Kevin Pearl is the assistant principal oboe of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a position he assumed in the fall of 2015. Prior to his appointment in Milwaukee, Kevin was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, and toured with the orchestra to the Harris Theater, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. During the summer, he is the oboe faculty member at Festival Napa Valley, and he performs regularly with the Grant Park Orchestra, the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra, and the Lakes Area Music Festival, with whom he performed Richard Strauss’s oboe concerto in 2016. He is also the First Prize winner of the inaugural Double Reed Society’s Young Artist Competition. Born and raised in Coral Springs, Florida, Kevin received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His primary teachers are Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt, and Robert Weiner, with additional mentorship from Elaine Douvas, Richard Woodhams, and Nathan Hughes. When he’s not playing the oboe, Kevin enjoys spending time with his cat Niyla, playing video games, and making his friends laugh.

“Soulful”, “well-crafted”, “moving lyricism”, and “beautifully rendered” are just some of the words used to describe Ashley Ertz’s playing by various reviews and publications. Ashley Ertz is Principal Oboe with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, English Horn/Third Oboe with the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra and English Horn/Second Oboe with the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra. She is also the Artistic Director/Founder of 5th Wave Collective. Since relocating to Chicago in 2017, Ertz has performed with numerous ensembles including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Music of the Baroque, Civic Orchestra of Chicago and more. While living in San Francisco she performed with the San Francisco Symphony, ChamberFest with Jeffrey Kahane and Jennifer Koh, Santa Rosa Symphony, and more. Ertz holds degrees from DePaul University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University.

Susan Warner is Assistant Principal Clarinetist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. In addition to her position at the opera house, Susan has also been a member of the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra for the past fifteen years, where she was featured as soloist in Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs. Susan has performed as substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. In August 2019 as a member of the Chicago Winds Quintet, Susan, along with her husband CSO hornist David Griffin, toured throughout China where Susan’s growing fluency in Mandarin allowed her to deliver spoken introductions during concerts. Susan and David live in Oak Park; together they have homeschooled their children, allowing for extensive family travels, most recently to Chile, Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Panama, and Turkey.

Theresa Zick is a Chicago based clarinetist. She was Acting Assistant Principal, Second, and E-flat Clarinet of the Nashville Symphony from 2021-2023. In addition to Nashville, Theresa has performed with many groups including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun Valley Festival Orchestra. Theresa has also recorded for companies such as Disney and EA Games. Theresa holds a master’s degree from DePaul University and bachelor’s degrees in both clarinet performance and music education from the University of Michigan. Her primary teachers include: Stephen Williamson, Chad Burrow and Dan Gilbert. Theresa plays on Henri Selmer Paris Clarinets and is a Selmer Artist. When not playing the clarinet, Theresa enjoys spending time with her husband, Rory, and their cat and dog, Salem and Maggie.

William Buchman joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1992 after two seasons with the Dallas Symphony. He was appointed assistant principal bassoon in 1996 and has served as acting principal on multiple occasions, including all overseas tours between 2007 and 2014. In 2008 he performed and toured as guest principal bassoon with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Buchman has played chamber music with pianists Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Yefim Bronfman and Emanuel Ax; performed and toured with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Pro Musica and the Chicago Symphony Winds, and plays regularly with Music of the Baroque. A native of Canton, Ohio, Buchman earned a bachelor of science degree in physics magna cum laude from Brown University in 1987. With the support of a DAAD fellowship, he continued his physics studies the following year at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. On returning to the United States, Buchman studied bassoon performance at the Yale University School of Music with Arthur Weisberg and at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music with Norman Herzberg. A member of the DePaul University School of Music faculty since 1998, Buchman also coaches the bassoon section of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has presented master classes throughout the United States and in Brazil, China, Canada and Germany. He resides with his husband Lee Lichamer in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood.

Liam Jackson is a Chicago-based Bassoonist and Music Educator with a passion for performing new music and expanding the bassoon repertoire. Liam recently won the Principal Bassoon position with the Billings Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in Bassoon Performance and Music Education, and DePaul with a master’s degree in Bassoon Performance in 2020, Liam joined the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Bassoon Section from 2021-2023. In addition to his work with the Civic Orchestra, Liam has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Musicians of the Chicago Symphony MusicNOW in addition to the Detroit Opera, International Chamber Artists, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Folks Operetta, Michigan Philharmonic, and the 5th Wave Collective. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Liam’s primary teachers were Robert Williams, Dr. Jeffrey Lyman, William Buchman and Keith Buncke.

Abby Black is the newly appointed Principal Horn of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Prior to joining Lyric, she was a Horn Fellow at the New World Symphony and previously held positions with Central City Opera, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Axiom Brass, and Millar Brass. Abby has performed with many of the nation’s leading ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Grant Park Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Chicago Opera Theater. Abby earned her Bachelor of Music in Performance and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music, and her Master’s degree and Post-Master’s Certificate from DePaul University. She was also a Horn Fellow with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago under the baton of Ken-David Masur. Her primary teachers include Jim Smelser, Oto Carrillo, W. Peter Kurau, Daniel Gingrich, and Neil Kimel.

Canadian French horn player Emily Whittaker is an active soloist, freelance musician, and educator in the Chicagoland area. She has performed with many orchestras and ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, Omaha Symphony, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and the Pacific Opera Victoria. Performing as a soloist both with ensembles and as a recitalist, this year’s highlights include solo performances with the Joliet Symphony Orchestra, Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Summer Music Festival Winds. As an educator, Emily serves on the faculty as the Horn Instructor at Elgin Community College and is a guest lecturer for colleges and universities across the country presenting her research and benefits for Audition Data Tracking and leading masterclasses. In 2021, Emily was the founding director of Sunshine Horn Camp, an annual summer horn camp dedicated to young horn players to instill knowledge and confidence in playing the horn. Emily holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto with a minor in Indigenous Studies, and both a Master of Music and a Performance Diploma from DePaul University.