NOTE: Names of advance ticket buyers will be on a list at the door for check-in!

     Newly-minted Land’s End Folk Ensemble is a collaboration of Bay Area classical musicians exploring American and British Isles folk music tradition. With expertise honed in the symphony hall and on the opera stage, the ensemble combines the precision and discipline of orchestral playing with the flexibility and spontaneity of folk traditions. Folk music invites a different conversation: one rooted in simplicity, and the joy of community. This inaugural concert celebrates the unique moment when experienced orchestral players become students of a musical tradition that is at once familiar and fundamentally different.

ARTIST BIOS:   
     Christopher Oglesby is an American tenor and versatile musician whose performance career has taken him to opera houses and concert stages across the country. A former S F Opera Adler Fellow and Merola Opera Program participant, he has performed leading roles with the San Francisco, Utah, and Sarasota Operas, and Opera San José, amongst many others, and will be covering at the Metropolitan Opera later this fall. Hailing from Georgia, Christopher is an avid folk musician, bringing his talents as a singer, guitarist, and banjo player to the folk ensemble. He is drawn to the storytelling, tradition, and community at the heart of folk music and enjoys exploring its rich musical heritage.
     Rachel Cooke is a soprano originally from Tennessee with a master’s degree in opera performance from the University of North Texas. Her recent contracts include chorus work with the San Francisco Symphony, Utah Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, and Festival Opera, as well as serving as cantor and soloist at churches in both San Francisco and beyond. While her professional life now primarily takes her outside of music, Rachel continues to sing whenever the opportunity arises.
     Karen Hutchinson, piano, a Bay Area native and a Steinway Artist, has performed with the S F Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestras of Detroit, Denver, Oakland and Shreveport. She has debuted at Kennedy Center in Washington DC and at Carnegie Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and the American Center for Art & Culture in Paris. Ms. Hutchinson studied from 1968 to 1972 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, winning awards for successive years; she received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from the S F Conservatory of Music. She also has a Master's degree in French literature from Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont, California. Ms. Hutchinson concertizes in ensembles with members of the S F Opera Orchestra, performs with the Aurio Trio, and accompanies the Hillview Middle School and Woodside Elementary School choirs. She has recorded a CD of Julius Jacobsen’s "24 Preludes for Tuba and Piano” with tubist Zachariah Spellman of the S F Opera Orchestra. On October 19, 2014, she was one of a select group of artists to participate in the last event at the legendary Steinway Hall in New York City. She is also the organist at the Greek Orthodox Church of Holy Cross in Belmont, California.
     Victoria Ehrlich, cello, studied at Southern Methodist University, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Stony Brook University. Her teachers included Robert March, Bernard Greenhouse, and Robert Gardner. She played with the Santa Fe Opera and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Opera Orchestra of New York, and was principal cellist with the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmond, VA, and Phoenix. Retired from the San Francisco Opera in 2023 after 39 years, Ms. Ehrlich also performed with the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Composers Inc., Berkeley Symphony, Lamplighters, and the Russian Chamber Orchestra. Still an active chamber musician, she performs regularly with the Cecilia Quartet, the Bridge Players (who specialize in music by Jewish and Holocaust composers), the African American Composers Initiative (who discover, commission and perform music by African American composers), Trio Solano, Sonic Harvest (new music by local composers), Las Chicas del Tango (milongas at The Dome in Oakland), and the Fath Chamber Players, a fixture in Mill Valley.
     Paul Ehrlich, viola, was educated at Cambridge University, the Royal College of Music, and Yale School of Music, where he earned his DMA. He served as Principal Violist of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra from 1989 to 2018, frequently worked with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera, and is currently an active chamber musician.
     Janet Popesco Archibald, oboe & English Horn, a San Francisco native, attended the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music & received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the S F Conservatory of Music. She was a fellowship participant at both Yale University’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival. For 33 years, Janet was Solo English Horn/Third oboe of the S F Opera Orchestra. Prior to that, she toured the United States for five national tours as Principal Oboe of the Western Opera Theater Orchestra, the touring affiliate of the San Francisco Opera. She taught at the S F Conservatory of Music Preparatory/Adult Extension department (now the Pre-College dept.) for 22 years and she has also been a member of the faculty at both S F State and Cal Santa Cruz. She also founded the Lowell Ensemble chamber group.
     Michael Long, violin, is a dedicated pedagogue, soloist and chamber musician. He studied with Levon Ambartsumian, Valerie Gardner, Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva, and Nancy Bargerstock. Recent solo engagements include concertos with the National Orchestra of Nicaragua, Mozart to Mendelssohn Orchestra, Sonoma County Philharmonic, and Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. He is a founding member of Cecilia String Quartet and serves as concertmaster for the S F Composers Chamber Orchestra and the Mozart to Mendelssohn Orchestra. He has performed and recorded works for NACUSA as well as individual Bay Area composers. In addition to teaching in his private studio, Michael is on faculty at the Community Music Center (where he teaches violin, viola, ensemble, and theory) and Hamlin School for Girls. He also teaches afterschool group classes through the Harmony Project.
    Frank Zepeda, another native San Franciscan, serves as the audio-visual archivist for several Bay Area arts ensembles. He arranges music for the Land’s End Folk Ensemble (LEFE) and documents their work through audio and video. He also moonlights as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera. Frank is the connective force behind LEFE, bringing its musicians together and inspiring them to reach beyond the joys of simply jamming in a living room toward loftier musical ambitions.