Principal soprano, Lori Musicant Koch

Lori Musicant Koch received her Bachelor’s in Music Education from Michigan State University and her Master’s in Clarinet Performance from Florida State University, where she was awarded a graduate assistantship in clarinet. She has studied with Frank Ell, Frank Kowalsky, Margaret Thornhill and David Howard. After seven years as Director of Instrumental Music at Olive Middle School in Baldwin Park, Lori now teaches elementary instrumental music and private lessons in the Pasadena area. Principal clarinetist with the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir and a founding member of the Avenel Chamber Players, she has played with many ensembles in the Los Angeles area, including the Santa Monica Symphony, Observatory Orchestra, Golden State Pops Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Players, Dulce Madera Clarinet Quartet, and the Hour of Power Orchestra at the Crystal Cathedral. A faculty member at Cazadero Music Camp for 6 years, Lori has also been on the faculty of the Claremont Clarinet Festival as conductor of clarinet ensembles. In 2007 she performed as a featured soloist and principal clarinetist with the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir at the International Clarinet Assocation convention in Vancouver.

Co-principal, Victoria Ramos

Victoria Ramos is a Ph.D. candidate graduate student at the University of Southern California where she holds a teaching assistantship with the Music Education Department. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and former student of Dr. David Ross, she currently studies with David Howard and Yehuda Gilad. She is a member of the USC Wind Ensemble, chamber ensemble, and is the principal clarinetist with both the USC Concert Orchestra and USC Concert Band.Miss Ramos currently teaches band at David Starr Jordan Middle School in Burbank, teaches private music lessons, and gives clinics at middle and high school bands throughout the Los Angeles area.

E-flat Clarinetist, David Sucik

David attended Brigham Young University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he majored in Music Education and studied clarinet with David Randall and James Clark. He currently plays bass clarinet with the Claremont Winds. David also plays the oboe and English horn, and plays frequently with the La Mirada Symphony and the Claremont Symphony.

Principal bass, Erica Golden

Erica Golden holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from the Esther Boyer College of Music at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she studied with Anthony Gigliotti and Ronald Reuben. She is the clarinet coach for the Tournament of Roses Honor Band run by Pasadena City College and will be travelling to Austria this summer with the Los Angeles Pierce Symphonic Winds. A District Sales Coordinator for Aflac, she resides in Glendale.

Contrabass, Don Gross

Don Gross took a 31-year break from clarinet playing before returning to the instrument in 1986. Following two very diverse careers as a research chemist and a fund-raiser, in 1998 he retired and went back to school at Glendale Community College and at Cal State Los Angeles where he currently studies clarinet with Helen Goode-Castro. A resident of La Canada-Flintridge, Don also plays with the Cal State Los Angeles Wind Ensemble, the Claremont Winds,and the Topanga Symphony.

Soprano clarinet,Alto clarinet. Joel Kabakoff

Joel Kabakoff,received a BS in Geology in 1976 from the State University New York, College at Oneonta where he also studied clarinet with John Worley and David Niethamer and played in the Catskill Symphony Orchestra. Since 1994 he has been a member of the Los Angeles Pierce Symphonic Winds, with whom he performed at the Mid-Europe Band Festival in Schladming, Austria, at the 2004 Festival Anches D'Azur in La Croix Valmer, France and at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. He is a paralegal in the legal department at Bank of America. He has recently studied clarinet with Margaret Thornhill.

Soprano clarinet, Nichole Pacquing (on leave, Fall 2008)

Nichole Pacquing has played for twelve years. Her talent was recognized by teachers Haken Rosengren of CSU Fullerton, and Mary Uys at Fullerton College. Nikki has studied with Michael Grego as an undergraduate music major in clarinet performance at Cal State University Long Beach.