Violinist Cecilia Belcher, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2014, was named assistant principal second violin in 2017. Previously, she performed with the St. Louis Symphony from 2008 to 2014, and also frequently performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the New York City chamber orchestra The Knights. She has been principal second violin of ROCO in Houston and the Minnesota Bach Ensemble and, as concertmaster, she led the New World Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Aspen Music Festival Opera Orchestra and Mississippi Valley Orchestra. She has enjoyed traveling the world for festivals and performances, including to Aspen, Tanglewood, Verbier, Banff, Beijing, the BBC Proms, South Africa, New Zealand and throughout Europe.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Sabrina Bradford trained under esteemed teachers such as Carolyn Huebl, Stephen Rose and Paul Kantor, and received degrees from Vanderbilt University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her professional career began during her undergraduate studies when she performed frequently with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has been a regular guest with the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Sphinx Virtuosi.

Helen Chang Haertzen joined the Minnesota Orchestra’s first violin section in 2003. In 2006 she appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Orchestra under Andrew Litton’s direction. She has performed often at the Orchestra's Chamber Music concerts. 

Haertzen, who formerly was associate and principal second violin of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany, has toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and played with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She also served on the faculty of Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, teaching orchestral training and chamber music to international students. As soloist, Haertzen has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Esplanade and Junge Philharmonie Erlangen, and with the Staatsorchester Braunschweig. In 2024, she made her Ravinia debut as guest artist with the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass.  

Born in Taiwan and raised in California, violist Sifei Cheng joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1995. He has served as principal viola of the Charleston Symphony, New World Symphony and Juilliard Orchestra, and has led sections under Michael Tilson Thomas, Eiji Oue and Christoph Eschenbach. As a chamber musician, he has played in the Ravinia Festival, Caramoor Music Festival, Taos Chamber Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival and the New York String Seminar.

Rui Du was appointed assistant concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2015. He had previously been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he won fourth chair in the first violin section in 2012 and soon after was named acting assistant concertmaster. Additionally, he served as concertmaster of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2009. Since 2015, Du has been a regular guest concertmaster of China’s Qingdao Symphony Orchestra under maestro Zhang Guo-Yong. He has also served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, Hebei Symphony, Guiyang Symphony and North Dakota Symphony, and as associate concertmaster of the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Matthew Frischman joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1998. He served as Acting Co-Principal bass from 2012-15. Prior to his appointment here, he held positions in the New World Symphony and the Virginia Symphony. He has also performed extensively with the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the New York Philharmonic.

In addition to his work with the Minnesota Orchestra, he has performed at the Bravo Vail festival with the New York Philharmonic, the Oregon Bach Festival and the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

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.

Violist Jude Park joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2022. They have performed with numerous orchestras, including the Houston Symphony and Dallas Symphony. As a chamber musician, Park has had the opportunity to work with members from some of the world’s leading quartets, including the Pacifica, Cleveland and Dover Quartets. Park is a two-time fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and has received summer fellowships from Verbier Festival Academy and Madeline Island Chamber Music. They received their master’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where they were a student of Ivo-Jan van der Werff, with additional studies with Joan DerHovsepian.

Named one of CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” violinist Angela Ryu began her musical studies in New Denver, British Columbia, and spent her formative years in Calgary, Alberta, with William van der Sloot at the Mount Royal Conservatory. Ryu received her bachelor and master of music degrees from Rice University, Shepherd School of Music, studying with Paul Kantor. She joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2025.

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.