Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Scott Krijnen was raised in an environment of music, conducting and education. It is with great joy that he gets to continue to grow in these areas every day in his career and personal life. A recipient of a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he is a frequent performer as a chamber musician, with concerts throughout the Bay Area, as well as Europe, Taiwan and Korea, and as an orchestral player, including as a former member of the Silicon Valley Symphony and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Scott has appeared as a soloist with the Spokane Symphony, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Silicon Valley Symphony, the Winchester Orchestra and the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. As a conductor, he most recently conducted the Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania and is sought after throughout the Bay Area. While currently leading the Cambrian Symphony he is also a recurring guest conductor with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, spent ten years as Orchestra Director of the "Summer in the City" festival at San Jose State University and is in his 8th year as Musical Director of San Jose Dance Theatre. As an educator, Scott currently teaches over 250 students through six orchestras at Castillero Middle School and has won many accolades including the 2017 Bay Section Orchestra Director of the Year, 2016 CMEA Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator Award for the state of California including recognition by the City Council of San Jose and the 2016 CSN Bay Area All-Star Teacher Award, earning $20,000 to support the music program at Castillero. Mr. Krijnen has strong connections throughout the Bay Area including coaching and guest conducting at several high schools, Stanford University, Honor Orchestras, leading sectionals or presenting at SJSU, and has coached and presented with PACO for the last 17 years. Scott is happily married to his wife of 18 years, Aryn, and is the father of two beautiful children who get to grow up in the same wonderful world of music as their father.

Jory Fankuchen

Resident Conductor

Violinist, conductor, and composer Jory Fankuchen has built a reputation as an engaging performer of many genres, as well as a passionate pedagogue. His ensembles include the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra of which he is Principal Conductor, the Magik Magik Orchestra, Squid Inc, the Musical Art Quintet, the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco, and he appears as a regular guest with the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Jory has appeared as soloist with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony, at the Tanglewood Music Center, and has the distinction of performing on Jascha Heifetz’s Guarneri del Gesu violin at the Legion of Honor. Chamber music has always been the driving force behind Jory’s passion for music. He has performed in concert with artists such as Robert Mann, Joseph Silverstein, Joel Krosnick, Bonnie Hampton, Mark Sokol, and Ian Swensen. As first violinist of the Kailas String Quartet, he performed throughout North America, winning first prize in the Chamber Music International Competition, and silver at the National Fischoff Competition. Jory serves on the faculty of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Young Chamber Musicians, and has been a visiting lecturer at Cornell University. He holds a B.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory, and an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Ian Swensen and Lucy Chapman, respectively.

Eugene Sor

Chamber Director

Whether conducting, coaching chamber music, or teaching cello in his private studio, Eugene Sor has had a distinguished career working with music students of all ages and abilities. He has been a member of Crowden Music Center’s faculty since 1998 and is the resident conductor of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has worked since 2001. He has been director of the Preparatory Division Chamber Orchestra at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has also held teaching positions at San Francisco State University, California State East Bay University, Notre Dame de Namur University and Black Pine Circle School. Eugene received his early musical training from renowned cello pedagogue Milly Rosner and completed his graduate studies in cello performance with Barry Gold at UCLA in 1996. He is a member of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and an avid chamber musician. He was formerly principal cellist of the Stockton Symphony and a founding member of the Chamberlain String Quartet. His wide range of performance experience has been integral in his background as a music teacher, providing him insights into how to maximize his students’ potential through challenging repertoire choices and strong rehearsal technique. Eugene and his wife, violinist Karen Shinozaki Sor, happily reside in the East Bay with their son Kenji.

Benjamin Simon

Director Emeritus and Guest Conductor

Ben Simon has successfully made the transition to conductor following twenty-five years as a violist performing in several of the United States’ most elite ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Naumburg Award-winning New World String Quartet, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In 2002 he was appointed Music Director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and has transformed that organization into one of the premiere professional ensembles in northern California. The same year, he was appointed Music Director of the award-winning youth orchestra Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.

A native of San Francisco, Mr. Simon began his musical studies on the violin at the age of 6. His first violin teacher was Manfred Karasik, a violist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Simon moved to New York City when he was 8 years old, continuing his studies at the Mannes College of Music, the Juilliard School Preparatory Division, and the High School of Music and Art. Returning to the Bay Area in 1970, he was the concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra under Denis DeCouteau and studied violin with Daniel Kobialka. He began his conducting studies with Dr. DeCouteau at the time. After graduating Berkeley High School in 1972, Simon delayed matriculation at Yale College and took his first professional work as last-stand second violinist with the Oakland Symphony, under Harold Farberman. He made the switch from violin to viola while an undergraduate at Yale, studying viola and chamber music with Raphael Hillyer. Simon continued his conducting studies with Otto-Werner Mueller at Yale and Dennis Russell Davies at the Aspen Music Festival. After graduating Yale College magna cum laude in 1977, Simon was a scholarship student of Lillian Fuchs at the Julliard School, where he was awarded the Machlis Prize for “an outstanding instrumentalist on the graduate level.”

