Board of Directors

Peter Mcgrath

Peter has been involved in fundraising for over 30 years in a variety of roles. Most recently, he is a Principal with Russell Frost Associates, a company that works with non-profits to help them navigate the many back-office issues while they keep their eye on their mission. He is not a musician but has been connected to classical music since early childhood and has been delighted to work with ESF!

alice kao

Alice grew up in the Bay Area and has played piano and violin since childhood. She majored in medieval history and literature at Harvard University and received a JD from the UC Berkeley School of Law. While maintaining a career in the legal profession, she has never lost her love of music and continues to perform as a freelance musician with groups including the Magik*Magik Orchestra and Curious Flights. She has served on the long range planning committee for Opera San Jose, where she was a member of the Board of Trustees.

Maria Karpenko

Maria credits her "renaissance" upbringing for her love of the visual and perfuming arts. She has been painting oil-on-canval since she can remember and had her first exhibition at the age of 10. Piano lessons in her teens gave her a deeper appreciation for classical music. Now, she enjoys hosting chamber music parties and getting a group of friends together for "dinner and a concert." Maria is the founder of Voxel Studios, a digital content production company on a mission to inform, engage, and delight curious minds with creative and original storytelling. Voxel Studios content provides insights into innovations and trends at the intersection of science, technology, and design that are shaping our future. Maria has a background in biomedical sciences and over a decade of experience in digital health research, communications and marketing, medical software product design, and editorial direction for an international arts magazine. She is passionate about increasing science and tech literacy and promoting critical thinking.

Nigel Le

Nigel was raised in Texas and began playing the violin at age 10. Besides Ensemble San Francisco, Nigel continues the tradition of his mentor in loaning instruments to promising musicians. Nigel currently resides in Oakland, California.

Elizabeth Schumann

Marco Rozzano

Marco was born in San Francisco and has a degree in technical and professional writing from San Francisco State University. He works currently doing business intelligence analysis, reporting, and process improvement. At a young age, he became a fan of classical music after hearing a piece of music that included several blasts from a cannon. A few years later, he discovered chamber music and realized that a group of 4 can sound just as vociferous and passionate as an orchestra of 40. Even without cannons. Being especially passionate about chamber music, Marco can be found often behind the scenes assisting various chamber music ensembles and events throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. When he’s not espousing the virtues of live musical performance, he’s walking his greyhound, evangelizing the principle of optimism and Popperian epistemology, or watching science and astronomy documentaries. Sometimes all on the same night.

Andrew Lan

Andrew is a native Californian who was born and raised in Los Angeles, where he began studying violin and viola. He majored in biology and Russian at Stanford and received his medical degree from UC San Diego and a Master's in Public Health from UC Berkeley. At every educational step of the way, he involved himself in the local orchestras and chamber music circles. He regards his two summers at the Aspen Music Festival as the absolute high points of his life. He works as a general pediatrician in Los Gatos and performs regularly with Bay Area symphony and opera orchestras.

Rebecca Jackson-Picht

Northern California native, Rebecca's whole hearted belief in music's power has led to her involvement in helping create and build three musical non profits. She feels honored to serve on the board of Ensemble San Francisco with her generous, multi-talented, and inspiring friends.