Violinist Sarah Grimes joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2016, where she is a member of the first violin section. Prior to her appointment, she performed as a guest musician with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Violist Lydia Grimes joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2022. A native Minnesotan, Grimes grew up as a violinist and began studying the viola at 16 under the instruction of Sabina Thatcher. She recently received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in viola performance from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Hsin-Yun Huang, Misha Amory and Cynthia Phelps.

Praised for her awareness and mature musicianship, Hanna Landrum has been sought after as a section leader for many orchestras, including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Canton Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Firelands Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Civic Symphony, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Bach Ensemble, as well as regularly stepping in to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. With an adoration of orchestral playing showing from an early age, she has been honored to serve as a stand partner to such renowned concertmasters as William Preucil, Noah Bendix-Balgley and David Kim. 

Illinois native Sonia Mantell joined the Minnesota Orchestra cello section in September 2020, and in fall 2024 took on the role of acting co-associate principal cello as well as making her debut as soloist performing James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood in March 2025.  She studied at New England Conservatory and DePaul School of Music under the tutelage of Natasha Brofksy and Brant Taylor, respectively.  While attending DePaul, she won the Concerto Competition with violinist Ari Urban and performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the DePaul Symphony.  She is a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Alumni (2014-16) and has attended summer festivals at Aspen, National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West and Tanglewood Music Center.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, violinist Sophia Mockler earned her master’s degree from the Yale School of Music with Ani Kavafian. Her previous teachers include Catherine Cho at the Juilliard School, Carmit Zori and Itzhak Perlman. She has attended multiple summer music festivals including the Verbier Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Program, the Lakes Area Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop. Recently she made her debut on the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society. In 2020 she toured throughout Europe with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Iván Fischer, performing at the Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie and Carnegie Hall. She has served as the concertmaster for the Verbier Festival Orchestra as well as the Yale Philharmonia Orchestra. In addition to playing violin, she enjoys singing opera and sang the titular role in Dido and Aeneas at Princeton University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature.

Ben Odhner joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2017, and won an audition to move to the first violin section in 2022. He previously held the position of fixed 4th chair in the first violin section of the Colorado Symphony. He has appeared as a soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Ashland Symphony, Warminster Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles. In 2008 and 2009, he was selected to participate in the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall. A fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival and School, he has been concertmaster of the Aspen Sinfonia and the Aspen Concert Orchestra. He was also a member of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which performed at Carnegie Hall in April 2009 as a part of the first international classical music summit brought together through the internet.

Kyle Sanborn began playing bass at the age of 12 in Portland, Oregon. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon and his graduate degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Tyler Abbott and Kurt Muroki, respectively. Sanborn spent his summers with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Verbier, Switzerland, the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina.

Cellist Pitnarry Shin has toured throughout the United States, Europe and her native Korea. She has performed as soloist with the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony Orchestra, the Kunsan Philharmonic, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Queens Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared at many of the leading international festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Edinburgh and Dartington Festivals (England), Colmar and Evian Festivals (France), Banff Festival (Canada) and the Piatigorsky Seminar. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Germany, which allowed her to participate and perform in several European festivals such as the Manchester Festival, the Kronberg Festival and the Ensemble InterContemporain Summer Festival, where she played solo cello under Pierre Boulez. 

Shin was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra from 2001 to 2006 and returned as a full time member again in 2012. In addition to her orchestral work, she serves as an artistic director of the Bakken Trio.

Alan Snow won the position of associate concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2022. He was previously the second associate concertmaster with the Omaha Symphony. Since his first performance with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra at age 13, Snow has performed solo and chamber works internationally, including appearances at Chicago’s Symphony Center, London Symphony Orchestra St. Luke’s, Sala Manuel M. Ponce in Mexico City and others. Previous concertmaster appointments include the Evansville Philharmonic, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Terre Haute Symphony, Festival Napa Valley Music Academy, Britten-Pears Young Artists Program, Indiana University’s top orchestras, Carmel Symphony and Music Academy of the West. In spring 2026, Snow will sit as guest concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. He currently serves as concertmaster of the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra as well as concertmaster and faculty at Birch Creek Summer Music Academy.

Violist Sarah Switzer joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2022 and served as acting assistant principal viola for the Orchestra’s 2023-24 season. She earned her master’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as a student of Ivo-Jan van der Werff. She holds a bachelor’s degree in the History of Art from Yale University, where she studied with Wendy Sharp. Recipient of the Yale Wrexham Prize for Music, the T. Whitney Blake Prize and the Sharp Prize for Music, Switzer served as principal viola of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and performed Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto with the symphony orchestra in 2018 as a winner of the William Waite Concerto Competition. Her undergraduate thesis on French medieval manuscript illumination earned her the A. Conger Goodyear Fine Arts Award in 2019.

Violist Megan Tam joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, and returned to Minneapolis in 2015 after a year with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Tam studied violin and viola at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. She completed undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying under Robert Vernon and receiving the Robert Vernon Prize in Viola. In 2002 she and fellow members of the Linden Quartet won the grand prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition.

Kate Wegener joins the Minnesota Orchestra full-time at the end of December 2023 as associate principal oboe. A native of Connecticut, she has recently been featured at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival and with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. In addition to performing with the Juilliard Orchestra, she has appeared as a substitute musician with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra and the Apex Ensemble, among others. Wegener received her bachelor’s degree and is currently completing her master’s degree at the Juilliard School.

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski has established himself as one of the most remarkable musicians to have emerged in recent years, praised not only for his powerful virtuosity and deeply expressive approach, but also for his charismatic stage presence. Launched onto the international scene 20 years ago as a BBC New Generation Artist, his fast-paced career has seen him collaborate with over 100 orchestras on four continents with appearances on the most prestigious stages. 

Gabriel Campos Zamora, a native of San José, Costa Rica, is the principal clarinet of the Minnesota Orchestra. Before joining the Orchestra, Gabriel was the associate principal clarinet of the Kansas City Symphony and has appeared as guest principal clarinet with the Cleveland Orchestra and Seattle and Houston symphonies, in addition to serving as the Virginia Symphony’s principal clarinet.