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Kara Poling is Associate Principal Oboe/English Horn of the Richmond Symphony. In the summer of 2022, she took first prize in the Norma Hooks Young Artist International Oboe Competition. Kara has appeared as a guest musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, and the New World Symphony.
A passionate chamber musician, Kara performs each summer with the Richmond Chamber Players. She also attended several prestigious festivals including Music Academy of the West and Aspen Music Festival. In 2018 she toured Asia as a member of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, and was invited back for their All-Star Orchestra event in May 2026. She has also appeared with the New Hampshire Music Festival.
Kara received her BM as a Kovner Fellow at The Juilliard School where she studied with Elaine Douvas. She was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and music. Other influential teachers include Melissa Hooper, Ryan Roberts, Nathan Hughes, Scott Hostetler, and Linda Strommen. Kara’s Juilliard woodwind quintet, Amity Winds, competed as semi-finalists in the 50th annual Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
Kara began studying oboe with her mom at the age of 9. When not playing music, she can be found exploring coffee shops, traveling, practicing yoga, and cheering on the Baltimore Ravens. She has visited 46 of the 50 states.
Violinist Daisuke Yamamoto, known for exhibiting “immense virtuosity and probing musicianship,” is originally from Marietta, GA. Concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony since 2013, he has been featured as a soloist on several occasions since his arrival, including a performance of the Theme from Schindler’s List for the Holocaust Remembrance Concert, which was broadcast statewide. Other performances include Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Ravel’s Tzigane and Vivaldi’s “Autumn” from The Four Seasons. Before coming to Richmond he was a member of the New World Symphony. While at New World, he soloed with the orchestra, performing Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. He has also collaborated with Jaime Laredo in a performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins. He was also hand-picked by Michael Tilson Thomas to participate in the Thomashefsky Project, an homage to Tilson Thomas’s grandparents who were pioneers of the American Yiddish Theater. The project was recorded for DVD and was aired on PBS Great Performances. He was also invited to Medellín, Colombia, where he led sectionals and masterclasses as well as performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín.
An avid orchestral performer, he has performed with many orchestras across the US, including The Cleveland Orchestra on numerous occasions both on tour and in Cleveland, New World Symphony, and the Spokane Symphony. As a concertmaster, he has led the New World Symphony on several occasions both at the New World Center and the Adrienne Arsht Center, Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and the Blossom Festival Orchestra. His performances have taken him to many great concerts halls in America and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall, Benaroya Hall, Suntory Hall, Festspielhaus and the KKL Luzern Concert Hall. He has worked with such notable conductors as Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst, Fabio Luisi, Osmo Vänskä, Nicholas McGegan, Robert Spano, Jeffrey Tate and David Zinman. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with Robert McDuffie, Ida Kavafian, Peter Wiley, Steven Tenenbom, Jasper String Quartet, members of The Cleveland Orchestra, Tokyo String Quartet, Duo Patterson and Jerry Wong. Yamamoto currently resides in Richmond with his wife, who is a math teacher at Atlee High School, and their 2 cats.
Born in South Korea, Hyo Joo Uh received her Bachelors of Music from the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, and her Masters of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her primary teachers were Paul Coletti and Robert Vernon. Before her time with the Richmond Symphony, HyoJoo was a member of the Akron Symphony and the Canton Symphony and has performed in master classes for Helen Callus, Heidi Castleman, Carrie Dennis, Richard O’Neill, Jeffrey Irvine and Pinchas Zukerman. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 with the Hill Piano Quartet as a participant of the Brahms Chamber Music Workshop. During that time, she worked with Yo-Yo Ma, Leon Fleisher and Pamela Frank. She also served as the Assistant Principal Violist in the National Repertory Orchestra where she was featured as a soloist playing Max Bruch’s Romanze.
Ryan Lannan has been a cellist with the Richmond Symphony since 1999. From 2000-2004 Mr. Lannan was on the faculty of the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary (PA) where he coached chamber music and cello sectionals, taught private lessons, performed with the Catlin String Quartet, and was soloist with the PAI Festival Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. He also served on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC for five summers where he coached and performed chamber music, taught private lessons, and performed with the Festival Orchestra.
Prior to joining the Richmond Symphony, Mr. Lannan was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and assistant principal cellist of the Columbus, Indiana Philharmonic. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University. While earning a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University he formed the Arbor Trio which was a prize winner at the 1998 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Mr. Lannan’s primary teachers include Helga Winold, Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Hans Jorgen Jensen and Rostislav Dubinsky. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, New York String Seminar, and Spoleto Festival, Italy as well as being a frequent guest artist with Richmond Chamber Players and Atlantic Chamber Ensemble.
As an experienced and enthusiastic teacher, Mr. Lannan has had students win professional orchestra auditions and serve as principal cello of the Virginia All-State Orchestra. In recent summers he has coached chamber music at the Orchestra Project at Virginia Commonwealth University and also frequently provides cello sectionals for the students in Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra program.
Mary-Victoria Voutsas is a “powerful” and “enthralling pianist” (Washington City Paper) with a distinguished career that spans solo performance, collaborative work, teaching, and music leadership. Known for her captivating artistry, she has performed on prestigious stages including the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and Terrace Theatre, Lisner Auditorium, and various embassies, and she has been a featured pianist for major events such as the 75th NATO Summit, the Warner Brothers 2024 Paris Olympics Launch, and the Discovery Channel’s 2024 Olympics Launch. She served an artist residency for The World Bank exploring the improvisational salon style of piano performance in a 10-part concert series (2025).
In addition to her solo engagements, she has been a visiting Artist in Residency at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, performing and leading outreach programs. Her extensive collaboration includes ensemble work with the National Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Chamber Orchestra, and NPR’s Tiny Desk series, as well as performing for the National Broadcasting Association. She has served as rehearsal pianist for such renowned artists as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alison Krauss. She is also a member of several chamber ensembles, including the Salon Trio, Duo Ancil-Voutsas, and the Kombos Collective. Read more at maryvoutsaspiano.com
