Jackie Tso has been heard as a soloist with orchestras around the world such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Concert Association Orchestra, and the Beijing Broadcasting Orchestra. Ms. Tso has also played in many international competitions including the Premio Paganini, Yehudi Menuhin, and Jascha Heifetz. Jackie studied with Li Lin at The Juilliard School, and is currently Concertmaster of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Before moving to Greenville, she was in the St. Louis Symphony. Some of her passions outside of music are nature walks with her pup, making flower arrangements, pickleball, and trying new recipes.

Seth Russell performs internationally as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Taipei’s Elite Performance Hall, and the Peace Center’s Gunter Theater. He was awarded top prizes in the 2017 and 2019 New York International Artists Competition. In 2021 he won the position of Principal Cello with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Seth is a member of the multi-genre Parrish Cello Trio, and the founder, director, and cellist of the Greenville Chamber Players. Seth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a Master’s degree in Cello Performance from New England Conservatory, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

David Kiser is the Executive Director of Greenville County Youth Orchestras. He was formerly the Education and Community Engagement Manager of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra where he oversaw the symphony’s extensive education programs. In Spring 2022, he introduced the newest program called Student Ambassadors that connected local high school music students with the symphony. He is married to the pianist Lisa Won Jung Kiser and they live with their family in Greenville, SC. He is the second oldest of ten children. He has served as substitute keyboardist for Asheville, Greenville and Spartanburg Symphonies. His performances have been broadcast on South Carolina Public Radio and he has performed and adjudicated throughout the state. Recent performances include Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra and a series of piano duo recitals across the southeast with Lisa Kiser. Besides his life in music, education and arts administration, David is a writer and has the distinct honor of being the first ever Writer-in-Residence at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. ​He is the longtime host of South Carolina Public Radio’s On the Keys. He is currently undertaking a gradual study of classical music allusions in works of literature, presenting lecture recitals on his findings. You can connect with him via his email: davidkiser@bellsouth.net.

Committed to using music as a tool for social justice, violist Kathryn Dey is originally from Lake Mills, Wisconsin. She earned degrees in viola performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student of Sally Chisholm, and at the Eastman School of Music, where she served as teaching assistant to John Graham. Known for her innovative musicianship, Ms. Dey has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and the Caribbean, as well as in such diverse venues as outdoor Haitian community centers, German prisons, and her own front yard. As a Surdna Foundation Fellow, Ms. Dey was awarded a grant to study and perform works for unaccompanied viola by Lillian Fuchs. She is an active supporter of the nonprofit BLUMEHaiti organization, and in addition to collecting over 3000 instruments for that organization, has been an instructor and mentor to countless Haitian musicians through workshops and residencies in that country. Ms. Dey has served as a program consultant and guest artist at the Palotti School of Music in Belize City, Belize. In addition to her performing schedule, she is also organist and music director at First Presbyterian Church in Laurens, SC.  

With a unique emphasis on the interdisciplinary connections between music, creative writing and acting, Ms. Dey’s teaching has been recognized by Strings Magazine, the American String Teachers Association, the American Viola Society and Music Teachers National Association, among others. Students from her studio have been recognized at the state, national and international level and now perform and teach around the world. Ms. Dey regularly presents workshops to teachers and students throughout the United States and was a featured presenter at the 2023 International Viola Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. She is committed to building and sustaining rural South Carolina string programs, initiating projects in Chester, Fairfield, Jasper, Laurens, and Pickens counties. Ms. Dey is a long-time music faculty member at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and is a co-founder and co-director of the Eastman Summer Viola Workshop in Rochester, NY. She speaks fluent German, is a certified yoga instructor, and spent twenty-four years renovating a home in downtown Greenville with her late husband, cellist Robert O’Brien. She and her rescue Australian Cattle dog, Zelda, are currently training for the next Ulti Mutt competition. Ms. Dey encourages anyone reading this to consider becoming an organ donor, at Sharinghopesc.org.

Joanna Mulfinger graduated from Bob Jones University and continued her education at the Peabody Conservatory, receiving a Master’s Degree under the tutelage of renowned Russian pedagogue Victor Danchenko.  She has pursued additional summer music studies at the Juilliard School in New York, the Hanns Eisler Hochschule Fur Musik in Berlin, and other festivals in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Canada.  Since returning to Greenville, she has developed a large studio of private students and has been on the Adjunct Faculty of several local universities.  As a chamber musician, Joanna is a member of several ensembles including the Mulfinger String Quartet, Trio Tapestry (violin, guitar, cello) and Triptych Musica.  She is also an active orchestral musician.  Since 2003, she has been Principal Second Violin of the Greenville Symphony, and is now Concertmaster of the Spartanburg Philharmonic, where she just programmed and led a concert of Baroque music at the end of January 2025.  Joanna performs on a 1653 Nicolo Amati violin, a violin she inherited from her mother.