Jessica Bejarano, Music Director & Founder
Jessica Bejarano is the Founder and Music Director of the San Francisco Philharmonic, Cover Conductor with San Francisco Symphony, Curator and Scholar in Residence with San Francisco Opera, board member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) and newly appointed board member of the International Conductors’ Guild.
Jessica was featured on NBC’s The Today Show with Natalie Morales as the “Woman Breaking Barriers as a Trailblazing Symphony Conductor”. PBS News Hour Weekend also featured Jessica as an emerging female conductor and KQED named Jessica 1 of 10 artists to watch in KQED Arts’ Bay Brilliant Top 10 Artists of 2018. In 2022, Jessica was featured on ABC’s hit show, To Tell the Truth. Lil’ Libros (book company) is excited to announce that they will publish Jessica’s first bilingual children’s book and recently, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) named Jessica 1 of 100 Honorees for 2023 for her contribution to the Arts in the Bay Area, San Francisco.
In 2022 Jessica and the San Francisco Philharmonic had the extreme honor of partnering up with Remezcla and Tecate beer company to put on a unique and ground breaking performance of Urban Latino sounds meets the symphonic orchestral arena for the creation of Tecate Alta performance! That same year, San Francisco Philharmonic and Jessica were invited to perform with American legendary rock band Journey at the Chase Center Plaza in San Francisco for the Winter Wonderland Spectacular and recently a cross over performance with the San Francisco Philharmonic and legendary rapper, Andre Nickatina.
Jessica has been invited by Stanford Health Care as their Keynote Speaker for 2024 and Los Angeles Community College has also named her one of their Keynote Speakers for this year. In 2019 Jessica was the first woman in history to guest conduct the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. She was also the featured guest conductor and clinician at the San Diego State University’s Women in Music, Diversity and Leadership Conference. In January 2018, she was one of twelve female conductors selected from around the world to attend and conduct at the International Women’s Conference in New York City. During that same time Jessica was the resident conductor of the University of California Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Jessica was the guest conductor of the Kansas All State Orchestra, leading a 200-piece student orchestra through rehearsals and performance.
Jessica has guest conducted the Classical Symphony in St. Petersburg Russia; Urbino Summer Orchestra in Urbino, Italy: Philharmonie Orchestra “Mihail Jora” Bacau, Romania; Ruse National Philharmonic, Ruse, Bulgaria; Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Republic; Antonio Soler Orquestra, San Lorenzo de Escorial, Spain; Falcon Symphony Orchestra, Falcon, Venezuela and various orchestras throughout the United States. She has also held many conducting positions with various Bay Area orchestras, choirs and youth orchestras. Jessica is a motivational speaker for numerous arts organizations, companies and schools.
Jessica received her Master of Arts in Choral and Orchestral Conducting from the University of California Davis, Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Wyoming and Associates of Fine Arts in Music Education from Casper College.
Thomas Yee, Concertmaster
Thomas Yee, violinist, is an entrepreneurial musician equally comfortable in performance, pedagogy, as well as music advocacy & business.
In addition to his post as Concertmaster of the San Francisco Philharmonic, he is an Associate Concertmaster of the Monterey Symphony, and a member of Santa Rosa and Marin Symphonies, in addition to performing with many other regional orchestras.
Thomas is an experienced and dedicated violin teacher and is a certified member of the Music Teachers Association of California also known as MTAC. He teaches privately in the San Francisco Bay Area at his home studio and previously at Jou Music Institute in Cupertino. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a BM and MM in Violin Performance.
Thomas has actively toured over 10 seasons with Tango Del Cielo, an innovative ensemble with dancers. He collaborated with guitarist Jose Rodriguez as Duo Revirado for a decade, and was an ensemble member for 3 seasons in San Francisco Symphony's acclaimed Adventures in Music. He has collaborated with pianist Jieun Clare Yee, his wife, in the Yee Duo.
