Three students from the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, studying under associate professor Hal Grossman, will join the Eugene Symphony (ES) next month after winning positions earlier this year.
Sarah Wilfong
Sarah Wilfong, a native Chicagoan, arrived in Eugene in 2021 to pursue her DMA in violin performance. Prior to landing in Oregon, she graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with her bachelor’s and master’s in violin. Wilfong has eight years of performance experience as a fiddle player in the all-girl country band, Mustang Sally. She toured with the group for 200 days (about 6 and a half months) every year. “It was wild!” she recalled. “It was an incredible experience.”
Credit: John Ward
This marks the first time she has won a position in a symphony. “Well, don't tell them that they actually hired a fiddle player!” Wilfong joked.
Wilfong was hesitant during the ES audition process because she has a self-admittedly “bad track record” performing well under pressure. Therefore, she joined forces with a few graduate students in her violin studio to practice. “The act of playing for other people repeatedly helped desensitize the nerves a little bit,” she said. “So, when it came time for the audition, I felt like I was in decent shape!”
Grossman also assisted in the preparation process. “He has a lot of orchestral and audition experience,” she said. “He has taught these excerpts a million times, and his teaching strategy was excellent. I felt really prepared.”
When she got the call that she had won the position, Wilfong was in a state of disbelief. Not because she believed she lacked the skills, but because she overcame her personal hurdle with audition nerves. “I am excited to be selected,” she said. “My mission with my whole academic journey is to say, ‘You are never too old to get better and try something different, to try something new to challenge yourself.’”
Ben Ehrmantraut
Ben Ehrmantraut, who also won a position with the Eugene Symphony, has played the violin since the age of eight. “Music is a beautiful, cool, and exciting field,” he said. “There are all kinds of analytical things about it that I enjoy, but what is most striking to me is that so many people come together around it.”
Sal Devincenzo Photography
A graduate of Concordia College, Ehrmantraut went on to University of Colorado Boulder for his master’s degree. He graduated during the pandemic and started a violin studio while also performing with orchestras virtually. With a desire to pursue a career in academia, he came to Eugene in 2022 for his DMA in violin performance, studying under Hal Grossman. "It has been a great match,” he said of Grossman. “I am really excited about the work that we are doing.”
After learning he won a position with ES, he felt relief. “There was a lot of work that went into the audition process,” he said. “Now I can rest easy knowing it was fruitful.”
He is particularly looking forward to his time with ES due to its frequent performance schedule and music selections. “The programming is great!” he said. “They incorporate the classics we all know and love, and they are also always looking to do new works as well. Just by virtue of the music that they program, I am excited to join them.”
Isabel Pinney
Isabel Pinney, pursuing a BM in violin performance at SOMD, will join Wilfong and Ehrmantraut this September. A violinist since four, Pinney is honored to play with a professional orchestra as an undergraduate. “I have always dreamed about being in a professional orchestra since I was young and am ecstatic that I get to play alongside such great musicians!” she said.
She thanks the School of Music and Dance for the numerous opportunities it has provided for her to improve her technique and ensemble skills, and her professors who guided her along the way.
A rising junior, she intends to pursue a master’s degree in music performance after graduating with her bachelor’s from the University of Oregon.
The Eugene Symphony’s season begins in September. Its performance schedule can be found here.