2025/26 New Musicians

Matthew Hakkarainen, Associate Concertmaster

Violinist Matthew Hakkarainen joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Associate Concertmaster in the 2025/26 season. 

A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Matthew completed his musical studies at the Curtis Institute of Music (B.M. ‘22) and the Juilliard School (M.M. ‘24), where he studied with Pamela Frank, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Ronald Copes. He is an alumnus of the Rebanks Fellowship Program (‘25) at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His additional mentors have included Barry Shiffman, Charles Castleman, Mauricio Fuks, and Borislava Iltcheva, as well as his earliest teachers, Huifang Chen and Maree Sawhney. 

Matthew first rose to international attention in 2018, when he became the first American violinist to win first prize at the Premio Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition. He is a laureate of the Stuttgart, Mirecourt, Wajnberg, and Ysaÿe International Competitions, and he also won the Prix Ravel, Adelphi Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Aspen Music Festival Violin 

Competition and New World Symphony Concerto Competition. 

He has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras in North America and Europe, including the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Orchestra Sinfonica Bulgaria Classic di Plovdiv, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Lorraine, Karol Szymanowski Academic Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Adelphi Orchestra, Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra, New World Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, New River Orchestra, Orchestra Delray, Alhambra Orchestra, and others. 

Also an active recitalist and chamber musician, Matthew has performed at esteemed venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Koerner Hall, and the Kravis Center. In 2019, he toured northern Italy for a concert series with Asolo Matinée. He has appeared as a returning guest artist at Caspian Music and Viridian Strings, and was honoured to be part of the inaugural Rising Artists Program hosted by the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach under the direction of Arnaud Sussmann and Edward Arron. 

Prior to joining the TSO, Matthew served as Concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard Orchestra and as Associate Concertmaster of Symphony in C. He also appeared as a frequent substitute violinist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He is an alumnus of music festivals and programs including the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, National Youth Orchestra of the United States, Orford Musique, Castleman Quartet Program, Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute, Ferme de Villefavard Academy, Kuhmo Chamber Music Courses, and Fontainebleau School of Music. 

Matthew is very grateful to perform on a 1790 Giuseppe Guadagnini violin and an Étienne Pajeot bow graciously provided by the company CANIMEX INC., from Drummondville (Québec), Canada.

Erica Miller, Violin

Avid freelancer turned orchestral musician, Erica Miller plays classical, klezmer, and old-time fiddle.

She’s played in dozens of Broadway Shows, studio sessions, rock shows, ballets, operas and festivals, and has a passion for contemporary music.

Erica got her undergrad from McGill University and then hit the ground running. She is originally from Queens, NY, but has lived in Montreal, Philadelphia, Dalkeith, and Ottawa, and is thrilled to be joining the vibrant Toronto music community.

Prior to her appointment with the TSO, she’s spent the last few years leading the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster and playing regularly with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Oregon Symphony.

The violin is her life partner. Life is a journey.

Hezekiah Leung, Viola

Praised for his “lovely lyricism” by The Calgary Herald, and hailed for his "intelligent and ​ diverse treatment of vibrato... tailored to the individual personality of any given theme or ​ moment" by Chicago Classical Review, Hezekiah Leung has been featured as a performer ​ throughout North America and Europe, both as a soloist and as the founding violist of the ​ Rolston String Quartet, winner of the First Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet ​ Competition. 

After completing his violin studies at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Stephen ​ Shipps, Leung pursued an artist diploma in viola with Stephen Dann and Barry Shiffman. He ​ received top prizes in the Glenn Gould Chamber Music Competition and the 74th Orchestre ​ Symphonique de Montréal Standard Life Competition. Leung holds a Master’s degree from Rice ​ University, an Artist Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and was part of the ​ Fellowship Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music with the Rolston String Quartet. ​ 

Leung has shared the concert stage with renowned artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Leif Ove ​ Andsnes, Gilbert Kalish, Jon Kimura Parker, Miguel da Silva, James Dunham, Paul Neubauer, ​ Yura Lee, Donald Palma, Joel Quarrington, Andrés Díaz, Gary Hoffman, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, ​ Cho-Liang Lin, Tara Helen O’Connor, David Shifrin, Sharon Kam, and James Campbell. ​ 

As a founding member of the Rolston String Quartet, he was also awarded Grand Prize at the ​ 31st Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions. The ​ quartet has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, including ​ Carnegie Hall, the Louvre, the Kennedy Center, Koerner Hall, and Wigmore Hall. Their debut ​ album Souvenirs, an all-Tchaikovsky release in 2020, was named Recording of the Year by BBC ​ Music Magazine. ​ 

Leung served as the violist of the Dover Quartet during the 2022–2023 season and has held ​ faculty positions at both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Bienen School of Music at ​ Northwestern University. He is currently a member of the viola faculty at the University of ​ Toronto and a Chamber Music Coach at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy of the Royal ​ Conservatory of Music. Following his recent appointment, Leung will join the viola section of ​ the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2025/26.

