Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Welcomes Seven New Musicians

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra welcomes seven new musicians to its ranks for the start of the 2016-2017 season. These members were chosen from hundreds of applicants following months of auditions.

The new members include:

Max Blair, associate principal oboe, is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and was a fellow with the New World Symphony in Florida for two seasons.

Joseph Campagna, bass, joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in May. He is a former member of the New Jersey Symphony (2011-2016) and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Will Chow, cello, is a 2016 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. This is his first professional orchestra position.

Jeffrey Dee, principal bass trombone, is a former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic (2007-2016) and the Jacksonville Symphony (2002-2007).

Victoria Luperi, associate principal clarinet, was principal clarinet with the Fort Worth Symphony from 2006 to 2016 and the Winnipeg Symphony from 2002 to 2006. She is the wife of Andrés Franco, assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

BranDon McLean, associate principal bass, is the former principal bass (2015-2016) with the Colorado Symphony in Denver. He also served as associate principal bass with the Vancouver Symphony from 2013 to 2015, assistant principal bass with the Florida Orchestra from 2011 to 2013 and a fellow with the New World Symphony from 2008 to 2011.

Karissa Zadinsky, cello, is finishing her studies at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. This is her first professional orchestra position.

The PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, known for its artistic excellence for more than 120 years, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004). This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" in 1944 and John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. Its "Pittsburgh Live!" series with Reference Recordings has resulted in back-to-back Grammy Award nominations in 2015 and 2016. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series "Previn and the Pittsburgh." The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900 - including international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America-the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.

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