Philip Bayles (Baroque Specialist)
Coach Emeritus
Oregon conductor and composer Philip Bayles has been Music Director at United Lutheran Church and Riverside Chamber Symphony for over two decades. He was the founder and conductor of both the Eugene Opera and Eugene Concert Choir. He has performed with the Eugene Symphony, Rogue Valley Symphony and Opera, Eugene Ballet, Corvallis Youth Consort, Oregon Mozart Players, Siskiyou Singers, and many other Northwest ensembles. He is an avid gardener and lives in Eugene.
Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen (Baroque Specialist)
A native of Taiwan, Dr. Joyce Wei-Jo Chen 陳瑋若 is Assistant Professor of Historical Keyboards at the University of Oregon, where she teaches across academic and performance areas—offering organ and harpsichord lessons, teaching musicology courses, and directing the Collegium Musicum. She will complete her doctorate, a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology and Humanities at Princeton University, in Spring 2026.
Under the guidance of Wendy Heller, Dr. Chen is currently finishing her dissertation, “Musica Experientia/Experimentum: Embodied Acoustics and Keyboard Knowledge in Europe, China, and America, 1600–present,” which explores the intersection between science, music, and aesthetics involving instrument-making, sensory experience, and the development of acoustical theory.
As a solo harpsichordist, Dr. Chen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. Dr. Chen received the 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a featured soloist in the 2019 Emerging Artist Showcase by Early Music America. She has performed as a soloist in the Musica Antiqua Festival in Belgium (2018), the International Normandy Baroque Competition in France (2018), and the Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam (2023). Dr. Chen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord Performance from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Outside academia, Dr. Chen is a dedicated church musician with over 15 years of experience. As an organist specializing in the baroque repertoire, Dr. Chen recently received the Colleague certification from the American Guild of Organists. She has performed as a solo organist across the United States. Since August 2024, she has been serving as Music Director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mt. Angel.
Cynthia Darby (30+ years with ACMW!)
Coach Emeritus
Cynthia Darby (Stauffer), pianist, has performed at Davies Symphony Hall and the De Young Museum, and was a member of the New and Unusual Music Series under the direction of John Adams. Other recital venues include the Gardner Museum Boston and Sundays at 4 Los Angeles, in addition to concerto appearances with several orchestras. She has taught at MIT, San Diego State University and University of San Diego and has coached chamber music workshops throughout the west coast since 1980.
Wonkak Kim
Korean clarinetist Dr. Kim is Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, where he has been recognized with numerous faculty honors, including the Presidential Fellowship in Humanistic Studies. An active member of the International Clarinet Association, Kim was recently appointed Artistic Director of ClarinetFest? 2026, which will be held in Incheon, South Korea. He is a Buffet Crampon, Silverstein, and Vandoren Performing Artist.
Prior to joining the faculty at UO, Dr. Kim enjoyed 10 years of coaching at the Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop in North Carolina. He is thrilled to join the team at ACMW and immerse himself once again in the weeklong pursuit of creating chamber music with lifelong musicians.
Wonkak Kim’s performance resume includes appearing as a soloist with dozens of orchestras at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, and frequently performing with distinguished artists and chamber music ensembles across the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, including Korea National University of Arts, The Juilliard School, Tianjin Juilliard (China), Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Sibelius Academy (Finland), and Seoul National University (South Korea).
Nancie Linn Shaw (30+ years with ACMW!)
Nancie Linn Shaw has a long and varied career as a music educator and performer. She received her Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan and performs on violin and viola in solo recitals, chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras. With the exception of a hiatus while she was sailing in the Pacific, Nancie has coached at the Ashland Chamber Music Workshop since 1992. While living in the Seattle area she was also the Chamber Music Director of the Academy of Music Northwest. A gifted teacher at all levels, Nancie’s high school student chamber ensembles often took top honors in the Washington State Solo and Ensemble Contest. Her full orchestras were highly acclaimed, consistently winning top prizes at the Northwest Orchestra Festival and performing at Washington Music Educators Association conferences.
Tom Stauffer (30+ years with ACMW!)
Coach Emeritus
Thomas Stauffer, cellist, was a Fulbright Fellow at the Music Academy of Zagreb, Croatia and Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna. He was a member of the Bloch String Quartet in residence at UC Davis and was principal cellist for San Diego Chamber Orchestra. He was music professor at San Diego State University until 2008. He has been with ACMW since its inception in 1976!
