The San Francisco Symphony has recently appointed three new players, all of whom will join the orchestra in the 2026/27 season. They are Associate Principal Second Violin Jung-Eun Shin, Associate Principal Horn Michael Stevens, and Assistant Principal Timpani/Section Percussion James Benoit.
Jung-Eun Shin has spent much of her career in Germany, where she has been first concertmaster of the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra at Staatstheater Augsburg since 2017. She previously served as an academy fellow with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2014 to 2016 and subsequently performed with the orchestra as a first violinist during the 2016–17 season.
From South Korea, she completed her undergraduate studies at the Seoul National University, before continuing to the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, where she completed a master’s degree and the
Meisterklasse postgraduate program.
Michael Stevens played in the San Francisco Symphony as an acting member during the 2025/26 season, and was previously principal horn of the Rochester Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.
His primary teachers have included Gail Williams, Jon Boen, Javier Gandara, and Barbara Currie, and he holds a degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.
Timpanist James Benoit was previously principal timpani of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Seattle Symphony, as well as associate principal percussion and assistant principal timpani of the Fort Worth Symphony. He has also appeared as guest principal timpani of the Cleveland Orchestra.
He holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music, as well as an Artist Diploma from Duquesne University, where he is currently on the faculty.