WINDSYNC MEMBERS
Garrett Hudson, Flute
Recognized by the Winnipeg Free Press for “shaking up the classical music world”, Garrett Hudson is known for his charismatic stage presence and highly personal voice on the flute. He is a founding member of WindSync. His roots lie in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he emerged at the age of 16 in a solo debut with the Winnipeg Symphony.
Before embarking upon a dynamic career as an international soloist, instructor, orchestral and chamber musician, Hudson held positions in North America's leading professional training orchestras including the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montreal, Quebec, and he participated in the world-class Young Artists Program through Ottawa's National Arts Center.
Hudson completed a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia, studying under Scottish flutist Lorna McGhee and earned his Masters of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music under the tutelage of renowned flute pedagogue Leone Buyse.
A sensitive communicator both on stage and off, Hudson has coached woodwind students at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Texas. He lives in Houston, Texas, where he maintains a teaching studio at the beginner through professional levels and currently serves on the faculty of Lone Star College. He is often found behind the wheel of the minivan while WindSync is on tour and is a coffee and wine enthusiast.
Emily Tsai, Oboe
Emily Tsai has been described by DMV Classical as having “a consistently lovely tone and [taking] her melodic twists and turns with stylish assurance,” and mentioned by The Washington Post from an opera performance at the Kennedy Center, "A lively, engaged and largely well-balanced performance from the Washington National Opera Orchestra - with oboist Emily Tsai frequently catching my ears from the pit." Tsai began her musical studies at the age of four on the violin and started the oboe when she was ten.
She is currently the Assistant Principal Oboe of the Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and can be seen playing regularly at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on opera, ballet, and musical theater productions. An avid educator, Tsai is Lecturer of Oboe at the University of Maryland School of Music and also holds a robust private studio in the Washington, DC area.
Tsai has made solo appearances with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Alba Music Festival Orchestra, the Paragon Philharmonia, the Amadeus Orchestra, and others. Besides WindSync, Emily has performed chamber music with such prominent musicians as Nathan Hughes, Frank Morelli, Clive Greensmith, and Martin Chalifour.
Her main teachers include Mark Hill, Richard Killmer, and Malcolm Smith. Emily received her Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance, with a Performer’s Certificate and the Chamber Music Award, from the Eastman School of Music, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She received her Master of Music from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the Graduate Fellowship Quintet.
In her downtime, Emily has completed a number of half marathons, a full marathon, an Olympic triathlon, and a Tough Mudder, and loves to do various outdoor adventures with her husband, Karl. Inside, she can be found playing video games, and spoiling her two adorable cats, Xenia and Perch.
Emily is a Lorée Artist and plays on a Lorée Royal oboe and a Lorée English Horn.
Graeme Steele Johnson, Clarinet
Praised for his "elegant and rounded sound" (Albany Times Union) and "effortless...unmatched" technique (The Clarinet Online), Graeme Steele Johnson is an artist of uncommon imagination and versatility. His diverse artistic endeavors range from a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, to his reconstruction of a forgotten 125-year-old work by Charles Martin Loeffler, to performances of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in its original form on an elongated clarinet that he commissioned. Johnson’s recent appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Ravinia, Emerald City Music, Maverick Concerts and Yellow Barn, as well as solo recitals at The Kennedy Center and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series.
Interested in shedding fresh perspective on familiar music, Johnson has authored numerous chamber arrangements of repertoire ranging from Mozart to Messiaen, and performed them around the country with such artists as the Miró Quartet, Valerie Coleman and Han Lash. His arrangements have also been championed by others around the world, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Moscow Conservatory and the La Jolla Music Society.
In 2020, Johnson discovered the unpublished manuscript to a forgotten 125-year-old Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler, one of the most performed American composers of his time. Johnson spent a year reconstructing the Octet's score, creating the first critical edition of the music and revealing a kaleidoscopic piece spanning a half-hour. Having recently recorded the work for the first time, he will give the first modern performances of Loeffler’s Octet at the Library of Congress, the Morgan Library in NYC and the Phoenix Chamber Music Festival in the spring of 2024.
Johnson is the winner of the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition and the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition. He holds graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music, and his major teachers include David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, Nathan Williams and Ricardo Morales.
Kara LaMoure, Bassoon
Kara LaMoure approaches her work as a bassoonist from many angles--as a performer, educator, creative, and chamber music specialist.
LaMoure is a founding member of the Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet, a comedic crossover group known for their web presence and their following among young musicians. With the Breaking Winds, she has been a featured artist at the Beijing International Bassoon Festival, the International Double Reed Society conferences in New York, Tokyo, Granada, and Bangkok, and with community bands across the United States. The Breaking Winds have performed as concerto soloists with the West Point Band, Yale Concert Band, Northshore Concert Band, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
As an orchestral musician, LaMoure has performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and she can be heard on the original soundtrack to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. She also takes interest in global youth orchestra movements and has served as a coach for the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra (Switzerland), YOA Honduras, Esperanza Azteca (Mexico), and Bahia Orchestra Project (Brazil).
LaMoure is a prolific arranger of chamber music for winds, and a selection of her arrangements and transcriptions for bassoon quartet are published by TrevCo Music Publishing. Her interest in the creation and curation of music has led to premieres of works for solo bassoon by Akshaya Avril Tucker and Adeliia Faizullina.
LaMoure earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied under John Hunt, and Northwestern University, where she studied under Christopher Millard. She also holds certificates in arts leadership from the Eastman School of Music and the Global Leaders Program. She is currently an instructor in Eastman’s cutting-edge Institute for Music Leadership. LaMoure lives in New York City, and between performances, she can probably be found exploring her neighborhood on foot, dabbling in visual art, or listening to podcasts.
Anni Hochhalter, Horn
Born in California and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Anni Hochhalter became interested in chamber music and innovation in the arts after touring as a young musician with ensembles across North America, Europe and Asia. Currently executive director and musician chair of WindSync, she oversees WindSync’s activities as a touring ensemble and as a nonprofit organization, including educational work, concert production, and the Onstage Offstage Chamber Music Festival. Hochhalter is a graduate of Stanford University’s Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship. Outside of WindSync, she is principal horn of the McCall Music Festival in McCall, Idaho, and she performs on vocals, electronics, and horn with the band Late Aster. Hochhalter studied horn at the University of Southern California with leading studio and orchestral musicians Rick Todd, James Thatcher and Kristy Morrell, with additional summer training at Chautauqua Music Festival and Texas Music Festival. Based in San Francisco, she enjoys ultra running and backpacking in her spare time.