Mark Drury
Bass
Born in Los Angeles, bassist Mark Drury headed north to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1976. There he studied with esteemed teacher and San Francisco Opera Orchestra principal bassist, S. Charles Siani.
In 1980 Mark joined the Oakland Symphony under conductor Calvin Simmons, eventually becoming principal bass. He joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as a full-time member in 1990 and shortly thereafter became a member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Mr. Drury has also enjoyed performing with other Bay Area ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
Mr. Drury has participated in many summer festivals, including Music Academy of the West, Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, Colorado Music Festival, Cabrillo Music Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and the Mendocino Music Festival.
When not playing music, Mark composes, follows Giants baseball and enjoys spending time with his family, including wife Patty, a violinist and music teacher, son Colin, an aspiring drummer, and daughter Eileen, a guitarist with a passion for country music.
Mark Almond
Co-Principal Horn ‡
Mark Almond joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Co-Principal French Horn in 2016. Mark grew up in Bolton, England and was taught primarily by Christopher Wormald, his local high school music teacher. After becoming principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Union Youth Orchestra he studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. During this time he performed in the televised finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and the Shell London Symphony Orchestra Scholarship, winning the Silver medal. He has also been a finalist in the Paxman International Horn and Philip Jones International Brass competitions.
Whilst at medical school he made his professional debut with the London Symphony Orchestra (aged 19) and was later appointed 3rd Horn with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. He has since played guest principal with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Highlights have included playing guest principal horn with the Philharmonia in Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony at Carnegie Hall under Christoph von Dohnanyi.
Mark is active as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed the Franz Strauss Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 with the Hallé Orchestra and Richard Strauss' Concerto No.2 with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He can be heard on numerous movie soundtracks, including ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, ‘Antman’, ‘Chicago’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ amongst others. In addition to playing the horn Mark is an experienced pulmonologist and general internal medicine physician and has recently been awarded a PhD in immunology and virology from Imperial College, London.
‡ leave of absence
Olga Ortenberg-Rakitchenkov
Harp
San Francisco Opera Orchestra’s Principal Harpist Olga Ortenberg-Rakitchenkov was born in Russia into a family rich in musical tradition. Her mother was an editor of Musica, a major Russian publishing company, and her granduncle was a member of the Budapest Quartet. The former Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera, Adolf Bruk, is her uncle. Olga started piano lessons at seven at Moscow’s Gnesin School for Musically Gifted Children. At eleven, she began to study harp in the class of Mark Rubin, making it her primary instrument. She graduated with Highest Honors from Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, studying with Professor Vera Dulova.
Olga won the position of Associate Principal Harp in the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra in 1973 and was promoted to Principal. In 1989, after immigration to the United States, she won the position of Principal Harp for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.
Olga performs much contemporary chamber music, and she has premiered works by Schnittke, Denisov, and Smirnov.
Olga has participated in international festivals and congresses and was the first prize winner of the 1974 International Competition of Harpists in Geneva. She toured as a soloist with the Orchestra de la Suisse Romaine and with orchestras in Melhause, Basel, and Schauffhausen. Her performances were broadcast on radio and television in Russia, France and Switzerland.
"...harpist Olga Ortenberg Rakitchenkov rose with distinction to what must be her biggest assignment in the standard operatic repertoire." - Joshua Kosman, S.F. Chronicle
"Only with words of the greatest admiration and enthusiasm can one report about the harpist from Moscow, Olga Ortenberg, who returns to the USSR from Geneva with the first prize. With inimitable grace, sensitivity, and with astonishingly rich dynamics, the Russian presented a masterful performance." - Basler Nachrichten.
