Laurie Goldman was born to Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York. When she was three, the family moved to Lawrence, Kansas. A year later, her mother had a chance encounter with another mother which led to Laurie beginning violin lessons with Eleanor Allen, a Suzuki violin teacher. Mrs. Allen was an excellent teacher who had several other pupils who became professional violinists as well. Laurie attended Haverford College, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Magna Cum Laude. While in the Philadelphia area, she studied with David Arben, Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster. She received a Master of Music at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Camilla Wicks and Jacob Krachmalnick.

Laurie joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1991. She has made numerous appearances as a soloist in the Detroit area, appearing with the orchestras of Toledo, Dearborn, Allen Park, and Grosse Pointe among others. She made her Detroit Symphony Orchestra solo debut in 1996. Also active as a chamber musician, Laurie has performed in ensembles at Interlochen, the Grand Teton Music Festival and at venues in the Detroit area. She has appeared in several recitals to benefit the DSO Volunteer Council.

Laurie is grateful for the help of her parents and, especially, her grandparents. Although they grew up with very little indeed, they made great sacrifices to allow their children, and by extension, their grandchildren to be successful in music and otherwise.

Romanian-born violinist Marian Tănău first picked up the violin at the age of 4 and began his musical education in his hometown of Timisoara, Romania. He graduated from Liceul de Muzica "Ion Vidu" where he studied violin with Maria Cleşiu. He then left for the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca and the Conservatorul de Muzica "G. Dima," where he earned an Artists Diploma. In the United States, he earned a graduate degree from Bowling Green State University. Marian joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1995.

Marian has appeared as a soloist with Romanian orchestras as well as with the Chautauqua Symphony and Bowling Green Philarmonia in the United States. He is an active chamber musician. Some of his recent projects are the recording of Paul Paray violin sonata, and string quartet for Grotto Productions Co. Critics in the prestigious Strad, Gramophone and Fanfare magazines praised his recording of the violin sonata. Marian is the organizer of the American Romanian Music Festival that took place with great success in Romania and the United States in March and April of 2005. Marian resides in Ann Arbor with his wife and two children.

Mike Chen received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, studying violin with Blair Milton. In 1999 he began playing the viola and studied with Li-kuo Chang. His other teachers included Michael Strauss, Peter Slowik, Keith Conant and Baird Dodge.

Mike was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2018, a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2012, and prior to that, a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1992 to 1995. He has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony. In 2017, Mike joined the Cincinnati Symphony on its European Festivals Tour.

He received a Master’s degree in Conducting at Northwestern University in 1999, studying with Victor Yampolsky and Mariusz Smolij. His other conducting teachers include Gilbert Varga, David Zinman, and Murry Sidlin.

Mike was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, Colorado in 2008. He has also served as Assistant Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, guest conductor of the Webster University Community Music School’s Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and guest conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra.

Peter McCaffrey has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra cello section since 2012.

Prior to joining the DSO, Peter served as principal cellist of the Louisville Orchestra and of the South Florida Symphony. Since moving to Detroit, Peter has become an advocate for the roll that the arts can play in helping to revitalize a city. He is frequently found performing in schools, hospitals, retirement homes, bars, religious institutions, and was featured in a National Geographic video about the comeback of Detroit.

Peter has soloed with many orchestras, including subscription concerts with the Louisville Orchestra, the Royal Oak Symphony and the Windy City String Ensemble while on tour in Australia. As a chamber musician, Peter has had the opportunity to travel around the country and abroad performing in concert series and music festivals. His college string quartet was a finalist in the Coleman International Chamber Music Competition, and he currently performs with the Great Waters String quartet made up of fellow DSO musicians.

Peter earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in cello performance from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. His primary teachers have been Eleonore Schoenfeld, Gerard Mantel, Richard Hirschl, and Gilda Barston. Peter performs on an 1880 Postiglione cello.

Minnesota native Kevin Brown began playing the bass at age 3. He has since gone on to perform with esteemed ensembles across the United States in a burgeoning career that has led him back to the Midwest as principal bass of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Associate Professor of Double Bass at Michigan State University.

Kevin completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Rice University as a student of Paul Ellison. While at Rice, Kevin performed extensively with the Houston Symphony, including tours to New York and Moscow. In 2009 he won the International Society of Bassists Orchestral Competition, earning a week as a guest in the Philadelphia Orchestra bass section. Before his appointment to the DSO in 2014, Kevin also appeared as guest principal bass of the Atlanta Symphony.

Beyond orchestral performance, Kevin is an active soloist and chamber musician. Kevin gave his concerto debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2015.

Kevin is also a deeply committed educator, and joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 2017. Outside of Michigan, he has taught as a guest at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Texas Christian University, the Colburn School, and Rice University.