Board of Directors

Aaron Brown
President

Aaron Brown is a high-tech executive with a background in product management and marketing. Aaron has been an enthusiastic amateur violinist for over 35 years and studied with renowned violin master and teacher Roman Totenberg. He has performed with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in Cambridge MA, as concertmaster of the Prometheus Symphony in Oakland CA, and with the Yonkers Philharmonic in Yonkers NY. He has degrees in computer science from Harvard and UC Berkeley, and currently resides in San Francisco.

David Jacobson
Vice President

David Jacobson, is a violinist, performer, and pedagogue and has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and other orchestras throughout the United States and performed in recital in the major capitals of Europe. He is the founder and director of the San Francisco Institute of Music where he created a unique system of teaching--the SFIM Method. Mr Jacobson is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Ivan Galamian, He is a native San Franciscan and a former winner of the Pacific Musical Society Competition.

Audinga Jacobson
Treasurer

Co-founder of the SF Institute of Music, Audinga Jacobson brings to the Bay Area extensive performance and teaching experience in both Europe and the United States. She is a distinguished representative of the Russian school of violin playing, continuing the tradition of David Oistrakh as taught by her teachers Alexander Livontas (a student of Pyotr Stolyarsky, who taught Nathan Milstein and David Oistrakh), Victor Radovich. Ms. Jacobson received two Masters Degrees from the Lithuanian Academy of Music. She was a member of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra and has appeared as soloist in television and radio broadcasts for both Lithuanian national television and radio. She was the host for several years of a musical education program for children on Lithuanian national television.

Darren Sears
Secretary

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Darren grew up studying piano, violin, theory and composition. He received his B.A. in environmental studies from Stanford and a Master in Landscape Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, after which he practiced design in Dallas, Boston and the Bay Area. For the past few years he has been taking a break from professional life to focus on cartography-inspired artwork and on rekindling his musical pursuits.

Rictor Noren
Director

Rictor Noren teaches violin, viola, chamber music, and string pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee.  He also teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Cincinnati Young Artists Program, and the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Orchestra engagements include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New York String Orchestra, and the American Sinfonietta.

Mr. Noren works with pre-college and college students nationally and internationally to achieve practical and professional outcomes.  His collaborative approach emphasizes balance, goal setting, efficient practice techniques, musical development, and a hands-on approach to training.  His work supports the overcoming of technical barriers, conquering physical pain, and developing a professional identity. Mr. Noren is an active composer, and lecturer on music and its role in daily life.