Jonathan Szin
Welcome clarinetist and woodwind specialist, Jon Szin – esteemed student of none other than ACMW’s own Dr. Margaret Thornhill – joining the Ashland Chamber Music Workshop’s 50th anniversary season! Jon Szin is a San Francisco-based clarinetist drawing on his experiences as a modern-day musician to shape an innovative approach to both performance and education.
Jon’s dedication to sparking connection with new audiences, shows up in all of his chamber music endeavors. In addition to performing extensively with multiple chamber ensembles and orchestras in the SF Bay Area, he is
- a founding member and managing director of the San Francisco-based wind octet Nomad Session ()
- an affiliate of InterMusic SF ()
- the clarinetist with Keyed Kontraptions ()
Jon has coached woodwinds at Stanford University providing instruction to musicians in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Stanford Philharmonia, Stanford Wind Ensemble. In 2021-2022 he was the adjunct professor of clarinet at both San Jose State University and Chabot College. Jon maintains a thriving private clarinet studio in San Francisco and serves as Director of Operations and Communications at Peninsula Youth Orchestra, where he oversees all aspects of operations, concert production, and communications.
Jon holds a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Jeffrey Anderle and was awarded departmental honors in clarinet and orchestral studies. He continues his studies and pursuit of musical excellence with clarinetist, Luis Baez, of the San Francisco Symphony.
Lydia Vandreel
Lydia is Professor of Horn at the University of Oregon since 2006. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Oregon, they held a ten-year tenured position as Co-Principal Horn of the Sarasota Orchestra in Sarasota, Florida. Lydia’s performing career has encompassed a wide variety of activities as an orchestral, solo, chamber and recording artist. Currently, Lydia is a member of the Orchestra Next, the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Wind Quintet, and the Oregon Brass Quintet. Additionally, Lydia has performed as a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the Britt Music Festival Orchestra, The Spoleto Festival Orchestra, The New World Symphony Orchestra, and many others. A tireless educator and musical advocate, Lydia has presented master classes and topics for students of all ages all over the world. Lydia is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The Juilliard School.
Kris Yvon Yenney
Long time Bay Area musician, conductor, composer and educator, Kris received her Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston followed by post-graduate studies at Julliard, the Tanglewood Institute, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Christi Sabri School of Northern Classical Indian Music and Sabhol Mor Oistag on the Isle of Skye. Kris was Director and Senior Chamber Music Workshop Faculty for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestras from 1999 until recently relocating to Ashland, OR. She also served as Director of Orchestras and founder of the Chamber Music Societies at the Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, at Nueva Learning Center in Hillsborough and at Sacred Heart Prep – Atherton. As cellist, Kris was a founding member of the cutting-edge Left Coast Chamber Ensemble of San Francisco and plays cello, gamba, nyckelharpa and sings w ith the Celtic and Early Music Trio, “Broceliande” () . Brocel?ande has been together for over 25 years and have been featured Public Radio live-in-studio guests on Sedge Thompson’s “West Coast Live,” JoAnn Mar’s “Folk Music and Beyond,” Dave Stafford’s “Friday Folk-Off” and other West Coast radio shows. A past member of the New England String Quartet (NESQ) of Boston, Kris also co-founded the Palo Alto Sunrise Quartet and has performed in innumerable local (Bay Area) ensembles including the San Jose Symphony and Midsummer Mozart Orchestras, Schola Cantorum, the West Bay and San Jose Opera companies, TheatreWorks, “Espressivo” Chamber Orchestra and more. Since moving to Ashland, Kris now performs with Ukrainian pianist, Iryna Kudielina and works with the Rogue Valley Symphony organization as a mentor/teacher and cello sub. She has served as principal cellist for the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra and on occasion in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Much Ado – ’24 and Into The Woods – ’25). In 2025, Kris founded the “Fellowship of the Strings” collective with local (and some distant) colleagues. When not involved in music, Kris enjoys her idyllic Southern Oregon surroundings, the resident sheep, her cats, and collecting and tackling stringed instruments of the world.
Contact the Ashland Chamber Music Workshop
SOU Music Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
acmw@sou.edu