Chautauqua Institution and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra (CSO) today announced the retirement of the esteemed principal clarinetist Eli Eban, several new musician appointments, and summer 2024 auditions. The CSO will welcome Eliot Heaton and Sharon Roffman back as guest concertmasters. Heaton will join the orchestra in Week One through Four, with Roffman leading through the end of the Summer Assembly. Led by Music Director and Principal Conductor Rossen Milanov and Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz, the stage is set for an extraordinary season.  

After 30 seasons with the CSO, beloved Principal Clarinetist Eli Eban will retire at the end of the 2024 season. Eban’s unwavering commitment to excellence and warm and charismatic presence have made him a cherished member of our musical family.  

“It has been a privilege and pleasure to collaborate with Eli Eban,” said Rossen Milanov, music director of the CSO. “His artistry, sensitivity and friendship are inspiring, and I will cherish them deeply. His contribution to CSO is fundamental!” 

For the 2024 Summer Assembly, the CSO is happy to welcome a group of talented new members who successfully auditioned last summer. Several new members are alumni of the CSO’s Fellowship program and Chautauqua’s Music School Festival Orchestra (MSFO): Olivia Hamilton, clarinet; Javier Otalora, viola; and Daniel Kaler and Max Oppeltz, cello.  

“Our goal in the fellowship program is to play a pivotal role in supporting musicians from underrepresented communities and to strengthen the future of American Orchestras and the field of classical music by fostering diversity and excellence. To that end, we are thrilled to announce that Fellowship alumni Javier Otalora and Max Oppeltz have won tenured track positions in the CSO,” said Deborah Sunya Moore, Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer. “It has been rewarding to work with CSO’s dedicated musicians and leadership to lay pathways that encourage inclusive audition practices and it’s thrilling to experience real growth so quickly.  

Olivia Hamilton, an alum of the MSFO, won the Clarinet II position through the 2023 audition process and will begin her tenure in the summer of 2024. Hamilton brings a wealth of experience from renowned festivals and orchestras, including the Spoleto Festival USA and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra. 

2022 CSO Fellow violist Javier Otalora joined the orchestra in a tenure-track position in summer 2023, following auditions in 2022. In addition to his time at Chautauqua, Otalora was an orchestral fellow at the Aspen Music Festival.  

Following a nationally advertised audition process in 2023, the cello section welcomes three new members Daniel Kaler, Max Oppeltz, and Samuel-Ruhland.  

Daniel Kaler is no stranger to Chautauqua, as an MSFO alumnus and a prizewinner of the Sigma Alpha Iota Concerto Competition. In addition, his mother, violinist Olga Kaler, has played with the CSO for 29 years, and his father violinist Ilya Kaler, has taught MSFO master classes for more than 10 years. 

Another MSFO alum and 2022-23 CSO Fellow Max Oppeltz returns to the CSO with a tenure-track position. Oppeltz has performed with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Caracas Municipal Orchestra in Venezuela.  

Samuel Pierce-Ruhland currently holds a position with Rochester Philharmonic and has appeared as principal cellist in school and festival orchestras. During his tenure as assistant principal cellist in the Omaha Symphony, he gave the Midwest premiere of Mark Adamo’s cello concerto “Last Year” with Jeri Lynne Johnson.  

The CSO also welcomes new appointments in the horn and oboe sections. 

Jaren Atherholt is the newly appointed Principal Oboe. She previously served as principal oboist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) for 11 seasons. Prior to obtaining her position with the LPO, Jaren spent two seasons as principal oboist of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. She has performed as a guest principal oboist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City, and more. Her credits include performing as a guest associate principal oboist with the Pittsburgh and Atlanta Symphonies. 

Noah Kay has been appointed as Oboe II beginning in the 2024 Summer Assembly. He is currently serving as the principal oboist for the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Kay’s summer festival appearance credits include the National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Cape May Music Festival as part of the New York Chamber Ensemble, and more.  

Daniel Kerdelewicz, associate principal French Horn for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2009, will join the CSO as Horn III. He has spent his recent summers as Principal Horn with Finger Lakes Opera. He has performed in music festivals worldwide, including Warsaw Autumn, Beethoven Easter Festival, Spring for Music at Carnegie Hall and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Additionally, he has performed and recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. 

The Principal Timpani spot will be filled in 2024 by three renowned timpanists Simón Gómez Gallego, Jeremy Levine, and Matthew Strauss. 

Simón Gómez Gallego, a former student of Strauss, holds positions as principal timpanist of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Rockford Symphony Orchestra and is a percussionist with the Chicago Philharmonic Society. Gómez Gallego has performed as guest principal timpanist and percussionist across North America with orchestras such as the Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis and Charlotte Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and more.  

Jeremy Levine is The Anne VanLent Chair and the timpani faculty member of the MSFO. Levine has been performing with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra as a timpanist for almost a decade and has officially held the position of principal timpanist since 2015. Additionally, he held the principal timpani position with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the principal timpani position with Symphony in C. He has performed with orchestras globally, including guest timpani appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic, and the National Orchestra of Spain in Madrid.

Matthew Strauss is a celebrated percussionist currently holding positions as associate principal timpanist/section percussionist with the Houston Symphony, Professor of Percussion at Rice University, and faculty member at the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston. Strauss was previously a percussion section member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, and Harrisburg Symphony. 

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to welcome and collaborate with the new members of the CSO this summer,” shared Milanov. “Each one of them is an artist of the highest caliber. Many of them are alumni of our CSO Fellowship Program, which we inaugurated a few seasons ago. I am just thrilled to see how instrumental this program is for charting new career paths for so many young musicians from diverse backgrounds.”   

The CSO continues with auditions in summer 2024 for Principal Clarinet, Principal Tuba, and six section positions in Violins I and II. To be considered, applicants must submit a resume by January 15. Live auditions will be held at Chautauqua during the Summer Assembly on the following dates: 

Violins 1 & 2 
Sunday, June 30–Monday, July 1, 2024 

Principal Tuba 
Sunday, July 21–Monday, July 22, 2024 

Principal Clarinet 
Sunday, August 11–Monday, August 12, 2024 

Visit our website to learn more about the opportunities. 

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1929, and today, it continues its legacy as the center of musical life at Chautauqua Institution under the direction of Rossen Milanov. Performing more than 20 unique concerts of major symphonic repertoire in the Amphitheater in addition to collaborating with resident companies, the CSO is a tenured union orchestra and the summer home of musicians from some of the finest orchestras in the nation.   

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION    
Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State, where approximately 7,500 persons are in residence on any day during a nine-week season, and a total of more than 100,000 attend scheduled public events and even more engage online via the streaming channel CHQ Assembly. Chautauqua is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts. The Institution will celebrate its Sesquicentennial in 2024.  

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