William Losch holds a Bachelor of Music degree in String Performance from Florida State University, where he specialized in the double bass.  He has studied both the classical and jazz traditions, and his teachers have included Melanie Punter, Rodney Jordan, Terry Plumeri and Nilson Matta.

As a bassist, William has been a member of the Gainesville (FL) Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra.  He has also performed in classical and jazz ensembles, as a choir accompanist and in pit orchestras.  William is certified as a Music teacher in Massachusetts (K-12) and currently teaches in the Springfield Public Schools.

William’s interest in music came from hearing his cousins and uncles play the guitar, as well as taking up the trumpet in 5th grade band. His philosophy about music education is that music is a language and should be treated as such. As babies, we were initially encouraged to improvise using the sounds we knew. Only once we had mastered improvisation were we then taught to read. Learning music in this same way allows us to develop with music the same freedom of expression we enjoy in our own native language.

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Courtney Castañeda is an active teacher and performer. She is the former Orchestra Director at the University of Texas Elementary School where she taught for eight years, and is the former Assistant Director of the UT Austin String Project. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both cello performance and psychology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Music degree in cello performance from Sacramento State University where she was a teacher in the Sacramento State String Project.

She completed her Master of Music degree in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas, Austin, and she also earned her K-12 teaching certification. A native Texan, Courtney began playing violin and cello thanks to her public elementary school in Houston, and she is a strong supporter of public school music education. She taught privately for seven years in northern California, coached chamber music for the Sacramento Youth Symphony’s Summer Chamber Music Workshop, and played in music festivals in Paris and Eisenstadt.  Courtney was the Operations Manager for the Sacramento School of Music, and served as the Business Administrator for the Suzuki Music Institute of Dallas for two years.

She received her Suzuki Cello Teacher Training (books 1-6) from Dr. Tanya Carey, and her Suzuki in the Schools training from Dr. Laurie Scott. Courtney plays cello in the Austin-based indie-folk band, American Dreamer, and with acclaimed singer/songwriter Ray Prim.

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Internationally recognized, award winning Cellist, Yoonhee Ko, counts the 64th Coleman Chamber Music Competition at the top of a long list of distinctions. During her collegiate career, she was featured as soloist, winning concerto competitions at Ewha Woman’s University and Boston University Orchestra. As recipient of the Aldo Parisot Prize, Ko earned her Master of Music Degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music. Her Doctorate in Cello Performance was accomplished under the tutelage of Rhonda Rider at Boston University. Among her many celebrated performances, Dr. Ko performed under the baton of Keith Lockhart with the Boston Pops Orchestra, offering a stunning rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. Dr. Ko joined the faculty of Community Music School of Springfield, MA in 2018 and is engaged with Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Bethany Assembly of God Orchestra. Dr. Ko is currently managed by Three Owls Agency.

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Boris Kogan was born in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg Russia. He began studying cello at age 5, attending the School for Musically Gifted Children. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Leningrad College of Music and his Master’s from the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. He served as Assistant Principal Cellist with the Leningrad Symphony and with the Television and Radio Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Kogan moved to the United States in 1991 and is now Principal Cellist with the New England Symphony as well as a member of the Springfield Symphony, the Thayer Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Massachusetts Symphony. In addition to teaching at CMSS, he teaches at Deerfield Academy and Amherst College.

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