Joan performs regularly with the Con Brio Orchestra and prior to moving to CT, Joan was a free lance violinist with the Binghamton Symphony, Tri-Cities Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Broome County Pops Orchestra, Utica Symphony, and Catskill Symphony. Joan earned her degree from Ithaca College in 1981, and in 1990 went on to study violin performance and conducting at the University of Ct. Joan’s professional career of 34 years was dedicated to teaching and serving the students in the Waterford Public Schools before retiring in 2018. Among the many awards and honors earned during her 34 years of teaching, she is most proud of being named Connecticut Music Educators Middle School teacher of the year and receiving the Heifetz International Music Institute Pedagogy Fellowship. Additionally, Joan has been honored to serve as guest conductor of orchestra festivals in CT and RI, and most recently served as music director and conductor of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was also one of the co-founders and first conductors of the New London Community Orchestra.

Violinist Jiuri Yu was born in Jilin, China, where she first began her violin studies at the early age of four. She has traveled to America since college to continue her violin study. She earned her Bachelor degree and Master degree from the Boston
Conservatory of Music at Berklee. As an active orchestral musician, Ms. Yu is currently a member of Glens Falls Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic and York Symphony Orchestra. She joined the Eastern Connecticut since 2019 Falls.

Ms. Yu currently lives in Boston, where she teach in two music schools as a violin instructor.

Year Joined: 2007

BM Concordia College, MM The Hartt School, studied violin with Katie Lansdale, Eric Rosenblith, Joanne Cohen, Victor Romanul and Stephan Teiszen. Mr. Brown has performed in the Fargo/Moorhead Symphony, the Pottstown Symphony, the Lancaster Symphony, and the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing in the second violin section with ECSO, Mr. Brown has been an orchestra teacher with the Westport Public Schools and is currently teaching strings in Fairfield.

Favorite Composer:
Bach and Beethoven

What inspires you to play:
My mom is a violinist and was a string teacher when I was growing up. Classical music was always playing in our house and I remember loving the sound of the orchestra. I grew up wanting to listen to classical music over anything else. I begged my mom to get me a violin and teach me to play at a very young age, before it was offered in school. One day she brought home a very small violin, showed me the basics and the rest is history!

Hidden Talents:
Hiking, gardening and cooking!

Favorite Quote:
“It’s not that people don’t like classical music. It’s that they don’t have the chance to understand and to experience it.”
-Gustavo Dudamel

Joined: 1987

Growing up in Stamford, CT, born into a very musical family, Pam starting playing violin in the 4th grade. She studies with Diez Weismann. During this time, she performed in many local musical productions and served as Concert Master of the Youth Artist’s Philharmonic under the direction of Sal Salvatore.

Pam attending Michigan State University for pre-veterinary school, and moved to Connecticut joining the ECSO in 1987.

Hidden Talents:
Licensed wildlife rehabilitator, dressage rider, foster mom for kittens

Favorite Composer:
Bach

Inspiration to play:
Playing duets with DIez Weismann and Frank Russo

Favorite Quote:
“Animals are a window to your soul and doorway to your spiritual destiny”

Cynthia has been a violinist in the ECSO since 2007. In addition to playing in New London, she regularly performs at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center with the Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra. She has played around the world in the major concert houses of Singapore, Italy, Austria, and Mexico. Cynthia teaches orchestra and music theory at public school on Long Island and is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Shirley Givens and Pamela Frank.

Year you joined the ECSO: Member 2015, Sub 2011

Ariana Straznicky received her Master of Music in Violin Performance w/ Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis from The Hartt School. With a great passion for symphonic music, Ariana is an avid freelancer who performs on many of Connecticut’s premiere concert stages including that of Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Wallingford Symphony Orchestra, New Britain Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, CT Philharmonic, Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, and Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. Ariana has also performed in the pit of the Phantom of the Opera North American Tour, countless ballets and operas. She is an accomplished vocalist and actress who has appeared as a soloist with Eastern CT Symphony and Wallingford Symphony and in prominent regional theaters. She’s also the founder of Ariana Strings, an award-winning wedding music company, where she invites many ECSO players to perform pop and classical music for special events all around New England.

Lydia earned her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Her love for music began at a young age in South Korea, where she started piano lessons at the age of five. She was introduced to the violin at age 10, when she heard Sarah Chang perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl and fell in love with the violin. Since moving to Connecticut in 2005, she has been a member of the Waterbury Symphony and New Britain Symphony, performed chamber music with the U.S. Coast Guard Band, and taught violin/viola lessons. Lydia holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Connecticut and a doctorate degree in nurse anesthesia practice from Yale-New Haven Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia/Central Connecticut State University. Currently, she practices as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut.

Nathan Lowman is a freelance violinist based in Hartford, Connecticut. He is currently a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and also performs with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, New Britain Symphony Orchestra, and Waterbury Symphony Orchestra. Eastern Music Festival continues to a significant part of his musical life, having attended as a student from 2012-2017 and as a String Fellow in 2022. Lowman holds degrees from Vanderbilt University and the University of Oregon.