The associate musicians play an important role in the operation of the Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh. They not only join us to present larger works for winds but are also available as reliable substitutes in emergencies. This ensures the quality of the music performance at your event.

Rob Frankenberry, piano and coach

Robert leads a multifaceted career as a singer, pianist, and conductor. Last season, he sang the tenor solo in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Akron Symphony and Mario Cavaradossi with the Erie Opera Theater. At the piano, he has worked for such organizations as the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet, and the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, and is a charter member of the Music On The Edge ensemble. This season, he is singing a Lieder Abend in Vancouver, performing Don Jose in Carmen, and conducting The Tales of Hoffmann at Mercyhurst College, where he teaches conducting.

Josephine M. Kost, flute

Josephine Kost of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was born and raised in Bellevue, Ohio under the name Josephine Widman, prior to her marriage in 2006. Josie began studying the flute in fifth grade. During her years in high school, she participated in many musical organizations, including First Chair in the 2000 All-State Honors Band. Upon her graduation, Josie was accepted to the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, located in Wheaton, Illinois. As a part of the studio of Dr. Anita Miller Rieder, Josie learned the art of professionalism and careful attention to detail.

In 2004, upon graduating Summa Cum Laude in Music Performance, Josephine was accepted at Duquesne University were she is now working on her second post-baccalaureate degree. Since beginning school at Duquesne, Josie has been studying with Damian Bursill-Hall. In 2006, she received her Master of Music degree at Duquesne. Besides participating in Duquesne’s ensembles, she is also the president of the Graduate Assistant Organization and she began the university’s first flute choir with the assistance of Mr. James Houlik. When Josie is not at school or practicing, she instructs both high school and college level students.

Josie is an activate participant in summer festivals. In 2002, she was involved in a performance of a new edition of a Quantz Double Flute Concerto at the National Flute Convention in Washington D.C. She has also studied at the Cincinnati Flute Symposium, ARIA International Summer Academy, and the Orford Arts Centre under Robert Langevin.

Laura Arledge, flute

Laura Arledge is an established performer and music educator in the Pittsburgh area. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic Orchestra and has also performed with Johnstown Symphony, Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, Westmoreland Choral Society, and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. Laura has appeared as a featured soloist with Pittsburgh Philharmonic and Westmoreland Symphonic Winds. Other favorite performance experience include playing in the “pit” orchestra in Undercroft Opera’s production of Tales of Hoffmann and Point Park University Conservatory’s production of Ragtime. Miss Arledge teaches elementary vocal and instrumental music in the Hampton Township School District where she recently music-directed and accompanied Hampton Middle School’s production of Music Man, Jr. She teaches flute at Johnstonbaugh’s Music Center in Penn Hills and Gibsonia, and has also taught at Seton Hill College. Laura is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Flute Performance with a Minor in Conducting, and Music Education Certification. Laura also enjoys performing with singer/songwriter Karen Dryer and guitarist Craig “Izzy” Arlet.

Allison Hill, flute

Allison Hill enjoys playing the piccolo in addition to the flute. She studied the piano in the first grade, and chose to study the flute once she reached the fifth grade. During high school, she studied at the Eastman Preparatory School in Rochester, NY. She went on to earn a B.Mus. in Music Performance and Education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

Allison has performed with various community bands and orchestras in upstate New York, northern New York, Pittsburgh, and Arizona (where she even played the alto saxophone with the White Mountain Big Band). She is currently the Group and Corporate Sales Manager for the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Albert H.C. Manders, flute

Albert Manders attended the Pittsburgh High School for Creative and Performing Arts majoring in flute. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony and the University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in addition to the Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh. Albert earned first place in the chamber music division of City Music Center's 2002 Young Artists Competition and has worked with the Pitt Repertory Theatre during productions of Much Ado About Nothing and Everything in the Garden. A holder of degrees in anthropology and business from the University of Pittsburgh (2006), Albert currently resides in Amsterdam.

Torin Olsen, flute

Torin Olsen, a graduate of the University of Southern California, currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. At USC he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Flute Performance under the tutelage of Jim Walker. He is in the process of finishing a Master's of Music in Flute at Duquesne University where he works with Damian Bursill-Hall. His former teachers include Robert Langevin, Geralyn Coticone and Jennifer Connor.

Torin's love of chamber music has had him performing diverse genres of music with a variety of ensembles. He considers it a privilege to be playing with the Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh.

In addition to being a flutist, Torin is a professional photographer and a classical recording engineer. Among the groups he has recorded in live performance are the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Misha Dichter and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra.

Torin continues to freelance as a flutist around Pittsburgh and maintains a private flute studio.

Laurel Kuxhaus, oboe

Laurel Kuxhaus began her music study at the age of 8, when she learned to play the flute. In the 9th grade, when her band director asked for volunteers to learn a new instrument, the oboe, Laurel eagerly volunteered (and then asked, “What’s an oboe?”). In high school, she studied with Treva Womble, principal English hornist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She also played the flute, piccolo, and bass clarinet with the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Marching Band, which won the state championships in both 1994 and 1995, and routinely placed highly in the Bands of America Grand National Competition. Laurel earned a Michigan Competing Bands Association scholarship, and received additional support from the Michigan State University School of Music where she earned a B.A. in Music in 2001. During her time at Michigan State University, she studied with Dan Stolper. She has also occasionally studied with Donald Baker, Jared Hauser and Paige Morgan (Ithaca College).

