Leslie Lashinsky plays lots of low notes. She has been a member of the Long Beach Symphony since 1980. Her other orchestral credits include the L.A. Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, Bolshoi, ABT and Joffrey Ballets, Glendale and Pacific Symphonies, L.A. Chamber and Hollywood Bowl Orchestras, and many theatrical productions., She has played bassoon and contrabassoon on many soundtracks, including Jurassic Park, The Lion King, The Matrix, The Chronicles of Narnia, Spiderman 3 and Enchanted, as well as chamber music recordings. Leslie has toured the world with Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Her original music and multimedia works have been included in Lincoln Center’s “Serious Fun Festival,” The Los Angeles Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and New Music Across America. Leslie holds an M.F.A. from The California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) and a B.A. from Middlebury College. She has taught at Art Center College of Design and is currently on the faculty of Pepperdine University. Leslie teaches privately and coaches musicians preparing for auditions.

Tenured in 1982

Julie Feves is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. She has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber performer and orchestra principal in music ranging from the baroque to the avant-garde. The New York Times has praised her “virtuosic flair” and The San Francisco Examiner admired “the sureness of her pitch and the tenderness of her phrasing.” Ms. Feves has appeared with numerous orchestras throughout the United States, including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Aspen Festival Orchestras. Currently Ms. Feves serves as principal bassoonist with the Long Beach Symphony. She has performed contemporary music with the New Century Players, Speculum Musicae, and the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Performing on early bassoons, she has worked with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, the Mozartean Players, and the Pernucio Ensemble. As a chamber music artist, Ms. Feves performs regularly her Baroque group, Bach’s Circle and with the new Long Beach Chamber Players. She appears regularly with Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. She has also appeared with Music from Angel Fire in Angel Fire, New Mexico, with the Bravo Colorado Music Festival in Vail, Colorado and as a guest artist with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. She has recorded for Delos, Columbia Records, Nonesuch, Harmonia Mundi, Leonarda, Nine Winds, and the AudioQuest labels. She is also active as a recording musician for major motion picture and television studios in Los Angeles. Currently Ms. Feves serves as Associate Dean and Director of Instrumental Performance programs in the School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts.

Tenured in 1990

Clarinetist Gary Bovyer, “a virtuosic and passionate soloist” according to the Los Angeles Times, is principal clarinetist of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Orange County’s Mozart Classical Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale Sinfonia and the Santa Monica Symphony. His playing has been described as “soulful and astute…sparkling with grace and warmth”, Los Angeles Times and “flexible and elegant” Ha’aretz Israel. The Long Beach Grunion Gazette said of his 2006 performance with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra,” Quiet perfection marked the Mozart (Basset) Clarinet Concerto as performed by Gary Bovyer…the perfection came from the balance, the musicality, the just-right tempos and the sense of total authority. Bovyer was poised, his sound creamy and luscious…what came through was fabulous Mozart, in all its glory.”

In addition to his orchestral responsibilities Gary Bovyer is much in demand as a soloist. In 2007 he gave the world premiere of David Newman’s Concerto for Winds with the Long Beach Symphony and premiered Solo Movement for Clarinet and Orchestra also by David Newman with the Santa Monica Symphony. He has performed as soloist several times with the Santa Monica Symphony in Weber’s Concerto no. 1, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and the West Coast premiere of Dan Welcher’s Concerto for Clarinet. He has also appeared as soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, the Santa Maria Philharmonic, the Bremerton Symphony, the Berkeley Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He is featured on the Philips recording Always and Forever by The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra with John Mauceri conductor, the Nonesuch recording of Steve Reich’s Daniel Variations and the New World recording of James Newton’s Sacred Works.

Gary Bovyer was a member of Pacific Classical Winds, a period instrument ensemble, which recorded several albums for New World Records. He was formerly a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Winds, and was principal clarinetist with the Los Angeles Opera for several seasons. He was principal clarinetist of the Jerusalem Symphony for three seasons and was a founding member of the Ariel Ensemble Jerusalem which recorded several works for the Israel Broadcasting Authority. He is the founder and former co-director of Long Beach Symphony’s chamber music program “Sounds & Spaces”.

Gary Bovyer has been an active clarinetist in the Los Angeles recording studios for over 25 years and can be heard as principal clarinetist on many of the motion picture scores of James Horner, Danny Elfman, David Newman and George Clinton.

A native of Oakland, California, Gary Bovyer received his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where he was a pupil of the legendary Joseph Allard. He also studied with the British virtuoso clarinetist, Gervase DePeyer. Currently he resides in Sierra Madre with his wife Michele, a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s first violin section, their daughter Joanna and son Isaac. In his spare time he enjoys motorcycling and hiking.

