Born into a musical household in Los Angeles, Stephanie’s parents met while touring with the San Francisco Ballet as members of the orchestra. Her father, Malcolm, plays trumpet and continues to maintain an active freelance career recording music for motion pictures, and her mother, JoAnn, a former bassoonist, retired from music after several years of performing and is a recently retired school teacher.

Stephanie’s early interest in music led to violin lessons at the age of three, and a few years later she began piano studies with Dorothy Bishop. In elementary school she took up the flute and began a lifelong love of ensemble playing in her school’s orchestra.

Ms McNab received a degree in music from the University of California at Los Angeles, where she studied flute with Sheridon Stokes. While working toward her degree, Stephanie trained in the Young Musicians’ Foundation Debut Orchestra and the American Youth Symphony under Mehli Mehta. She received several honors and awards, including fellowships from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Leni Fe Bland Foundation and Rotary International.

Ms. McNab is a former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony and Long Beach (CA)Symphony and joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2002. She has also appeared as a guest piccolo and flutist with the St. Louis and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. Her many solo appearances include performances of the Carmen Fantasy with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Ibert Concerto with the Carmel Bach Festival. She served on the faculty of California Institute of Technology.