CLASSICAL
With the RPO since 1983, principal viola Melissa Matson is equally known as a versatile chamber musician and has performed with Chamber Music Rochester and the Skaneateles Festival. As a founding member of the Chester Quartet, Ms. Matson performed throughout the U.S. and won awards at the Munich and Portsmouth, England International String Quartet Competitions during her five-year tenure. Ms. Matson is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music – she studied with Martha Katz and was awarded the coveted Performer's Certificate – and is now an Associate Professor at Eastman.
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Erik Behr assumed the principal oboe position with the RPO in September 2007. Prior to joining the RPO, he was principal oboe of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. Mr. Behr performed as a guest principal with the Atlanta Symphony, as a guest with the Seattle Symphony and since 2004 as substitute oboe and English horn with the Houston Symphony. He also performed at the Spoleto Festival, with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, as principal oboe with the Haddonfield (NJ) Symphony, with the New York Opera Festival at the Casals Festival and with the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra under Kurt Masur. Mr. Behr received his bachelor's degree at Arizona State University in 2001, his master's from Temple University in 2003 and currently is a doctoral candidate at Rice University. His principal teachers have been Robert Atherholt, Richard Woodhams and Marin Schuring.
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