Kris Yenney (PACO '74) ~ cellist, conductor, composer, and educator ~
received her Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory
of Music, where her primary teachers were Colin Carr, Louis Krasner,
Leonard Shure and Gunther Schuller. Her Post Graduate studies have been
conducted at such institutions as the Julliard School (NY), the
Tanglewood Institute (MASS), the Banff (Alberta) Centre for the Arts
and the Chisti Sabri School of Classical Indian Music (Marin, CA and
Jaipur,India).
   Director of both the Preparatory and "SuperStrings" divisions of the
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (of which she was a proud member from 1967
to 1974), she also serves as Director of Orchestras and of the Chamber
Music Society at the Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley.
   Kris was a founding member of the cutting-edge Left Coast Chamber
Ensemble of San Francisco and performs currently with Trio Con Brio and
the Celtic and Early Music Ensemble, "Broceliande," which has been
featured guests on Sedge Thompson's "West Coast Live," JoAnn Mar's
"Folk Music and Beyond" and other shows on KALW, KPFA and KKUP and has
toured throughout California and the Pacific North West to raves.
Broceliande has recorded 3 critically acclaimed cds, with four more in
progress.
   A past member of the New England String Quartet (NESQ) of Boston
(which had as co-founders two more PACO alumnae - Heidi Yenney ['78]
and Holly Barnes ['76]), Kris also co-founded the Palo Alto Sunrise
Quartet with another Paco grad, Eleanor Angel (PACO '76). As a
free-lance cellist, Kris has worked with Bay Area organizations as
diverse as the San Jose Symphony and Midsummer Mozart Orchestras, the
West Bay and San Jose Opera companies, and backing up Rod Stewart, Lyle
Lovett and Smokey Robinson when they perform locally. She teaches cello
and chamber music privately and can be heard on numerous recordings
ranging from classical to Celtic to jazz.
  Highlights of her musical life have included presenting a quintet
concert with Yo-Yo Ma and NESQ, performing and recording with Jazz
pianist Fred Hersch, competing in the Evian, France International
String Quartet Competition (NESQ) and being the first woman to win the
prestigious John W Work III award in composition for her original
setting of Lewis Carroll's "JABBERWOCKY."