Sarah Balian, oboe, is a native of Charlottesville, Virginia. She holds Bachelor of Music Performance and Bachelor of Arts in French Studies degrees from Northwestern University, where she studied with Chicago Symphony oboist Ray Still. She has also studied with Roger Cole and with André Berthéas at the Université de Paris. Sarah was a member of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra from 1997-1999 and a member of the Boulder Philharmonic from 2002-2004. She has also performed with the Colorado Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Richmond Symphony.   Sarah has performed with The United States Air Force Academy Band since 1999, where she is the director of the Academy Winds.  In 2004, she became a member of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra, where she plays both oboe and English Horn.  She is also on the performance faculty at the Colorado College.

Paul Nagem has held the position of Principal Flute in the Colorado Springs Symphony/Philharmonic since 1994.  A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, he studied there with Lois Schaefer of the Boston Symphony.  Prior to attending NEC he studied with Damian Bursill-Hall, then Principal Flute of the San Diego Symphony and now with the Pittsburgh Symphony.  In addition to his duties with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Mr. Nagem serves as Instructor of Flute at the Colorado College.  He is a member of the Colorado Ballet orchestra, and the Colorado Chamber players.  He has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the San Diego Symphony and the Singapore Symphony.

Sergei Vassiliev currently serves as the principal clarinetist of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic as well as a substitute clarinetist for the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He can also be seen performing at the critically acclaimed Classical Underground in Los Angeles and at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo. Mr. Vassiliev began his musical career at the age of 12 when he became a prize winner at International Young Artist Competition in Kharkov, Ukraine. Since then he received scholarships to the top music conservatories in the US where he studied with some of the world’s best clarinet teachers. A few recent honors include a career grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation and The Bruce Zalkind Memorial Music Award from the University of Southern California. Mr. Vassiliev has collaborated with such artisits as Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, John Williams, and Alan Silvestri.

Rachel Parker Childers is currently Acting Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Marin (CA) Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Greater Lansing Symphony, and the Birmingham Bloomfield (MI) Symphony. Rachel received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan, followed by an Artist Diploma from the Colburn School in Los Angeles.  Her teachers included Soren Hermansson, David Jolley, David Krehbiel, and Louis Stout. She is currently a Los Angeles Philharmonic teaching artist, one of a select faculty of freelance professional musicians who present and teach music in the LA Philharmonic's partner schools. Rachel will join the Boston Symphony Orchestra in September 2011, becoming the first female member of the BSO brass section in its history.

Alejandro Vieira, bassoon and contrabassoon, is originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He earned his Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He has held the position of 2nd bassoon with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic since 2001and as a member of the United States Air Force Academy Band since in 1998. He has performed in many countries and festivals, including France’s Evian Festival; Italy; Austria; Hungary; Ireland; the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon, Portugal; the Sarasota Music Festival in Sarasota, Florida; the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California; and the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland.