Meet the SSO's Musical Leadership
Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen, Conductor
Jeffrey Schoyen graduated with distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music where he was a student of Lawrence Lesser. He completed a D.M.A. at Stony Brook as a student of Timothy Eddy. His awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Chamber Music Rural Residency Grant, Tanglewood Festivals Gustav Golden Award, and a Frank Huntington Beebe Grant to study with famed cellist William Pleeth in London. Dr. Schoyen has extensive orchestral experience and has been a member of the Opera Orchestra of New York, Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and Principal Cellist of the Filarmonica del Bajio in Mexico.
An active chamber musician and recitalist, Dr. Schoyen has given concerts throughout the United States, Germany, Mexico and Spain. His most recent recital tour included the cities of Cuenca and Guayaquil in Ecuador. Dr. Schoyen has taught at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and at the University of Dayton. He has presented conference lectures on topics ranging from performance practice to kinesiology in string playing.
His interest in conducting began at Tanglewood, where he was awarded cello fellowships, playing under the guidance of conductors such as Bernstein, Ozawa and Masur. Since then he has attended conducting workshops in Madison, Chicago, and Toronto. Having been the conductor of the Slidell Community Orchestra and the Kearney Area Symphony Orchestra, he is presently serving his 20th year as the Music Director of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with artists such as Anton Miller, Charlotte Paulsen, Gary Louie, Dan Kamin, The Capitol Quartet, and Dominic Armstrong. He is a professor at Salisbury University where he teaches cello and bass, and various other courses. During the summer he serves on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, MI.
Dr. Sachiho (Sachi) Murasugi, Concertmaster
Dr. Sachiho Murasugi, violin, has performed extensively as a professional orchestral and chamber musician. She has been concertmaster of the Sorg Opera Orchestra in Ohio and Filarmonica del Bajio in Mexico, and a member of the West Virginia Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Springfield Symphony. As a chamber musician she has performed throughout the United States, Mexico and Spain, received a National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residency Grant and was selected for the Nebraska Arts Councils Touring Artist Program as a member of the Sandhill Trio. She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and earned her D.M.A. from the Ohio State University. Her teachers have included Raphael Bronstein, Daniel Philips and Kia-Hui Tan. Currently she is on the music faculty at SU where she teaches upper strings and serves as SSO concertmaster. Additionally, she holds an M.B.A. from Tulane University where she was awarded the Freeman Fellowship.
Devon Bristow, Manager
Devon picked up a violin at the age of 9 and never truly put it down. Though she has performed with many symphonies and local fiddle groups, she did not study music in college. Instead, Devon received her B.A. (2020) and M.A. (2022) in English Literature from Salisbury University. She went on to teach briefly in the SU English Department and Clarke Honors College, and now serves as Wor-Wic Community College's Enrollment Specialist alongside her role as SSO Manager. Devon is a proud Gull, and after growing up in a military family that often moved, Salisbury is the first place she's put down roots. She is thrilled to continue supporting the lasting impact of the SSO.