Tenured in 1972

I have been playing the cello since the age of seven and my main work has been in the orchestral and studio work areas. My first professional job was as the youngest cellist hired by the Houston Symphony under the direction of Sir John Barbirolli and Sir Andre Previn. I was also the youngest cellist hired by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

I have served as principal cellist with the Tulsa Philharmonic, the American Ballet Theater, the Jeoffrey Ballet and also the Pasadena Pops. I was a member of the Tulsa Philharmonic Quartet. I presently serve as assistant principal with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra since 1972.

I have had the distinction of being the only cellist on The Lawrence Welk Show for its last seven years. I have played for six United States Presidents.

I have done numerous recordings from orchestral, classical, operatic, popular, television and movies. I have worked with Lucianno Pavarotti, Jose Carrera, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Madonna to name a few. Also, I have done numerous stage shows.

My teaching includes Oral Roberts University, University of Tulsa and Occidental College, plus private teaching.

I am lucky that I love what I do and it has brought me so many opportunities and has allowed me to play across the United States to the Orient and Europe.

I reside in Burbank at a home once owned by Gordon Robinson, the composer for Liberace, with my wife Maureen.

Sara Behar has been a violist in the Long Beach Symphony since 1986. Her violin accomplishments include Pasadena Symphony, Tanglewood Institute, and Congress of Strings where she was concertmaster under Daniel Lewis. Her viola accomplishments include the Long Beach Opera, Pro Arte Chamber Ensemble, and solo appearances including “Harold in Italy” with the Beach Cities Symphony, and a recital with Zita Carno, former pianist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Behar has studied with fine teachers including Manuel Compinsky of “The Compinsky Trio”, Glen Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, and Alan De Veritch, former principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Sara’s education includes California Institute of the Arts, (performance), California State University Northridge, (performance, child development), and California State University Long Beach, where she specialized in Music Therapy. Sara has been teaching violin and viola at all levels for over twenty five years, and uses her diverse education to create a unique personalized experience for her students. She has also worked as a Music Specialist in pre-schools and elementary schools in the Los Angeles area. Sara has written and composed “song stories” in which she uses the violin as her accompaniment, integrating these stories into her Music Specialty work.

“Comparisons with Argerich should not be given lightly, but Paremski is so clearly of the same temperament and technique that it is unavoidable here.” — American Record Guide

With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audiences with her musical sensibility and flawless technique.

Born in Moscow, Natasha moved to the United-States at the age of 8 and became a US citizen shortly thereafter. She is now based in New York.

Natasha was awarded several very prestigious artist prizes at a very young age, including the Gilmore Young Artists prize in 2006 at the age of 18, the Prix Montblanc in 2007, the Orpheum Stiftung Prize in Switzerland. In September 2010, she was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year.

Her first recital album was released in 2011 and it debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. In 2012 she recorded Tchaikovsky’s first concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Fabien Gabel on the orchestra’s label distributed by Naxos.

Natasha has performed with major orchestras in North America including Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, NAC Orchestra in Ottawa, Nashville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra. She tours extensively in Europe with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchester, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre de Nancy, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, Moscow Philharmonic, under the direction of conductors including Peter Oundjian, Andres Orozco-Estrada, Jeffrey Kahane, James Gaffigan, Dmitri Yablonski, Tomas Netopil, JoAnn Falletta, Fabien Gabel, and Andrew Litton. Natasha has toured with Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica in Latvia, Benelux, the UK and Austria and performed with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taipei.

Natasha has given recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Schloss Elmau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Verbier Festival, Seattle’s Meany Hall, Kansas City’s Harriman Jewell Series, Santa Fe’s Lensic Theater, Ludwigshafen BASF Series, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Tokyo’s Musashino Performing Arts Center and on the Rising Stars Series of Gilmore and Ravinia Festivals.

