News Posts List

Detailed biographies of all CMC faculty can be found online at portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/46753.

JUSTIN BULAVA (clarinet and saxophone)

Justin can be seen and heard playing clarinet, piano, saxophone, drums, and more throughout the Portland area. A New Jersey native, he holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Justin divides his musical life between performing, composing and teaching. He is also teaching clarinet and saxophone at the Rosewood Music Program.

JAMIE CHIMCHIRIAN (violin)

Jamie holds a D.M.A. in Violin Performance from the University of Maryland, a M.M. Violin Performance from Boston University, and a B.M. Violin Performance West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Suzuki teacher training rounds out her pedagogy. You can hear her in the Eugene Symphony & Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra.

SHARON ENG (violin & viola)

Sharon Eng is co-founder of Raphael Spiro String Quartet, Madrona Viola Duo and Classical Nuances. She has performed solo and chamber music, and held master classes in viola and chamber music in 12 countries (including China, Indonesia, & Korea) on five continents. She played with the American Ballet Theatre and New York City Opera while earning her B.M. & M.M. in viola performance at The Juilliard School. She is on the faculty of the Intermuse International Music Institute and Festival at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg since 2013.

ANASTASIYA GAVRILOVICH (violin)

Ana got her B.A. in Music Ed. & Violin Performance from Pacific University. She teaches beginning strings for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. She’s had Orff Schulwerk training, Suzuki teacher training, and recently presented at both the Oregon Music Educators Association (OMEA) & American String Teachers Association (ASTA) conferences.

SUZANNE GRIFFIN (skills)

Certified Waldorf teacher, trained in the Orff-Schulwerk method at Mills College in Oakland, California, Suzanne is a private piano and voice teacher and a published songwriter and performance vocalist. Before moving to Portland she was teaching music classes to children at the Little French School in Eugene.

ALEXIS MAHLER (violin & cello)

B.M. in Violin Performance and Music Education from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in 2014. Alexis was co-director of the Upper Peninsula Youth Orchestra at Northern Michigan University, and also lead teacher for an after school strings class in the Marquette Area Public School District. In addition to teaching private violin and cello lessons, she performs in several orchestras, string quartets, and folk bands in the area.

Currently, she is collaborating with local songwriter Kendall Core and California-based Matt Costa, is featured on both of their most recent EPs, and is an instructor for BRAVO Youth Orchestras.

SONJA MYKLEBUST (cello)

Sonja comes to Portland from Seattle, where she completed her Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Washington. A founding member of the Portland Cello Project, Oceana String Quartet, and the Lowdown Duo, Sonja has performed on stages throughout the West Coast. As the cello faculty at George Fox University, Sonja teaches private lessons and chamber music. She has also held positions at Edmonds Community College and Seattle Music Partners, as well as being a Teaching Artist with and founder of the Meany Center’s Music Link program. Sonja is a registered Suzuki teacher.

KIM MAI NGUYEN (violin & viola)

Kim Mai is a member of the Oregon Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra & Oregon Bach Festival. She performed in the Paris Opera Orchestra, the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier and the French Chamber Orchestra, and was Principal Violist of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Charleston. Kim Mai co-directed orchestra workshops in Lebanon and Iraq with American Voice.

She obtained both her Bachelor & Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School.

COLLIN OLDHAM (cello)

Collin has performed and recorded with alternative musical groups like the Decemberists and the Portland Cello Project. He has also performed with the National Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra and the Washington Opera. He studied at Northwestern University for a B.M. degree, at the University of Louisville for M.M. - both in Cello Performance - and had further music studies at the Moscow Conservatory, University of S. California, and for computer music at Stanford University. Returning to CMC from a couple years off living in Israel, he also teaches at the Multnomah Arts Center.

BRENDAN RAWLINS (staff/instrument rentals)

Brendan earned a B.M. in Cello Performance from Eastern Washington University and a M.S. in Arts Administration (Performing Arts focus) from the University of Oregon. His admin experience includes work for the Oregon Symphony & the David Kerr Violin Shop. He’s also a violin & cello bow maker, and has made documentary films shown on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat.

GEORGEANNE RIES (flute)

Currently Principal Flute Portland Opera Orchestra and Oregon Ballet Theater Orchestra, GeorgeAnne also performed with Oregon Symphony, including as Principal Flute for the 2005-6 season under Carlos Kalmar. She’s a member of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, recording artist, Broadway show musician, and has played with numerous festival orchestras, including the Cascade Music Festival, Astoria Music Festival and Peter Britt Music Festival. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Ms. Ries maintains a lively teaching studio in Portland, and each summer enjoys coaching woodwind quintets at Wallowa Lake in eastern Oregon for Woodwinds@Wallowa. She also teaches flute for the Rosewood Music Program.

Detailed biographies of all CMC faculty can be found online at portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/46753.