ST. LOUIS, September 12, 2003 – The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will introduce Dana Hansen, viola; Joshua MacCluer, trumpet; and Gregory Roosa, horn, as part of the Orchestra for the Symphony’s 124th season.

The addition of Hansen, MacCluer, and Roosa brings to six the number of musicians who will debut with the Orchestra this weekend. Last spring the Symphony named Jennifer Montone, principal horn; Jennifer Nitchman, flute; and Diana Haskell, assistant principal clarinet, to the Orchestra.

Hansen, originally from Hyannis, Mass., recently received her master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School, where she studied viola with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory and studied chamber music with Samuel Rhodes and Robert Mann. Prior to attending Juilliard, Hansen graduated from Harvard College, where she studied viola with James Dunham and chamber music with Robert Levin. Last summer, she received the 2002 Federal League of Music Clubs Award while playing principal viola with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in Massachusetts.

MacCluer is a third-generation musician from Charlottesville, Va. Prior to his appointment with the Symphony, he served as principal trumpet for the Colorado Symphony for two seasons. He formerly was the acting principal trumpet at the Baltimore Symphony, and has been a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Ann Arbor Symphony. MacCluer studied at Oberlin Conservatory with William Lucas and was a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C., for three years.

Roosa, a native of Troy, Mich., comes to St. Louis after performing with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and the Colorado Symphony in Denver. Prior to these positions, he was principal horn for 10 years at the Illinois Symphony in Springfield.

Roosa has a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Illinois in Champaign and has studied with Ralph Froelich at the University of South Florida and Dale Clevenger, principal horn at the Chicago Symphony. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for three seasons and performed with the Chicago Symphony, in which he was part of a European tour and two sound recordings.

The Symphony’s 124th season begins today. Although this weekend's concerts are sold out, single tickets are on sale now for the remainder of the season and can be purchased by calling 314-534-1700 or by going online at www.slso.org.

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra has been a source of pride for the St. Louis region since its founding in 1880. The Symphony has earned a reputation as a first-tier orchestra through the generations of excellent performances, through its mastery of a wide-ranging repertoire, and a tradition of partnering with leading musical artists from around the world.

In addition to its regular concert performances at Powell Symphony Hall, the Symphony is an integral part of the St. Louis community with a variety of education and partnership programs. Through its educational concerts at Powell and in classrooms all over the region through the E. Desmond Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative, the Symphony encourages thousands of children to learn about classical music. Free ensemble and individual performances in parks, churches and other venues throughout the area bring classical music to thousands of people of all ages. In addition, the pioneering IN UNISON program partners the Symphony with urban African-American churches to further understanding of the connections between gospel, jazz and classical music.

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra receives generous operating support from the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

The Symphony is proud to have preferred relationships with American Airlines, Krispy Kreme, MasterCard International, Steinway & Sons and Thompson Coburn.