STRINGS
Daphne Bickley
viola & violin
A native of Lake Lure, North Carolina, Daphne Bickley has 17 years of experience working in several musical environments as a teacher, performer, and administrator. Daphne attended the Peabody Music Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied viola performance. Locally, Daphne performs regularly with the Hendersonville Symphony, Brevard Philharmonic, and others.
Frances Duff
cello
With her professional experience, a Master of Music degree, and certification in the Suzuki teaching method, Frances Duff is certainly a talented cello teacher. She holds degrees from prestigious Conservatoire de musique de Quebec in Montreal and then McGill University.
Lori Hammel
violin
Lori Hammel began playing the violin at age three. Ms. Hammel earned her Bachelors degree in violin performance and music education at Ithaca College and earned her Master’s degree in performance and Suzuki pedagogy at East Carolina University (ECU). Lori is a strong advocate for the Suzuki approach of learning the violin.
Joseph Falconer
cello
Joseph Falconer is the Adjunct Professor of Cello at the University of North Carolina Asheville, a conductor of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra, cello faculty at the Academy for the Arts, and cellist in the Johnson City Symphony and Brevard Philharmonic.
Andrea Pettigrew violin & viola
Andrea Pettigrew began studying the violin at the age of 10 and makes her living as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout the Southeast. She is a member of the Asheville Symphony, the Savannah Philharmonic, and the Greenville Symphony. Andrea maintains a thriving private teaching studio in Asheville and Hendersonville made up of students of all ages.
Michael DiTrolio
string bass
Michael Di Trolio is a member of Asheville Symphony, Roanoke Symphony and Opera, and Western Piedmont Symphony. He has held the positions of Principal Bass with Paradise Symphony, Associate Principal Bass with the Fayetteville Symphony, and regularly appears with other orchestras throughout the Southeastern United States.
Karen Pommerich
viola & violin
Karen Pommerich is an active chamber musician and orchestral performer. Locally, she is a violinist with Asheville’s Opal String Quartet and a violist in the Asheville Symphony. She also performs frequently with the Charlotte Symphony and is a member of IRIS Orchestra (Germantown, Tennessee) and the Colorado Music Festival (Boulder).