"She performs the most difficult pieces with amazing ease." - Journal de Génève
"Her music is very earnest, very rich in soul ... she is a real artistic discovery." - La Suisse
Elizabeth Prior
Viola*
An active Bay Area violist, Elizabeth Prior is the Principal Violist with the Santa Rosa Symphony and is also a season substitute with the San Francisco Ballet. She recently joined the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Elizabeth is the Associate Principal with the Marin Symphony and performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Skywalker Symphony, and the Farallon Quintet. Other orchestral positions include the Freiburg Philharmonic (Associate Principal) and the Cape Town Symphony. She has toured and worked with Südwestfunk, Stuttgart Radio, Basel Symphony, and the Mannheim Opera Orchestras.
A native of South Africa, she was a prizewinner in the International String Competition in Pretoria and gave her debut at Carnegie Hall with the Russian Chamber Orchestra. Other engagements include: Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival; Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Grand Tetons Music Festival, Chamber Ensemble Cologne, Grass Valley and Mendocino summer festivals, Midsummer Mozart and Chamber Music San Francisco. She performed regular viola recitals for 13 years with Maestro Donald Runnicles on piano. She recently released her new CD Viola Romance with Miles Graber on Piano.
*regular substitute
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Sergey Rakitchenkov
Associate Principal Violist Sergey Rakitchenkov was born in Moscow and attended the Central School for Musically Gifted Children. He graduated with honors from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, where he studied with Fyodor Druzhinin. For fifteen years he performed with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, rising to become Principal of the viola section. In 1980 he won the prestigious All-Union Musical Competition. His playing was broadcast on a major Soviet Union radio station.
In 1987, soon after arriving in the United States with his wife Olga and daughter Liza, he won a position in the viola section of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, where he currently serves in the Associate Principal chair. He also performs at special events around the San Francisco Bay Area and in Europe.
Heeguen Song
Second Violin*
A native of South Korea, Heeguen has been a seasonal substitute with the SF Opera Orchestra since 2017. Heeguen is the Associate Concertmaster with the SF Ballet Orchestra and has held positions in the Santa Rosa, Oakland, and Berkeley Symphony Orchestras. She performs regularly in South Korea and throughout the Bay Area in venues such as Seoul Arts Center, Sejong Arts Center, Old First Concerts, Herbst Theater, Bing Concert Hall, and many more.
Heeguen is an active chamber musician and is a member of Beaubliss Quartet and Ensemble Ari. She has performed at Yale Chamber Music Society, Yellowbarn Music Festival, Taos Music Festival, and Banff Chamber Music Residency.
Heeguen was invited to play at Osaka City Hall, Daejeon Chamber Music Festival, Mannes Beethoven Institute at The New School, and City University of NY. Additionally Heeguen gave a solo debut recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and has had solo appearances with many orchestras such as SF Ballet Orchestra, Oberlin Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble 212, and Camerata Academica de Merida.
Heeguen is a prize winner at the Henryk Szeryng International Competition, Irving M Klein Competition, and Kingsville International Competition among others. She has studied at Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Yale School of Music and Rutgers University under the direction of Almita Vamos, Masao Kawasaki, Peter Oundjian, and Arnold Steinhardt.
Heeguen resides in Albany with her husband Sugwoo Shin and their two children. She likes doing art projects such as origami and water painting with her children. She also likes to explore traditional Korean cooking.
*regular substitute
Janet Popesco Archibald
Oboe & English Horn ‡
A San Francisco native, Janet grew up with a love of music and melody that developed from her exposure to the vibrant folk, rock & pop music so prevalent in the City in the 1960’s.
Though folk rock was her first love, Janet crossed over to Classical music when she began to play the oboe in jr. high school, adding the English Horn in high school. In college she attended the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Marc Lifschey and Adrian Gnam were her principal oboe instructors.
Janet was a fellowship participant at the Yale at Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival and has also participated in the Aspen Music Festival and the Elkhorn at Sun Valley, Idaho music festivals. For 12 summers, she was Co-Principal Oboe of the Lake Tahoe Summer Music Festival Orchestra.
