Professional mentors have been selected with an eye on matching musical background and specialty, based on the repertoire submitted by the accepted groups.

Yukiko Kurakata joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1993 and played in the orchestra for 30 years. She studied with Jascha Heifetz at the University of Southern California, and after graduating, she taught as his assistant at USC. Prior to joining the San Francisco Symphony, she served on the faculties of UCLA and Pepperdine University. Ms. Kurakata has been a member of the Marlboro, Amsterdam, and Okinawa chamber music festivals, as well as the Sitka Summer Music Festival. She has performed as soloist with the Japan Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony, and she has given recitals in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, and New York.

Jerome Simas, clarinetist, has been bass and utility clarinet in the San Francisco Symphony since 2012, and formerly was principal clarinet with the California and Oakland Symphonies, among others, and has performed with numerous orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, and the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras.
A dedicated music educator, Mr. Simas is professor of clarinet and chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and coaches the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet Franklin Cohen.

Nadya Tichman was a member of the San Francisco Symphony from 1980 until 2024. She served as Associate Concertmaster from 1990-2022 and as Acting Concertmaster from 1998 to 2001. Ms. Tichman performed as soloist with the SFS on many occasions. SF Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman included her performance of Vaughan-Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” in his list of the ten best performances of 2009.
Ms. Tichman has participated in many chamber music festivals and performed often on the SF Symphony’s Chamber Music Series. In chamber music, she collaborated with Yo-yo Ma, Yefim Bronfman, Garrick Ohlson and Lang-Lang. A champion of contemporary music, Nadya has had pieces dedicated to her by composers Peter Schickele, Jim Lahti and Allen Shearer. In 2013 she and her sister, pianist Nina Tichman, played the New York premier of German composer Stefan Heucke’s second violin sonata.