Chad Goodman, conductor

With a flair for inventive programming and a bold presence on stage and in the community, Chad Goodman has been praised for "bringing innovation to classical music" (Forbes).

As the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony, Mr. Goodman conducts on subscription, education, family and holiday programs. His program, “SPARK: How Composers Find Inspiration,” blended captivating light design and videography with engaging audience participation to explore how a composition is created and brought to life by an orchestra.

Since 2018 Mr. Goodman has served as an Assistant Conductor to the San Francisco Symphony, assisting Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Simone Young and James Gaffigan among others.

Mr. Goodman's 2022-23 Season will include debut appearances with the Elgin Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, Greensboro Symphony and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.

As Founder and Artistic Director of Elevate Ensemble, Mr. Goodman’s ambitious vision for concert programming resulted in the pairing of music from Bay Area composers with underappreciated gems of the 20th and 21st centuries. Under his leadership, Elevate Ensemble established a Composer-in-Residence program and commissioned fifteen works from Bay Area composers. Elevate collaborated with photographers, videographers, poets and culinary artists, bringing new music and vibrant multi-genre experiences to unique venues such as yoga studios, historic Victorian homes and art studio warehouses.

Mr. Goodman has previously served as Conducting Fellow of Festival Napa Valley, Music Director of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, Conducting Fellow of the Atlantic Music Festival, and a rehearsal and cover conductor for the San Francisco Ballet.

In addition to his performing career, he teaches young musicians the business and entrepreneurial skills needed to successfully navigate the world as a working musician in his workshop “You Earned a Music Degree. Now What?”

Mr. Goodman holds a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a master of music degree from San Francisco State University. His mentors include Michael Tilson Thomas, Alasdair Neale, Cyrus Ginwala and Martin Seggelke.

Sasha De Sola, dancer

Born in Winter Park, Florida, Sasha De Sola trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. on full merit scholarship where she studied under the guidance of Ludmila Morkovina and Anatoli Kucheruk.  In 2004, Ms. De Sola received a scholarship for studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School. At the age of 17, Ms. De Sola joined San Francisco Ballet where she rose through the ranks and was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer in 2017.

Ms. De Sola has danced many leading roles with the San Francisco Ballet. Highlights include Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty; Kitri in Don Quixote; Myrtha in Giselle; Cinderella in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella; Olga in John Cranko's Onegin; Princess Henriette in John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid; George Balanchine’s Diamonds, Divertimento No. 15, Tarantella, Serenade, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Agon and Symphony in Three Movements; Alexei Ratmansky’s Chamber Symphony, Symphony No. 9 and From Foreign Lands; Harald Lander’s Etudes; Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; Jerome Robbins’s In the Night, Other Dances, Fancy Free and Dances at a Gathering; Helgi Tomasson’s On a Theme of Paganini, Haffner Symphony and Trio; and William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and Pas/Parts 2016. She has originated featured roles in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Helgi Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, Liam Scarlett, Yuri Possokhov, Myles Thatcher, Trey McIntyre, Stanton Welch and Dwight Rhoden.

Ms. De Sola has appeared as a guest artist in several galas around the world and was also awarded the Junior division Bronze Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix (2004); the Best Junior Couple prize at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi (2006); the Junior division Bronze Medal at Varna International Ballet Competition (2006); and the Silver Medal at World Ballet Competition (2008).

On Tiptoes - De Puntitas, an illustrated bilingual children’s book based on the life of Ms. De Sola, was released in November of 2018.

In November of 2019, Sasha De Sola announced the launch of The Ascendant: a charity initiative in which she collaborated with the San Francisco based jewelry store, Fiat Lux. Together they released a jointly designed, dance-inspired jewelry line where all profits benefit San Francisco Ballet, a nonprofit organization that is exceptionally dear to her heart. 

She has also appeared in several print advertising campaigns for Free People, JINS eyewear and Naja, among others. Ms. De Sola has additionally been featured as the lead actress in short films Dancing with Nureyev and Sirens Tango.