MEET THE MUSICIANS | 2026 CONCERT SERIES

Anne-Marie Brown​, violin

Anne-Marie Brown, a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 2001, performs extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the Kansas City area. The Kansas City Star has described her performances as displaying "splendid virtuosity, with a rich impressive tone" and KCMetropolis has said her "playing was stellar, with lyricism and technique to spare." The Miami Herald has noted her work's "silky, suave tone and unaffected beauty." In recent seasons, she has been a frequent soloist with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, a guest musician with Summerfest, and a member of  the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, recording a work for piano trio on the Navona label in 2012. In addition, she serves on the faculty of the Heartland Chamber Music Festival.
Previously, she was a member of the New World Symphony, where she appeared as both concertmaster and soloist. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and Manhattan School of Music.
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Dr. Jane Carl, ​clarinet

Jane Carl, Professor of Clarinet at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, received her degrees from the University of Michigan.  She has been a member of the South Bend Symphony, the Flint Symphony, and the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra in Detroit, and performed with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.  She performs regularly with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, as acting assistant principal clarinet from 1999-2003.  She can often be heard performing with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony.  She was the artistic chair of ClarinetFest 2008, the annual conference of the International Clarinet Association, held in Kansas City.  Dr. Carl performed at the 2007 China International Clarinet and Saxophone Festival in Beijing, and the 2009 ClarinetFest in Porto Portugal.  In the fall of 2009, she became the Chair of UMKC’s Instrumental Studies Division.  She has performed with Summerfest for over two decades and is a member of the Artistic Committee which selects music heard at Summerfest concerts.  ​

​Tony DeMarco, violin

Tony DeMarco has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony for 14 seasons.  His previous professional experience includes Assistant Concertmaster of both the Virginia and North Carolina Symphonies, substitute for the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a member of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestra.  He was raised in the South Hills of Pittsburgh then enrolled at Carnegie- Mellon University at age 16, then transferred to Oberlin Conservatory where he earned an artist’s diploma.  Having chosen his career path at age 9, Tony credits the violin, his mother Bonnie, and his teacher Albert Hirtz of the Pittsburgh Symphony for the opportunity to travel to Asia, Europe, and all around the United States, making lasting friends and playing great music.  Best among those friends is his wonderful wife, Jeannine Elashewich. Together with sons Albert and Roman, they now reside in a “Little House in Prairie Village.”

Alexander (Alex) East, ​cello

Alexander East serves as the Assistant Principal Cello of the Kansas City Symphony. In addition to duties with the Symphony, which often include leading the section as principal for opera, ballet and chamber orchestra performances, East is also heard frequently in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the Kansas City region and beyond. He has also performed with the Sun Valley (Idaho) Summer Symphony every summer since 1992. 
In the Kansas City area, he has performed regularly in groups including Summerfest Chamber Music Concerts (also serving as an Artistic Advisor), the Boulevard String Quartet and newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Before settling in Kansas City, East spent two seasons as a member of the New World Symphony under the direction of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and he was also re-invited to coach the NWS cello section as a guest alumnus. East has been featured as soloist with the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Sedalia Symphony, the Erie (PA) Chamber Orchestra and the Fredonia Chamber Players. 
East received his training at Indiana University where he received a bachelor’s degree and performer diploma, and he earned his master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. His teachers have included Tsuyushi Tsutsumi, Janos Starker, Laurence Lesser and Colin Carr. He performs on either an English cello made in London ca. 1800-10 by John Betts or a contemporary cello made in 2016 by Kenneth Beckmann.
 

Larry Figg, cello

Born in Dallas in 1963, Lawrence Figg began the cello in fourth grade strings class and later was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 18. After graduating in 1985, he moved to France where he lived for five years in Paris. He was a member of the Orchestre de Chambre d’Alexendre Stajic, performed a season with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercomtemporain, and he was a regular recording artist for French radio and television. In 1986, he was a semi-finalist at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and performed as soloist with several French orchestras during his stay in Paris. In 1991, he won a position as section cellist in the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Alain Lombard and was later appointed the to the position of assistant principal and then principal cello until 1994. Figg has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 1999, and he has been described as a distinguished cellist with beautiful tone and passionate, singing musicianship by the Kansas City Star.

Evan Halloin, bass
Evan Halloin joined Summerfest as an artistic advisor in 2023. He has been a double bassist with the Kansas City Symphony since 2012, and has served as Associate Principal since 2016. Prior to coming to Kansas City he was a member of the New World Symphony. He has earned degrees from Rice University and the New England Conservatory, studying with Timothy Pitts and Donald Palma. Halloin has performed as a substitute musician with the Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Houston Symphony Orchestras, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Originally from De Pere, Wisconsin, he currently resides in Prairie Village, Kansas. When not riding his bike, solving crossword puzzles, or arranging music for a Summerfest concert, he loves to let his dog Penny drag him, his wife Margaret, and young son Graham for walks around the neighborhood. 
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Joshua Hood, bassoon
​Joshua Hood, bassoonist, received his bachelor of music degree from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Lewis Hugh Cooper.  He completed his master's degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University with Benjamin Kamins, former Principal Bassoonist of the Houston Symphony.  Hood has performed with a number of orchestras including the Kansas City Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the North Carolina Symphony.  He joined the Charlotte Repertory Symphony to outstanding reviews.  He has also performed with several festivals including the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, May Music Festival in Charlotte, NC, Gateways Music Festival in Rochester, NY,  the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, and with the Ritz Chamber Players on  the Amelia Island Music Festival in Florida.  He has performed with Summerfest since 1998.
 

