Platforms

The elected candidates will serve on the CSO Executive Board for the 2025-2026 school year.

Marketing (2)

Megan Vu - Hi! I'm Megan Vu, your current Marketing Co-Chair, resident screenager, and violinist. I've had lots of past experience with graphic design, digital art, and video editing, and I had the great honor of working on concert materials, social media posts, and merch items this year. CSO has been nothing but welcoming and fun to me since I joined, and I would love the opportunity to share this amazing club with even more people! Maybe I can help us go viral on Instagram too? XD

Liya Taxali - My name is Liya Taxali, and I am finishing my first year at UVA. I am a prospective Global Public Health major and have been a part of CSO all year, participating in the Main Ensemble (both semesters), Philharmonic (fall semester), and a Chamber group (spring semester). As a violinist since 4th grade, orchestra has always had a special space in my heart and I have found a highly welcoming and passionate community within CSO. I wish to serve as a Marketing Chair to recruit more musicians into this community. In high school, I gained experience spreading awareness of music through recruiting a group of students to perform at nursing homes. In my free time, I love making art and hope to design T-shirts, have a T-shirt design contest, and create engaging social media posts.

Sara Dombroski - My name is Sara Dombroski, and I play cello! I am a second year Biochemistry major and some of my hobbies include crocheting, and baking. I want to be the Marketing Chair for CSO because I feel like I am very creative and would be able to expand CSO's platform to more people around UVA. I am really passionate about advertising CSO, I am very creative and would be good at developing designs for merchandise.

Clayton Hilt - I’m Clayton Hilt! I’m a rising 2nd-year from the clarinet section and I’m currently planning on majoring in biochemistry (and possibly Spanish). Although I’m really busy most of the time, a hobby I’ve had for a while is to consume content in Spanish in general (although it’s not really a habit once I start taking Spanish courses, I guess :p). My deepest, darkest, and most devious secret is that I want to learn cello.

I want to serve as the Marketing Chair/Communications Chair for the CSO principally because I want to be more involved than I currently am with the group. I was excited for the opportunity to play classical music for the first time before I even got on Grounds, so working to extend the group’s reach further than it is at present is something that I would love to make possible.

I think I’m a good candidate in part because I’m already involved in other music groups around Grounds (like the CMB!). I’m familiar with many different people involved in music and am also trying to become involved with the recruitment and outreach efforts in the CMB too. I’ve contributed ideas to that committee already and think it would help doing something similar in the CSO.

Kylie McLaughlin - I'm Kylie, a flute player and second-year who has served as Social Chair for the past two semesters. I've had so much fun planning different events, like our spring murder mystery, jeopardy night, Love Notes party, and upcoming banquet! I'm particularly interested in Fundraising and Outreach Chair, but I'm also honored to be nominated for Social Chair (again!), Secretary, and Communications Chair. I've seen what it takes to organize events as Social Chair (such as writing our murder mystery from scratch), so I'm eager to apply what I've learned about creating engagement to be an effective fundraiser!!

Jonathan Diaz - Hey everybody! My name is Jonathan Diaz, I am a rising second-year cellist, and my favorite hobby is going to the movie theater with friends. I want to be the secretary, marketing chair, social chair, communications chair, or fundraising and outreach chair, as I am relatively new to CSO and desire to help out the club in any way I can while making some new friends! I am a good candidate for any of the positions as I am already experienced with being on the executive board for a youth musical tutoring club (President) and my UVA 9-ball pool team (Vice President). Thank you so much for your consideration!

Hannah Finke - My name is Hannah Finke! I am a first-year flutist from Houston, Texas (Beyonce and I go way back). Besides flute, I like to read, bake (although not in the dorms), go to random coffee shops, and cycle. I have played flute for 8 years and was the flute section leader and Band President in high school. I am a member of Remote Area Medical, work part-time at the Newcomb Info desk, and will be doing research in the Ribic Lab and playing in a flute ensemble next semester. I plan to manage my time by using my Google Calendar (a lot) and putting all of my responsibilities in a huge Google sheet which helps me complete all of my tasks. I ran the Spanish National Honor Society Instagram my junior year and the Cypress Woods Flute Instagram my senior year:

https://www.instagram.com/cwsnhs?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

https://www.instagram.com/cywoodsflutes?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

I also created and maintained the Spanish NHS website during my time as an officer.

https://sites.google.com/cfisd.net/cy-woods-spanish-nhs/home?authuser=0

As Band President, I planned themed dress up days each week of band camp, the end of year banquet, a holiday food drive, and the summer water balloon fight. I have attached photos from some of these events. I also served as Event Coordinator for Key Club for 2 years where I found community events for our members to volunteer at and coordinated the logistics behind these events.

I would like to be a Marketing Chair for CSO because I want to publicize the goals and accomplishments of our organization and get more people to join! I also want to get more people to come to our concerts because we work really hard and I think more people should see our shows.

