Leadership

Professional musician, administrator, in charge of music management
sondrawhitelakemusic@gmail.com
231-329-3056

Sondra Cross is the executive director of the White Lake Chamber Music Society. Sondra received her Bachelor of Music in Music Performance from Western Michigan ​University and studied with Clark Brody of the Chicago Symphony as well as Harrison Orr of the Eastman School of Music & Kalamazoo Symphony. She was a member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra for 18 years and also performed with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Twin Lake Symphony.

Having a dream and vision of great musical possibilities in the White Lake area, Sondra founded the White Lake Chamber Music Society in 2005. Soon after, with the help of a strong board, the WLCMS proudly introduced the West Michigan Junior Strings, the White Lake Chamber Music Festival, a lecture series, and many additional programs.

Sondra is passionate about chamber music and performing with small ensembles. She has taught privately for many years and has worked as a substitute middle and high school music teacher, instrumental sectional coach, and public school band assistant. She has seven wonderful children and eight grandchildren. Sondra is also a public speaker and founder/director of an annual women’s conference held every January called “Renew” in addition to helping her husband pastor Living Word Church of Muskegon.

Two-time Grammy nominee Marina Hoover was the founding cellist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, which rocketed to international prominence after winning both the Young Concert Artists auditions and the Banff International String Quartet Competition. In her 13 years with the St. Lawrence, Ms. Hoover performed at The White House, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 92nd Street “Y,” The Kennedy Center (for the Emperor of Japan), Wigmore Hall (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), and Theatre De Ville (Paris). In addition, the quartet made regular appearances at Tanglewood, the Newport Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, as well as over one thousand other appearances throughout North and South America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam. The St. Lawrence quartet, with Marina Hoover as the cellist, was the resident quartet at Spoleto USA for seven years.

The Quartet’s major recording label debut on EMI, Schumann String Quartets 1 and 3, won both the Juno award for Best Classical recording and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. It was voted one of the most important classical recordings by Opus Magazine. The St. Lawrence’s third CD, Yiddishbbuk: The Chamber Works of Osvaldo Golijov, was nominated for the Grammy awards for Best Classical Chamber Music Recording and Best Composer, as well as a Juno Award for Best Classical Recording. Ms. Hoover since has recorded with pianist Patricia Tao performing works by Chopin, Strauss and Liszt on the Centaur label. Her Piano trio, Trio Voce, has two recordings: In A New Light, works by Arensky, Zemlinsky and Zuk and Inscapes, works by Weinberg and Shostakovich. Both CDs are on the Con Brio Recording Label. She regularly performs in Chicago area with her duo partner, pianist Sevgi Giles. Ms. Hoover is the new Artistic Director of the White Lake Chamber Music Society.

Bryan Uecker is a regular performer at Classical Music Night on the first Wednesday of each month at the Book Nook and Java Shop, where he is one of the owners.

Bryan was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Creston High School. He received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Hope College where he studied with Charles Aschbrenner. He also has a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Bryan has been attending the Ischia Chamber Music Workshop on the island of Ischia in Italy.

Travel is part of life for Bryan who commutes monthly from Austin, where he currently serves as co-founder and President of BeneQuest, a 401(k) Advisory Firm. He returns to Montague frequently and summers at a cottage in North Grey Dunes with his family.

Active musically in solo and chamber music, he also enjoys performing with his 17-year-old twin daughters, Adrienne (violin) and Miriam (piano) as “Trinergy”.

Robert Swan was raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. He attended Indiana ​University’s world-renowned music school where he received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree with highest distinction, ABD in Music History and Literature, and Performer’s Certificate. Swan studied with David Dawson, Josef Gingold, Janos Starker, William Primrose, Georgy Sebok, and Menahem Pressler.