Gretchen Egen, cellist, received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Arizona and her Masters from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Gordon Epperson and Bonnie Hampton respectively.  She has been soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Tucson, the Kensington Symphony, and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, and has toured throughout Europe with the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra with many conductors including Leonard Bernstein and Christoph Eschenbach.  Gretchen was the cellist in the Del Sol String Quartet for three years, playing numerous children's concerts and recording a CD, Short Cuts, playing music from the United States, Cuba, and Argentina.  Gretchen has been principal cellist with Santa Cruz County Symphony, the Sacramento Philharmonic, and the Sacramento Ballet.  She has also played and recorded with the Women's Philharmonic.  Gretchen currently plays with the Sacramento Philharmonic, since 1997, and subs with numerous orchestras throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.  Gretchen also plays with Garden Strings (contact Pauline Metzgar (925)642-6099 or visit www.gardenstrings.com), a chamber music ensemble that plays for special occasions.  Besides teaching private cello lessons in her home studio, Gretchen teaches a string chamber music class at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California and she coaches regularly at the chamber music workshops sponsored by Chamber Musicians of Northern California.  As well as being an active chamber musician and educator in the Bay Area, Gretchen can be seen playing cello in the movie, Redwood Curtain, available on video.