Our Musicians
Below is a list of the musicians who played during the 2019-2020 half-season.
First Violin
Jody Crafford
Kristen G. Price
Ueli Schweizer, concertmaster
Debbie White
Kim Whitney
Second Violin
Miriam Bryant, principal
Hannah Hendricks
Ken Hoyle
Rebecca Laster
Carolina Mijangos
Brittany Pence
Emily Rubio
Anne Marie Schwankl
Viola
Richard Hoyle
Karen Huey, principal
Karla Perez-Hernandez
Emily Troutman
Cello
Elisabeth Crandall, principal
Jessica Dunham
Dr. Bill Hall
Alexa Hughes
Caitlin Laster
Manly Lucas
Sophie Miller
Bass
Mark Snyder
Reinette S. Stephenson, principal
Flute
Kayla Brockhoff
Paula Rolka
Jessica T. Simmons, principal
Robin Whitten
Oboe
Aria Milsap, co-principal
Janna Steinson
Thomas Turanchik, co-principal
Clarinet
Lauren Winkens, principal
Pat Wright
Bass Clarinet
Melissa Mitchell
Bassoon
Georgia Barrett
Jack Fanning
Brianna Souza, principal
Jan Streifer
Horn
Sue Agazzi, acting principal
Eric Keith, principal
Matt Miller
Robert Stagg
Robert Thomas
Denise Wallace
Trumpet
William E. Boyce, principal
John Enloe
Daniel Simmons
Trombone
Van Groce, Jr., principal
Ella Mitchum
Don Wazenegger
Baritone
Sarah Miller
Tuba
Ian Dunham
Brad Simpson
Timpani & Percussion
Reid Haslup
Gregory Lewis
Melissa Mitchell
Jeff Neal
Tony Waller
Harp
Joe Hanna
Concertmaster
Ulric (Ueli) Schweizer is in his nineteenth season as concertmaster of the LCCO. A native of Georgia, Ueli began playing violin at age ten when his family moved to South Carolina. With a B.A. in music from UNC-Greensboro, he is an active performer, playing regularly in a myriad of venues and for a variety of occasions in the Piedmont region. As concertmaster, he has been highlighted as a soloist in several LCCO concerts, including performances of Dvorák's Romance and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending. One of his interests involves acting and playing in Let Your Children Tell, a play produced by the Touring Theatre of North Carolina about children who were sent to concentration camps in WWII. He lives in Greensboro with his wife, pianist Dr. Mayumi Osada, and repairs string instruments at Moore Music Company.


Music Director, emeritus
Tara Villa Keith served as LCCO's music director for eleven seasons, and is currently in her eighteenth season as music director of the Davidson College Symphony Orchestra (DCSO) in North Carolina where she is an associate professor of music. With the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, she has served as a cover conductor and pre-concert speaker for several seasons, and was the premiere instructor for their Symphony 101 adult education program. Tara was a two-time assistant conductor for the Hot Springs Music Festival (Arkansas) and has guest conducted the Northwest School of the Arts Symphonic Orchestra, North Carolina All Eastern Regional Strings Orchestra, Union Symphony Orchestra (North Carolina), Macon Symphony Orchestra (Georgia), and Opera at USC (South Carolina).
Tara has been recognized as a 2019 Honored Artist of The American Prize, a series of non-profit national competitions in the performing arts. Honored Artists are individuals who have proven themselves to be artists of sustained excellence over a number of seasons as laureates in the competitions. Under Tara's direction, the DCSO was the national winner of The American Prize 2018 for orchestral performance in the collegiate division. Also in 2018, Tara was the national second place winner of The American Prize Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming for her programming of the DCSO’s 2016-17 season. Tara placed second for the same prize in 2012 and 2013 for the LCCO’s “The Elements” and “An Orchestral Bouquet” seasons. The American Prize awarded Tara third place for Orchestral Conducting in 2018 for her work with the DCSO and in 2013 for her work with LCCO. As a grant recipient and competition winner, Tara has also had the fortune of working with orchestras abroad such as the Campos do Jordão Music Festival Orchestra (Brazil), Das Kritische Orchester (Germany), the Vidin State Philharmonic (Bulgaria), and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic (Czech Republic).
Off of the podium, Tara enjoys competitive ballroom dancing, practicing yoga, free-lancing as a percussionist, playing with her many cats, and birding with her husband and principal horn, Eric (and yes, he was already principal horn before Tara began directing the group, in case you were wondering!) They enjoy sharing music with their beautiful daughter, Naia.