Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians kicking off new performance season

Monica Fosnaugh and Scott Strong

Two musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will join Randolph professor Emily Yap Chua in September for an afternoon of chamber music for oboe, French horn, and piano. 

The event, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6, at 3 p.m. in Wimberly Recital Hall, kicks off Randolph’s 2025-26 Guest Artist Music Series. The program includes works by French composer Francis Poulenc, Belgian composer Jane Vignery, and German composers Robert Kahn and Carl Reinecke. 

Monica Fosnaugh, who studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University, was appointed English horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2012 by Leonard Slatkin. 

Before joining the DSO, she held positions with the Rochester and Syracuse symphonies and has performed with major orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra. Fosnaugh is a frequent soloist and chamber musician, and an alum of the New World Symphony and several major summer festivals.

Scott Strong, appointed third horn in 2014, received his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University and completed his graduate studies at Rice University before joining the Louisiana Philharmonic horn section. 

He is an active participant in many festivals and has held horn positions in the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Ballet Orchestra, and the San Antonio Symphony. 

Admission to the concert, made possible through the generosity of The Edwin H. and Elaine Dahl St. Vincent Music Fund, is free. 

The musicians will visit students at E. C. Glass High School and Perrymont Elementary School as part of their residency. 

“The mission of the Guest Artist Series is to bring world-class musicians to our community for the benefit of the greater Lynchburg area, and our educational outreach is an important component of that mission,” said Emily Yap Chua, the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William Erness Thoresen Professor of Music and director of the series. 

“We are proud to bring these performances to students in Lynchburg City Schools,” she added. “Monica and Scott are truly exceptional musicians, and the students and our concert patrons will definitely enjoy their artistry in these concerts.”