BCO Roster

Conductor Hisham Bravo Groover

Hisham Bravo Groover is currently in his fourth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Buffalo Community Orchestra. In addition, this year he begins his first season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, and as the Philharmonic Conductor for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS).

Previously, Hisham has been a semi-finalist in the 2022 Princess Astrid International Music Competition in Trondheim, Norway. He has served as Assistant Conductor of the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre, as Associate Conductor of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Arapahoe Philharmonic, Assistant Conductor of the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre, and as co-conductor for the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra.

As an educator, Hisham has worked as co-director of the Campus Orchestras at the University of Minnesota, as Adjunct Instructor at St. Cloud State University, as Adjunct Instructor and Conductor at Ripon College, Conductor at Arapahoe Community College, and was the conductor for the 2018 Colorado State University-Pueblo Honors Orchestra.

Aside from conducting, Hisham is also a violinist and has studied with several pedagogues, including Mark Rush, Michel Boris Zaitzeff, and Ching-Yi Lin. Additional violin studies have taken him to the New Zealand School of Music and to the summer orchestra festivals at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

Hisham’s principal conducting mentors are Mark Russell Smith, Leonid Grin, and William LaRue Jones.

Buffalo Community Orchestra Board:

President: Michael Walsh
Vice President: Jolyn Halvorson
Secretary: Joelle Strandquist
Treasurer: Jeff Burns

Tim Domka
Sarah Kremer
Kendall Kubasch
Mary Ellen Lundsten
George Morris
Yvonne Rammel
William Tregaskis

Concertmaster Emily Scicchitano

Emily Scicchitano is a violinist from Syracuse, New York and began studying violin at age 8 in her elementary school orchestra. She studied privately from middle school through high school with Shelby Dems and Edgar Tumajyan, a violinist of Symphoria. Following high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Ithaca College under the mentorship of Calvin Wiersma.

Emily has performed in many masterclasses for world-renowned performers and teachers such as Stefan Jackiw, Benjamin Baker, The Israeli Chamber Project, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, and more. She has performed throughout Europe and the United States as a chamber and orchestral musician, performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Kodak Hall. In addition to her performing career, Emily maintains a private violin and viola studio, teaching students of all ages and abilities. Emily currently resides in Minnesota and enjoys cooking, coffee, and dogs.

The Orchestra

Violin I
Peter Anderson
Sarah Braith
Kari Hartman ^GM
Sarah Kremer
Diana Mills
Emily Scicchitano+
Aaron Staryszak
Dawn Weis
Violin II
Michelle Anderson
David Carillo*
Jessica Kellogg
Mary Ellen Lundsten
Ellie Stonecipher
Donald Strand
Joelle Strandquist§
Barbara Tollefsen
Victoria Van Beusekom
Viola
Sara Anderson
Zachary Armstrong *
John Bowen
Melia Lachinski
Sarah Lindblom
Sheri Lumley
Julia Rotter
Addison Simard
Karlyn Simonette
Cello
Cassidy Asch
Andrew Burgdorf *
Jeffrey Burns £
Linda Emmel ∞
Theresa Green
Carmen Hanson
Hunter Simard