In 2016, Thomas founded a violin shop called Bay Fine Strings, working with master workshop, antique, and contemporary violin family instruments and bows based out in San Bruno, with a workshop in Daly City. He follows his passion and uses his musical experience to do advanced acoustical setup on instruments and bows himself or in collaboration. Through this medium he helps others find their musical voices, collaborating in performance, teaching future generations of musicians, and helping and connecting with his community all integrated with multi-media web outlets such as youtube and instagram. To follow his interests or for contact, visit www.bayfinestrings.com
Janie Hsiao, Librarian
Janie Hsiao (she/her/hers) joined the SF Philharmonic in December 2024 as a violinist and later as the librarian. After having learned a few years of piano, she started learning violin at the age of 7 from Glenn Naydan in Cupertino, CA where she grew up. In college, she was the principal second violin of San Diego State’s Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, receiving private instruction from Pei-Chun Tsai and Isaac Allen. She also performed in various theater and opera productions and chamber groups both in and outside of SDSU. Janie received a Bachelor’s in Music Education from SDSU in 2019 and a teaching credential in 2020. During her time as an undergraduate, she took on various roles in the music department, including office secretary, stage/house manager, orchestral librarian, and secretary of the SDSU CMEA chapter.
Janie has been an elementary itinerant instrumental and general music teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District since 2020. She is also a teacher leader of the SFUSD Arts Department, supporting other music teachers with inventory organization and instrument deliveries. Outside of teaching, Janie takes on the occasional live music gig, including weddings, receptions, and her friends’ music groups (including recordings). In her spare time, Janie loves to try new foods, play video games, explore the city, fiddle around with her electric violin, play music with friends, and watch her friends perform music around the Bay Area.
Board of Directors
Jessica Bejarano, Volunteer Chief Executive Officer
Mike Odynski, Vice President
Mike is an oboist from Nevada who moved to San Francisco in 1996 to study with the principal oboist of the San Francisco Ballet, Bill Banovetz. After arriving, he immediately fell in love with the architecture of San Francisco and decided to go into real estate and the homeowner improvement industry as his primary business while playing the oboe for fun in his free time. Mike has played with the Redwood Symphony for 20 years and now also plays with the Mozart to Mendelsohn Orchestra. He has past marketing and promotion experience with his college orchestra and many friends and business connections in SF after having lived here for 30 years.
Peter Norman, Secretary
Clarinetist Peter Norman joined the San Francisco Philharmonic at the start of its fifth season in the Fall of 2024. He has lived in San Francisco for 15 years and has performed with numerous local ensembles, including the San Francisco Wind Symphony, the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, and the Oakland Civic Orchestra. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Peter was the principal clarinetist with the Metropolitan Wind Symphony of Boston, with whom he also was a Member-at-Large of the Board of Directors and served on its Commissioning Committee. He received his Bachelor of Music in Performance from Ithaca College where he studied with Richard Faria and Michael Galván.
Professionally, Peter holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Simmons University in Boston and is the manager of the Engineering Archives within the Infrastructure Division of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Daniel Bao, Volunteer Bookkeeper
Daniel Bao is a queer man who was born in Argentina to Chinese parents (making him a different kind of ABC). He works as a nonprofit financial consultant with various Bay Area nonprofits including the GLBT Historical Society, Folsom Street Events, Lamplighters, Bridgegood, and Quinteto Latino. He received an MA in Latin American Studies from Stanford University in 1990 where he studied the history of Argentine sexual inversion from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. A long-time lover of Queer History, he’s been involved with the GLBT Historical Society in a variety of roles since 1990. When not working or studying Queer History, he can be found playing the french horn with various bands and orchestras around the SF Bay Area.