Celeste Johnson Freher, oboe
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Celeste Johnson is Professor of Oboe at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory, where she is an active performer, pedagogue, clinician, and presenter. Before moving to Kansas City, she performed for eleven seasons as a member of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and taught at Oklahoma State University. Her career has taken her across the globe, including teaching and performing appearances in Japan, Colombia, Switzerland, the Isle of Man, Canada, and throughout the United States.  
Celeste continues to perform actively in a wide range of settings, including solo, concerto, chamber, and orchestral engagements. She has released two recordings on the Equilibrium label. Her playing has been recognized with top prizes at the Gillet and Barbirolli International Oboe Competitions, and she has earned fellowships to perform at renowned festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, and Lucerne Festival, among others.
Celeste is an active and engaged member of the professional music community, having presented at the International Double Reed Society, the Midwest Double Reed Society, and a range of music education conferences throughout Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. She also serves as an Artistic Advisor for Summerfest, contributing to the festival’s creative direction and programming. Celeste holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Duke Lee, viola

Duke Lee is a native of Houston, Texas. He attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School. He also was a fellow at the New World Symphony. Lee has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 2006. Lee is married to Kansas City Symphony violinist Rena Ishii and they have three boys, Leon, Anton, and Owen.

Alejandro Lombo, flute

Alejandro Lombo is currently the acting piccoloist of the Kansas City Symphony, principal flutist of the Detroit Opera and was previously the principal flutist of Symphony in C. He has performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and went on their 2023 European tour under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the summer of 2023, Lombo performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center under the direction of Louis Langrée and attended the Music Academy of the West where he won the Keston Music Academy Exchange competition and subsequently performed with the London Symphony Orchestra. In previous summers, he has attended the Aspen Music Festival as a Conducting Academy flute fellow and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America for three consecutive summers, where he toured the USA, Asia and Europe. He has also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center among others.  
He is the winner of the 2023 Sphinx Orchestral Partners Audition Competition, the  2019 Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition, the 2019 Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Young Artist Competition, and the 2021 Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition where he performed Martin’s Concerto for 7 Winds. 
Lombo studied with Jeffrey Khaner at The Juilliard School where he earned his masters degree and at the Curtis Institute of Music where earned his Bachelor’s degree.

Jessica Nance, viola
Jessica Nance has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 1995 and Assistant Principal Viola since 1997. She has performed locally with the Boulevard String Quartet, newEar, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and on a variety of chamber music, solo, and educational projects. Before moving to Kansas City, Jessica was Principal Viola in the Michigan Opera Theater and with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She attended the University of Michigan where she studied with Yizhak Schotten. Jessica is married to trumpeter Brian Rood and together they have two children. When not playing the viola, she enjoys running and triathlon training. Jessica has performed with Summerfest since 2000.
 

Neil Samples, violin

Neil Samples, a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, comes from a musical family, where while growing up, the only respite from hearing his siblings practice their instruments came from practicing his own. He began playing the violin at age 4, studying in Philadelphia with Edgar Ortenberg, and later with Albert Markov at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

​After graduating from the Manhattan School, he freelanced in New York for several years before joining the Kansas City Symphony in 1993, earning the position of Assistant Concertmaster in 1994. During his tenure in Kansas City, he also performed with the St. Louis and Detroit Symphonies. In 2006, he departed from the Symphony and moved to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, Neil was very active in the recording studios, playing on over 400 motion picture and television soundtracks, working with composers such as John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, and Alan Silvestre, to name but a few. He also appears on albums of popular recording artists such as Adele, Bon Jovi, Post Malone and Arianna Grande.

In addition to his recording work, Neil also played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and many other LA area orchestras and ensembles. One of the highlights of his time in Los Angeles was playing Wagner’s Ring Cycle, featuring Plácido Domingo, a truly thrilling experience.
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Neil recently returned to the Kansas City area, to the dream home his wife Janelle and he built in Lake Winnebago, dividing his time between there and Los Angeles, where he still works as a recording musician. He is delighted to spend time and perform with his old friends and colleagues from the Kansas City Symphony, in the place he never stopped thinking of as home.

Karen Savage, piano

Karen Hsiao Savage (Juilliard: DMA, MM Collab Piano, MM Piano; UVic: BMus) is Professor of Collaborative Piano and Coordinator of Chamber Music at UMKC Conservatory, where she created the new master’s degree program in collaborative piano. Karen received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring and the Friends of the Conservatory Faculty Excellence Award. She leads the Healing and Harmony Concert Series, sending Conservatory students to perform at hospitals, hospice, and senior homes. Karen has performed in Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the Perlman Music Program, with broadcasts on internationally syndicated NPR programs and on Vietnamese and Chinese national television. Recent projects include recitals with members of the Kansas City Symphony, New York Philharmonic, LA Phil, and Chiara Quartet, an album of works by women’s composers with Celeste Johnson, and a multi-media production on mass incarceration with choreographer Gary Abbott and composer Paul Rudy. 88SQUARED, her piano duo with husband Jeff, gave critically praised international premieres of Liebermann’s Sonata for Two Pianos, won the Ellis Duo Competition, the Abild Prize in American Music, and second prize and special mention at Concours Grieg International Competition (Norway), and recorded albums on Albany Records and Navonna/PARMA.    

Daniel (Dan) Velicer, piano

An active performer and teacher, Dan Velicer appears regularly with the Kansas City Symphony, Trio Fedele, and the Lyric Arts Trio.  He is a frequent collaborator with members of the Kansas City Symphony and the UMKC Conservatory faculty. Velicer also helps university and high school students prepare for recitals and competitions. 
Prior to arriving in Kansas City, he was an Opera Coach Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and the head staff pianist at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music.  Along with his wife, Kristi, Velicer was on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory where he coached chamber music, led master classes, and performed with faculty. 
He received his bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University, majoring in both anthropology and music.  He received his master of music degree from Rice University.