Evalynn Tyros, viola

Evalynn Tyros, an energetic violist from Montréal, joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra viola section in the 2025/26 season. Her freelancing career not only includes playing with the TSO but L'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and the New World Symphony Orchestra.

Evalynn holds several degrees in viola performance, which include a Bachelor's and a Graduate Diploma from McGill University, studying with André Roy and a Master's from Rice University, studying with James Dunham.

While performance is her primary occupation, Evalynn has been an avid teacher of beginner viola/violin for the last 12 years. She has taught within many music-integrated primary and high school classes, El Sistema-inspired after-school programs, and a modest private studio. She believes music is not only an art but is a gateway to learning itself and strives to make music education more accessible.

Evan Yonce, Associate Principal Oboe

Evan Yonce joins the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Oboe for the 2025/26 season. A native of Missoula, Montana, Yonce recently completed his undergraduate studies at the Juilliard School as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. There, he studied with Nathan Hughes, while receiving additional studies from Elaine Douvas, Linda Strommen, and Scott Hostetler.

In addition to appearances as Principal Oboe of the Juilliard Orchestra, he has also performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra and Richmond Symphony. During his summers, Yonce has been featured as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Music Academy of the West.

Evan is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Dane Philipsen and received the 2021 Young Artist Award.

Johnny Wang, Associate Principal Clarinet

Johnny Wang joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2025 as Associate Principal and E-flat clarinet, and was previously Acting Assistant Principal and E-flat clarinet of the North Carolina Symphony

As an active orchestra musician, he has also performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, and the Cabrillo Music Festival. 

He was also a member of the Sequoia Reed Quintet, which together won a silver medal at the Fischoff Competition, as well as 1st prize for the inaugural Fischoff Lift Every Voice category.

Johnny studied with Carey Bell at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Michael Wayne at the Eastman School of Music. 

Outside of music, Johnny is a big foodie and loves to cook and make coffee as well. He also games, takes long walks, and dabbles in Rock Climbing.

Marlène Ngalissamy, principal bassoon

Marlène Ngalissamy is the Principal Bassoon of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, commencing at the start of the 2025/26 season. Prior to her position in Toronto, she was the principal bassoon of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec from 2022–2025 and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

Marlène has been invited to perform as guest principal bassoon with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Jupiter Chamber Players (New York), Les Violons du Roy, Ensemble Obiora (Montréal), and the Chineke! Orchestra (London, UK), with whom she performed at the Royal Albert Hall and the Wigmore Hall and recorded works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in 2021. She has also joined the sections of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, and many other ensembles throughout the US and Canada. As a soloist, Marlène has appeared with the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Edmonton Symphony, the Ontario Pops Orchestra, as well as the Montreal Conservatory Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra of Montreal.

Marlène studied with Mathieu Harel and Stéphane Lévesque at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, before completing a post-graduate diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Daniel Matsukawa. She was awarded first prize at the Canadian Music Competition (winds category) in 2012, is a past laureate of the Hnatyshyn Foundation (which allowed her to buy her first bassoon) as well as a recipient of the Arkadin Fomin scholarship. In 2016, she was a finalist in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and the International Bassoon Orchestral Excerpts competition in 2020.

She is an alumna of the Domaine Forget, Orford, and Marlboro Music Festival summer programs as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton, Ontario. She has also participated in solo and chamber music master classes in France at the Pablo Casals Festival and at the ISA - International Music Academy in Vienna.

Marlène has given master classes at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec and online with Bassoons Without Borders. She has been invited to perform and coach at the Scotia Music Festival and the Domaine Forget chamber orchestra program. Since 2023, she has been a faculty member at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Marlène is of Afro-Russian descent and immigrated to Canada at age 10 with her family. In her spare time, she enjoys experimenting with various cuisines (both cooking and eating), watching reality TV shows, spending time in nature, and, of course, making reeds!

Michael Macaulay, Principal Librarian

Since winning his first orchestral audition and joining the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra at the age of 18, Michael Macaulay has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as a music librarian, bassoonist, and tech professional. From 2013 to 2018, he was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, which included appearing as soloist and acting as a concert curator. His career has included work with the bassoon sections and music libraries of fine orchestras across Canada including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Macaulay completed his undergraduate studies in music at the University of Calgary as a student of Stephen Franse and Francesca Davenport, before completing graduate studies in music performance and arts administration at Indiana University, where he studied with former TSO Associate Principal Bassoon Kathleen McLean. In 2025, Macaulay was a participant in the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Mentorship Program under the guidance of orchestra librarians Nancy Elbeck and Corey Rempel.

In addition to his musical work and studies, Macaulay holds a diploma in computer science and has worked as a software developer for Brandt, and as a Digital Technology Assistant for the Hamilton Public Library. Macaulay remains a strong believer in the importance of public libraries in strengthening the fabric of our society. In his spare time, Macaulay is an avid sim racer and enjoys spending quiet time with his partner and rabbits.