried Matthus’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with Philharmonic Principal Harp Nancy Allen and then- Music Director Kurt Masur. Prior to the Philharmonic, Mr. Langevin held the Jackman Pfouts Principal Flute Chair of the Pittsburgh Symphony and was an adjunct professor at Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Langevin served as associate principal flute of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for 13 years, playing on more than 30 recordings. As a member of Musica Camerata Montreal and l’Ensemble de la Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec, he premiered many works, including the Canadian premiere of Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître. In addition, Mr. Langevin has performed as soloist with Quebec’s most distinguished ensembles and has recorded many recitals and chamber music programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He also served on the faculty of the University of Montreal for nine years.

Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Mr. Langevin began studying flute at age 12 and joined the local orchestra three years later. While studying with Jean-Paul Major at the Montreal Conservatory of Music, he started working in recording studios, where he accompanied a variety of artists of different styles. He graduated in 1976 with two first prizes, one in flute, the other in chamber music. Not long after, he won the prestigious Prix d’Europe, a national competition open to all instruments with a first prize of a two-year scholarship to study in Europe. This enabled him to work with Aurèle Nicolet at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, where he graduated in 1979. He subsequently studied with Maxence Larrieu, in Geneva, winning second prize at the Budapest International Competition in 1980. His most recent solo appearance with the Philharmonic was in September 2008 in Lorin Maazel’s Music for Flute and Orchestra.

Mr. Langevin is a member of the Philharmonic Quintet of New York with which he has performed concerts on many continents. In addition, he has given recitals and master classes throughout the United States and in countries such as Canada, Spain, Costa Rica, Japan, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam. He is currently on the faculties of The Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, and the Orford International Summer Festival.

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Mark Nuccio joined the New York Philharmonic in 1999 as Associate Principal and Solo E-flat Clarinet. He previously held positions with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Denver, Savannah, and Florida. He has worked with distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Erich Leinsdorf, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, André Previn, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Gustavo Dudamel. Additionally, Mr. Nuccio has toured with both the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to numerous countries, recorded with both orchestras, and performed with the Philharmonic on the award-winning series, Live From Lincoln Center, broadcast on PBS. A recent New York Philharmonic tour included a historic visit to North Korea — an event watched around the world.

An active solo and chamber musician, Mark Nuccio has been the featured performer with several orchestras in the United States and on numerous occasions at the International Clarinet Association conventions. He made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2001, his Japan recital debut in 2002, and he now regularly performs in recital in the Far East and Europe, as well as across the U.S. In New York, he often can be heard at Merkin Concert Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Nuccio is also a member of the Philharmonic Quintet of New York (PQNY) — a group of five woodwind players from the New York Philharmonic. Since its inception, in 2001, the PQNY has performed across the globe. During summers, Mr. Nuccio performs chamber music at the Strings in the Mountain Music Festival in Steamboat, Colorado.

As a studio musician, Mr. Nuccio is featured on several movie soundtracks, including Failure to Launch, The Last Holiday, The Rookie, The Score, Intolerable Cruelty, Alamo, Pooh’s Heffalump, Hitch, The Manchurian Candidate, and numerous television commercials. He also performed on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as on the 2003 Grammy Awards.

In November 2006, Mr. Nuccio’s first CD, Opening Night,featuring the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms, was released, and is available at dorian.com as well as on iTunes and amazon.com.

A Colorado native, Mark Nuccio holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University, where he studied with the renowned pedagogue Robert Marcellus. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

Beyond his active performing schedule, Mr. Nuccio is committed to training the next generation of musicians. He currently serves on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and teaches master classes in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Nuccio is a Rico advising artist and clinician as well as an artist/clinician for Buffet Crampon, and performs exclusively on Buffet clarinets.

Judith LeClair joined the Philharmonic as Principal Bassoon (The Pels Family Chair) in 1981, at the age of 23, and has since made more than 50 solo appearances with the Orchestra. Previously she was principal bassoon with the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera. She has participated in the Music from Angel Fire, Bridgehampton, Bay Chamber, and Aspen music festivals, and she performs as a member of the Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet of New York. Ms. LeClair has given solo recitals and master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Oberlin College, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Northwestern, Michigan, and Ohio universities. Every August she gives a solo recital and weeklong master class at the Hidden Valley Music Seminar in Carmel Valley, California. In April 1995 she premiered The Five Sacred Trees, a concerto written for her by John Williams and commissioned by the Philharmonic as part of its 150th Anniversary celebration. Her recording of the piece with the London Symphony Orchestra and her solo New York Legends CD for Cala Records were released in 1997. Ms LeClair is on the faculty of The Juilliard School.

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Erik Ralske joined the New York Philharmonic as third horn in September 1993 after eleven years of experience in principal positions in five different North American orchestras. These include six years as Associate Principal Horn with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, three years as Principal Horn with the Vancouver Symphony, and one season each as Principal Horn in the Florida Symphony and Tulsa Philharmonic orchestras. A native of Long Island, he received both his bachelor of music and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Ranier De Intinis (former New York Philharmonic third horn).

