MN Opera Orchestra Welcomes Two New Principals
MN Opera is pleased to welcome the two newest principal core members of the MN Opera Orchestra: Hannah Peterson (Principal Flute) and Jessica Findley Yang (Principal Bassoon). We are thrilled for them to join us in their new positions beginning with the 2024-2025 Season!
Hannah Peterson plays piccolo in the Des Moines Symphony and has previously held positions with Orchestra Iowa and the Duluth Superior Symphony. She performs regularly as a substitute musician in orchestras across the Midwest, including Minnesota Orchestra’s recent recording of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. In 2018 she was awarded first prize in the Upper Midwest Flute Association Young Artist Competition. Hannah is a founding member of Juniper Trio, a flute, viola and harp trio that performs across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. She has served as a teaching artist through Minnesota Public Radio’s Classnotes Artist program, in addition to maintaining a private flute studio in St. Paul.
Jessica Findley Yang is the newly appointed Principal Bassoon of the Minnesota Opera. She previously held the same position in the Central City Opera in Central City, Colorado, as well as various other positions in the Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Lansing Symphonies. She has also been an invited guest performer in many professional orchestras, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the New World Symphony, as well as many other regional groups throughout the Midwest. Jessica is an award-winning bassoonist, winning the Texas Music Festival concerto competition and MDRS Young Artist Competition in 2013, and winning second place in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition in 2016.
Jessica earned bassoon performance degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Kansas, and her teachers have included William Winstead, Martin Garcia, Eric Stomberg, Maya Stone, Nathaniel Zeisler, and Merrilee Tuinstra.
In addition to her performance career, Jessica is also the owner of Jiffy Reeds, selling student and professional bassoon reeds to a wide national and international customer base. She is frequently invited as a guest lecturer to collegiate bassoon studios to provide masterclasses on reed making. In her spare time, Jessica loves spending time with her husband & three-year-old son, trying new recipes, and playing board games.