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The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT)

who are we? -- strings section

The strings section of The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT) has at last achieved critical mass, with some enthusiastic new members and some adjustments from one section to another by our more versatile members. We actually now have more violins than cellos. But more strings are always welcome, provided they are sufficiently Terrible.

As you may be aware, The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT) does not assign seating within a section from best-to-worst first-to-last. Our unique blend of tonal nuances is only achieved through a careful analysis of who should sit next to whom.

This season we welcome Ernest Hahn as principal first violin. This sort of makes Ernest the concertmaster, although things are not always as they seem in our ensemble. Jeri Walter is our principal second violin. Jeri explains that her parents both took up instruments after retirement, as they then had more time to practice. While the Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT) encourages members to practice mightily, the punishment for bobbles is not too severe, so she figured, "Why wait for retirement ... Life is short.” Despite having never even touched a violin, Mary Ann Brittain on impulse decided to take up the instrument. She secured both a teacher and a violin on the very same afternoon of January of 2007 at the well seasoned age of 64 and began lessons, joining RTOOT after only two years in January 2009.  Second chances exist for violins and players! Thrown away, a full size violin made its way to player Julie Nettifee Osborne -- when RTOOT came along, there were no good reasons not to give skills a "second chance" too!  The rest they say,  is history! Sandy Pham says, “I started playing fairly young, but it took years for me to figure out how to read music. So when I heard about The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle, I knew I'd fit right in. When you don't find me fitting into RTOOT, you can find me fitting in here: http://sandyfitsin.blogspot.com/“ Sudha Ananthakrishnan started playing the violin in 5th grade, reached her peak in middle school, and started progressively getting worse after high school and into college, which makes her fit right in with RTOOT.  Now she is in graduate school and trying to find time to practice between papers and tests. Will Filer is a gifted amateur pianist with a background in blues and burlesque. These skills translate quite poorly to playing his grandfather's 107-year-old violin which he inherited prior to joining. A welcome addition to the strings is professional violist Patrice Barley, who will play Mr. Hobgood's cheap student violin, since our rules prevent her from playing something that she's truly competent upon. We are also privileged to have the 7-year old prodigy Tejas Chandrasekhar playing first violin. Jane Stinson has acquired a most coveted "Somewhere in the middle" seat (by default) 2nd violinist for RTOOT. Where she lives happily ever after. Tara Bryan comes to our violin section from Youngsville, where she is involved in several projects, none of which are paying jobs. Before joining RTOOT, Andre Gibbs last played over 20 years ago as a second violin (13th seat behind the kettle drums) for Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.  Frances Ochart is a true Puerto Rican whose father played piano in his salsa band. After Frances decided to learn to fiddle, she couldn’t resist incorporating salsa rhythms in her fiddling. However, now that she is studying classical violin and playing in RTOOT (a childhood dream) she promises not to play play Handel with a latin beat. Mary Bartell, originally from Chesapeake, VA, now resides in the beautiful NC Triangle. Her passion for playing brought her back from a 10 year hiatus only to find she had made a grave mistake.... Now she tortures herself, her husband, and her neighbors while practicing...even the dog leaves the room. Additional members in the violin section are Judy Williams, Beth Austin, Cari Paulus, and Melissa McMurry.


The violas are coming on strong and we are happy to include Jenny Holt, Genie Haley, Rennie Martin, Carolyn Fields and Birgid Buntic. As a child in Midland,TX, Genie played the viola, but after moving to N.C. where there was no strings program in her school, she became just a wannabe musician. Later, her husband, wanting to fulfill her wishes, bought her a new instrument and she recently renewed her affair with the viola. Now she is excited to be a fully qualified member of the RTOOT! Birgid played in both junior and senior high school orchestras in Elmhurst, Illinois with RTOOT violinist Judy Williams. Also in the viola section we have Ted Ehrhard. Mr. Ehrhard, who hails from Bynum, NC, is an electrician, piano technician, and expert in car emission. Furthermore, he is a Bach enthusiast and the founder, music director, sound man, and general roadie for the Pittsboro Bach Society. He was originally recruited to play string bass, but he left it out in the rain and it shrank, so he plays it like a viola now.

Our principal cellist, Douglass Little, played valiantly with the University of North Carolina symphony orchestra for four years under the baton of Tonu Kalam, and occasionally under the baton of Mr. Hobgood. She first learned cello in 5th grade and after discovering the secrets of how to read music decided to stick with it. Doug is also a black belt in Taekwondo. Sue Coon, dazzled the cello world as a child, maxing out at age 11 with her signature tune, "Whistle While You Work."  After a gap of many decades, she has returned to the cello and has been working very hard at it, which is not to be confused with any discernible improvement. Bill Hirsch moved here from Delaware a dozen years ago and became delusional. He looks forward to the day RTOOT “brings down the house” at Meymandi Hall. “I love playing again”, Bill says, “But now I think I’m ready to step up a level and start using the bow.” Santa brought Bill a new cello for Christmas and his wife, four grown children, four grandchildren and most of the neighbors found ear plugs in their stockings. Hampton Carmine is a composer with a number of original compositions and arrangements in his Sibelius portfolio. Betsy Dawson says, “I’m a retired Latin teacher and life-long yogini.  I love my cello Dulcinea, who forgives me for playing many really terrible notes.” George Radwan, Heather Szafran, and Marshall McClure fill out the cello section.

We are now proud to have three string basses, played by Jamie Dixon, Jane Francis, and Michael Lyle. Michael is also our assistant conductor. Jane is a former brass, woodwind and rock musician seeking asylum in the upright bass section. Teaches private music lessons. Voted “most likely to succeed” in the witness protection program.