David Cooper is the Associate Principal Horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Prior to his LA Phil appointment, he was principal horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra appointed by Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti in 2019, and principal horn of the Dallas Symphony, a position he held since May 2013 after joining the symphony as third horn in 2011. He also served as principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic from 2017–18; acting principal horn with the Victoria Symphony in Victoria, British Columbia, from 2006–08; and co-associate principal horn of the Fort Worth Symphony from 2008–11. He has been guest principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Liceu Opera in Barcelona, Spain. Cooper is an avid chamber musician and performs as a soloist all over the world. David Cooper is Artist Faculty at Roosevelt University and has given masterclasses in America, Asia, Europe and Australia. He began his horn studies with Dale Bartlett in Lansing, Michigan coming from a horn-playing family, where both his uncle and grandmother performed as professional horn players in the Lansing Symphony. While still in high school, Cooper began performing with the Michigan State University orchestra and later went on to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he earned his bachelor's degree in music. While at Curtis, Cooper received a Tanglewood Fellowship and later spent three consecutive summers at Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont beginning in 2011. He studied with Jerome Ashby while at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Eric Ruske was his main teacher after leaving Curtis. In his free time, Cooper enjoys being a father in addition to doing Pilates and swimming. He loves animals and being outdoors.

Originally hailing from Dallas, Texas, M. Taylor Eiffert has recently joined the clarinet section of The Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition to his orchestral career, Taylor serves as a dedicated clarinet instructor at California State University Northridge, where he is a member of the woodwind faculty. Prior to his appointment to The LA Phil, Taylor held tenured positions with The Milwaukee Symphony and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed extensively with The Santa Fe Opera as well as The Santa Fe Chamber Festival, and Aspen Festival Orchestras. Taylor is a distinguished alumnus of both The University of Southern California and Northwestern University, where his musical education was shaped by mentors such as Yehuda Gilad, Steve Cohen, J. Lawrie Bloom, and David Howard. Beyond his musical pursuits, Taylor finds solace in woodworking and enjoys the great outdoors through camping and hiking adventures with his wife, Lauren and dogs Stella and Ember.

Ethiopian-Hungarian violinist Samuel Nebyu has performed as a soloist at international music festivals and venues such as the Musikverein, Berlin Philharmonie Concert Hall, KKL in Lucerne, Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills, Verizon Hall and Perelman Theater in Philadelphia, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, the Centre of Performing Arts in Brussels (BOZAR), Peles Castle in Romania, the Wiener Saal and Grosse Saal in Salzburg, Tel Aviv Museum of Arts, Crown Hall in Jerusalem, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Teatro Mayor in Colombia, Gran Teatro Nacional in Peru, and Astana Central Concert Hall in Kazakhstan.

His first CD, “Music by Composers of African Descent,” was released on the BCM+D label and was named Album of the Week by WRTI radio in Philadelphia and WQXR in New York. Samuel is featured on a second CD, called “Majestic Classics,” where he performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the iPalpiti Chamber Orchestra and violist Juan Miguel Hernandez under the direction of Maestro Eduard Schmieder. Samuel studied under the tutelage of Dr.Eduard Schmieder in Philadelphia and has also studied with Professor Lamber Orkis. Samuel has also received instruction from Amy Oshiro-Morales from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Linus Roth from Leopold Mozart University in Augsburg. In 2019, he was the featured soloist at the Kimmel Center Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, performing the “Singing Rooms” Violin Concerto with Choir and Orchestra composed by Jennifer Higdon, and also gave a recital with Lambert Orkis in Rock Hall, Philadelphia.

