Naples Chamber Brass Ensemble
Matthew Sonneborn, James Stephenson, Tracy Leonard, Michael Zion, Mo Anderson
Matthew Sonneborn principal trumpet, received a B.M. degree from the New England Conservatory. He also received fellowships to attend the Tanglewood Music Center. In addition to playing as an extra with Boston, Baltimore, and San Antonio symphony orchestras, Sonneborn has been a finalist for the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. His solo experience includes a performance at the age of 15 with the Milwaukee Symphony. This season he will be featured in Patriotic Pops–Sousa at the Symphony, performing Herbert L. Clarke’s From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific. In the summer, Sonneborn is also a trumpet instructor at the Hot Springs Music Festival and a performer at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Sonneborn has played under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Somon Rattle and Leonard Slatkin.
James Stephenson III assistant principal trumpet, earned his B.M. Degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Stephenson is an accomplished composer with more than 100 arrangements and compositions to his credit. His arrangements have been performed on recordings and televised with the Cincinnati Pops and the Boston Pops, and his award-winning American Fanfare was recently performed by the orchestras of Cleveland, Detroit, Syracuse and Rochester. His Compose Yourself!, commissioned by the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, is performed in all Collier County schools. In November of 2003, Stephenson traveled to Boston for a successful premiere of his recently commissioned trumpet concerto. In the summer of 2004 Stephenson was on the faculty at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Stephenson has been published by Editions BIM, and released his first composition CD, Colors, in 2002. He lives in Naples with his wife, Sally, a Naples Philharmonic Orchestra violinist, and their four children.
Tracy Leonard assistant principal horn, obtained her B.M. degree from Indiana University and the M.M. degree from the Juilliard School. She has previously performed with the Meridian Arts Ensemble, the National Orchestra of New York, and New York String Orchestra, the Jupiter Symphony, and the New World Symphony. She also performed in the orchestra on the 1989 national tour of the Broadway hit Into the Woods. Leonard was on a leave of absence during the l995-96 season to play the national tour of Phantom of the Opera.
Michael Zion principal trombone, received a B.M. education degree from Indiana University and an M.M. degree in performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is a member of the Naples Philharmonic Brass Quintet, which received first prize at the Summit Brass International Music Competion and second prize at the Narbonne, France International Brass Quintet Competition. He performed as principal trombone with Cincinnati Pops Orchestra on a tour of Japan and Taiwan. Zion has also performed with other orchestras and ensembles including the Summit Brass Ensemble, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Esplanade Pops, Boston Symphony Orchestra and New Hampshire Symphony.
Mo Anderson the principal tuba, has B.M. and M.M. degrees from the New England Conservatory. Anderson has pursued doctoral studies in solo performance at Arizona State University, where he earned the outstanding graduate award for the School of Music. His professional experience includes the Boston Pops, Pacific Symphony and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. He also has performed with Ray Charles, Mel Torme and at Disneyland. Anderson held the position of principal tuba with the New World Symphony and is the tubist with the award-winning Naples Philharmonic Brass Quintet. Last season he performed Strauss’ Horn Concerto in Casual Classics 3. He will also be featured this season in Patriotic Pops. Anderson is also a professional goldsmith.