Along with his Philharmonic horn colleagues, Mr. Ralske has been featured as a soloist with the orchestra in nearly a dozen performances of Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns — in New York as well as on tour in Europe and South America, with Kurt Masur conducting. Other recent solo engagements include appearances with the West Virginia Symphony, Jupiter Symphony, Texas Music Festival, and Nassau-Suffolk Wind Symphony. His 2004 solo appearance with the Tainan Symphony was televised throughout Taiwan.

Outside the orchestra, Mr. Ralske maintains a busy schedule as a chamber musician, teacher, and recording artist. He is a member of The Philharmonic Quintet of New York, which includes New York Philharmonic colleagues Robert Langevin (flute), Sherry Sylar (oboe), Mark Nuccio (clarinet), and Judith Leclair (bassoon). Together since 2001, they have toured in Asia and the United States, in addition to frequent performances in the New York metropolitan area. They anticipate the release of their first CD of a series later this year. In past seasons he has been a guest artist with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music Academy of the West, as well as the Seattle, Vancouver, and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals. Mr. Ralske is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College of Music.

Erik Ralske has long been active in the recording industry, having performed on many movie soundtracks — from Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986), to many recent releases, such as The Manchurian Candidate and Failure to Launch. He appears on a recent CD entitled Take 9, which combines the talents of the New York Philharmonic horn section and the American Horn Quartet.

Violinist Kuan-Cheng Lu joined the New York Philharmonic at the beginning of the 2004-05 season. He received his bachelor's in music degree from Oberlin College, and his master's in music from the Manhattan School of Music. A native of Taiwan, Mr. Lu has received numerous awards and scholarships that include the top prize in the Taiwan National Violin Competition, first prize in the ASTA string competition, the Raphael Bronstein Award, and the Taiwan Chi-Mei Corporation’s Outstanding Young Artist award. He has studied with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and Philharmonic violinists Yoko Takebe and Lisa Kim. Other teachers have included Roland and Almita Vamos, Julia Bushkova, as well as his father, Chung Chih Lu.

Mr. Lu has served as concertmaster of the Verbier Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Oberlin Orchestra, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia, Manhattan Symphony, and Manhattan Philharmonia.

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Violinist Na Sun joined the New York Philharmonic in June 2006. A native of China, she began playing the violin at age seven, and at nine, was accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. After attending the conservatory’s elementary, middle, and high schools, she received her bachelor of arts degree there with highest honors, studying with Yao-ji Lin, and was the winner of the conservatory violin competition. She received her artist diploma from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts in 2005, studying with Roman Totenberg, and was the grand prize winner of the university’s Bach competition.

Ms. Sun, who has performed in numerous recital and chamber music concerts since arriving in the U.S. in 2003, was a fellow with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in 2005, and served as concertmaster in a program led by James Levine. She attended the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine, and the National Orchestra Institute in Maryland, both on full scholarship.

Ms. Sun has performed with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Icelandic National Opera Orchestra. Previously, she was concertmaster of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra; principal of the second violin section at the Central Conservatory Chamber Orchestra; and was the soloist in Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Xiamen Symphony Orchestra in China, conducted by Michael Feldman.

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Peter Kenote was born in Seattle, Washington. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in music performances from The Juilliard School. Since 1983, he has been a member of the New York Philharmonic viola section. His interests include spending time with family, hiking, running, and Bible study.

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A member of the New York Philharmonic cello section beginning September 2007, Wei Yu has appeared regularly as a substitute cellist with the New York Philharmonic and The Cleveland Orchestra. Most recently, he was invited to join the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s USA 70th Anniversary tour led by Zubin Mehta and Lorin Maazel. He has participated in open master classes conducted by pianist Leon Fleisher, violist Kim Kashkashian, and cellists Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Joel Krosnick, and Janos Starker, and was invited to play for Mstislav Rostropovich at the Seventh American Cello Congress in 2003.

Born in Shanghai, China, Mr. Yu has been the top prize winner of many competitions, including the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, Holland American Music Society Cello, Music Teacher National Association (MTNA National Collegiate Strings), Canada’s National Music Festival, Calgary’s Kiwanis Festival, and China’s National Cello competitions. He was also invited to participate in the XII International Tchaikovsky Competition 2002 in Moscow.

An active chamber musician, Mr. Yu has been invited to the Marlboro and Ravinia music festivals, and has recently collaborated with musicians such as cellist David Soyer, pianist Richard Goode, violinists Midori and Pinchas Zukerman, and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. Mr. Yu gave a recital on the Catherine & Mary Roth concert series in Washington D.C., with pianist Francis Conlon.

Wei Yu toured Japan as principal cellist of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra under Bernard Haitink, Edo de Waart, Wei-Pin Chien, and Yutaka Sado. His performances have been live and in recording on Chicago’s 98.7 WFMT, Finnish Radio Broadcasting Company, and the CBC’s “Our Music” in Canada.

Mr. Yu began studying the cello at age four and made his concerto debut with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at age 11 playing the Elgar Cello Concerto. He came to the United States in 2000 to work with Hans Jensen of Northwestern University. He received his master’s degree from The Juilliard School, studying with David Soyer on a full scholarship, with the support of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship.

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