Members

Donald DeBruin (organ) is currently Director of Music Ministries at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Madison. Prior to his appointment in September 1997, he held similar positions in California, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York. He is a past winner of the Arthur Poister National Organ Playing Competition sponsored by the Syracuse, New York chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Don has a double Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Organ Performance from Syracuse University where he was also the recipient of the Arthur Poister Prize for outstanding senior organ student. He received a Master's degree in Organ Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has done additional graduate work at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Outside of music, Don has a Master's degree in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Dan Lyons (piano) Holding piano performance degrees from DePaul University and a doctoral performance degree from UW-Madison, Daniel Lyons has performed in solo, chamber and concerto performances throughout the Midwest. His teachers include Dmitry Paperno, Howard Karp and Mary Sauer. While completing his doctoral program, he researched and performed piano compositions of Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. He was also the founder of Madison Academy of Music, a private music studio in Madison that provides private instrumental instruction along with one of the country’s largest and most successful Kindermusik programs. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio, he serves on the faculty of the UW-Whitewater Summer Piano Clinic and continues to perform as a soloist and accompanist. He lives in Madison with his wife, Monica, and three children, Kenny, Tatiana and Alexander.

Olga Pomolova (violin) was born into a family of musicians in Abakan, Russia. She received a doctoral degree in music from the Ural State Conservatory. She played in the Opera and Ballet Theater Orchestra and taught at the music school. After moving to Moscow, Olga played in many orchestras including the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Grand Symphony Orchestra, and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra. She moved to Madison in 2002 and is now a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and has played with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Beloit-Janesville Symphony and the Dubuque Symphony. She has recently been sworn in as a U.S. citizen.

Kathryn Taylor (violin) is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She is also the music librarian for the Madison Symphony and is on the faculty of Suzuki Strings of Madison. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wyoming, a Master of Library Science degree from Western Michigan University, and did further graduate work in music at Michigan State University. Kathryn’s previous orchestra memberships have included the Kalamazoo Symphony, Lansing Symphony and Lake Forest Symphony. She derives her musical inspiration from hearing live performances of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras.

Robert Taylor (clarinet)received his Master’s degree in music performance from Michigan State University and a Bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Wyoming. He has performed with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Children’s Theater of Madison, the Madison Savoyards, and in ensembles and as a soloist for the First Unitarian Society’s “Music for a Summer Evening” series. He has also performed with various orchestras in the Detroit and Chicago areas. Most recently Robert has been a performing participant for the Amici della Musica master class with Karl Leister in Florence, Italy.

Maggie Darby Townsend (cello) received her Bachelor Degree in Music from the University of Iowa in 2002 as a student of Charles Wendt. In 2004, she finished her Masters of Music with Uri Vardi at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Over the years, she has attended music festivals such as Madeline Island, Aspen, and Musicorda, and in 2001 performed the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. She has been enjoying playing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra since 2002, teaching private lessons, and working at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the UW-Madison.

Janse Vincent (viola) is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconisn Chamber Orchestra. She also teaches with the Suzuki Strings of Madison and freelances in the area. After completing her undergraduate studies at Furman University, she earned a Master’s degree in viola performance from Northwestern University studying with Peter Slowik and a D.M.A. in viola performance and pedagogy from The University of Iowa studying with William Preucil, Sr. Janse has taught on the faculties of the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City and the Cincinnati String Academy in Wyoming, Ohio. Other orchestra associations include the Dayton Philharmonic, Cedar Rapids Symphony, Chicago String Ensemble and Gainesville Chamber Orchestra.