Secretary

Sam Lichtman - My name is Sam and I am a third-year math major and violist running for re-election as the Secretary of the Cavalier Symphony Orchestra. I have been a member of CSO for 6 semesters, and I have been honored to serve as your Secretary this past year - booking practice rooms, recording meeting minutes, printing music, and generally helping CSO run smoothly! I've noticed that practice rooms tend to get overlooked by members and I would like to take more initiative next year to advertise them to the orchestra and encourage more people to sign up. I hope members have been happy with my commitment to CSO and service on the executive board and will select me to continue to be your Secretary for the 2025-2026 academic year!

Maya Hamandi - Hey! My name is Maya Hamandi and I am currently a first year hoping to major in Economics and English with a minor in either creative writing or linguistics. I have been playing the violin for 15 years and am currently trying (key word) to learn how to play the oud – basically, music is and has always been a huge part of who I am. Being a part of CSO this past year has been a great experience, and I am running for Secretary because I want to help CSO stay organized and efficient, so that we can continue focusing on what matters most: making music together. My attention to detail and love of planning make me well-suited for the role, and I would love to help streamline communication and keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.

Sara Dombroski - My name is Sara Dombroski, and I play cello! I am a second year Biochemistry major and some of my hobbies include crocheting, and baking. I would love to be the Secretary for CSO because I am extremely organized and great at staying on top of things. I feel like these qualities would make me a good candidate for the Secretary position. I also feel like I am very good at working with others and really enjoy being able to take on leadership and responsibility roles.

Communications

Maya Hamandi - Hey! My name is Maya Hamandi and I am currently a first year hoping to major in Economics and English with a minor in either creative writing or linguistics. I have been playing the violin for 15 years and am currently trying (key word) to learn how to play the oud – basically, music is and has always been a huge part of who I am. Being a part of CSO this past year has been a great experience, and I am running for Communications Chair because I want to help strengthen the connections within CSO and make sure every member feels informed, included, and excited to participate. With my passion for writing and communication, I believe I can help make information clear, accessible, and engaging for everyone.

Anish Singh - Hi, I’m Anish, and I’ve been a clarinetist with the Cavalier Symphony Orchestra for four semesters now! I would love to serve our orchestra as the Communications Chair because to give back to the welcoming and inclusive community that's made CSO so special to me. As a section leader and active member of both chamber and philharmonic ensembles, I believe my main strength is understanding how each branch of the club works, allowing me to effectively communicate relevant information to members. As Communications Chair, I hope to focus on making members feel comfortable and empowered to take risks and try new instruments, as our support for beginners is what makes CSO special!

Social (2)

Denise Pahang - Hi everyone! My name is Denise Pahang, and I am a 1st year Biomedical Engineering PhD student. I play first violin for CSO, but I also taught myself guitar and piano in my spare time. I’m running for Social Chair and Fundraising and Outreach Chair. I want to be the social chair because bringing people together is what CSO is all about. As the social chair, my goal will be to help foster friendships and create lifelong memories with all CSO members. I was the social chair for two organizations in my undergraduate university and hosted game nights, watch parties, craft events, etc. I would love to help organize events like PowerPoint nights, trips to the Charlottesville Symphony, and any other suggestions members have!

Hannah Finke - My name is Hannah Finke! I am a first-year flutist from Houston, Texas (Beyonce and I go way back). Besides flute, I like to read, bake (although not in the dorms), go to random coffee shops, and cycle. I have played flute for 8 years and was the flute section leader and Band President in high school. I am a member of Remote Area Medical, work part-time at the Newcomb Info desk, and will be doing research in the Ribic Lab and playing in a flute ensemble next semester. I plan to manage my time by using my Google Calendar (a lot) and putting all of my responsibilities in a huge Google sheet which helps me complete all of my tasks.

My platform as social chair is to be as approachable and friendly as possible to make everyone feel included and appreciated. My goal is to plan engaging events that reinforce the sense of camaraderie in CSO and make members excited about the organization. As for the marketing chair position, I hope to strengthen the connection between CSO and the surrounding UVA community by publicizing our events. I also want to get the word out there to potential new members, so we can have as much participation as possible.

I would like to be a social chair for CSO because I want members to make connections outside of rehearsal. I believe this is where the best friendships are made. Planning and attending social events is also something I really look forward to.

Fundraising and Outreach Chair

Denise Pahang - I am also running for Fundraising and Outreach Chair. As a graduate student, I’ve had a lot of experience applying to grants to fund my research. I believe these skills will help me secure funding for our events and scholarships and get the name of CSO beyond grounds. I also organize livestreaming charity events. To date, we have raised over $7000 for different charities like Project Hope, and World Central Kitchen. Being able to perform music unfortunately comes with many financial hurdles that me and my family have experienced. I want to lessen that burden and support CSO’s mission to foster a community through our shared joy of music.

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