Prior to winning her position of Third Oboe/Solo English Horn with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Janet toured the United States for 5 national tours as Principal Oboe of the Western Opera Theater Orchestra, the touring affiliate of the San Francisco Opera, visiting and/or performing in all but four states. For 22 years she was a member of the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory/Adult Extension (now Pre College) department and she has also been a member of the music faculty at both San Francisco State University and the University of CA, Santa Cruz.
Janet’s recording credits include the film soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Ricochet, the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and the Grammy-nominated CD of Gluck’s Orphee & Eurydice with the San Francisco Opera.
When not chained to her reed making desk, Janet likes to run and enjoys the outdoors and supporting the John Muir Land Trust. Her chamber music group, the Lowell Ensemble (formerly the Lowell Trio) features a rotating group of notable Bay Area musicians performing an eclectic mix of Classical, Folk and Film music. The Lowell Ensemble performs regularly throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in venues ranging from formal concert halls to funky music clubs.
‡ leave of absence
Steven D'Amico
Assistant Principal Bass
Steve D’Amico is Assistant Principal Double Bass with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, a position he has held since 1980. Until his 2019 retirement, he also served forty-four seasons as Principal Double Bass with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Steve was a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and whenever possible, enjoys playing with various chamber music ensembles throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to performing, he has had a long history of active involvement and leadership on both the Opera and Ballet Orchestras' Players' Committees.
A native of San Mateo, California, Steve graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1975 and was awarded a fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 1976 and 1977, where he performed as a member of the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra.
Steve is a 20-year member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and can be heard on many recordings with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras. His other performances in the recording studio at Skywalker Sound include soundtracks for numerous films and video/computer games.
When he is not playing the bass, he is known for showing many members of the Orchestra the joys (and the occasional sorrows) of salmon fishing on the Pacific Ocean. He is a regular practitioner of meditation and Kriya Yoga. His extensive musical career has also fostered a deep appreciation for the therapeutic properties of sound. He now actively studies sound healing as it is applied for helping individuals with Alzheimer's disease and those in palliative care.
Steve is married to former San Francisco Ballet dancer, Dr. Yolonda Jordan D’Amico.
Lev Rankov
First Violin
A fixture in the musical landscape of the Bay Area, Lev Rankov has been a member of first violin sections of both the San Francisco Ballet and Opera Orchestras since 1979 and 1980, respectively. Prior to these appointments and his move to the United States, Lev was concertmaster of the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia. With this esteemed ensemble, he performed as soloist various baroque and classical concerti by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, as well as modern repertoire such as Richard Strauss’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” and Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” and the Pulchinella Suite.
In addition to being a member of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Lev also has had extensive leadership experience in various Bay Area ensembles. He has served as concertmaster of the Carmel Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, principal second of the Monterey Symphony Orchestra, and was acting principal second of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.
Lev started studying the violin in his native city of St. Petersburg, where he was enrolled in the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music during his formative years. He was later a student in the class of Professor Boris Gutnikov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he graduated with distinction in solo performance.
Eva Karasik
Second Violin
San Francisco native Eva Karasik achieved a childhood dream in 1973, when she became the youngest member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. She had always hoped to follow in the footsteps of her father, who spent 40 years as a violist in the San Francisco Opera and Symphony.
Eva’s early violin studies with her father led to admission at the Cleveland Institute, where she studied violin with Elmer Setzer, Daniel Majeske, and Donald Weilerstein, and with the conductor James Levine. During her years in Cleveland, she traveled extensively throughout the country as the violinist in a rock’n’roll band.
When Eva first joined the Opera Orchestra, she was also in demand as a freelance musician, using her crossover skills to play in the exclusive club scene and theaters and hotels.
She has played with symphony orchestras in Phoenix, Tampa, and Dallas, and with the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, the Aspen Festival, and the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.
Those who know Eva know of her love for all things Russian. She studies the language in order to understand her own roots, and to learn Russian operas. She has performed as an invited guest in St. Petersburg and Moscow with the Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Mikhail Pletnev and Vladimir Spivakov. She performs locally with the Russian Chamber Orchestra and with Midsummer Mozart.
