Welcome to our HOUSE
Home of United String Ensembles (HOUSE) is a chamber music program specifically for Oakland Unified School District middle school students who would otherwise have no opportunity to further their skills in violin, viola, cello and bass.
By providing the individual attention needed to be fine musicians, HOUSE supports Oakland string students to grow as musicians and to inspire the students around them. HOUSE encourages our participants to take their music making beyond their classrooms and into the local youth orchestras of the Bay Area, like the Oakland Youth Orchestra, conducted by our board member, Omid Zoufonoun.
Advisory Committee
Michael Morgan - Conductor, Oakland East Bay Symphony
Omid Zoufonoun - Conductor, Oakland Youth Orchestra
Dawn Harms - Co-Concertmaster, Oakland East Bay Symphony,
San Francisco Opera
Out of Bounds String Quartet: Mads Tolling, Hande Erdem,
Emily Onderdonk, Joseph Hebert
Paul Brancato - Assistant Principal 2nd, San Francisco Symphony
David Byrd - Oakland High School music teacher
Phil Santos - Concertmaster, Fremont Philharmonic, Assistant Concertmaster, Marin Symphony and violin teacher
Alison Vonk - HOUSE secretary and parent of HOUSE Alum, violist Joost Vonk
Jane O'Brien - HOUSE treasurer and retired Oakland Unified School District administrator