With a strong focus on new music, Natasha’s growing repertoire reflects an artistic maturity beyond her years. In the 2010-11 season, she played the world premiere of a sonata written for her by Gabriel Kahane, which was also included in her solo album. At the suggestion of John Corigliano, Natasha brought her insight and depth to his Piano Concerto with the Colorado Symphony. In recital, she has played several pieces by noted composer and pianist Fred Hersch.

Natasha continues to extend her performance activity and range beyond the traditional concert hall. In December 2008, she was the featured pianist in choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s Danse Concertantes at New York’s Joyce Theater. She was featured in a major two-part film for BBC Television on the life and work of Tchaikovsky, shot on location in St. Petersburg, performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and other works. In the winter of 2007, Natasha participated along with Simon Keenlyside and Maxim Vengerov in the filming of Twin Spirits, a project starring Sting and Trudie Styler that explores the music and writing of Robert and Clara Schumann, which was released on DVD. She has performed in the project live several times with the co-creators in New York and the UK, directed by John Caird, the original director/adaptor of the musical Les Misérables.

Natasha began her piano studies at the age of 4 with Nina Malikova at Moscow’s Andreyev School of Music. She then studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music before moving to New York to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College of Music, from which she graduated in 2007. Natasha made her professional debut at age nine with the El Camino Youth Symphony in California. At the age of fifteen she debuted with Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded two discs with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitry Yablonsky, the first featuring Anton Rubinstein’s Piano Concerto No. 4 coupled with Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody and the second featuring all of Chopin’s shorter works for piano and orchestra.

Colleen Sugata joined the Long Beach Symphony in October of 2011. She has been a resident of Los Angeles, CA since 2008, where she has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Riverside County Philharmonic. During the summers she is the principal violist of the Lyrique-en-Mer Opera Festival in Belle Île, France. Prior to moving to California, Ms. Sugata performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony for three years. She has recorded with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the Deutsche Grammophon label and the Brahms cycle with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Colleen has attended various music festivals including Aspen, Sarasota, and Round Top and was selected as a performer with the Music at Menlo Institute, where her performances were broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio. She was also selected to perform Aaron Copland’s original 13 instrument version of Appalachian Spring at Carnegie Hall, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Colleen received both her Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey. Aside from performing, Colleen enjoys teaching, sewing and taking care of her rescue dog, Thomas.

Native to southern California and dual citizen of France, Erik Rynearson has enjoyed performing across the Americas and Europe. Having earned a Master’s degree with Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University as the teaching assistant of Alan deVeritch, four years were spent in Miami Beach as a fellow of the New World Symphony. In his eleven years of professional orchestral playing, Erik has performed with the Charleston and Kansas City Symphonies as well serving as first-call substitute in the Phoenix and Detroit Symphonies. The Los Angeles Philharmonic frequently calls for substitute work. International tours include those with the New World Symphony and entertaining close to 1 million ecstatic audience members playing Star Wars in Concert.

When not wielding his 1970 Alfio Batelli viola, made for then Principal of the Philharmonic Jan Hlinka, Erik employs his Nikon to professionally capture life one frame at a time. He is a founding member of the Firebird Orchestra in Miami, plays with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra of Memphis, has been a member of the Pacific Symphony since 2010 and the Long Beach Symphony since 2011.

ANN BRENTON is a graduate of Cal State University Long Beach. She has played and toured with many performing arts organizations throughout the Southland, including The Pacific Symphony, The Bolshoi Ballet, Mozart Classical Orchestra, and the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters. She has recorded projects at Sony and Paramount Pictures and played on numerous recordings both in LA and in Nashville. Ann is a Board member of the Hennings-Fischer Foundation along with her husband, Eric, also a Board member and professional musician.

Ann has been on the Fine Arts Staff in the Garden Grove School District since 1994 as an educator, specializing in instrumental music development in the public schools. Each year, she gives 350 young students their first opportunity to learn a musical instrument and, as a string specialist, assists high school Directors with techniques for strings. She has fond memories of the wonderful school music programs and Arrowbear Music Camp that gave her a love for music.

