Musicians of the Highland Chamber Players
Raymond Weaver (Violin)
A founding member of the Highland Chamber Players, Ray is a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts. He is also the proprietor of Noteworthy Sheet Music and is assistant principal Second Violin of the Lexington Philharmonic and Principal Second Violinist of the Paducah Symphony and plays in other regional orchestras. He has also been a member of the Louisville Bach Society and the Louisville Master Chorale. Mr. Weaver has played in many Broadway Series, Actor's Theater, and Stage One, and Derby Dinner productions. Most recently Mr. Weaver performed "The Last Five Years" at Actor's Theater, "The Lion King" ,"Pippin", Cinderella, "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Little Mermaid" for the Broadway Series, as Concertmaster of the Oratorio Society, and as Principal Second of the Louisville Ballet including as a soloist in the Bach Double Violin Concerto. Ray is responsible for most of our unique popular arrangements. and also acts as our office manager, booking agent, and wedding music planner.
Lisa Weaver (Viola and Harp)
A founding member, has a BM in viola and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Louisville. A former Kentucky State Park Naturalist, Lisa was a longtime member of the Lexington Philharmonic and also is a member of the Paducah Symphony and the Cave Run Symphony. She has also performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra and Bach Society and is currently principal violoist with the Louisville Civic Orchestra and founder of Noteworthy Studios, a private teaching studio featuring instruction in piano, violin, voice, and harp. She recently performed for the Center Stage productions of "Les Miserables", "The Wizard of Oz" and"Sweeney Todd". She also performed for the 2015 Broadway Series production of "The Lion King" and "Pippin".
Wayne Krigger (Cello)
An original founding member, has both a BM and MM in music from the University of Louisville. Wayne teaches cello through the Community Music Program at U of L and is in great demand as a workshop teacher throughout the Midwest and South. He is absolutely a magical teacher for children!
Jane Halliday (Violin)
A member since 1984, Jane Halliday has a B.M. in violin performance from the University of Louisville and a B.A. in English from Smith College. Jane has worked with orchestras and ensembles throughout Kentucky including the Louisville Bach Society, Choral Arts Society, Louisville Orchestra, and Lexington Philharmonic. Since 1997, she has performed with Swing39, an accoustic trio performing hot club jazz, a style of music attributed to Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grapelli. Just recently she played in the orchestra for the Stevie Wonder concert at the Yum center and was chosen to be the "soloist" who got to jam with Stevie. He was so impressed he led the arena in chants of "Go Jane!" Jane will be playing for the upcoming Broadway Show "The Sound of Music"
Wendy Doyle (Cello)
A Louisville native and graduated from the Youth Performing Arts High School. Wendy went on to receive her BM from the Eastman School of Music and Masters Degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory. Ms. Doyle maintains an active freelance and teaching career, performing for the Broadway Series productions, Louisville Orchestra, local recordings and in 2002 was a member of the Broadway touring company of Beauty and the Beast. She is first call for all the Broadway Series tour productions in Louisville and has played in too many shows to list them all!
Kathie Raymond (Violin)
A member since 2006, has a B.M. In Performance from San Diego State University. A native of San Diego, she was a free lance musician there for many years before moving to central Florida where she played with the Sarasota Symphony and Opera and the Ocala Civic Theatre. In Louisville she has performed with numerous ensembles including Bourbon Baroque and Music Theatre Louisville. She maintains a large studio of violin and viola students at Steilberg String Instruments and enjoys teaching sectionals in the public schools. She is also an active member of Classical Revolution Louisville. Kathie recently played first violin for the Center Stage production of "Sweeney Todd".
Patti Sisson (Violin)
Patti Sisson has a B.A. in Music Performance from the University of Kentucky. She was a member of the Lexington Philharmonic for 17 years as well as an Assistant Concertmaster for 8 years. She has performed with Music Theater Louisville for Hello Dolly! and Oliver as well as Broadway Series The Producers. She has enjoyed being involved in concerts with Johnny Mathis, Josh Groban, Wayne Newton, Smokey Robinson, America, Moody Blues, Transiberian Orchestra, Roberta Flack, Amy Grant, and Julie Andrews. She has been an Auxiliary violinist with the Louisville Orchestra since 2000 and served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Louisville Bach Society. She currently enjoys performing with many different chamber groups in the area. Most recently she was a member of the string section for Stevie Wonder's concert at the Yum Center in march of 2015.
Dr. Cecilia Huerta-Lauf
Described as “an assured soloist” with “fearless technique,” Dr. Cecilia Huerta-Lauf brings passion and heart to her performances as an accomplished cellist. She has enjoyed tenures with groups such as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Discovery Ensemble, the Florida Grand Opera, and the Henry Mancini Institute String Quartet. Cecilia was also the founding administrative director and principal cellist of the Boston Latin-American Orchestra. She was a nominee for the Chicago Edes Foundation Prize for Emerging Young Artists in 2011, and a semi-finalist in the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competiton. Cecilia enjoys expanding her repertoire outside of the traditional classical scene with forays into Latin-American music, Jazz, Bluegrass, improvisation, rock, theater, and Broadway. She has recorded albums with George Benson at the Hit Factory and Weezer, while accompanying popular and Jazz artists in PBS specials and live shows. In the Kentucky region, she has performed in such groups such as the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and Louisville Ballet Orchestra as assistant principal, and as a chamber musician on Crescent Hill Radio's "Classical Hour." As an instructor, Cecilia brings support and dedication to her pupils, having taught at the university and preparatory levels for programs and is currently the cello instructor at Suzuki Stars Music Academy in Louisville.
A native of Dickson, Tennessee, she began playing the cello at age 4. She made her solo debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at age 16. Her musical education began with a pre-college program at Vanderbilt University, extended to her undergraduate degree at DePaul University studying under Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellists Steve Balderston and Brant Taylor, and continued with her master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music as a student of Paul Katz. Recently, Cecilia completed her doctorate and teaching assistantship studying with Ross Harbaugh at the Frost School of Music at University of Miami, Florida as well as a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow. She has participated in music festivals across the United States, Canada, France, and Italy, most recently at the Banff Centre and Carteret Cello Festival.