"My Russian studies, my violin, my literature club, and of course my nephew, Daniel keep me happy and busy."
Barbara Riccardi
First Violin
Violinist Barbara Riccardi was born in New York and began her musical training on the piano at age 3, adding the violin soon after. She graduated magna cum laude from Vassar College, where her love of chamber music led her to study with the legendary Guarneri Quartet. Barbara joined the San Francisco Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and soon after the SF Opera Orchestra, where the inspiration from the great vocal artists was so irresistible that she left her symphony position behind in favor of an opera/chamber music career.
During her 45 years with the Opera, Barbara raised 4 sons and a daughter, served as concertmaster of Festival Opera of Walnut Creek for 10 years and founded the Temescal String Quartet, which performs frequently in the Bay Area. In recent years Barbara has taken on the restoration of abandoned properties in her parents' native Sicily.
Beni Shinohara
Assistant Principal Second Violin
A native of Nagoya, Japan, Beni Shinohara studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where she earned bachelor’s and master's degrees. She also studied extensively in Europe with Sandor Vegh before coming to the United States.
Beni joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1988 and currently holds the position of Assistant Principal Second Violin. She has also been an Assistant Concertmaster in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra since 1990.
She has performed with many Bay Area chamber ensembles, such as Marin Chamber Players, Gold Coast Chamber Players, the San Francisco Trio, and the Edgewood Trio.
In addition, Beni has premiered numerous twentieth-century Japanese composers’ works, participating in the "Music Today" Concert Series, under the direction of Toru Takemitsu, and the Gen-On Contemporary Composers Music Festival in Tokyo. She performed the world premiere of Bay Area composer Charles Shere’s Violin Concerto with the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra.
She lives in Mill Valley with her husband Katsuto, and their Flat-Coated Retriever, Myla. She enjoys hikes, taking Pilates classes, and getting involved in the community- for example, by helping to curate the 142 Throckmorton Theatre’s weekly concert series. Recently, Beni and Myla have started the new adventure of agility training. They dream of one day participating in a competition!
Patricia Heller
Viola
Patricia Heller joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra’s viola section in 1986. She can be seen in the Company video of “Orlando Furioso” with Marilyn Horne. Patty’s first public performance was in second grade when she astonished her classmates with a note-perfect “Way Down Upon the Swanee River” on her mother’s silver clarinet. No doubt it would astonish an audience even now if you put a clarinet in her hands.
Patty settled on the viola for her life’s work at the age of 12 when, in the middle of the viola section in the Colorado All-State Orchestra under the baton of Abraham Chavez, she realized that a seat in the midst of an orchestra, altogether vibrating in C Major, is the best place in the world to be. Beethoven’s master work “Fidelio” has been one of the highlights of her performing career and she is eagerly anticipating the moment when San Francisco Opera’s new Music Director takes the helm, bringing back that powerful C Major “Yes!” to the streets of San Francisco.
After viola studies with Lee Yeingst, Max Aronoff, and Katò Havas, Patty traveled the world with her composer/pianist husband Duane Heller as the Highwater Duo, commissioning and performing music for viola and piano. Lately, she makes her home in Daly City and enjoys the sublime pleasure of making music with her now-grown daughter. Their casual ensemble Scottish Thistles has been heard in many Bay Area living rooms, and is expanding to overtake the area around Utica, New York.
Jonna Hervig
Viola
Jonna Hervig, a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra’s viola section, was born in Iowa City, Iowa. She first studied viola at the University of Iowa with William Preucil. She then went to New York, where she studied with Lillian Fuchs at Manhattan School of Music and Willliam Lincer at The Juilliard School. Ms. Hervig has studied chamber music with the Lennox String Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet, and the Guarneri Quartet. She has played in the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Teton Music Festival Orchestra.