Eckart Preu (Eck-art Proy) began his tenure as Music Director of Long Beach Symphony in 2017. Critics, the orchestra, and audiences alike have celebrated his ability to combine well-loved masterworks with rare or newer works in programs offering dimension, sophistication, and spirit.

Preu also currently serves as Music Director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (OH) and Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME). Previously, he held the positions of Music Director of the Spokane Symphony (2004–2019) and Stamford Symphony (2005–2017), Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony (2001– 2004), Resident Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra (1997–2004) and of the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (1999–2004). Other former posts include Music Director of the Norwalk (CT) Youth Symphony and Principal Conductor of the New Amsterdam Symphony (NY). He was associated with the Bard Music Festival from 1997 to 2004 as both Assistant and Guest Conductor. In Europe, Maestro Preu served as Music Director of the Orchestre International de Paris (1993–1995).

As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the Jerusalem Symphony (Israel), Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Auckland Philharmonia (New Zealand),  Radio Philharmonic of Slovenia, Pecs Philharmonic (Hungary), Philharmonic Orchestra in Jalisco (Mexico), and in Germany with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra in Baden-Baden. Guest conducting engagements include the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Delaware Symphony, the Duluth Superior Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and the Wichita Symphony. Recent international appearances include the National Symphony Orchestra of Columbia, National Philharmonic of Armenia, and Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes in Mexico.

Career highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Sorbonne in Paris, a live broadcast with the Jerusalem Symphony, commercial recordings with the Portland Symphony, Spokane Symphony, and New Zealand Philharmonia. His concerts have been aired from coast to coast and on Jerusalem Radio.

Tenured in 1982

JACQUELINE SUZUKI, violin, is a longtime member of the Long Beach and Santa Barbara Symphonies.

She initiated and curates a twice monthly chamber music series, the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts. A current schedule may be seen at http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com

A native of San Francisco, she began her earliest chamber music studies on scholarship at the San Francisco Conservatory. She has performance degrees from the Mannes College of Music (BM), where she studied with William Kroll, and the California Institute of the Arts (MFA).

As a Los Angeles freelancer, she has performed with many ensembles and in many genres, from rock, jazz, Latin and Arabic, to playing in the pit for the Bolshoi Ballet and onstage with the Three Tenors. She has recorded with diverse artists: Snoop Dogg, Neil Sedaka, Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston, Bocelli, Lalo Schifrin, McCoy Tyner, Placido Domingo and many others, and appears on recordings by the Long Beach, Santa Barbara and Pacific Symphonies. She has spent summers at the Peter Britt, Oregon Coast, Carmel Bach and Cabrillo Festivals and has performed in a string quartet “in residence” on a raft trip down the Green River in Utah. Tours have taken her many times to Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and throughout the US

Tenured in 1981

Born and Educated in Russia (Moldavia), Margarita Treger holds a Masters in Performing Arts and Teaching from Kishinev Conservatory of Music. She was a soloist in many festivals in the country and abroad. Coming to the United States in 1977, she was appointed as Assistant Concertmaster of the CETA Orchestra in Los Angeles. She performed with the Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, New West Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and the Los Angeles Opera. She has performed in Italy, Taiwan, Israel, and Mexico.
She is a founder of the Hollywood Music Studio for Talented Children. Following the traditions of European Music Salon, she presents and plays solos in private homes throughout Beverly Hills.
She joined the Long Beach Symphony’s team of first violinists in 1980 and has performed under Murry Sidlin, JoAnn Falletta, and with Enrique Arturo Diemecke.

Tenured in 2007

A former member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galícia in Spain, Mei Chang was born in Taiwan and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, where she won her first full-time orchestral job at age 19. She spent six years at Boston University on full scholarship under the guidance of Peter Zazofsky, the Muir String Quartet and Raphael Hillyer.

Before settling in Los Angeles, Mei lived in Portland, Oregon, where she often played with the Oregon Symphony and was the concertmaster of Eugene Symphony for a season. Mei has been a member of the Long Beach Symphony since the 2006-07 season and is also a member of the Pasadena Symphony.