Ayala Bergeris a freshman at UC Davis. Ayala began playing cello
in kindergarten. Ayala played in the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
for 6 years, Ayala also enjoys playing in chamber ensembles,
swimming, playing with or observing any animal, and writing. She
looks forward to several fun years with the UCDSO.
Milena Schaller is a senior French and Cello Performance
double-major who has been playing cello for 12 years. She has
been playing with the UCDSO for two years, and is excited to be
returning after a year-long hiatus in France, where she studied
music at the Lyon Conservatory and the art of discourse at the
Académie Albert. She has played in a number of ensembles,
participated in the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy, and this year
is greatly looking forward to giving cello lessons.
Stephen Hudson is a senior Double-Major in Mathematics and Cello
Performance. He grew up in Davis and started playing cello in the
local elementary music program when he was 9 years old. He is now
studying with Susan Lamb Cook, and regularly performs with the
UCD Baroque Ensemble and other area groups in addition to the
UCDSO. Recent highlights of Stephen’s cello career include
playing at a wedding on a sandy beach in Tahoe and performing a
piece by UCD professor Pablo Ortiz.
Carolyn Anderson is a Soils and Biogeochemistry graduate
student at UC Davis. She has played cello in various ensembles,
including the Minnesota Youth Symphonies and the University of
Puget Sound symphony and chamber orchestras. This is her second
year in the UCDSO. She also plays banjo and enjoys cycling, both
racing and touring
Margaret Hermle is in her fourth year with the UCDSO, and also
played for the UCD Summer Symphony for three summers. Before
that, she was with the Sacramento Youth Symphony for six years.
Margaret played violin for 10 years until she switched to viola 6
½ years ago. She graduated in May from Woodland Community College
with an AS degree in both General Education and Business
Administration. Margaret loves sports; namely basketball and
football, and is an avid fan of the Kings, San Francisco 49ers,
and Indianapolis Colts.
Emily Brereton is a first year student at UC Davis, currently
undeclared. She has played viola for ten years, primarily
through the San Jose public school system. Prior to UCDSO,
she was a member of the San Jose Youth Chamber Orchestra, and
last summer, coached the Laney Summer Music Camp in
Oakland. Aside from music, she enjoys art, writing, and
dancing.
Melissa Lyans began playing violin at age ten and switched to
viola in college. She has played in university and community
orchestras in Wisconsin, Texas, New Mexico, Chicago, London and
California. While living in London with her husband and three
children she trained in the Colourstrings method and
taught 3-10 year olds at the Blackheath Conservatoire of Music
and Arts. She also studied methods based on Kodaly, Orff,
Dalcroze Eurythmics and Solfege.
Zachary Sutter is a 1st year Plant Sciences major at UC Davis,
and has been playing viola for 8 years after switching from
violin. His primary orchestral experiences have been through
school and the Pasadena Young Musician’s orchestra. His favorite
sandwich is the Monte Cristo.
Andrew Benson has been playing viola with the orchestra since
Fall 2009, the beginning of his freshman year at UC Davis. Prior
to that, he played violin and viola in his high school’s string
ensemble. His lesser musical talents include the bass guitar and
the ocarina on iPhone.
Andrew Hudson is a Music Composition major, and picked up viola
to make darn sure he learned to read alto clef properly. He
immediately grew to love the smooth, low sound of the viola, and
broke up with his violin of 6 years. They’re just friends now. In
his spare time, Andrew studies voice, works on a minor in Art
History, and enthusiastically pursues a career as an origami
designer.
Caitlin Murray is a junior this year at UC Davis and was very
excited to be accepted into the UCDSO. She played violin since
she was nine, and switched the viola two yearsa ago because she
was offered a leadership position if she switched. As of today,
Caitlin will never go back to playing an instrument with an E
string, and has found her passion in the viola. She looks forward
to several fun years with a great orchestra. Caitlin also enjoys
doing math joke worksheets, and playing and watching a wide
variety of sports, her favorite being water polo.
Meredith Powell (Merry) is a third year physics major/music
minor. She has been playing viola for 10 years, piano for
13, and this is her third year in the UCDSO. She was
previously a member of the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra for
four years, through which she had the amazing opportunity of
touring Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Aside from music, she
enjoys playing racquetball, skiing, and rock climbing.
Sandy Navarro is a second-year Animal Science Major at UC Davis.
She has been playing violin for 7 years, and played with Notre
Dame de Namur High School Orchestra, and she was in Tri-M Honors
Society for 2009-2010. She loves to run cross country and track,
and enjoys costume design.
Kathryn Azarvand is a junior at UC Davis. She has been playing
the violin for ten years and most recently studied with Dr.
Georgette Popa of Irvine. Kathryn was a member of her high school
orchestra as well as a member of Dr. Popa’s orchestra, The Irvine
Classical Players. Ever since she was little, Kathryn loved the
violin. She loves playing Classical music but also loves to play
music from movies and tv shows and Middle Eastern music.
