HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Carolyn Kuan, Music Director

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY & BEYOND

Friday, October 2, 2026 / 8 PM
Saturday, October 3, 2026 / 8 PM
Sunday, October 4, 2026 / 3 PM
Belding Theater, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts

Carolyn Kuan, conductor
Brian Diehl, trombone 
Barbara Hill, horn

The post of Music Director is endowed by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation.

We kindly request that you refrain from using flash photography and video recording during the performance, however we encourage you take 

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra receives major support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation, and with support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Brian Diehl is a Boston-based trombonist who performs and teaches throughout New England. He has served as Principal Trombonist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Carolyn Kuan, since 2011. Concurrently, he has held the position since 2007 of Principal Trombone with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of former conductor Kevin Rhodes, which also included performing at the Berkshire Choral International Festival until 2018. Mr. Diehl has performed Concertos to much acclaim with both orchestras as part of their respective masterworks series: most recently in 2023 with the HSO Brass Quintet: Schwarz-Concerto for Brass Quintet and McCarthy-American Dance Music,  Mackey’s Harvest Concerto with HSO in 2016, and Yoshimatsu’s Orion’s Machine with SSO in 2018, as well as Leopold Mozart’s Concerto for Alto Trombone in 2020 with MOSSO.  

Since September 2016, he serves as Principal Trombone with the Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra (Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto, Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Pasquale, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, Lucia di Lammermoor, to name a few) under Brian Garman’s direction. He performs with many regional orchestras and ensembles throughout New England, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Symphony New Hampshire, Albany Symphony, Portland Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, vista Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, numerous Choral orchestras in Boston, and has appeared with Boston Modern Orchestral Project (with whom he has recorded several albums of new music). 

Formerly, Mr. Diehl served as Principal Trombone of the Sarasota Orchestra, and at the same time worked with The Florida Orchestra (Tampa). He was a member of the New World Symphony and New World Brass Quintet, and appeared on recordings (including Ingolf Dahl-Music for Brass, and music of Paul Schoenfield, to name a couple) with both ensembles 

Past performances have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra (appearing as substitute principal trombone on Mozart’s Requiem last season), Boston Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he was also a part of one of their recordings in 1989: Verdi's Opera Highlights with Sir Georg Solti.

Mr. Diehl is in demand as a teacher and clinician throughout the Boston area, and serves on faculty at New England Conservatory’s Expanded Education Division, University of Southern Maine in Portland as Artist Faculty, and St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. He is an S.E.Shires Artist. 

Barbara Hill is Principal Horn with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since 2008. In October 2026 she will be featured as a soloist with the orchestra playing Richard Strauss’ Concerto No. 1. Her previous concerto appearances with the HSO include Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4, Schumann’s Konzertstuck for Four Horns, and works for brass quintet and orchestra by Daniel McCarthy and Gerard Schwartz.

A highly sought-after orchestral musician, Hill is a frequent guest performer with The Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestra. She has toured with the BSO internationally on both their 2022 Japan Tour and 2023 European Festivals Tour, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall. Her additional guest engagements include The Portland Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony, Utah Symphony, and Calgary Philharmonic. Earlier in her career, she served as Acting Principal and Second Horn of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (BC). 

Barbara’s performing experience extends to chamber music, recording, and playing in the orchestra for touring companies of Broadway musicals. She regularly collaborates with musicians throughout New England and has performed and recorded in Vancouver and New York City. 

An active educator, she is a faculty member at The University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts and previously taught at The Hartt School and Hartt Community Division, where she worked with students of all ages and served as Chair of Winds and Brass. Barbara has also taught and presented masterclasses at institutions including NYU, UMass Amherst, and Western CT State University. Her summer festival appearances have included Tanglewood, New Hampshire Music Festival, and Wintergreen Music Festival. 

Hill holds a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music from Western University in London, Ontario.

MUSIC DIRECTOR
Carolyn Kuan

Endowed by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Adam Kerry Boyles

FIRST VIOLIN 
Leonid Sigal, concertmaster 
   Sponsored by David and Linda Roth  
Lisa Rautenberg, 
  associate concertmaster
Gary Capozziello 
  assistant concertmaster 
  Sponsored by Wes & Chloe Horton
Linda Beers 
Mary Ellen Briga
Michael Eby
Teri Einfeldt 
Perry Elliot 
Romina Kostare 
Jihye Joelle Maree 
Romina Kostare 
Barbara Vaughan
Katalin Viragh 
Katalin Viszmeg 

SECOND VIOLIN  
Michael Duffett, principal 
Jaroslaw Lis, assistant principal 
  Sponsored by Kristen Phillips & Matthew Schreck  
Martha Kayser
Candace M. Lammers
  The Claire & Millard Pryor Orchestra Committee Chair
Simon Bilyk 
Diane Frederickson 
Krzysztof Gadawski 
Yuri Kharenko-Golduber 
Virginia Kramer 
Yukiko Kuhara 
Selah Kwak 
Nathan Lowman 
Millie Piekos
Alicia Rattin
Gregory Tompkins 

VIOLA  
Michael Wheeler
Nick Borghoff
Robert Bruce
Patricia Daly Vance 
Kyle Davis
Devon Duarte 
Gretchen Frazier 
Andrew Knebel 
Carrol Lee
Arthur Masi 
  Sponsored by Bob Bausmith and Jill Peters-Gee 
Mikel Rollet

CELLO  
Amy Ward Butler, principal
Jia Cao, assistant principal
Tom Hudson 
Pablo Issa
Yoonhee Ko
Yun-Yang Lin
Kathy Schiano
Weiting Sun 
Adam Willson 
Peter Zay

BASS  
Edward R. Rozie, Jr., principal
  Sponsored by Brook & Charlotte Jason  
Robert Groff, assistant principal 
Tony Connaway
Joseph Messina  
Alexander Svensen,
  Sponsored by Bob & Frankie Goldfarb 
Andrew Vinther
Mark Zechel 

 FLUTE  
Elizabeth McCormack, principal  
Barbara A. Hopkins, assistant principal 

OBOE  
Stephen Wade
Marilyn Krentzman
 
CLARINET  
Sangwon Lee, principal
Principal Clarinet Chair sponsored by MaryEllen M. & Pierre H. Guertin 
Paul Wonjin Cho 

BASSOON  
Yeh-Chi Wang, principal  
Brooke Allen

HORN  
John Michael Flavetta, assistant principal  
Justin Ruleman  
Joshua Michal 
Nick Rubenstein 
Noah Silverman

TRUMPET  
John Charles Thomas, assistant principal
Alison Marseglia
 
TROMBONE  
Robert Hoveland, assistant principal    
Adam Hanna

BASS TROMBONE  
Gabriel Rice

TUBA  
Jarrod Briley, principal 

TIMPANI  
Robert McEwan
 
PERCUSSION  
Evan Glickman
David West

HARP  
Susan Knapp Thomas, principal 
  Sponsored by Beth & Rick Costello