Press Room

Jun 27, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—With the end of the 2022–23 season, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony congratulates five retiring musicians, including Assistant Librarian John Campbell, cellists Carolyn McIntosh and Anne Pinsker, Assistant Principal Horn Bruce Roberts, and violist Wayne Roden. These five musicians have performed with the San Francisco Symphony for a combined 199 years.

In addition, two musicians moved on from the San Francisco Symphony this season—Associate Principal Second Violin Helen Kim resigned this spring to continue in her new role as the Seattle Symphony’s Associate Concertmaster; and violinist Eliot Lev resigned in fall 2022 to pursue a career in the mental health field.

San Francisco Symphony auditions are ongoing and new musicians joining the Orchestra in the 2023–24 season will be announced later this summer.

Retiring from the San Francisco Symphony in 2022–23
Assistant Librarian John Campbell (32 years of service) retires from the San Francisco Symphony at the end of the 2022–23 season. Campbell was hired by Herbert Blomstedt and joined the Orchestra in 1991. Prior to his role with the San Francisco Symphony, he worked in the libraries for the San Jose Symphony and San Francisco Opera. Campbell plays clarinet and saxophone and has performed with many local jazz bands. In October 1999, he made a cameo with the San Francisco Symphony, playing the wind machine on Charles Ives’ In Flanders Field, arranged by David Del Tredici. Outside of his work, Campbell and his wife Pam are devoted dog lovers and have rescued many dogs and welcomed them into their family over the years.

Cellist Carolyn McIntosh (42 years of service) retired from the San Francisco Symphony in November 2022. McIntosh is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to joining the San Francisco Symphony in 1981, she served as principal cello of the San Jose Symphony and as a cellist in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.

Cellist Anne Pinsker (41 years of service) retired from the San Francisco Symphony in November 2022. She was a student of Leonard Rose and is a graduate of The Juilliard School. After freelancing in New York, she went to Chicago as associate principal cello of The Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also regularly played with the Chicago Symphony. Pinsker joined the San Francisco Symphony cello section in 1982. After moving to the Bay Area, she founded Marin Music Fest, where she met her husband, recording engineer Jack Vad.

Assistant Principal and Third Horn Bruce Roberts (35 years of service) retires from the San Francisco Symphony at the end of the 2022–23 season and performs his last concert July 1. Roberts joined the Symphony in 1988 following seven years with the Utah Symphony and three years as a founding member of La Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México. He studied at Cal State Northridge and California Institute of the Arts, and taught at San Francisco Conservatory for 28 years. He was a founding member of the Bay Brass ensemble and a regular at the Grand Teton Music Festival and Skywalker recording studios for many years. In addition to his performing career, he is an accomplished horn builder and repairman, and expects to continue those pursuits in retirement.

Violist Wayne Roden (49 years of service) retired from the San Francisco Symphony in February 2023. Roden, a native of Alabama, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and Northern Illinois University, where he studied with Scott Nickrenz. Following induction into the military, he studied viola with Karen Tuttle and also played frequently at the White House as a member of the Strolling Strings of the US Army Band. He joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1974. With the San Francisco Chamber Soloists, he performed with Janos Starker, Jaime Laredo, Stephanie Chase, and Jerome Lowenthal.

Resigning from the San Francisco Symphony in 2022–23
Associate Principal Second Violin Helen Kim (6 years of service) resigned from the San Francisco Symphony in May 2023 to remain in her new position at Associate Concertmaster with the Seattle Symphony. Kim joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Second Violin in 2016. Prior to joining the San Francisco Symphony, she was a member of the Saint Louis Symphony from 2011 to 2016.

Second Violin Eliot Lev (8 years of service) resigned in October 2022 to pursue a career in the mental health field. Eliot joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2014. Prior to joining the orchestra, he performed with the Utah Symphony as a member of the first violin section and acting assistant concertmaster, and with the Charlotte Symphony as a tenured associate concertmaster. Throughout his career, Mr. Lev was an active solo and chamber musician and appeared with the San Francisco Civic Symphony, Davies Chamber Series, Chamber Music Sundaes, Sarasota and Colorado Music Festivals, and Ensemble SF, among others. He was a regular guest coach with SF Academy Orchestra in 2015-2019 and had a private studio 2009-2022. During his tenure, Mr. Lev was also an active volunteer with Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization bringing live music to thousands of hospital patients throughout the country. An alumnus of Roosevelt University where he studied with Vadim Gluzman, Mr. Lev went on to join the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, where he was also featured as a soloist. He played on a 1710 Mezzadri violin and an Ouchard bow generously purchased for him in part by the Carey family from Boston, MA. Mr. Lev is proud to have been the first openly transgender musician in a major American orchestra. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Stephanie MacAller, and their two rescue dogs and two cats. 

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