Jacksonville, Fla. (August 2, 2024) – The Jacksonville Symphony is excited to announce new appointments and promotions of musicians for the 2024/25 Season. The Symphony welcomes two distinguished musicians, promotes an acting musician and grants tenure to three outstanding artists, reflecting their ongoing dedication to excellence and growth.
After an intense audition process this past spring, two talented musicians are joining the Symphony, Yu-Ping Tsai as Associate Concertmaster and Lynn Sue-A-Quan as Section Viola. Yu-Ping Tsai, a talented violinist, joins the Jacksonville Symphony with a rich background in solo and chamber music, while Lynn Sue-A-Quan, a versatile violist from Toronto, brings experience from prestigious ensembles and a passion for education. The auditions also resulted in acting musician Justin Bain, Bass Trombone becoming an official member for the upcoming season. These three musicians will join long-standing members and recent 2023/24 audition winners, including Yun-Ting Kuo, Principal Viola and Darryl Manley, Associate Principal Viola for the 75th Anniversary Season.
In recognition of their exceptional contributions, tenure has been awarded to Bobby Gallagher, Trumpet II; Tom Park, Horn III and Yun-Ting Kuo, Principal Viola. Achieving tenure represents a significant professional milestone, reflecting a musician’s exceptional skill and dedication. The rigorous process starts from the initial audition and involves consistently high-level performances and peer evaluations.
The Symphony looks forward to celebrating this monumental anniversary season with its new additions and longstanding musicians.
For more information and to view the full list of the Jacksonville Symphony’s musicians, visit JaxSymphony.org.
Yu-Ping Tsai
Taiwanese violinist Yu-Ping Tsai is gaining international acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Yu-Ping won this position shortly after completing her first year of a master's degree at The Colburn School under the tutelage of Robert Lipsett. A graduate of The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor of Music studying with Joseph Lin, Yu-Ping has received numerous accolades including the Dorothy DeLay Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival and the Chimei Arts Award in Taiwan, which funded her studies at Colburn from 2023 to 2024. With a diverse performance background, Yu-Ping has toured Germany and given recitals across various Asian countries. Yu-Ping’s artistic vision is to inspire and connect diverse audiences, enriching hearts and minds through her passionate music, while continuing to grow as a distinguished Taiwanese violinist.
Lynn Sue-A-Quan
Native of Toronto, Canada, Lynn Sue-A-Quan is a soloist, chamber musician, and an educator. She studied at the Taylor Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto under Teng Li. Lynn is a graduate of the Juilliard School under Hsin-Yun Huang, Heidi Castleman, and Cynthia Phelps. She has performed in many orchestras including Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, she has won numerous competitions including the Canadian Music Competition and was a concerto competition winner for the Aspen Music Festival. She has performed with orchestras including the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Niagara Symphony, and others. She has participated in the Verbier Festival and Tanglewood as a fellow. In addition to performing, Lynn is passionate about teaching. At Juilliard, she was a recipient of the Morse Teaching Artists Fellowship at Juilliard where she taught music to New York City students through school partnerships. She also maintains a private studio teaching both violin and viola.
Bobby Gallagher
Bobby Gallagher holds the second trumpet position of the Jacksonville Symphony. Previously he served as second trumpet with Miami City Ballet’s Orchestra. Originally from South Florida, Gallagher earned an artist diploma, masters and bachelor’s of music in trumpet performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music where he studied with Craig Morris. He has enjoyed summers at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley and the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale. In Miami, and now Jacksonville, Bobby has maintained a small private studio.
Tom Park
Tom Park joined the Jacksonville Symphony as third horn in January of 2024. He previously was a freelance musician in Northeast Ohio where he played primarily with the Akron symphony as second horn. As a substitute musician, he has performed with many orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Festival Band, Pro Musica Chamber orchestra, and the Canton Symphony orchestra. He has also appeared with the North Coast Wind Quintet, and the Blue Water Brass Quintet. Mr. Park received his Bachelor's of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Richard King, and his Masters of Music from the Yale School of Music where he studied with William Purvis.
Justin Bain
Justin Bain is the Bass Trombonist of the Jacksonville Symphony and Central City Opera (CO). He maintains a private teaching studio both locally and online. Bain holds a Master of Music from The Juilliard School (2022) and a Bachelor of Music from The University of Minnesota (2019). His primary teachers were Brian Hecht, John Rojak and Tom Ashworth. Bain began his performing career in 2019 by touring the U.S., Canada and Japan as a full-time member of The Glenn Miller Orchestra. He went on to win positions with the Houston Grand Opera (2021), the Austin Symphony Orchestra (2023) and the Central City Opera (2023). He was invited to perform one-year contracts with the Jacksonville Symphony for their 2022/23 and 2023/24 Seasons and won the permanent position in May 2024. Bain plays on a custom Shires bass trombone and an Ultimate Brass George Curran “Orchestral” mouthpiece.
Yun-Ting Kuo
Yun-Ting Kuo has been appointed as the Principal Violist with the Jacksonville Symphony starting from the 2023/24 Season. She will make her solo debut with the Jacksonville Symphony, performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Concertmaster Adelya Nartadjieva in the 2024/25 Season to celebrate the Symphony’s 75th Season. She has also performed with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Korean National Symphony Orchestra Academy and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Academy. As a dynamic chamber musician, she has collaborated with Frank Huang, Amit Peled and the San Marco Chamber Music Society.
About the Jacksonville Symphony
The Jacksonville Symphony is North Florida’s leading nonprofit performing arts organization offering live performances at Jacoby Symphony Hall in the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts and other venues throughout the area. Led by President and CEO Steven Libman and Music Director Courtney Lewis, the Jacksonville Symphony reaches over 129,000 individuals through over 95 performances each season. In addition, the Symphony provides music instruction for youth and operates the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. For more information about the Symphony, visit JaxSymphony.org.
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Media Contact:
Savannah Silliman
Marketing and Public Relations Manager
Jacksonville Symphony
904-356-0426
ssilliman@jaxsymphony.org