Just when you thought you knew most of the new musicians in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra under the direction of Music Director Cristian Măcelaru has announced nine more new hires. They’ve also announced the appointment of Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra’s (CSYO) new Concert Orchestra Conductor, and two conducting contract extensions for the 2026–27 season.

The musicians won positions following extensive auditions from a national applicant pool.

The new players are: Molly Norcross, Principal Horn; Mark Debski, Associate Principal Oboe; Drew Morgan, Associate Principal Horn; Ania Lewis, Assistant Principal Cello; Jessica Kovach, Section Bass; and Alex Pride, Section Trumpet. One-year appointments include Celia Daggy, Acting Associate Principal Viola and Micah Reinharz, Acting Associate Principal Trumpet.

Also joining the Orchestra this year is cellist Osheen Manukyan as the CSO’s inaugural CSO Resident Fellow. Leading the Cincinnati Symphony
Youth Orchestra Concert Orchestra is Lina Jeong, who is currently orchestra director at Xavier University.

In addition, the CSO announced a one-year contract extension with CSO Assistant Conductor Duo Shen, and Assistant Conductor Alex Amsel has been promoted to Associate Conductor with a one-year contract extension.

Congratulations to all! Below are more details:

Molly Norcross, Principal Horn (Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair). Molly Norcross succeeds longtime principal horn Elizabeth Freimuth, who has joined the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.  Norcross previously served for five seasons as the CSO’s Acting Associate Principal Horn, while holding the tenured position of Assistant Principal/Utility Horn. She is also third horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and will continue that appointment during the 2026=27 season. A committed educator, Norcross has coached students through the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra and CSO Brass Institute and has served on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Mark Debski, Associate Principal Oboe (Stephen P. McKean Chair). A native of Pittsburgh, Mark Debski served as interim principal oboe of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the 2025–26 season. He previously held principal oboe positions with The Florida Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony and was an oboe fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Debski has also performed as a guest with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra. During the summer, Debski serves as the second oboist for the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon, a position he has held since 2019.

Drew Morgan, Associate Principal Horn (Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer Chair). Cincinnati native and CCM graduate Drew Morgan Drew Morgan previously served as the associate principal/third horn of the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand. Morgan has participated in many Cincinnati-based ensembles, including the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2021. He then completed his graduate studies at The Juilliard School in 2025, during which time he was a recipient of the Gluck Foundation scholarship and the Morse Teaching Artist scholarship.

Ania Lewis, Assistant Principal Cello (Karl & Roberta Schlachter Family Chair). Ania Lewis started studying the cello at the age of 6 before moving to Cleveland a few years later. She made her solo debut with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra at age 14. An avid chamber musician, Lewis was featured as part of the Curtis Institute of Music’s Curtis on Tour, playing a guitar quartet program with Roberto Díaz and Jason Vieaux. Lewis has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Boston Symphony, and will be featured as a soloist with the Lexington Philharmonic in the fall of 2026, performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Jessica Kovach, Section Bass. Bassist Jessica Kovach has played with the Cincinnati Symphony as a regular substitute musician since 2019 and joins the
Orchestra as a roster player starting in the fall of 2026. She earned her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University and pursued graduate studies at CCM, primarily studying with Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, P.J. Cinque and Owen Lee. Kovach has also appeared with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic and Santa Barbara Symphony.

Alex Pride, Section Trumpet (Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Chair). Alexander Pride joined the Cincinnati Symphony as Second Trumpet in 2023. Previously, he served as acting fourth/utility trumpet with the Utah Symphony in the 2019–20 season, as well as substitute trumpet with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Pride graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2009 with his bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance and from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in 2012 with his master’s degree in trumpet performance. His primary teachers include Michael Sachs of The Cleveland Orchestra and Douglas Lindsay, his father Steven Pride, Marie Speziale and Robert Sullivan, all of whom were members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.