Forrest started on the horn when he was eight, but the teacher quickly moved him to the tuba. “I've never been sure  if it was because I was such a hideous horn student, or if it was because I was a big kid,” he said. “I suspect the latter.”

Jill Van Gee, Santa Cruz Symphony’s Assistant Principal Viola, holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, a Master of Music from the Université de Montréal, and enjoys working with the next generation of musicians through her private studio and with local youth orchestras.... 

Marian Concus holds a degree in flute performance from the New England Conservatory and studied in Paris under Michel Debost, who has been described as the successor to Jean-Pierre Rampal as the leading flutist of his generation....