Laurel has played both the oboe and English horn with numerous ensembles in central and southeastern lower Michigan, including the Plymouth Community Band and Ann Arbor Civic Band. During her time at Michigan State University, she performed with the Concert Band, the Symphony Band, the Wind Symphony, as well as the Campus and Philharmonic Orchestras, in addition to giving several solo and chamber recitals. During her time in Ithaca, NY, she performed with the Cornell University Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, the Ithaca Concert Band, and was a founding member of the Summer Cornell Quintet.

As a soloist, Laurel was featured in Copland’s Quiet City in April, 2003 with the Cornell University Wind Ensemble and performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the University of Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra in 2004. She performed the Marcello oboe concerto with the North Pittsburgh Philharmonic in October, 2005. In Pittsburgh, Laurel has played both the oboe and English horn with the University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Philharmonic and participated in the Community Side-By-Side program hosted by the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2004. She also performs with the Edgewood Symphony.

Laurel also earned a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan State University in 2001, and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 2003. She recently earned a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, Laurel is a postdoctoral research engineer at Allegheny General Hospital , where her research focuses on orthopaedic biomechanics. She is also adjunct faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and teaches oboe lessons at Johnstonbaugh's Music Center in Bridgeville.

Lenny Young, oboe

Lenny Young, in addition to being a sought-after collaborative artist and teacher, is Principal Oboe of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Pittsburgh, Wheeling, and McKeesport Symphonies He has worked with local composers and arrangers in productions for Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater, Point Park Conservatory, and Pennsylvania Dance Theater. As a soloist, he composed and performed original music for Point Park Repertory Company’s productions of Knights Of The Round Table, The Third Lie and Death Of A Salesman. He worked extensively with Pittsburgh improvisation ensemble Dust & Feathers as well as with choreographers and visual artists. Currently, he plays in Duo Paginas with his wife, mezzo-soprano Raquel Winnica Young, and the two of them perform with pianist Corrine Adkins in Trio Serrano.

He holds BFA and MM degrees in music performance from Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied oboe with Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, improvisation with Eric Kloss, and composition with Reza Vali. Mr. Young also sings with The Pittsburgh Camerata and the Professional Core group of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. He maintains a teaching studio and conducts the choir at Third Presbyterian Church in Shadyside.

Sharlotte A. DeVere, oboe

Sharlotte DeVere is a Leechburg, PA native and graduate of Seton Hill University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. She served four years with the the US Marine Corps field bands in Pearl Harbor, HI and Quanti o, VA. She has played oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn and bass oboe with numerous musical groups. She was a founding member of the Loudoun Symphony, Leesburg, VA and continues to perform with them as English hornist. In the local area, she plays with the Kiski Valley Community Band, the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, the Edgewood Symphony and Zephrys, a woodwind chamber ensemble. Sharlotte teaches oboe privately and is an active church musician, a needlework designer and professional picture framer.

Michelle Jones, clarinet

Michelle Jones has a B.S. in Biology with a minor in music from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was a member of the Sinfonicron Light Opera Orchestra in Williamsburg, Virginia from 1995-1999 and rotating Principal clarinetist from 1998-1999. She was a member of the William and Mary Symphony Orchestra in Williamsburg, Virginia from 1997-1999 where she was a clarinetist and Principal bass clarinetist. She was a member of the William and Mary Concert Band from 1995-1998. Michelle played in the Radford University Concert Band from 1994-1995. From 1993-1995 she was a member of the Virginia All District VI honors bands, and played with the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra in 1993.

She was an invited and featured soloist with the Radford High-School Symphonic Band in 1995. She was elected to the Virginia Governor’s School for Music in 1994. She has received the John Philip Sousa Award. As a chamber musician, she is currently a clarinetist for the Aeolian Winds of Pittsburgh.

Michelle Jones received her Ph. D. in Biology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2005.

Mark Dalyrmple, bassoon

Mark is a professional software developer who does music on the side, as a way to keep sane. Currently he plays in the Zephyrs woodwind quintet, is the principal bassoon of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra, and is a peripatetic contrabassoon player. In his spare time he plays bass trombone for several local concert bands, and is a proficient balloon twister.

Jim Kunz, bassoon

Jim Kunz is a local bassoonist and composer. He studied bassoon under the tutelage of PSO bassoonist David Sogg while at Duquesne University. As a bassoonist he has performed in many venues, including Carnegie Hall in NY and with many artists ensembles and productions, including Attack Theatre’s “This Ain’t the Nutcraker” were he was featured as an Experimental Rock Bassoonist. Jim is currently pursuing artistic endeavors in the composition and sound sculpture mediums.

Meredith Lotz, horn

Meredith Lotz, originally from Sioux City, Iowa, graduated in May 2004 from St. Olaf College with degrees in Psychology and Statistics. Though she was not a music major, she still spent most of her time in the music building, as she played principal horn in the St. Olaf Orchestra, substituted with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and participated in many other smaller chamber ensembles such as the world-renowned Royal Dundas Brass Quintet. She is now studying to get her Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh, but is always looking for musical outlets through which to continue playing her horn.