Christina Lesicko, Personnel Manager
Christina Lesicko is a professional violist originally from the Midwest, but has been in San Francisco for over a decade. She has planned and performed professional chamber music for public and private events for the past 15 years, along with playing in numerous small ensembles and orchestras across the country including SF Academy Orchestra, Classical Revolution, PICA Time Based Art, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Starlight Symphony and Willamette Falls Symphony, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Warren Philharmonic Orchestra, and Holland America Cruise Ships. When not performing, she teaches privately in San Francisco, coaches sectionals at Golden Gate Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and is a Teaching Artist and Music Program Director for Enriching Lives Through Music (ELM). ELM is an orchestral music program whose El Sistema-inspired model recognizes that music is not only enrichment and entertainment, but that it can bring social change, shape lives, and bring opportunities to underserved youth.
Mika Imawaka, Member of the Board
Mika Imawaka is a horn player from Japan who joined the San Francisco Philharmonic in the spring of 2025. Before relocating to the United States with her family in the summer of 2020, she played with various wind symphonies, orchestras, and brass ensembles in Japan. She also managed a wind symphony group as its president for five years.
In 2022, after the pandemic eased, she became an active member of the Bay Area music community, performing regularly with the Redwood Symphony and the Golden Gate Symphony. She has also played with the Peninsula Symphony, Mozart to Mendelssohn Orchestra, Saratoga Symphony, and the San Jose Wind Symphony.
Outside of music, she works for an international education company, where she specializes in sales and providing dedicated support for Japanese students studying abroad.
Linda Robertson, Member of the Board
Linda Robertson has played First Violin with the SF Phil since Spring of 2024. She is British; after graduating with a BA and MA in History of Art from Cambridge University, she worked as a writer in London before moving to San Francisco in 2000. Here, she put together a cabaret band and a punk band, for which she wrote the music, sang and played violin and accordion. Meanwhile, she obtained an MS in Counseling from SF State University, and a new career as a Marriage & Family Therapist, in which capacity she has been attempting to cheer people up for the past 20 years. She has played the violin since the age of 9, and while she can play keyboard instruments, the violin is her favorite, as she prefers to play one note at a time. Over the years in the Bay Area, she has performed with The Golden Gate Symphony, The Oakland Civic Orchestra, Symphony Parnassus and The SF Civic Symphony, and likes the SF Phil the best.
Andrew Capers, Member of the Board
Andrew Capers joined the San Francisco Philharmonic as a First Violin in 2025 and currently serves on the organization’s Board, bringing a lifelong passion for music, science, and community engagement. Originally from New Jersey, Andrew began studying violin at the age of six and was deeply involved in the performing arts throughout his youth, participating in numerous youth orchestras, chamber ensembles, quartets, and theater productions.
Andrew continued his musical pursuits at Rutgers University, where he performed with the Rutgers Philharmonic Orchestra, played trumpet in the university marching and pep bands, and sang Tenor 1 in the Rutgers Glee Club. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Meteorology and Environmental Science before later completing a Master’s degree in Sustainability at Harvard University.
Professionally, Andrew has spent his career in the biotechnology industry, including many years at Johnson & Johnson and currently at Gilead Sciences. He relocated from the East Coast to San Francisco in 2022 and has embraced the Bay Area’s vibrant arts and outdoor communities ever since.
Outside of music and work, Andrew is an avid endurance athlete and outdoor enthusiast. His hobbies include competitive swimming through U.S. Masters Swimming, cycling, and snowboarding.
Advisory Committee
Victor Lin
Victor Lin started learning the violin at the age of 5 and studied violin from the principal violinist of the Canton Symphony Orchestra for more than 10 years, earning Certificate of Merit for the highest Violin Standard in China. Victor came to the United States at the age of 17. He played first violin in the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra during college and performed in Davis, Sacramento, Berkeley and San Francisco. He participated in UC Davis Baroque Ensemble and many classical ensembles under the direction of Prof. Michael Sand. Victor also studied for four years with Gerard Svazlian, a former professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Victor holds an M.A. in Education and two certificates from Berklee College of Music in Logic Pro and Advanced General Music Studies.
