Mozart & Dvořák

Alexandra Rock, originally from upstate New York, began her oboe studies at the Eastman School at age 14. After receiving her Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College, she joined the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, in Toluca, Mexico. In 1982 she returned to the U.S. to study with Elden Gatwood of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Joseph Robinson of the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Rock joined the Omaha Symphony in 1983 and is currently their Principal Oboist. Other orchestral positions she has held include five years as principal oboist with the Des Moines Metro Opera, and English hornist for the New York Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Tri-Cities Opera Company, and Binghamton Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Rock has appeared as soloist with the Omaha Symphony on several occasions, including performances of Honegger’s Concerto de Camera, Albinoni’s beautiful Oboe Concerto Opus 9, and the very challenging Oboe Concerto by Leon Goossens. She is a featured soloist on “Stardust”, an award-winning CD of lullabies for children by Cher and Gene Klosner. She enjoys playing chamber music, having performed with the Omaha Chamber Music Society and on several Omaha Symphony Chamber Music programs. Ms. Rock has been on the faculties of Nebraska Wesleyan University and Dana…

Carmelo Galante is principal clarinet of the Omaha Symphony and former principal clarinet of the Lincoln (Nebraska) and South Bend (Indiana) symphony orchestras and former second clarinet of the Springfield (Illinois) Symphony Orchestra. Summer festivals include the Sebago Lake Chamber Music Festival in Maine, the Chenango Musicfest in New York, the Peninsula Music Festival in Wisconsin, and the Omaha Chamber Music Society. He has also substituted as principal clarinet for the Buffalo Philharmonic and South Dakota Symphony. Carmelo studied clarinet with Franklin Cohen of the Cleveland Orchestra and James Pyne of the Buffalo Philharmonic while at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He earned a bachelor of music degree in performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Lawrence McDonald. Carmelo’s wife, Lynn, is the director of data collection at Visinet, Inc. in Omaha, and they have a son, Rosario, and daughter, Antonia.

Jim Compton is a native of Long Beach California. He started playing the bassoon in seventh grade and received degrees from the University of Southern California and The Juilliard School. He is a proud father of two sons and enjoys riding his bicycle on the seemingly endless amount of gravel and dirt roads the Midwest has to offer.

Brett Hodge, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is currently the principal horn of the Omaha Symphony, a position he has held since 2016. In addition to this position, he also serves as the third horn of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois, where he now spends the majority of his summers. Hodge has appeared as a soloist with numerous organizations, including the Omaha Symphony, Omaha Chamber Music Society, and the Kansas City Symphony. He also frequently appears as a guest artist and lecturer at universities across the country. Notable opportunities have included the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, the University of Kansas, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Columbus State University, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.