Tenured in 1983

Joseph Stone is a full-time freelance oboist/woodwind player performing in the Los Angeles area on oboe, flute, clarinet, saxophone and recorders. He joined the Long Beach Symphony in 1980 during the premiere season of music director Murry Sidlin, initially performing on saxophone at Maestro Sidlin’s first Long Beach Symphony Classical Series Concert. In 1982 he won the 2nd oboe position and in recent years has been playing Principal Oboe on the Long Beach Symphony POPS! performances. Along with his wife and fellow oboist, Laura Stone, he co-founded and plays flute for the Long Beach Symphony Woodwind Quintet since 1993, which has performed for thousands of LBUSD students as part of the Long Beach Symphony Ensembles in Schools program. As a studio musician he has played on as many as eight different woodwind instruments on movie scores for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Star Trek, Wall-E, Cars 2, Super 8, and Bad Santa to name a few, including the Academy Award winning score for Pixar’s Up. He performed on the latest albums for Neil Diamond, Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, and Barry Manilow, plus numerous TV shows, commercials and theme park attractions for Disney. He is Principal Oboe in both the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay in Palos Verdes and the Long Beach Municipal Band. For more than 20 years he played in the Laguna Beach “Pageant of the Masters” orchestra, spent many years working with the Long Beach Opera and Ballet, and was in the pit for quite a few productions of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. In 2008 he toured Japan for a month with the Percy Faith Orchestra and in September 2010 he performed live on National television with Neil Diamond for the Stand Up to Cancer Telethon.

Mr. Stone is a graduate of University of Southern California with a B.M. and a M.M in Oboe Performance where he studied with William Criss and Harvey Pittell. He is currently an adjunct Professor of Oboe at California State University Long Beach and teaches oboe, clarinet, and saxophone at Whittier College.

Tenured in 1992

Diane Alancraig enjoys a versatile career as a symphony and chamber musician, solo recitalist and teacher. Over the years, she has had the good fortune to work with some of the world’s most distinguished artists and musical organizations, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Long Beach Symphony. She has also toured widely in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Outside of music, Diane dabbles in auto mechanics, loves to cook, has a wonderful family, and works professionally as a photographer specializing in portraiture.

Diane is currently on faculty at California State University at Los Angeles.

Tenured in 1992

Diane Alancraig enjoys a versatile career as a symphony and chamber musician, solo recitalist and teacher. Over the years, she has had the good fortune to work with some of the world’s most distinguished artists and musical organizations, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Long Beach Symphony. She has also toured widely in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Outside of music, Diane dabbles in auto mechanics, loves to cook, has a wonderful family, and works professionally as a photographer specializing in portraiture.

Diane is currently on faculty at California State University at Los Angeles.

Tenured in June 2009

FRANK MARINO began his childhood education studying piano and violin in his native San Diego. By the year 1990, he had taken up string bass in the orchestra because he didn’t want to carry his violin to school everyday. Since then, Frank has been carrying his bass to rehearsals, lessons and festivals throughout California and across the country. He has studied with Gunner Biggs, Clifton Swanson, Paul Ellison, and Nico Abondolo, attended such festivals as the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Summer Festival in Catania, Italy, and earned a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California in 2005. Today Frank enjoys teaching music lessons and performing with various ensembles in Los Angeles County, and he loves the Long Beach Symphony.

Thomas B. Harte, Jr. received his first double bass lesson during his final semester of high school and quickly discovered his love of low notes. He went on to complete both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Juilliard School, followed by an Artist’s Diploma from USC. Choosing to remain in Southern California, Thomas enjoys the variety that being an L.A. musician brings. In addition to the Long Beach Symphony, Thomas has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, New West Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, and The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. He has also performed and recorded with notable pop artists including Andrea Bocelli, Taylor Swift, Josh Groban, Sting and Peter Gabriel.

Geoff Osika credits his musical training to three men: his father David, a fine trumpeter and music teacher who indicated that in order to be taken seriously as a musician the 15-year old would have to do more than just play in a rock band; John Schaeffer, former principal bass of the New York Philharmonic, who in two and a half years’ time conditioned the young bassist to gain acceptance at both the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music; and Roger Scott, former principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who opened the methodical bassist’s ears to a deeper understanding of orchestral playing and repertoire.

After Curtis, Geoff embarked on several years of full-time orchestral jobs. He has held positions with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galícia in Spain, and the Oregon Symphony. From each place he took with him a wealth of musical and life experiences.

Geoff has been a part of the recording industry in Los Angeles for close to two decades.

A professional musician for over 30 years, cellist Kathleen Hood has been a member of the Long Beach Symphony since 1980. She has performed in a wide variety of contexts, including various professional orchestras, chamber ensembles, and film soundtracks. In addition to her B.A. in music performance from UCLA, she has also has received a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. from UCLA in ethnomusicology, and she specializes in music of the Near East. Since 1992, she has played cello in a variety of Arab music ensembles. She is also the founder and director of the Ondine Chamber Ensemble, a group that performs at weddings and other events.