Three New Musicians to Join Boston Symphony Orchestra for the 2025–26 Season

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons have appointed Caleb Quillen as the orchestra’s new principal bass. Currently a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Quillen is a graduate of New England Conservatory and was a Tanglewood Music Center fellow for two summers. He will occupy the Harold D. Hodgkinson chair, succeeding Edwin Barker, who retires at the end of the 2024–25 BSO season after 48 years as principal bass. In addition to leading the BSO’s bass section at Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall, and on tour, Quillen will join other first-chair string and wind players to become a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. He will be the tenth principal bass in the history of the BSO. 

BSO third horn Michael Winter has been appointed associate principal horn, filling the vacancy left by Richard “Gus” Sebring when he was promoted to principal horn in April 2023. Winter, who occupies the Margaret Andersen Congleton chair, endowed in perpetuity, also became principal horn of the Boston Pops with the promotion. He joined the BSO in September 2012 from the Buffalo Philharmonic and Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Currently on the faculty of New England Conservatory of Music, Winter also serves as a volunteer firefighter for the town of Richmond in Berkshire County. 

The BSO has also announced the appointments of section violins Samuel Andonian and Arianna Brusubardis Grace. Andonian, currently a doctoral fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center, is a native of Greater Boston who grew up playing in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO) and was a soloist at Armenian Night with the Boston Pops at age 17. Brusubardis Grace is a graduate of the Tanglewood Music Center and joins the BSO after holding positions in the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Boston Ballet Orchestra. 

In a statement, BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons said,“After almost 50 years as principal bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, my colleagues and I bid a fond farewell to Ed Barker, who retires at the end of this spring. Ed has led his section with exceptional musicianship and integrity, and we are filled with gratitude for his years dedicated to the BSO. Ed remains a cherished part of our BSO family and its legacy. At the same time, we are very pleased to warmly welcome the Boston Symphony Orchestra's new principal bass, Caleb Quillen. Caleb’s outstanding artistry will be invaluable to the BSO as he joins us in his roles as section leader and as a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. We are also very pleased to welcome two wonderful, talented young violinists, Samuel Andonian and Arianna Brusubardis Grace, to the orchestra. Finally, after an impressive audition, we are thrilled to heartily congratulate Michael Winter on his promotion to associate principal horn.” 

About the Artists

Recognized for his artistry and versatility, Caleb Quillen is an accomplished double bassist with a dynamic career in both orchestral and chamber music. A member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2023–24 season after seven seasons with the Kansas City Symphony, he has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, and New York Philharmonic orchestras. Quillen studied at Rice University with Paul Ellison and Tim Pitts and at the New England Conservatory with BSO double bassist Lawrence Wolfe and with Donald Palma. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2015 and 2016, he was awarded the Maurice Schwarz Prize and performed with musicians of the Ozawa Academy Switzerland. In 2016, he was also a fellow in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy. 

Michael Winter was named associate principal horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal horn of the Boston Pops in January 2025. He joined the BSO in 2012 as third horn. Prior to his BSO appointment, Winter was acting principal horn of the Buffalo Philharmonic and principal horn of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as soloist with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops on several occasions in Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns in Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood. He has also performed as guest principal horn with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  

Arianna Brusubardis Grace, a Latvian American violinist, has performed internationally in renowned venues in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. From age 8, Arianna has participated in several Latvian song and dance festivals as a choral, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has also been a violin fellow with the Tanglewood Music Center and Spoleto Festival USA. As a soloist, she has been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio's The Midday program. She has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, where she also served as concertmaster. Grace joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra after holding positions in the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Boston Ballet Orchestra. She earned her bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Laurie Smukler. She has also studied with Ilya Kaler, Dr. Bernard Zinck, Dorothy Brauer, and Mary Ellen Meyer. 

Armenian American violinist Samuel Andonian hails originally from Greater Boston. He has been a soloist with orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra, New York Classical Players, New England Philharmonic, and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed on NPR’s From the Top, at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening gala, in Juilliard’s Starling-DeLay Symposium, and in recital most recently at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. As a chamber musician, Andonian has performed at the Marlboro Music Festival, NEC’s Honors Chamber Music program, the Perlman Music Program, Kneisel Hall and Norfolk chamber music festivals, and has performed with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, and Brentano string quartets. He has been concertmaster for the New York Classical Players, the Moritzburg Orchestra (in a recording for Sony Classical), the NEC orchestras, and the Boston Youth Symphony for three seasons. Important to his musical purpose has been Andonian’s work interning and performing with Music for Food, a musician-led initiative founded by violist Kim Kashkashian, which collects donations from its performances for organizations fighting food insecurity in their local community. Andonian is currently a doctoral fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers have included Donald Weilerstein, Catherine Cho, John Holland, and Mark Steinberg, and he is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School. 

About the BSO

Led by Music Director Andris Nelsons since 2014, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave its inaugural concert in 1881 and opened Symphony Hall—widely acclaimed as one of the greatest concert halls in the world—in 1900. Today, the BSO reaches millions of listeners through not only its concert performances in Boston and at Tanglewood—the orchestra’s summer home in Lenox and Stockbridge, Mass.—but also via educational and community programs, radio, television, recordings, and tours. Celebrated for its diverse programs, passionate performances, and tradition of innovation, the BSO is one of the world’s most accomplished and versatile ensembles, attracting world-renowned guest artists and players, composers, and conductors. More information about the BSO and Andris Nelsons may be found at bso.org.