Kimberly Durflinger, violin

Originally from San Diego, California, violinist Kimberly Durflinger is currently Principal 2nd Violin of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada. She also subs with several major North American orchestras, performs in the rock band Vaerisa, is a session musician with the company Musiversal, and teaches a select number of students privately. She lives in Victoria, BC with her Pembroke Welsh Corgi Maple. In her spare time, she can be found dancing Argentine Tango, baking pies, or catching shiny Pokémon.

An avid orchestral musician, Kimberly began playing professionally with the Thunder Bay Symphony from 2021-2023 as a tenured section violinist. After that, she joined the Victoria Symphony in 2023 as a tenured section violinist, and has continued to perform there. Additionally, she has subbed with many major North American orchestras such as the San Diego Symphony, National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, I Musici Orchestre Chambre de Montréal, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra.

Kimberly has a versatile skill set, due to her passion towards genres of music outside the realm of classical music. In 2025, she joined the roster of musicians at Musiversal – a company that connects session musicians with clients all around the world. In one year alone, she has already been booked and recorded for over 700 sessions. Additionally, she is a member of the Toronto-based rock band Vaerisa, which was formed in 2018. Vaerisa has toured the east coast of Canada, and has taken part in festivals and events such as Toronto’s Indie Week, and been featured in Stencil Magazine UK.

In addition to Vaerisa, Kimberly enjoys taking on projects from a variety of sources, including premieres of contemporary composers, performing live tango music to Argentine Tango dancers at a Tango festival, playing punk-rock music at the House of Blues in San Diego, and recording the theme song to the video game Renaine on the Nintendo Switch.

Classically trained, she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in 2018 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music in 2016. She has been coached and guided by wonderful musicians and people such as Andrew Wan, Jonathan Crow, Leah Roseman, Alexander Read, Lynn Blakeslee, Jing Yan Bowcott, Alexandra ‘Olga’ Keegan, and Morgan Wheeler.

Jay Uschold, tuba

Jay Uschold is a Canadian tuba player, playing with the Victoria Symphony. Prior to his appointment with Victoria, he was principal tuba with the Royal Canadian Artillery Band in Edmonton AB. Born in Calgary AB, Jay first began performing at the age of 5 with the Calgary Boys choir. At age 10 he moved to Winnipeg and began playing Euphonium in his Jr high Band. Upon graduation from high school, he began playing tuba and never looked back. Jay graduated with degrees in performance from the University of Manitoba, as well as the Manhattan School of Music, where he had the opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall twice. Jay has performed with the Calgary Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Manitoba Opera and made his solo Debut in April 2023 with the Royal Canadian Artillery Band, performing the Vaughan Williams Concerto for Bass tuba at the Winspear Center in Edmonton. Outside of music, Jay enjoys watching obscure horror films, playing squash and spending time with his wife, and cat.

Masako Hockey, percussion

Masako Hockey is a percussionist with The Victoria Symphony Orchestra, received her Masters Degree in Music Performance (Percussion) from the Tokyo University of the Arts (“Tokyo Geidai”) and her undergraduate degree from The Musashino Academia Musicae. Masako has performed as a marimba soloist with major symphony orchestras around the world, and as a percussionist several dedicated ensembles, including The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, The Vancouver Island Symphony, The Victoria Operatic Society, and Ballet Victoria. An avid contemporary auxiliary Latin percussionist, she also plays with The Chris Millington Band. As a former member of Scrap Arts Music, she performed extremely energetic shows all over North America.

Soile Stratkauskas, narration & puppets

Finnish-born Soile Stratkauskas is the Education and Outreach Officer at the Victoria Symphony, where she oversees a wide range of programs that engage more than 15,000 children and youth throughout Greater Victoria each year.

Passionate about inspiring young people through music, Soile has expanded her knowledge of music education through summer schools with Colourstrings in Finland and the BC Orff Chapter. She holds a Master of Music in Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, where she specialized in historical flutes. An active performer, she is Principal Flutist with Victoria Baroque and the Vancouver-based Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and regularly performs with both ensembles.

Soile’s adventures with puppets began more than 10 years ago when she and her husband started creating annual Christmas Carol videos featuring Herbert the snail puppet. The videos have since become a much-anticipated holiday tradition for many of their friends and family. Outside music, Soile enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and their playful dog, Vilma.