Next season, we welcome four new musicians to the OSO family - here's some info on them, and I look forward to getting to know each of them as the settle in here in Portland.

Mark J. Dubac, second clarinet – Dubac has been principal clarinetist with the Green Bay Symphony in Wisconsin for the past two seasons and has performed with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the New Mexico Symphony. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Ricardo Morales, principal clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Graham G. Kingsbury, assistant principal horn – Kingsbury, currently a member of the Marin Symphony in California, has performed with several San Francisco Bay Area ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony, since 2005. He holds a master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Illinois, both in horn performance.

Alicia DiDonato Paulsen, assistant principal flute – Paulsen has been a free-lance musician based in Boston since 2002, where she has performed with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras as well as the orchestras of Opera Boston and the Boston Lyric Opera. She has earned a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, a bachelor’s degree from The Hartt School in Connecticut and was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony. Paulsen will occupy the Martha Herby Flute Chair.

Alicia Michele Waite, fourth horn – Waite has been a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, New World Symphony and Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among others. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, both in performance.