Ed Malaga
President
Ed Malaga moved to the Washington D.C. area in 1989 after graduating from the New England Conservatory with a degree in Double Bass Performance. As a freelance bassist, he has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and in many other settings in the DC area and beyond. Ed was elected to the Executive Board of Local 161-710 in 2008, and then became President in 2011. In 2019 he was elected to the AFM International Executive Board
Harriette “Patty” Hurd
Vice President
Patty was elected to serve as Vice President in 2014, following several years as a member of the executive board. In addition to the responsibilities of this office, she also coordinates the scholarship program, sponsored by the Local, that distributes monies to the local music students. These funds allow the winners to study privately or attend summer music festivals/camps. She also serves as one of the delegates to the Eastern and Southern Conferences and represents the local at the triennial AFM Conference.
Marta Bradley
Secretary-Treasurer
Marta began her first term as Secretary-Treasurer of Local 161-710 on May 1, 2014. Since that time, she has overhauled the office with appropriate filing systems, brought bookkeeping in-house (saving over $50,000 annually), updated the local newsletter to a full color-magazine, and engaged a web-designer to re-design the local website, musiciansdc.org. Marta formed a Budget committee in 2015, implementing an annual budget. Since her tenure began, Musicians Talent Agency, Inc., the payroll service run by the local, has grown from administering approx. $800,000 in payroll per year, to over $1.5 million (2019). Marta takes part in monthly AFM organizing training, which has given her the desire to better engage members to feel empowered to use their voice to be treated as the professionals they are. She was recently elected Secretary-Treasurer for the Eastern Conference of Locals.
At the request of AFM Legislative Director, Alfonso Pollard, Marta has attended meetings with U.S. Representatives Collin Peterson (MN), Andy Levin (MI), and Marcia Fudge (Ohio). She secured a group of Local 161-710 members to play for Rep. Louise Slaughter’s (NY) memorial service held in the Capitol. Marta has also attended, along with other Local members, the launch of pension legislation on May 9, 2017 by Senators Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the rally for the Butch Lewis Act held July 10, 2019, on Capitol Hill, the House Ways and Means Markup, and the full U.S. House of Representatives vote, where union members were seated in Speaker Pelosi’s gallery box. In the summer of 2021, Marta gathered a group of musicians to represent the AFM at the press conference on Capitol Hill for the launch of the American Music Fairness Act.
Marta has been a freelance bass player in the D.C./Baltimore metro. area for over 30 years. She received her B.M. from Indiana University and her M.M. from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Larry Hurst and Hal Robinson. She began her career in the orchestras for the national tour of the musical “Gypsy,” and the Euro. tour of “My One and Only.” She was asst. principal bass with the Baltimore Opera Company for 15 years and has played with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera Orchestra, Maryland Lyric Opera, Washington Ballet, Wolf Trap Orchestra, National Gallery of Art Orchestra, Post Classical Ensemble, Fairfax Symphony, and Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (co-principal bass -10 years). Marta has played on multiple recordings and appeared on several television specials, including one of the last Victor Borga PBS programs.
Executive Board
Annie Ament
Executive Board
I am a proud native of Washington, D.C. and a grateful member of Local 161-710 and its Executive Board. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Clarinet Performance from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School. Currently, I freelance in the Washington metropolitan area, performing with such groups as the Washington Ballet, the Maryland Lyric Opera Company, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Wolftrap Opera Company, Signature Theater, Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre and the National Gallery of Art. I have subbed or played extra with both the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra as well. I have a private teaching studio at my home and have two grown daughters. Other interests, besides all types of music, are gardening for wildlife with native plants, local ecology, politics and sports, particularly baseball!
Joseph Grimmer
Executive Board
Joseph Grimmer is Principal Bassoon of the Kennedy Center Opera House
Orchestra/Washington National Opera Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Maryland. He also holds the Principal Bassoon positions with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California. He previously served as Principal Bassoon with the Jacksonville Symphony, was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, was Acting Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Naples Philharmonic, and spent six summers as Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado.
He has performed as Guest Principal Bassoon with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Miami City Ballet Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, IRIS Orchestra, and Wolf Trap Orchestra, among others. He has also performed with the National Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and Arizona Musicfest Orchestras. He has performed as a soloist with the IDRS Conference Orchestra in an arrangement of Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in David Ludwig’s Pictures from the Floating World. He has taught at the Shenandoah Conservatory, Howard University, Catholic University, and the Miami Music Festival and presents masterclasses at music schools across the US and internationally.
Grimmer was a fellow at the Lucerne, Aspen, and Sarasota Music Festivals and a prize winner at the International Double Reed Society’s Young Artist Bassoon Competition in Birmingham, England. He serves on the Executive Board of Washington DC’s Local 161-710 of the American Federation of Musicians. Grimmer earned his Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. He also studied with William Winstead at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree.