Jonna lives in Oakland with her two boys. She enjoys volunteering for animal rescue programs such as Pets and Pals, the Sausalito Marine Mammal Resource Center, and the Lindsay Wildlife Museum.
Photo credit ©Martin Cohen
Evan Kahn
Principal Cello
Evan Kahn joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Cello in 2023. A California native, Evan grew up in Los Angeles with a jazz pianist father and opera singer mother. He has been lauded for bringing his "electrifying ... nuanced and colorful" style to all of his collaborations, from concerti to chamber music to contemporary performances. In addition to his position at San Francisco Opera, Evan also holds principal positions in the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Opera San Jose and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. Dedicated to the orchestral craft, he also performs with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, and the San Francisco Symphony. In the Spring of 2018, he served as Artist-in-Residence with Performance Today at NPR, sharing some of his favorite works for cello and his philosophies on music and life. In February of 2019, he was named Musical America's New Artist of the Month.
Evan received a Master's degree in Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jennifer Culp. He graduated with college and university honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied with David Premo. Before college, he took lessons in Los Angeles with John Walz, Timothy Loo and Karen Patch. Other important mentors include Paul Hersh, Thomas Loewenheim, Amos Yang, Mark Kosower, Robert DeMaine and Bonnie Hampton.
In addition to performing and teaching, Evan enjoys playing tabletop games, watching British television and playing with his cat. He plays on a cello by Carlo Carletti, c. 1900, and a bow by Jacob Eury, c. 1830-1835.
Julie McKenzie
Principal Flute
Julie McKenzie is Principal Flutist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and Piccoloist of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, positions that she has held since 1991. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she was a student of Lloyd Gowen. Other teachers and mentors have included Paul Renzi, Julius Baker, Peter Lloyd and Keith Underwood.
In her earlier career, Julie participated as an orchestral fellow in the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, and she was featured in a CBC television documentary with Jean Pierre Rampal. For many years Julie was a member of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Chamber Symphony and the Anchor Chamber Players. As a soloist, she has appeared at the Carmel Bach and Mendocino Music Festivals, and with the New Century Chamber Orchestra. She has recorded for New Albion and Teldec Records, among others.
In addition to orchestral playing, Julie enjoys collaborating with colleagues in chamber music settings. She has appeared with many Bay Area ensembles, including the Gold Coast Chamber Players, Eos Ensemble, Master Guild Series and the Sierra Chamber Players. Julie has also performed in concert with Renee Fleming, Susan Graham and Frederica von Stade.
When not playing the flute, Julie enjoys being active at the gym, the yoga studio, on her bike or on hiking trails. Julie resides in San Francisco with her husband, bassist Ken Miller.
Michael Severance
Bassoon & Contrabassoon
Michael Severance joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2014. A San Francisco native, he began playing the bassoon at the age of 17, studying with Stephen Paulson. He studied with Kristin Wolfe Jensen at the University of Texas and Benjamin Kamins at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He has performed with many orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Houston Symphony.
Michael lives in Daly City with his wife, Alex, and an unusually vocal Flame Point Siamese.
Samuel Schlosser
Principal Trombone
Samuel Schlosser joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Trombone in 2013. Before coming to San Francisco, he was a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and prior to that, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Opera and the New York Philharmonic.
An avid teacher, he has given masterclasses at the Mannes College New School for Music in New York and at the Jacob's School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Samuel received his formal training from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was a student of Nitzan Haroz, Principal Trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Keith Green
Horn
Keith Green, who grew up in Belleville, Michigan, has been second horn with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1994, and second horn with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra since 1991.
Keith graduated from Western Michigan University in 1982, where he studied horn with Neill Sanders. After an inspiring master class by Dave Krehbiel, then-principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony, Keith decided to move to San Francisco to study with him. He received his master's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1984.
Keith lives in Oakland with his wife Katy Juneau, a professional violist. He finds time for golf now and then, brews and bakes, and hopes never to let a summer go by without family camping in the Sierras or beyond.