Teaching Artists
Chiau-Rung Chen is currently working on an Advanced Certificate in Viola Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She received the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Graduate Diploma in Viola Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Originally from Taiwan, Chiau-Rung has worked with the Te-Sheng Youth Orchestra in Kaohsiung, leading sectionals and coaching orchestra rehearsals.
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Her orchestral experience includes performing with San Francisco Contemporary Music Players,
Chia Yin Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan), Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MA).
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Chiau-Rung believes music is not only about developing technical skills but also about building community, creativity, and self-expression. She is excited to share her love of music with young musicians and their families.
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Recently retired from a 30-year career teaching band, orchestra and jazz band at Presidio Middle School in the San Francisco Unified School District, Diana Wyneken Gomez is currently off the podium and performing on flute and piccolo. She received her Bachelor of Music from San Francisco State University in 1976, and continued studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, under Paul Renzi and Lloyd Gowen of the San Francisco Symphony, with masterclasses under Jean-Pierre Rampal, Julius Baker and Marcel Moyse. Her most recent work in large performing groups includes the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra, Oakland Municipal Band, San Francisco Civic Symphony, Golden Gate Park Band, San Francisco Wind Ensemble, and various freelance work around the Bay Area. She spends time playing chamber music with Zephyrus Woodwinds, and maintains musical relationships with churches and choirs around the Bay Area.
Born in San Francisco and raised in Santa Monica, California, Eleanor Hammersly is a violist, artist, and community organizer. Since picking up the viola for the first time at age nine, her musical endeavors have led her to perform throughout the United States, South America, and Europe, as an orchestral, chamber, and solo player. Since graduating from UT Austin's Butler School of Music in May 2023, she has enjoyed many performance opportunities, playing with the American Youth Symphony, California Young Artists Symphony, and the newly formed Civic Orchestra of Los Angeles. Ella was a finalist in the 2024 American Viola Society's Orchestral Audition Competition and has spent previous summers at the Napa, Round Top, Trentino, Green Mountain, and Tanglewood Institute festivals, holding principal positions.
Ella holds a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with Roger Myers. This fall, she will begin her Masters degree program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jonathan Vinocour.
In addition to her classical background, Ella is skilled in playing and teaching pop, jazz, and improvisatory music styles, and has performed with international superstars Rick Springfield and Michael Buble.
Ella has eight years of experience teaching violin and viola, from ages 6 through 16. Most recently, she has taught at Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), an El Sistema music education program of Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic that provides free instruments and group instruction to students throughout the city. She firmly believes that studying music has intersected with and empowered her in all areas of her life, particularly her passion for climate activism. Ella wants to make the field and study of music more joyous and accessible to everyone, and she is excited to return to the city she was born in as both a teacher and student.
Catherine Heusner is a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra and for 10 years, she was Assistant Concertmaster of the Stockton Symphony Orchestra. She currently maintains an active private violin studio in the greater Sacramento area.
Her education includes studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of Southern California where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance. Her private teachers at SFCM and USC included Eudice Shapiro and Isadore Tinkleman.
Catherine is the proud mother of two sons; both graduates of the University of California-Santa Barbara. At Music Mission San Francisco, Catherine teaches violin.
Known for her musicality and heartfelt artistry, cellist Daniela Gonzales Siu is a versatile
musician from Peru, now based in San Francisco. Passionate about chamber music
and contemporary works, she is active as a performer, collaborator, and recording artist,
bringing creativity and emotion to every project.
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She has participated in masterclasses with esteemed quartets such as the Calidore, Jack, Miró, Danish, Juilliard, Esmé,Chiaroscuro, Jupiter, and Telegraph, as well as with renowned musicians Richard Aaron, Wei Yu, Paul Wiancko, Joshua Roman, Johannes Moser, Kim Kashkashian, and Emanuel Ax. She has played alongside violinists Stefan Jacwick, Moni Simeonov, and cellists Sung Chang Chang, Michael Nicholas from the Brooklyn Rider Quartet. She took part in a workshop with renowned cellist Alissa Weilerstein, exploring the creative
process behind her project, Fragments. Her performance credits include collaborations
with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, SFJazz alongside Brandee
Younger and Ravi Coltrane. Her recording work spans projects with Sony, Meta, and a
recently released album, Unbound. She is currently a quartet member of the Alora
String Quartet.
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Her degrees include a master’s in Cello Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Professor Jennifer Culp, having previously completed her undergraduate studies with Professor Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Committed to artistic exploration, she strives to deepen the emotional impact of music, using it as a powerful form of human expression.
Trombonist Miriam Snyder lives in San Francisco, California, where she recently
completed a master’s degree in trombone performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of
Music. Before moving to San Francisco, Miriam lived in Rochester, New York, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Her primary teachers have included Dr. David Hamilton, Larry Zalkind, and Paul Welcomer.
Miriam currently teaches private lessons and freelances in several Bay Area orchestras
including symphonies in Stockton, Santa Rosa, Marin, and Monterey. As a passionate solo and
chamber musician, Miriam has succeeded in several competitions, with the most recent
including being a finalist in the 2023 SFCM Winds, Brass Percussion, and Harp Concerto
Competition, runner-up in the 2022 SFCM Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition, placing first
in the 2021 American Trombone Workshop’s Quartet Competition, and placing third in the
national level of the 2017 MTNA Senior Brass Competition.
As an educator, Miriam holds positions as instructor of brass and piano at Vibo Music School, brass instructor at Music Mission San Francisco, and general and instrumental music teacher at Sunset Elementary School. Throughout spring 2024, Miriam will be performing in elementary schools across San Francisco as a member of Gusto Winds for the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures In Music program.
Magdalena Żaczek is a Polish-born musician celebrated for her artistry as both a classical
violinist and a versatile vocalist. Trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she built a strong classical foundation that she later expanded to include jazz, soul, and contemporary
vocal styles.
Her career bridges genres and cultures - she has performed as lead violinist for major
productions such as The Bridgerton Experience, collaborated with artists like Smokey Robinson, Aerosmith, The Eagles and Andrea Bocelli. She appeared as a vocalist on The Voice of Poland 7.
Beyond her stage work, Magdalena is deeply passionate about teaching and mentorship. She
shares her love of music with students of all ages, emphasizing both technical mastery and
creative expression. Through her teaching, she aims to inspire others to find their unique
musical voice and connect emotionally with their art.
Through a unique partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, select Conservatory students are now working as Bridge to Arts and Music (BAM) teaching artists at Music Mission San Francisco.
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