Co-artistic Director

Applauded in London by the Sunday Times for performances of "great panache," pianist Gregory Martin has been featured throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, including performances at Carnegie Recital Hall; collaborations with members of the Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis Symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, and the Dresden Staatskapelle; and the premieres of unpublished compositions by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi. He is an active composer, co-artistic director of the Ronen Chamber Ensemble (Indianapolis), and Head of Academics and Piano at Music Across the Pond (UK). He has lectured at the University of Berlin, the Grieg Academy, and Oxford University, and is assistant professor at the University of Indianapolis.

Co-artistic Director

Violinist Jayna Park joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2001. In 2013, she was acting Assistant Concertmaster for the ISO and joined the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra in 2015. Born in South Korea, she began her violin studies at the age of 6 and by age 7, Jayna won a concerto competition in Daegu, Korea which led to her orchestra solo debut with Daegu Philharmonic that same year. Since then she has won numerous competitions both in Korea and in the USA where she came to study violin at age 11 with the renowned violinist Berl Senofsky at the Peabody Conservatory.

Jayna has won first prizes in the Korean Times National Competition, American String Teachers Association National Competition, Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and the Philadelphia Concerto Soloists Young Artist Competition taking the Grand Prize. She was a finalist at the International Music Competition of Japan and a semifinalist at the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition in England. That same year in New York, Jayna won the Manhattan School of Music Concerto Competition leading to a solo engagement with the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia conducted by Marin Alsop.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Jayna has performed as soloist with the Korean Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, the Suwon Symphony, the Netherlands National Radio Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. She has also appeared in recital and chamber music concerts around the world with performances in France, South Korea,Canada, and the US – including a concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Jayna received a Bachelor of Music and an Artist Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music where her teachers included Sylvia Rosenberg, Victor Danchenko, and Ik-Hwan Bae.

Co-artistic Director

Jennifer Christen, a Buffalo, NY native is the Principal Oboist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as Guest Principal Oboe with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras and as Guest English Horn with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Christen studied at the Juilliard School with John Mack, Nathan Hughes and Elaine Douvas. Before her time in Indianapolis, Ms. Christen spent a year in Miami Beach with the New World Symphony under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas.

She has also spent several summers with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, where she met her husband. As a teacher, Ms. Christen is on adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis, and has had the pleasure of working with students at the Verbier Music Camp, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and with students in various youth ensembles around Indianapolis. She enjoys traveling, good coffee, exploring local food, running, and creating memories with her husband and two little boys. She has an identical twin sister who plays the flute.

Co-artistic Director

Alistair Howlett currently serves as Assistant Principal and Second Flute with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Prior to this, he held the position of Utility Flute with the Opera Australia Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

Howlett holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a Master’s in Performance from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich, where he studied under Professor András Adorján.

In addition to his orchestral work, Howlett is the co-artistic director of the Ronen Chamber Ensemble, which performs throughout the Indianapolis area.

An experienced educator, he has held teaching positions at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, and currently teaches at Butler University.

Outside of music, Howlett supports Liverpool FC and the Buffalo Bills, enjoys playing tennis, and spends quality time with his family.

Guest Musician

Yang Guo joins the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in its 2022-23 season. Prior to joining the ISO, Guo served as Acting Assistant Principal Violist of the San Antonio Symphony. He also performed with Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Baltimore Chamber orchestra.

Born and raised in Hebei, China, Guo came to the U.S to pursue his further musical study after finishing college at the Shanghai Conservatory, where he studied with Xi-Di Shen and Nian Liu. He received his Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory in 2013 under the tutelage of Li-Kuo Chang and Victoria Chiang and Artist Diploma from the Indiana University in 2016 under the tutelage of Atar Arad.

He also received fellowships from Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival Advanced String Quartet Program and Banff Centre. As the winner of the Indiana University concerto competition in 2014, he performed the Bartok Viola Concerto with the IU Philharmonic Orchestra and Carl St. Clair.

Guest Musician

Claire Thai is an internationally recognized harpist, currently serving as the principal harpist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, she has earned numerous international accolades including 1st place at the Suoni d’Arpa competition in Italy and the International Portuguese Harp Competition, an Anne Adams Award, a Lyon and Healy Award, and 1st place at the American Harp Society National Competition.

As a composer herself, she is dedicated to commissioning new works to expand the harp repertoire. In 2022, she was commissioned to compose and perform her own harp concerto with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, alongside the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto. Her solo recitals often feature transcriptions of her favorite keyboard works, and she has premiered several solo pieces by Curtis composers. Most recently, she commissioned a work by Alistair Coleman (Curtis composer and Young Concert Artist) for harp and violin, which premiered at her Master's graduation recital.

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Claire began studying the harp at age five and the piano at age four. She has studied with world-renowned harpists such as Elizabeth Hainen, Nancy Allen, Carrol McLaughlin, and Christine Vivona. Claire holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in harp performance from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Elizabeth Hainen, principal harpist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Guest Musician

Julie Beckel is a native of Indianapolis and joined the ISO Horn section as Second Horn in 2006. Julie is the daughter of former ISO Principal Trombonist and composer, James Beckel, whom she had the privilege of sharing the Hilbert Circle Theatre stage with for twelve seasons before he retired in 2018. Before attending the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Randy Gardner, Ms. Beckel studied with ISO hornists Jerry Montgomery (retired) and Rick Graef, as well as the late Kent Leslie, who was a regular sub with the ISO. Prior to joining the ISO, Julie was a member of the Honolulu Symphony and the Verbier Festival Orchestra, touring throughout Europe, Asia and South America. Outside of the ISO, Ms. Beckel enjoys quality time with her son, as well as yoga and pottery.