Following his graduation from Juilliard, Simon played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for one year, and also participated in three successive international tours. Simon became Principal Violist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980, a position he held for eight years. He was a frequent soloist with the orchestra, conducted small ensembles on occasion, and spent three summers at the Marlboro Music Festival. Simon was also featured in the 25th Anniversary Music from Marlboro concert in New York City, which included Murray Perahia and Felix Galimir. In 1988 he joined the Naumburg-Award winning New World String Quartet, performing over eighty concerts a year in major venues and summer festivals in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The quartet recorded extensively for MCA Classics; they won a 1991 Grand Prix du Disque for their recording of the string quartets of Debussy, Ravel, and Henri Dutilleux. The New World SQ was quartet-in-residence at Harvard University and performed with artists David Soyer, Raphael Hillyer, Ursula Oppens, Gilbert Kalish, Donald McInnes, Joel Krosnick, Harold Wright, David Shifrin, Carol Wincenc, Christopher O’Riley, John Perry, and James Tocco. Following four seasons with the New World SQ, Simon joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992 and was an active studio musician in LA as well. He has performed on the sound tracks of over eighty major motion pictures. In 1993, Simon joined the Stanford String Quartet, the ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University, replacing Bernard Zaslav. For the next five years he taught viola and chamber music at Stanford, lectured on music in the Department of Continuing Studies, and concertized with the quartet. Simon was also Principal Violist of the New Century Chamber Orchestra for three seasons, 1994-’97.

In 1999 Simon joined the Crowden School in Berkeley as Associate Director, and succeeded Anne Crowden as the school’s Director the following year. He led the orchestra on two European tours, and was the founder of their popular “Sundays at Four” chamber music series. Simon spent four summers in Los Angeles as Principal Violist of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.  In 2002, he was appointed Music Director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and has reorganized and revitalized this professional ensemble. The same year, he became the second Music Director of the award-winning youth ensemble Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, succeeding founder William Whitson.

A frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University, Simon has been on the music faculty of UC Berkeley since 1998, where he teaches chamber music and viola. Although conducting takes the lion’s share of Ben’s time and energy, he can still be heard performing onstage at the SFCO’s Classical at the Freight and around the Bay Area with various friends and colleagues. 

Natasha Makhijani

Resident Conductor, SuperStrings

Violinist Natasha Makhijani has appeared as concertmaster of numerous orchestras, including the Oakland Symphony, the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and the Eastern Music Festival. Natasha has appeared as soloist with the Oakland Symphony, San Jose Chamber orchestra, One Found Sound, the National Repertory Orchestra and while at Eastman was invited to be a member of the Graduate Chamber Music Society. 

She is a founding member of the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco, the Associate Concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony, a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and the Magik Magik Orchestra, and can also be seen performing with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet orchestras.

Equally dedicated to teaching as she is to performing, Natasha has held teaching positions at the Eastman School of Music, the San Domenico School Conservatory, and The Crowden Music Center, is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College Division and Young Chamber Musicians, is a member of the chamber music and conducting staff of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, and maintains a private teaching studio.

Natasha holds a Bachelor of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers include Bettina Mussumeli, Zvi Zeitlin, and Charles Castleman.

Wendy Clymer

Resident Conductor, Preparatory

Violist Wendy Clymer is an avid chamber musician and a passionate music educator. She co-founded the Persephone Chamber Ensemble and has performed with the Vallejo Symphony, Symphony Napa Valley, Grace Note Chamber Players, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Resonance Jazz Ensemble and at summer festivals in the U.S. and Europe. She was a founding member of the New York-based pop punk band Fake Brain. Wendy is on the faculty of the Crowden Music Center and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, where she has coached chamber music and viola sectionals since 2006 and conducted since 2018. She has held teaching positions at California State University East Bay, the Lafayette School District, and Summer in the City at San Jose State University and has served as president of the San Francisco area section of the American String Teachers Association. She studied viola performance with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School and holds a B.A. from Brown University and an M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Jodi Levitz.