THREE MUSICIANS JOIN THE SYMPHONY FOR THE 2026/2027 SEASON AND A NEW ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR IS APPOINTED

THREE MUSICIANS RETIRE AFTER DECADES OF MUSICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Seattle, WA — The Seattle Symphony announces a new assistant conductor and three musicians who have their official start with the orchestra at the beginning of the 2026/2027 season. New appointments include Tengku Irfan as the Douglas F. King Assistant Conductor, Wayne Lee and Brendan Shea as First Violins, and Vaynu Kadiyali as the Robert & Clodagh Ash Piccolo and Third Flute.

The Seattle Symphony also acknowledges the decades of musical contributions made by three retiring musicians: Dr. Robert Wallace Clarinet Laura DeLuca, Viola Timothy Hale and First Violin Jeannie Wells Yablonsky. DeLuca and Hale joined the orchestra in 1986, and Yablonsky joined in 1997. After distinguished tenures spanning nearly three and four decades, they will conclude their careers with the Seattle Symphony at the close of the 2025/2026 season. The Seattle Symphony extends its sincere gratitude for their dedication, artistry and lasting contributions to the orchestra.

TENGKU IRFAN | DOUGLAS F. KING ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR

Malaysian-born Tengku Irfan has appeared around the world as a conductor, pianist and composer, and has been praised by The New York Times as “eminently cultured” and possessing “sheer incisiveness and power.” He made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in April 2024 and has appeared as a guest conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra on multiple occasions. As a conductor, he a recipient of the Robert Craft Igor Stravinsky Grant in Orchestral Conducting and the Bayreuth Stipendium Award. He also worked as assistant and cover conductor for orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of The United States, among others.

In his earlier years as a pianist, he performed with orchestras worldwide such as the Seattle Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. He won the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 competition in Aspen in 2013 and was the resident pianist for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble between 2014–2017. His compositions have also been premiered by orchestras and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, New York Virtuoso Singers, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Sinfonieorchester. He also won three ASCAP Morton Gould Awards for his work as a composer.

Prior to his conducting studies, he was a double major in piano and composition at Juilliard, and his teachers included Yoheved Kaplinsky, Robert Beaser and Ira Taxin. He graduated with a Masters in Orchestral Conducting, having studied with David Robertson. During his years at Juilliard, he was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship Award. Currently, he is the founder and music director of his own group, Ensemble Fantasque, promoting works from the 20th and 21st centuries, and underperformed pieces from earlier time periods.

WAYNE LEE | FIRST VIOLIN

American violinist Wayne Lee joins the Seattle Symphony at the start of the 2026/2027 season, previously having served as a temporary musician in the orchestra's 2025/2026 season. Lee has enjoyed a prolific career worldwide as a member of two internationally acclaimed chamber ensembles. From 2012–2024, he performed extensively in North America, Europe and Asia with the Formosa Quartet, including engagements at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Taipei’s National Concert Hall and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver. With his Formosa Quartet colleagues, he has served as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence for NYO Canada, as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, as a founder and faculty member of the Formosa Chamber Music Festival in Taiwan, and as a faculty member at the Taipei Music Academy and Festival. For over a decade, Lee was a member of the Manhattan Piano Trio, an ensemble acclaimed as "outstanding" by The Washington Post and lauded as "a grand departure from the usual" by The News Herald.

A dedicated teacher and arts advocate, Lee served on the violin faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has given master classes throughout the United States and Asia, and previously served as teaching assistant at the Juilliard School, from which he holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

In addition to his performing and teaching activities, Lee is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Piedmont Chamber Music Festival, an annual week of chamber music that brings an internationally acclaimed roster of musicians to the Bay Area every summer. He plays on a 2023 Joseph Curtin violin.

BRENDAN SHEA | FIRST VIOLIN

Brendan Shea is an active chamber musician, soloist and educator who will join the Seattle Symphony this fall. His awards include gold medals at the Coleman and Chesapeake competitions, top prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, and first place with honors at the Glazunov International Competition in Paris. He is a laureate of many of the world's premier international competitions, including the Carl Nielsen, Sendai, Sibelius, Seoul, Isang-Yun and Queen Elisabeth.

Shea is a former member of the Langroise Trio, Euclid Quartet and Verona Quartet. He currently performs across North America, Europe and Asia in the Shea-Kim Duo alongside pianist Yerin Kim. The duo has released four critically acclaimed albums, with a fifth due this fall. Additionally, both musicians are voting members of the Recording Academy.

Shae holds two degrees from Oberlin, a master's degree from Indiana University and a D.M.A. from Stony Brook University. He previously served on the faculty at Indiana University South Bend, the University of Notre Dame, the College of Idaho and Central Washington University, and was guest faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory. During the summer, he performs and teaches at the Encore Chamber Music Institute, the Chroma International Music Festival in Hungary and the Zephyr International Chamber Festival and Academy in Italy.

Shae loves to travel and explore new foods, having grown up overseas in many different parts of the world. He loves living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, their two children, a cat and a bunch of plants that somehow survive.

VAYNU KADIYALI | ROBERT & CLODAGH ASH PICCOLO/THIRD FLUTE

Vaynu Kadiyali joins the Seattle Symphony flute section in the 2026/2027 season. He previously held piccolo positions with the North Carolina Symphony and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Highlights in these previous positions included travelling, teaching and performing across North Carolina as a part of NCS’s education programming, and performing in the 2025 Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. He has also performed as piccoloist with the Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee symphony orchestras, and with the San Francisco Symphony.

Kadiyali is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied flute and piccolo with John Thorne, Jennifer Gunn and Alyce Johnson. While completing his undergraduate studies, he played principal flute on premieres led by Donald Nally; collaborated with composers including Julia Wolfe, Christopher Cerrone, Stacy Garrop and Alex Temple; and played solo flute and piccolo on a premiere on the Cedille Records label.

Originally from Ithaca, New York, Kadiyali studied with Elizabeth Shuhan and performed as a soloist with local ensembles. Outside of his musical pursuits, he earned a dual degree in economics, with an interest in public policy.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY

Under the leadership of Music Director Xian Zhang, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has won five GRAMMY Awards, 27 GRAMMY nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 500,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.

BENAROYA HALL

Benaroya Hall, the home of the Seattle Symphony, is located in downtown Seattle. Opened in 1998, Benaroya Hall is the most-visited performing arts venue in Seattle. It has received numerous awards, including a 2001 American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Honor Award for outstanding architecture. Benaroya Hall has three versatile performance venues, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall and Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, all renowned for their pristine acoustics, luxurious design and prime location. For additional information, including rental information and event listings, visit benaroyahall.org.

Tengku Irfan’s position is generously underwritten as the Douglas F. King Assistant Conductor.

Vaynu Kadiyali’s position is generously underwritten as the Robert & Clodagh Ash Piccolo.

Laura DeLuca’s position is generously underwritten as the Dr. Robert Wallace Clarinet.

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THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES NEW ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR, NEW MUSICIANS AND RETIREMENTS

THREE MUSICIANS JOIN THE SYMPHONY FOR THE 2026/2027 SEASON AND A NEW ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR IS APPOINTEDTHREE MUSICIANS RETIRE AFTER DECADES OF MUSICAL CONTRIBUTIONS