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Detroit, and Indianapolis Symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, and the Dresden Staatskapelle; and the premieres of unpublished compositions by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi.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

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 former adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis, she 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 positions of Principal Flute with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and 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, Howlett currently teaches at Butler University. He has held teaching positions at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, DePauw and Anderson Universities. 

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

Guest Musician

Melissa Deal joined the Indianapolis Symphony in 2020. She has previously performed with orchestras such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh, Houston and Atlanta Symphonies. Festival experiences include Verbier Festival, Spoleto Festival, Aspen Music Festival and National Repertory Orchestra. A memorable career highlight is performing as a soloist with the Orquésta Sinfónica Nacíonal de Cuba in Havana, sponsored by the Nachito Herrera Foundation.

Melissa is a passionate chamber musician and educator. She led educational outreach programs for the Cleveland Chamber Society and the Strings Music Festival. Melissa holds degrees from Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University. Her influential teachers include Kathleen Winkler, Sally O’Reilly and Mary West. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and running with her dog, Jasper.

Guest Musician

Violinist Yeajin Kim has brought her vibrant artistry to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra since 2022. Originally from Korea, she began studying violin at the age of five and quickly developed a curiosity about music and the violin.

A versatile performer, Kim has appeared as a soloist at the Waltz & Dr. Mahn Young Artist Concert and has given recitals throughout Seoul, Ansan, Goyang, and Namyangju. In 2021, she premiered Double Concerto for Violin, Piano, and 15 Winds by composer Andrew Mead. Her festival appearances include the Tanglewood Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Round Top Festival Institute, and Toronto Summer Music Festival.

Equally passionate about chamber music, Kim is a founding member of the Eurus String Quartet, which served as the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University under the guidance of the Pacifica Quartet during the 2019–20 season. With Eurus, she made her European recital debut at the Beethoven-Haus Kammermusiksaal and performed at the Chelsea Music Festival.

Before joining the ISO, Kim was pursuing her Artist Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University under the mentorship of Simin Ganatra. She also holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, where she studied with Jorja Fleezanis, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude from Seoul National University as a student of Hyuk-Joo Kwun.

Outside the stage, Kim enjoys long distance running and exploring new languages, always seeking fresh perspectives to bring back into her music.

Guest Musician

Known for his “beautiful control, tremendous energy and thoughtful musicality" (Violinist) and “tone projected miraculously” (Strings), violist Zhanbo Zheng was the first Chinese to win the Primrose International Viola Competition. He has also taken top prizes in other major competitions, including the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and the Washington International Competition for Strings. He was also a recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the Saint Botolph Club Foundation.

An avid chamber musician, Zheng has collaborated with distinguished artists, such as Midori, Jonathan Biss, Anthony McGill, Gary Hoffman. He has been invited to perform at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society as a guest artist, and his music festival appearances include Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Verbier Music Festival Academy, Krzyżowa-Music Festival, Caramoor Evnin Rising Stars, and Cleveland ChamberFest. With his extensive touring experience, including the national tours with Musicians from Marlboro, Ravinia Steans Music Institute Spring Tour, and A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, Zheng has performed in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and Kaufman Music Center.

As a soloist, Zheng has performed with orchestras such as the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, China Broadcasting Performing Arts Orchestra, and EOS Repertoire Orchestra of CCOM. In 2014, sent by the Ministry of Culture, he was selected for an exchange activity between China and Germany, hosted by China Education Association for International Exchange. He has also participated in the recording project “My Concert Hall — The Classical Music Appreciation,” which was proposed by Li Lanqing, the former Premier of the State Council of China.

Zheng earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Kim Kashkashian, Miriam Fried, and Dominique Eade. He was a recipient of NEC’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship and graduated with top Academic Honors. He also holds an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, where he was mentored by Paul Neubauer. In 2024, Zheng joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Viola.

Guest Musician

Stephen Hawkey won a position in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s cello section in November of 2019. Since moving to Indianapolis the following summer, he has remained busy as performer and teacher in a variety of capacities. Stephen is currently adjunct professor of cello at the University of Indianapolis and Anderson University, where he teaches private lessons and chamber music courses. In addition, Stephen regularly performs in other venues, including Fever’s Candlelight series.

Prior to his time in Indianapolis, Stephen attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, earning his master’s degree in 2020. While at CIM, Stephen was a prize-winner in the concerto competition and performed Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the CIM Orchestra as a result. Outside of school, he maintained a busy performing schedule as principal cello of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, and section cello in the Akron, Ann Arbor, Canton, and Firelands Symphony Orchestras. Prior to attending the Cleveland Institute of Music, Stephen received his bachelor’s degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. In his sophomore year, he won the university’s concerto competition and performed Bloch’s Schelomo with the school orchestra. While in school, he performed with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra as a member of the cello section.

Throughout his undergraduate experience, Stephen was privileged to attend multiple summer music festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra twice and the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy, where he was a concerto competition prize-winner and performed Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the academy orchestra.

Stephen is married to ISO violinist Sophia Cho, and together they are the proud parents to three cats: Simba, Peppo, and Maxie. He is the youngest of five musical children and the proud uncle to thirteen wonderful nieces and nephews. Outside of music, Stephen is an avid runner who has completed seven marathons, and is also a fan of soccer and tennis.