Get To Know Us
“Terrific musicians. Very knowledgeable on core content, kind to the students and play anywhere from a gymnasium to a small classroom. We are delighted to have SHS come to our school. Each year, both staff and students look forward to these performances.”
Lotti Ropert
French Horn
Since moving to the United States from Australia in 2019, Lotti Ropert has built a vibrant career as a Horn player, performing across the tri-state area and beyond. Following an initial one-year appointment, she went on to complete three full seasons with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra as 2nd Horn. She maintains an active presence in the regional freelance scene, performing regularly with the Lexington Philharmonic, Akron Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Kentucky Symphony, and others.
Lotti’s favorite part about being a musician is where music can take her—from the icy mountains of Norway to the sunny shores of Santo Domingo. Her professional career spans internationally, featuring guest appearances as 2nd Horn with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Santo Domingo and 3rd Horn with the Sarajevo Philharmonic, as well as performances with Norway’s Lofoten og Vesterålen Orkesterforening and of course her home of Sydney, Australia.
Alongside her performance schedule, Lotti is a dedicated music educator and a member of the School House Symphony, where she shares the joy of live music with young audiences. Her background in orchestral performance was established in Australia, where she played as Section Horn in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and held an orchestral fellowship with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. She also spent a significant period in Oslo, Norway, for intensive study with the legendary Frøydis Ree Wekre.
Lotti holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her development as a performer has been guided by mentors including Denise Tryon, Liz Freimuth, and Frøydis Ree Wekre.
Jin Hand
Flute
Jin Hand joined School House Symphony in 2016. She is an award-winning soloist, chamber and orchestral player and an active teacher. She has performed with the ASU Symphony Orchestra, ASU Lyric Opera Theatre, and the Copperstar Repertory Company as a principal flutist.
She won second prize in the Alexander Buono International Competition and was invited to play at the Kosciuszko Foundation Auditorium in New York City. As the winner of the Concert of Soloists Concerto Competition, Jin was a featured soloist with the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra.
Jin holds her Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, Master of Music from Arizona State University, and is currently completing the final requirements for the Doctorate of Music from Arizona State University, where she served as a Faculty Associate during her doctoral studies. She was invited as a Guest Director for the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra and the ASU Community Flute Ensemble.
Jin currently resides in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and is active as a freelance performer, playing on occasion with orchestras in the area, including the Clermont Philharmonic and Middletown Symphony Orchestra, and as a flute instructor, teaching private lessons and serving as a guest clinician at local schools.
Karen McDowell
Violin
Karen begged to learn to learn to play the violin when she saw her favorite cousin and aunt doing it at their family concerts during holidays. Her parents let her start just before her 4th birthday, at which point she proceeded to have temper tantrums at every (Suzuki) class that term. Her next teacher, a wise 16-year old, turned everything around, however…and she was a “violinist” from that point on.
She has performed in North America, Europe and Asia and has taught orchestra and private lessons in the US and Singapore. Her favorite orchestral job was in a castle halfway up a mountain in Heidelberg, Germany one summer where her violist friend taught her to cook with fresh food from the market. She finds that music cuts through any other differences and makes her feel a part of her current home, no matter where she is.
After long admiring what Schoolhouse brings to students in the Cincinnati area, she is thrilled to now be a part of it–she loves how the group establishes an ongoing relationship with students and builds upon each previous visit, always adapting to each school’s unique dynamic.
Nora Barton
Cello
Nora Barton joined School House Symphony in 2024. She is a cellist and a CCM alum. When she is not performing across the Cincinnati area with SHS, she is sought after for her vast experience including ensemble work, recording, improvisation, and composition.
Nora also performs at Hospice of Cincinnati and the UC Medical Center as part of Cincinnati Arts Association’s Arts in Healing initiative, bringing the power of wellness and non-traditional settings to support wellness and enhance the healing process.
Nora also regularly plays wedding ceremonies, accompanies yoga classes, hosts ambient noise jams, and performs out as Planchette, an experimental solo project that enriches spaces with ethereal cello energy. Her recordings are available at here.
Glenn Proffit
Bass Trombone
Glenn joined School House Symphony in 1995 and plays both trombone and tuba in the ensemble. He received a BA, Music from Northern Illinois University(Dekalb, IL), and a MA, Music from the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA). He has performed with these local, regional and national arts organizations:
Boston Symphony Orchestra (Boston, MA)
Cincinnati Ballet
Chicago Civic Symphony (Chicago, IL)
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Cincinnati, OH)
Dayton Philharmonic (Dayton, OH)
North Carolina Symphony (Raleigh, NC)
West Virginia Symphony
Glenn maintains a private teaching studio in West Chester, teaching trombone, tuba, and euphonium/baritone. Glenn is also an active triathlete, a first degree black belt in Japanese Karate-Do, and an avid gardener.
Laura Sabo
Clarinet
Laura joined the ensemble in 2013. She is a classically trained musician who has crossed to the dark side of improvised music and never wants to go back, except occasionally when she gets to perform with wonderful ensembles such as the West Virginia Symhony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and Concert:Nova. She fell in love with music as a child when she would sneak into the basement after dinner to spend hours listening to old records. Her impatience chose saxophone as her first instrument in fourth grade simply because the line for flute was too long. Although she was reduced to tears when her private lesson teacher forced her to switch to clarinet, it has proven a fateful match.
Her teachers have included members of the Cleveland Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. She has received degrees in music from the Ohio State University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and recently completed her doctorate from the College Conservatory of Music at UC. Still, she is consistently lured away from the classical world by the expressive, soulful wailing made by gypsy and folk clarinetists of Turkey and Eastern Europe, and finds her truest musical self playing original gypsy jazz with the Marmalade Brigade, Cajun and Dixieland with Lagniappe, trance/belly dance with Mayan Ruins, bass clarinet with Strange Creature, and early music with the Noyse Merchants. She maintains a changeling/amphibious lifestyle between the airy heights of a trained classical musician and the watery depths of expressive improvisation.
She is also the organizer/impresario for Classical Revolution Cincinnati and teaches private lessons at the Cincinnati Music Academy and all around the Cincinnati area.