Our People
Music Director and Musicians
Ramona Pansegrau
Music Director & Conductor
Ramona Pansegrau has been music director for Kansas City Ballet for 18 years. She came to Kansas City via the Boston and Tulsa ballet companies, where she held the positions of principal pianist, solo pianist, music director and conductor. She has been called one of the best ballet pianists in the world. Robert Joffrey said of her ballet class, “The perfect music for every combination.” She was principal pianist/solo pianist for 10 years at Boston Ballet and tenured keyboard for the Boston Ballet Orchestra for 15 years. Ms. Pansegrau was on the faculty at Aspen/Snowmass Dance Festival for 11 years and was music director for the ballet school at Jacob’s Pillow for 16 years. She was music director for Tulsa Ballet for nine years, and conductor of the Tulsa Symphony orchestra for ballet performances before coming to Kansas City Ballet.
Kansas City Symphony
First Violins
Jun Iwasaki, Concertmaster
Miller Nichols Chair
Stirling Trent, Associate Concertmaster
Sunho Kim, Assistant Concertmaster
Anne-Marie Brown
Michael Brown
Betty Chen
Anthony DeMarco
Susan Goldenberg*
Tomoko Iguchi
Dorris Dai Janssen
Filip Lazovski∆
Chiafei Lin
Vladimir Rykov
Alex Shum*
Second Violins
Tamamo Someya Gibbs, Principal
Carter Coleman, Associate Principal
Kristin Velicer, Assistant Principal
Minhye Helena Choi
Mary Garcia Grant
Kazato Inouye
Rena Ishii
Paul Kim
Stephanie Larsen
Jinyou Lee
Sodam Lim
Ayrton Pisco
Violas
MingYu Hsu, Principal
Duncan Steele, Associate Principal
Jessica Nance, Assistant Principal
Kent Brauninger
Sean Brumble
Marvin Gruenbaum
Jenifer Houck
Duke Lee
Jesse Yukimura
Cellos
Mark Gibbs, Principal
Robert A. Kipp Chair
Susie Yang, Associate Principal
Richard Hill Chair
Alexander East, Assistant Principal
Maria Crosby
John Eadie
Lawrence Figg
Sally Kim^
Meredith McCook
Allen Probus
Double Basses
Evan Halloin, Acting Principal
Richard Ryan, Acting Associate Principal
Nils Aardahl
Lena Goodson ∆
Joseph Nunez
Keith Wymer ∆
Flutes
Michael Gordon, Principal
Marylou and John Dodds Turner Chair
Shannon Finney, Associate Principal
Liz Teplitsky∆
Piccolo
Liz Teplitsky∆
Oboes
Kristina Fulton, Principal
Shirley Bush Helzberg Chair
Alison Chung, Associate Principal
Matthew Lengas
ENGLISH HORN
Matthew Lengas
Clarinets
Javier Morales-Martinez∆, Acting Principal
Bill and Peggy Lyons Chair
Raymond Santos‡
Trevor Stewart∆, Acting Associate Principal
John Klinghammer
E-Flat Clarinet
Trevor Stewart△
Bass Clarinet
John Klinghammer
Bassoons
Ann Bilderback, Principal
Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Chair
Thomas DeWitt, Associate Principal
Maxwell Pipinich
Contrabassoon
Thomas DeWitt
Horns
David Sullivan, Acting Principal
Landon and Sarah Rowland Chair
Elizabeth Gray, Acting Associate Principal
David Gamble
Stephen Multer, Associate Principal Emeritus
Benjamin Bacni ∆
Trumpets
Julian Kaplan, Principal
James B. and Annabel Nutter Chair
Omri Barak^, Associate Principal
Shea Kelsay∆
Trombones
Evelyn Carlson, Principal
Porter Wyatt Henderson, Associate Principal
Joseph Maiocco^
Bass Trombone
Joseph Maiocco^
Tuba
Joe LeFevre, Principal
Frank Byrne Chair
Timpani
Timothy Jepson, Principal
Michael and Susan Newburger Chair
Percussion
David Yoon, Acting Principal
Justin Ochoa ∆, Acting Associate Principal
Adrian and Nancy Kay Hertog Family Chair
Harp
Chai Lee^, Principal
Librarians
Elena Lence Talley, Principal
Fabrice Curtis, Associate Principal
Justin White, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Elena Collins, Asst. Personnel Manager
Tyler Miller, Stage Manager
Mark Watson, Asst. Stage Manager
* Non-Rotating Musician
^ New Member
‡ On Leave of Absence
Δ One-Year Member
Music Moves
With Ramona Pansegrau
Listen to this series of podcasts from Kansas City Ballet Musical Director Ramona Pansegrau who takes us through her favorite ballets. Topics will explore Russian, Danish, and English ballet music as well as an in-depth examination of specific works and how they are used for dance.
Listen to the episodes below.