Navarro River String Camp Faculty

Photo by Larry Lozares

Marion Crombie, co-director of Navarro River String camp, was born in England and received her training on the viola at the Robert Schumann Konservatorium in Dusseldorf, and at the Royal College of Music in London. She started teaching in Oxford, England in 1972, combining this with playing in orchestras and chamber ensembles and raising three children. She moved to California in 1993 and continued to freelance and teach. An experienced chamber music player, her passion has been to make sure that all players, whatever their standard, can experience the joy of making music with others. In 2002 Marion founded the Symphony of the Redwoods Youth Orchestra and Redwood Youth String Camp. In 2004, at the request of their adult students wanting a string camp as well, Marion and Marcia Sloane started Navarro River String Camp. Marion is a qualified Alexander Technique teacher, and now divides her time between the US and the UK.

Marcia Sloane, co-director of Navarro River String camp, grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, started playing cello at age nine, and joined the ranks of working musicians in Waikiki’s Don Ho Show orchestra. She studied cello at Stanford with Margaret Rowell and received a B. A. in India Studies from Sonoma State University studying north Indian classical music. Over the past 40 years Marcia has played with orchestras and chamber groups; collaborated with choreographers, visual artists, storytellers, filmmakers, and theatre companies; worked as a community college instructor of world music and music theory; and maintained a private cello studio. Her training as a Ta Ke Ti Na teacher with Austrian percussionist Reinhard Flatishler influences her work as a teacher, performer, and composer. She has produced several CDs of original music along with Cello Drones for Tuning and Improvisation, a CD practice partner used by musicians throughout the world.

Abigail Summers grew up in the English countryside, playing piano and cello from an early age. She studied performance at the Royal College of Music in London and while there took an interest in the Baroque cello and viola da gamba. Since moving to California in 1988, Abigail has performed in various chamber and orchestral ensembles in Mendocino, Lake, and Sonoma counties. A private piano and cello instructor for over 20 years, Abigail has taught string classes at both Waldorf Schools in Mendocino County and has taken an active role with the county youth orchestras.

After suffering from 'backache' during her teens, Abigail found relief from attending Iyengar Yoga classes in London whilst in College. For the past 20 years she has been a student of Mary Paffard at Yoga Mendocino (Y.O.M.O.) in Ukiah and in 2005 she completed a teacher-training there. She taught yoga at the Willits senior center from 1995-2000 and since then has taught mixed level and adaptive classes at Y.O.M.O and at her home. Abigail, along with her husband and two younger children, are currently living in Devon, England, and Abigail commutes to California for string camp.

Burke Schuchmann studied in London, England with William Pleeth for five years, where he made his debut at the age of 19. He also studied for extended periods with Margaret Rowell and Colin Hampton. After his studies in England, he became principal cellist and soloist with the Salzburger Solisten in Austria. He has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, the U.S. and Israel. He has also been principal cellist and soloist with the Sacramento Symphony and the Mendocino Festival Orchestra. A gifted teacher, Mr. Schuchmann has taught at the University of California at Berkeley and also CSU Chico. He was for many years the director of the Mendocino Music Festival’s Young Musician’s Scholarship program. He currently teaches string technique classes and directs the Berkeley and Marin chamber music workshops. He is the artistic director of the Palomarin Chamber Music Foundation and has recently inaugurated an all-cello workshop (“Cello Heaven”) in Berkeley, California. He has also been a member of the faculty of the San Domenico High School Conservatory of Music and is presently coaching in the adult chamber music program at the Crowden School.

Kaila Flexer,violinist, teacher, and composer, is half of the duo Teslim (with multi-instrumentalist Gari Hegedus) performing Sephardic, Greek, Turkish and original music. She has toured nationally and internationally at the helm of several ensembles featuring her original material as well as with other groups including The Bay Area Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble. Kaila has recorded two CDs of original music to critical acclaim. She resides in Oakland where she teaches violin in a variety of styles from Western classical to folk and fiddle, jazz and improvising. Kaila will be joining us again for the August 2012 camp.

Elizabeth Grunin began playing cello at the age of four and studied with Susan Lamb Cook. She has been a member of the Sacramento Youth Symphony, Camellia Symphony, the C.S.U.S. and U.C. Davis Symphony orchestras, and has performed with chamber groups and as a soloist at the Crocker Art Museum, Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center, and other venues. In 2002 Elizabeth traveled to Austria to participate in the Classical Music Festival hosted by Scripps College. She also played with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra on their European tour and with Youth Music International in Oxford, England. Elizabeth is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Cello Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music in June, 2010.

Morgan McMahon grew up in Mendocino County and started violin lessons at age five. She studied with Marion Crombie, with Yoko Acheson of Petaluma, and most recently with Jolán Friedhoff of Davis, CA. Morgan recently graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a degree in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry and is now working as a junior specialist in the University’s Walnut Improvement Program. While living in Davis, Morgan has enjoyed playing in the U.C.D. Symphony Orchestra. She has been assisting at Navarro River String Camp since 2007.

Photo by Larry Lozares