Samuel received a commendation from the city of Los Angeles after his performance at the Walt Disney Hall in 2019. In October 2019, Samuel joined Anne-Sophie Mutter’s Virtuosi on her sixth tour with the exclusive soloist ensemble in South America. He performed Mendelssohn’s Octet and Bach’s concerto for two violins with Anne-Sophie Mutter. In January 2021, during the lockdown, Samuel performed a recital with Charles Abramovic on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Philadelphia virtually for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In the Fall season of 2021, he joined Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Mutter Virtuosi on a month-long European tour, giving 19 performances in Denmark, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria, and Switzerland. On September 1st, he performed a debut recital at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland with pianist Charles Abramovic, presenting a recital of composers of color, which included a premiere that was written for Samuel “Grey Fireworks” by composer Tyson Davis.

Samuel collaborated with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on her US tour in January-February 2023. During the tour, he had the opportunity to perform the US premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Gran Cadenza, a piece written for two solo violins, alongside Ms. Mutter. In the summer of 2023, Samuel embarked on a 21-concert tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Mutter virtuosi. During this tour, he had the privilege of performing the European premieres of the Previn nonet and Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, alongside his mentor Anne-Sophie Mutter. Starting from September 2023, Samuel has been selected to be a Resident Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ayrton Pisco performs “with aplomb, displaying a spirited line, crystalline and deftly defined” (San Diego Story) and has received top prizes in numerous competitions in the U.S. and abroad. Concert engagements have taken him around the world to venues such as Carnegie Hall, Stadthalle Bayreuth in Germany, Suntory Hall in Japan, Koerner Hall in Canada and Sala São Paulo in Brazil.

A seasoned orchestra musician, Mr. Pisco has performed with prestigious ensembles such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Sphinx Virtuosi, and under the batons of Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève and Carl St. Clair. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with principals of the New York Philharmonic and been featured on the WQXR and KUSC radio stations.

Mr. Pisco is also a passionate educator. He served as a teaching artist for Yale University’s Music in Schools Initiative, coached strings for the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and acted as a teaching assistant for San Diego State University’s Community Music School. Earlier this year he also served as a guest artist at the Ibero-American Philharmonic Academy (Iberacademy) in Medellín, Colombia, where he spent a week teaching and performing alongside local students.

Mr. Pisco is a first prize winner of the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus’ Young Artists Competition, the Giavanna Kersulis Memorial Endowment Scholarship Auditions, the Grossmont Music Scholarship Council Competition and the San Diego University Concerto Competition. He has also received awards at the Musical Merit Foundation Scholarship Auditions, the University of Southern California’s Solo Bach Competition, the Música no Museu Young Musicians Competition, the Francisco Mignone String Competition and the Paulo Bosísio String Competition.

Mr. Pisco also enjoys performing in genres such as jazz, tango, bossa nova, choro, mariachi and others. He has collaborated with groups such as Trio Gadjo and Besos de Coco and participated in shows in spaces such as House of Blues San Diego, Broomfield Auditorium in Colorado and Clube da Bossa Nova in Brasília, Brazil.

A native of Brazil, Mr. Pisco holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University, a Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Music in Performance degree from San Diego State University. His principal teachers include Ani Kavafian, Margaret Batjer, Pei-Chun Tsai and his father, Ayrton Macedo Pisco.

Elizabeth Linares is a venezuelan horn player, formed in the internationally known “El Sistema” from Venezuela, recently graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Colburn School in 2022 and received her Bachelor degree in Music Performance and Music Pedagogy from the University of Music Karlsruhe (Germany) in 2018.

Elizabeth has performed under the baton of renowned conductors like Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, and others. She has also performed with Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and others.

As a chamber musician she has shared the stage with Noah Bendix-Balgley, She-e Wu, Clive Greensmith, Fabio Bidini, Mingjia Liu and Andrew Bain. She was a member of the SONARSIX Sextet with whom she won the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2022.

Elizabeth has also been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra Academy between 2017-2019 and is currently a freelance musician in Los Angeles, a Teaching Artist at YOLA ( an El Sistema-inspired music education program from the Los Angeles Philharmonic ), the French Horn Faculty of the YOLA National Festival, as well as private music instructor.

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ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multi-genre, multidisciplinary presenting program and such youth development programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford—as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today.