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.

hisham-conductor-bco

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

  • icon-violin

    Violin I

    Peter Anderson
    Sarah Braith
    Kari Hartman GM
    Sarah Kremer
    Diana Mills
    Emily Scicchitano+
    Aaron Staryszak
    Dawn Weis

  • icon-violin

    Violin II

    Michelle Anderson
    David Carillo*
    Jessica Kellogg
    Mary Ellen Lundsten
    Ellie Stonecipher
    Donald Strand
    Joelle Strandquist§
    Barbara Tollefsen
    Victoria Van Beusekom

  • icon-viola

    Viola

    Sara Anderson
    Zachary Armstrong *
    John Bowen
    Melia Lachinski
    Sarah Lindblom
    Sheri Lumley
    Julia Rotter
    Addison Simard
    Karlyn Simonette

  • icon-bass-cello

    Cello

    Cassidy Asch
    Andrew Burgdorf *
    Jeffrey Burns £
    Linda Emmel ∞
    Theresa Green
    Carmen Hanson
    Hunter Simard

  • icon-bass-cello

    String Bass

    Bill Healy
    Mari Lachinski
    Annika Lind
    George Morris
    Erin Walsh

  • icon-flute

    Flute

    Lee Ann Carlsted (piccolo)
    Yvonne Rammel
    Kristi Wagner *

  • icon-oboe

    Oboe

    Abigail Amundson
    Michael Jeannot *

  • icon-oboe

    English Horn

    Abigail Amundson

  • icon-clarinet

    Clarinet

    Patti Albright
    Jennifer Domka*
    William Tregaskis

  • icon-tuba

    Tuba

    Marcus Hanson

  • icon-trombone

    Trombone

    Ryan Anselment *
    Tim Domka

  • icon-trumpet

    Trumpet

    Kyle Anderson
    Michael Dailey *
    Ken Ross

  • icon-bassoon

    Bassoon

    Heather Kurtz
    Larry Marquette *

  • icon-drum

    Percussion

    Marshall Carlsted *
    Kendell Kubasch $
    Merijo Strandquist
    Tony Reid

  • icon-frenchhorn

    French Horn

    Jolyn Halvorson *2
    Tomm Linder
    Kara Stonecipher
    Michael Walsh 1

  • icon-piano

    Piano/Keyboard

+ Concertmaster
* Section Principal
£ Treasurer

GM General Manager
$ Finance/Budget Chair
∞ Stage Decorations

1 BCO President
2 BCO Vice President
§ Secretary

 

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Past Conductors

  • 2019 to present

    Hisham Bravo Groover

  • 2016 to 2019

    Ernesto Estigarribia

  • 2015 – 2016

    Lindsay Boyd

  • 2014 – 2015

    Paul McShee

  • 2011 – 2014

    Erik Rohde

  • 2010 – 2011

    Foster Beyers

  • 2009 – 2010

    Steven Eckblad

  • 2006 – 2009

    Peter C. Jacobson

  • 2004 – 2006

    Brendan Caldwell

  • 2002 – 2004

    Nicholas Wallin

  • 2002

    Joseph Schlefke

  • 2001

    Michael Halstenson

  • 1997 – 2001

    John Robert Sall

  • 1995 – 1997

    Mary Roberts Wilson