Elizabeth O'Hara
Executive Board
Professional violist Liz O’Hara is passionate about the future of classical music, the wellbeing of its musicians, and the ensured opportunities of the empowering experience of music for all. She has extensive experience performing chamber music as a founding member of multiple professional ensembles, namely the 9th Street Quartet. Liz is also the co-owner of the quartet's umbrella organization, 9th Street Chamber Music, LLC alongside violinist Matt Richardson. 9SCM is a dream realized, combining the joy of performing chamber music with the one-of-a-kind fulfillment of coaching engaged, talented young string quartet musicians, and a shared group vision of all the ways that the collaborative art of chamber music can have an immense impact on individuals and their communities.
In addition to 9SCM, in late 2020, Liz launched MusicianCentric (formerly ViolaCentric), a podcast and online community with co-owner and fellow violist Stephanie Knutsen. Now in its fourth season, MusicianCentric aims to inspire musicians to feel a sense of agency in their lives, especially those on a freelancer's path. Liz also operates a boutique private viola studio. Her students have been participants at summer academies including Interlochen and Meadowmount, and have gone on to pursue music degrees at universities such as Vanderbilt and Carnegie Mellon University. An active orchestral violist as well, Liz performs regularly with several ensembles, including the American Pops Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Liz appeared on stage for National Theatre’s production of Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill. A native of central Pennsylvania, Liz has a B.M. in Viola Performance from Temple University and a M.M. in Viola Performance from The Catholic University of America.
Patrick Plunk
Executive Board
Patrick Plunk is a freelance woodwind performer throughout the Washington/Baltimore region. Patrick received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Memphis, and two Master of Music degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. He has performed on every member of the clarinet and saxophone family in such ensembles as the New York City Ballet, the Richmond Symphony, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony, the National Philharmonic, Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Alexandria Symphony, and the Memphis Symphony.
In addition, he has performed regularly as a multiple woodwind performer throughout the area in many musical theater venues such as the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Hippodrome Theatre, Signature Theatre, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as national touring acts at the Wolf Trap Park for the Performing Arts (Filene Center) and The Music Center at Strathmore. When not performing, Patrick stays busy as one of the DC areas leading woodwind repair technicians. He has served on the Executive Board for local 161-710 since 2016 and lives in Crofton, MD with his wife and two children.
Jennifer Rende
Executive Board
Violist Jennifer Rende has a distinguished career in chamber and orchestral music in the United States and Europe. For eighteen years, Ms Rende served as principal violist for the Baltimore Opera Company and is currently principal violist for the Maryland Lyric Opera. She is a regular performer with the Wolf Trap Orchestra and is principal violist with the Wolf Trap Opera Company. She performs regularly with National Philharmonic Orchestra (Washington, D.C.) and the Harisburg Symphony (PA). Ms Rende served for two years with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Casals Festival Orchestra for five years.
She served on the string faculty at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and participated in the prestigious International Music Festival held in Alba, Italy. Her experience also includes a number of musical productions and nationally televised performances. She has had the privilege of serving on the Local 161-710 Executive Board since 2014.
Delegates
Peter de Boor
Delegate
Peter de Boor joined the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra/Washington National Opera Orchestras as Third Horn in 1997. While working towards a PhD in mathematics, he changed directions and began pursuing a career in music at age 26. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, and the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra (OSEM).
Peter has served on the Orchestra Committee for the KCOHO since 1998, first as Treasurer, and since 2012 as Chair. He served as ICSOM delegate from 2008 to 2013, Senza Sordino Editor from 2014 to 2021, and was elected Treasurer in 2021. Previously, he served on the Executive Board of Local 161-710 in Washington, D.C. from 2011 to 2014. He has been one of the Local’s delegates to the AFM Convention since 2019.
Sharon Bingham Wolfolk
Delegate
Sharon Bingham Wolfolk, a native of Washington, DC, began her musical studies on the viola in the DC Public Schools and the DC Youth Orchestra Program. While attending Catholic University of America, she began her professional career as a member of The Fairfax and Prince George’s Symphony Orchestras. After graduation, she taught music in the DC Public Schools before entering The United States Air Force as a member of The US Air Force Strings, serving for 28 years.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Bingham Wolfolk studied at several renowned music festivals to include the Tanglewood Young Artist Institute at the summer home of the Boston Symphony, Aspen and Strawberry Creek Music Festivals. She has studied privately with Max Aronoff at the New School of Music in Philadelphia, Ramon Scavelli of The National Symphony Orchestra, and Karen Ritscher of the Manhattan School of Music.
Since retiring from The United States Air Force, Ms. Bingham Wolfolk has continued her free-lance career performing with the Alexandria Symphony, Prince George’s Philharmonic and The Washington Sinfonietta. In addition, she also performs commercial strolling and string quartet jobs for special events. She is married to Ephriam Wolfolk, Jr., who is a member of the DC Federation of Musicians Executive Board, and a free-lance jazz and classical bassist.