Sara Fraker becomes Acting Principal Oboe

Sara and Chris Fraker

When Lindabeth Binkley, principal oboe for the past 10 years with the TSO, decided to take a leave of absence to pursue a teaching opportunity at her alma mater, Central Michigan University, the Operations Department scheduled auditions. A talented group of individuals from all over the country traveled to Tucson to audition but in the end, it was the TSO’s own Sara Fraker who won.

Sara Fraker joined the TSO in 2005. She has performed in music festivals at Tanglewood, Aspen, Chautauqua, Spoleto Festival USA, and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany . The Boston Globe has praised her “aristocratic oboe playing.” Sara is a founding member of the Paloma Winds, which enjoys a chamber music residency in Greer , Arizona , every summer.  In addition, she has performed with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, the St. Andrews Bach Society, Arizona Opera, Illinois Symphony, and Sinfonia da Camera.

Sara grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and until she went to college thought she would be a biologist. But music being the family business, it won out.  A graduate of New England Conservatory and Swarthmore College , Sara recently earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois. Her dissertation, “The Oboe Works of Isang Yun,” was on the Korean composer who lived much of his life in Germany . Her paper surveyed all of his works for oboe, focusing on how he fused Western techniques (like twelve-tone composition) with Eastern philosophies, especially Taoism and the concept of "living tones".

Sara met her husband, Chris at the U of I, while he was studying tuba. He has since gotten his MBA from the University of Arizona .

Sara and Chris live in Star Valley in Southwest Tucson where Sara is creating a desert landscape when she’s not busy with her other hobbies—yoga, hiking, reading and quilting. She and her mother are working on a big appliqué quilt that her grandmother started. “My great-grandmother, who is 96 and lives in California, and my grandmother taught me how to sew when I was a kid,” says Sara. “The quilts they made for me are some of my most prized possessions.”

Planets Aligned for TSO Bassist’s Career

Richard Leek

Richard Leek, bass, started playing bass at Tucson ’s Bonillas Elementary School in 1959 with Yvon Tate, former principal cellist of the TSO. He recalls how hearing Holst’s The Planets at a TSO Young Peoples Concert that year inspired him to be a musician. “I can say that The Planets made me want to be a musician,” says Richard. “I studied privately with Norman Clark, Casper Malone, former TSO principal bass, and Fred Batchelder of the Philadelphia Orchestra.” He received a Bachelor degree in Music Education from the U of A in 1971 and later a Masters from Central Connecticut University.

Richard has been a member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Bass section since 1967. In addition to playing in the TSO he has been an orchestra teacher for TUSD for over 30 years. He also plays the bass, piano, violin and harp.

Richard lives in Oro Valley with his adopted son, violinist Matthew Vera, a former student who is getting ready for college as a music major. They performed together in 2008 when Matthew participated in the TSO’s 2008 Celebrate the Future concert.

Richard is a world traveler and an accomplished bargain hunter. “I think my favorite hobby is finding really good buys when shopping,” he explains. “I was once challenged to dress for work in an outfit costing $5 or less, including shoes. I won the challenge.”

Cellist Mary Beth Tyndall is Passionate about Music, TSO, Students

Mary Beth Tyndall, Kendall Kroesen and Audrey

“My three musical passions are the TSO, chamber music, and my students,” says cellist Mary Beth Tyndall. Mary Beth joined the TSO in 1980.  She presently holds the position of assistant principal cello and cellist in the TSO String Quartet. Mary Beth also maintains a full teaching schedule.  Her students range in age from 4 to 21. Many have received great honors such as winning competitions and playing with orchestras. “But, says Mary Beth, “I feel that having them in my life and my house almost daily is the greatest reward of all.  I just try to hang onto their coattails as they speed along, growing up at a pace that seems faster and faster with each passing year,” she adds with a laugh. Communicating joy through music is central to her philosophy and the educational programs TSO presents are among her favorites.  She especially enjoys getting the chance to “ham it up” playing characters in musical renditions of children’s stories. Says Mary Beth: “My awesome colleagues in the TSO and the experiences I’ve had getting to play with them have been MY most important education of all.” 

Mary Beth is married to Kendall Kroesen who is the habitat restoration manager for the Tucson Audubon Society. They have a Boston terrier named Audrey who accompanies Mary Beth on vocals. Mary Beth says: “Sometimes she’ll sing when she hears cello music on the radio. Or when my students get advanced enough and play loud and high enough, she sings with them too. They consider it quite an achievement when she sings with them. She once sang along with Molly Rife when Molly was performing a solo with the Tucson Pops.”

 A native of Richmond , Indiana , Mary Beth graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor's degree in cello performance and music education, and she received a master's of music in cello performance from the University of Arizona , where Gordon Epperson was her major professor.  She also studied with Oliver Edel at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, with Claus Adam at the Aspen Festival, and with Marth Gerschefski at Cellomania in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Steve Gamble and his daughter, Ruth

Steve Gamble joined the TSO in 1989 as second trombonist and now holds the position of bass trombone. Steve wears another hat at the TSO as well. He has been the librarian since 1991. 

Steve began playing the trombone in grade school in Phoenix. “My father wanted to conduct a family band,” Steve explains. “There were five kids and my mother didn’t play anything. My father played piano and accordion. My oldest sister played trumpet, my brothers played clarinet, sax and drums.” The family played combos briefly, but Steve is the only member who continued in music. “I was drawn to the trombone,” he recalls with a hearty laugh, “in the third grade after hearing the trombonists from the school band making rude noises with their instruments. They were making such a racket I knew it was for me.” 

After attending Arizona State University , he moved to Chicago where he was a founding member of the Chicago Chamber Brass.  He was a member of that ensemble for ten years and made five recordings with them for the Pro-Arte and Crystal labels.  His contributions included a large number of successful arrangements for brass quintet, many of which have been published.  As a result of his association with CCB, Steve has performed in nearly every state in the U.S. as well as in Europe .  He has held positions in the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Opera Orchestra as bass trombonist and is bass trombonist of the Tucson Pops Orchestra.

Steve describes his job as TSO librarian as “a heckuva lot of detail and some research.” He acquires the music, proofreads it, prepares it for the conductor and musicians to play, distributes it, and then collects it to return to rental companies and the library shelves. He also annotates the score to facilitate the rehearsal process for the conductor. “As a performer, I am interested in enhancing the performance,” Steve explains.  “Everyone in the TSO Operations Department is a musician and wants to work in music. The thing that makes it a desirable job is that I can really contribute to the product. The music on the stage can be affected by what I do.  If, for example, I, or my assistant Carla Ecker, don’t prepare the string parts carefully, the rehearsal has to be stopped, wasting precious minutes. There’s a lot of grunt work:  if you’re doing a Mahler score it’s going to take about three weeks. You can’t get bored. You have to like the solitude of it. When things go smoothly you’re the only one who knows that it happened. No one is thanking you but all the reward we need is that we play well.”  

In addition to his performing career, Steve has been involved extensively in education.  He has appeared at many significant state and national music educators conventions across the U.S. as both clinician and performer and has held teaching positions at Elmhurst College (IL), Mesa Community College (AZ) and the University of New Mexico .  

Steve has lived in Tucson since he entered the U of A as a grad student and got his job with the TSO. He is the proud papa of a starving artist in New York City . Trained in theater arts, 28 year old Ruth Gamble is currently paying her dues by appearing in commercials and taking auditions. Patrons may remember she was the house manager for the TSO in the 2001-02 season. Steve lives with his dog, a cocker mix, Mr. Wilson (named after his teacher at ASU).