In 2003, Victor founded ViBO Music School, which has served more than 1500 students in the bay area, catering to students of all ages and skill levels. Besides offering lessons, ViBO hosts events such as recitals, summer camp, open mic nights and participates actively in community events. As a music teacher, Victor focuses on nurturing not only music skills, but also helping students develop a deeper connection to music, enriching students’ lives beyond the classroom.
Victor has been a violinist in San Francisco Philharmonic and serves as a board member. In 2020, Victor worked for the “Adventure in Music” program by San Francisco Symphony, doing over 130 music presentations to all the public elementary schools in San Francisco. Most recently, Victor has focused on songwriting, arranging, and music production. His debut album, Calling My Name, features songs in many genres—from pop to folk, to Latin, Blues, Rock, and beyond. He formed an original band, Victor and the Callers, in 2023 with musicians mainly from his ViBO Music faculty team.
Dalia Lévy
Dalia Lévy is a passionate cellist dedicated to sharing her unique story through the universal language of music and inspiring others through her music. She has participated in C’est Bon’s Chamber Music Academy and received awards for “Cello Technique” and “Most Dedicated” in 2021 and 2022. She was also a Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra member and a principal cellist at Golden State Youth Orchestra. She takes pride in teaching young students the value of finding their own voice through playing the cello. She currently studies under Professor Jennifer Culp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Bella Fong
Bella T. Fong is a violist and nonprofit development professional with degrees from Boston University and the National University of Singapore. A Boston University College of Fine Arts Scholar in Viola Performance, she graduated magna cum laude in Philosophy and Political Science and has since worked across the arts, nonprofit, and advocacy sectors in communications, public policy, and grant development.
As a nonprofit development and communications strategist, Bella has contributed to initiatives involving legislative and stakeholder mapping, editorial advocacy, and grant writing, with a particular focus on health and welfare. Her work has included supporting The Every Voice Coalition’s participation in Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen’s Rise Accelerator, as well as writing and communications published in Ms. magazine, Ramona, and other regional and university publications. She has also developed multimedia and campaign materials, including an award-winning long-form video recognized by Ally x Katie Couric’s “Daring to Disrupt” Surprise and Delight Prize.
As a musician, Bella has appeared with ensembles in the United States and abroad, including the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Symphonic Orchestra and Klang Kollektiv Berlin. Her training includes studies with members of the Parker Quartet, Chamber Music by the Bay, and the Telegraph Quartet, as well as participation in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Curtis Summerfest, Meadowmount School of Music, Young Chamber Musicians, and California Music Preparatory. She has additionally participated in masterclasses with the Juilliard String Quartet, Roberto Díaz, and Michael Zaretsky, and has received recognition in competitions and festivals across California and internationally.
Currently a violist with the San Francisco Philharmonic, Bella additionally contributes to organizational development initiatives including grant prospecting, grant writing, and institutional positioning.
Nikhil Misra, Visual Development Artist & Designer
Nikhil Misra is a San Francisco-based visual development artist and graphic designer specializing in entertainment art, illustration, and visual storytelling. His work combines thoughtful design with clear communication, informed by experience across animation, marketing, healthcare, education, and nonprofit sectors.
Nikhil earned an MFA in Visual Development from Academy of Art University, a BA in Information Systems and Marketing from the University of Washington, and completed graphic design training at Shillington Design School in New York City. His portfolio includes projects for the Seattle Symphony, PepsiCo, SLAM Magazine, and clients across a diverse range of industries.
As a member of the SF Philharmonic Advisory Committee, he brings a multidisciplinary perspective shaped by both creative and business experience. Inspired by music, nature, travel, film, and sports, he enjoys collaborating with artists, educators, and community partners to create engaging visual experiences that inspire curiosity and connection.
Art Portfolio:
nikhilsanimation.com
Design Portfolio:
nikhilsdesign.com
Social Media:
@nikhils_artwork
linktr.ee/nikhilmisra