Welcome New Orchestra Members

Alexa Brown (Thomson) spent the first years of her life in South Dakota, where she enjoyed her first orchestral success as concertmaster of the South Dakota All State Orchestra in high school. She then moved to New Zealand, where her father's family are from. She completed secondary studies and an undergraduate degree at the New Zealand School of Music, graduating with a Bachelor's in Music with Honors. While studying she played with Orchestra Wellington in both the violin and viola sections, received the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Alex Lindsay Award, and held an orchestral fellowship with the Auckland Philharmonia. Alexa then returned to the United States to pursue a Professional Performance Certificate with Dr. Timothy Deighton at Penn State, and subsequently moved to Houston to round out her studies with a Master's of Music in viola performance at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music with Professor James Dunham.

While at Rice, she held a Brown Fellowship and worked in the Young Children's Division exploring music and movement, and was awarded a Sviatoslav-Richter Grant for an outreach project that involved taking iconic solo viola repertoire by New Zealand composers, as well as the stories behind the music, into the community venues of Houston. After graduation she began working as one of the Houston Symphony's full-time Community-Embedded Musicians, building on her work in the greater Houston community while also performing in the viola section of the symphony. After pandemic program cuts in 2020, she pivoted and spent one year as the orchestra director at Carver High School, gaining a teaching certificate as well as a wealth of new experiences with music through a slightly different avenue.

Following a year of teaching, Alexa moved to Omaha with her husband for his career advancement, which coincided nicely with the Omaha Symphony's viola auditions in the 2021/22 season when she won her current position in the section. Alexa is very happy to have this opportunity to continue performing and learning with this wonderful group of musicians. When not playing the viola she enjoys a simple life and spends time with her husband and kids.

Madison Freed joined the Omaha Symphony as third clarinet and bass clarinet in August of 2022. She previously served as third clarinet/bass clarinet of the Illinois Symphony and second clarinet/e-flat clarinet of the Evansville Philharmonic. In addition to these regular positions, she has performed as a substitute musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Madison holds degrees in Clarinet Performance from Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music as well as a Bachelor’s in English Literature from Suffolk University.

Rosario Galante joined the Omaha Symphony in 2023 as Acting Assistant Principal/2nd/E-Flat clarinet. Since 2019, he has served as 2nd/E-Flat Clarinet with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, Galante has also performed with the Springfield Symphony (OH), Symphoria (Syracuse, NY), and the Ohio Valley Symphony. Prior to joining the Omaha Symphony, Galante has also been a frequent substitute clarinetist with the orchestra since 2013. Galante has also participated in the Sebango Long Lake Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Marrowstone Music festival. Galante holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master’s Degree from Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music.

Henry Jenkins was born in Oklahoma, and moved around a bit before doing most of his growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his Bachelor in Violin Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory under the tutelage of Professor Milan Vitek. He moved to Bloomington, Indiana to attend the IU Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master's and Performance Diploma while studying with Professor Kevork Mardirossian. Henry served as Assistant Concertmaster in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony, and played in the sections of the Evansville Philharmonic and Owensboro Symphony for several years before moving to Omaha to serve as 2nd Associate Concertmaster with the Omaha Symphony.

Paul Matthews is a percussionist and timpanist from Omaha, Nebraska. Paul has performed professionally as an extra musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Music from the University of Southern California and has completed some graduate studies at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Additionally, he has spent his recent summers as a fellow at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Paul’s primary teachers are Joseph Pereira and James Babor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Matthew Strauss of the Houston Symphony.

Cellist InYoung Park holds her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Mannes School of Music in New York City, where she studied with Timothy Eddy and Paul Tobias. InYoung has been in the cello section of the Omaha Symphony since 2021, and also teaches orchestra at Concordia Lutheran Schools of Omaha. Besides her work, InYoung enjoys playing music with her husband, Sam Pierce-Ruhland in their cello duo, Celliccino in community settings such as churches and nursing homes.

Trevor Petersen, 24, is an Omaha native. He began playing cello at the age of 10 in his elementary school strings program. Several years later he began private study with the late Margaret Lim. His later teachers include Tim Strang, Karen Becker, and Greg Clinton. In 2016 he won the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras concerto competition. The following year, as a college freshmen, he won his first orchestra job with the Lincoln Symphony. This year, he joined the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelors of Music in Cello Performance, and played in the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Austin Ruff is from Richardson, Texas and began playing horn when he was eleven. Having fallen in love with symphonic music at a young age, he went on to study music performance at Southern Methodist University, graduating in 2021 with a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. There, he studied under Greg Hustis, Haley Hoops, David Heyde, and Alex Kienle. Austin also studied with Gail Williams and Jon Boen while pursuing a masters degree at Northwestern University. Other notable mentors include John Henes and Neil Kimmel. During his time in Chicago, he was also an Associate Musician with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, allowing him multiple appearances with the orchestra.

Austin was appointed Associate Principal Horn of the Omaha Symphony in the spring of 2022. Austin has also served as substitute Horn in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and New World Symphony. He has been a fellow of the Cuban American Youth Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, and National Repertory Orchestra. At the NRO he was a concerto competition winner and featured soloist.

A Minnesota native, Tyler Sieh previously served as a violist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans where he was a founding member of the Lott String Quartet, artists-in-residence at the University of New Orleans. A veteran of the United States Air Force, Tyler has performed across the US as a member of the Air Force Strings. He also gave his solo recital debut at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts representing the Air Force Strings. Tyler has previously taught at Augustana University, Minnesota State University Mankato, and currently teaches viola at the University of Nebraska Omaha, as well as the MasterWorks Festival during the summer months.