Alexander Vereshagin – Music Director & Conductor

Musicians and Soloists

Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine Anna began her piano studies at the age of six. At the age of eleven she performed at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as the youngest prizewinner of the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition.

She graduated from Special Music School for Gifted Children, Kharkiv, Ukraine and from the Juilliard School. At the age of twelve Anna made her orchestral debut, playing Rachmaninov's Piano concerto #1. Since then she has been a soloist with Montreal Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and other world's most renowned organizations.

As an international recitalist, Anna has performed in Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia and United States. Anna has won First Prizes in International Competitions in New York, Louisiana, Netherlands and Denver. Her engagements in Spring 2010 included a debut at Alice Tully Hall and at Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New-York City.

Alena Tsoi

Ms. Tsoi was born in Tashkent, Soviet Union and began to learn the violin at the age of six. She subsequently attended the Moscow Special Music School and later the Moscow Conservatory, where her teachers were Zinaida Gilels and Valery Klimov.

During her student years, Ms. Tsoi became a very active chamber music player and attended various music festivals. Her mentors were members of the Borodin Quartet, William Pleeth, Louis Krasner, and Alfred Schnittke.  She has performed on tours throughout Russia, the United States, Italy, and Great Britain.  Ms. Tsoi has been a First Violinist for the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Spain, the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra, and Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Netherlands.

 Ms. Tsoi moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with her family in 2001.  She regularly performs chamber music with her husband violinist, Alexander Barantschik, and as a freelance player, she takes part in recording projects and concert tours with the San Francisco Symphony.

Mariya Borozina

Born in Moscow, Mariya Borozina began playing the violin at the age of 5, following in the footsteps of her violinist father. Starting at the Gnessin School of Music, she continued her studies at the Moscow Conservatory, class of Marina Yashvili, After moving to the US, she earned a postgraduate degree at Manhattan School of Music studying with Glenn Dicterow, Lisa Kim, Yoko Takebe, and Albert Markov.

Ms. Borozina is a member of First Violin sections of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet orchestras. She also performs with other orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Midsummer Mozart Festival, and performs as a soloist and Concertmaster with Russian Chamber Orchestra.

She took part in a number of international music festivals, including Verbier Festival, Lucerne Festival, Key West, Spoleto USA. She toured with Verbier Festival Orchestra, where she performed as a concertmaster, and Verbier Chamber Festival Chamber Orchestra. She worked with such conductors as James Levine, Kurt Mazur, Gustavo Dudamel and many others.

An avid chamber music player, she has appeared as part of several local groups, including Eos Ensemble. She is a regular performer at the San Francisco Noontime Concert series and is a concertmaster and soloist for the Russian Chamber Orchestra. Mariya is a conductor and a coach of Galbraith Honor Strings of Golden State Youth Orchestra (formerly El Camino Youth Symphony). As an educator, she often coaches chamber groups and orchestras, performs at outreach programs, and teaches privately. She is frequently invited to judge local music competitions. Mariya resides in Millbrae with her husband and their daughter.

Marilyn Thompson

Pianist, Marilyn Thompson received her Bachelor Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was a student of Adolph Baller. Upon graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to the Vienna Academy of Music. During that year, she performed in Heiligenstadt and in the Beethovensaal in Vienna. She holds a Masters Degree from Stanford University. Miss Thompson has performed in chamber music concerts in New York City, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the 92nd Street “Y.”  Other performance venues include:  the Philip’s Gallery, Washington D.C.; Symphony Hall, Boston; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; and the Teatro National, San Jose, Costa Rico. Marilyn has taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the College of Holy Names in Oakland, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is presently on the faculty at Sonoma State University, where she has taught since 1976. Miss Thompson is the pianist member of the Trio Navarro, along with violinist, Roy Malan; and cellist, Jill Brindel.

Irina Behrendt

Irina Behrendt is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she earned a Graduate Diploma in piano performance. She also holds a MM in piano performance from the Petrozavodsk State Conservatory (Petrozavodsk, Russia) and a BM in piano performance and pedagogy from the Rachmaninoff College of Music (Kaliningrad, Russia). As a child, she won prizes at the New Names Russian National Competition and at the Music Spring International Festival in Kaliningrad. Having grown up in a musical family, Irina has always had a passion for collaborative playing and started her professional career as a solo performer and accompanist with the Kaliningrad Philharmonic Society and as a staff accompanist for the Kaliningrad Rachmaninoff College of Music.

Irina immigrated to the US in 1998 and since then has been fortunate to study piano and chamber music under such masters as Patricia Zander, Benjamin Zander, Vladimir Feltsman, Stephen Drury, William Corbett-Jones, Boromeo String Quartet, and the Alexander String Quartet. She was a Presser Scholar 2000 and the Avalos Prize winner at the San Francisco State University, received an honorable mention at the Fifth Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey International Piano Competition in Bathurst, Canada, and became a finalist of the First Annual Piano Competition of the Steinway Society of Massachusetts. Ms. Behrendt has appeared in solo and chamber music concerts in Russia, England, and the US. She is currently on the faculty of the New Mozart School of Music in Palo Alto, and a pianist and organist for the CUMC in Half Moon Bay. Ms. Behrendt resides in Belmont, CA with her husband Adrian and two beautiful children, Arianna, age 5 and Daniel, age 3.

Victoria
Ehrlich

Victoria Ehrlich, a native Texan, studied at Southern Methodist University, the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her teachers included Robert Marsh, Bernard Greenhouse and Robert Gardner. Prior to joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1984, she played with the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and was principal cellist with the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmond and Phoenix. Ms. Ehrlich has performed with the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Classical Philharmonic, Lamplighters, and the percussion group Adesso. She is also an active chamber musician. Recent work includes several concerts involving collaborations between poets and composers.

Sergei Riabtchenko

Sergei began his musical education at age seven and was composing by age eleven. After graduating from the Pushkin Musical College with honors in 1983, he attended Moscow State Conservatory, graduating in 1990. From 1986  to  the present  time he has been a member  of   the  Arlekin String  Quartet, which  was organized by  exceptionally  talented  students at  the conservatory under patronage of the world-famous Borodin String Quartet.

With Arlekin, Mr. Riabtchenko has performed in Russia, England, Belgium and the United States. Currently based in San Francisco, they play throughout the Bay Area and entire West Coast.

He has been an ensemble member and solo performer with the Russian Chamber Orchestra since its inception. Mr. Riabtchenko also earned a degree in composing;  he has devoted the last few years to writing exclusively Russian sacred music. The most important of his works are the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and All-Night Vigil.

Lev Rankov, Violin, graduated with distinction in solo performance from the St. Petersburg Concervatory, Russia.

From 1969 to 1978 he was Concertmaster of the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra with which he also extensively performed as a soloist.Upon immigrating to the USA in 1979, he served as Concermaster of the Carmel Chamber Orchestra and Principal Second Violin with the Monterey Symphony Orchestra. Since 1979, he has been playing with the San Francisco Ballet orchestra. Mr. Rankov has been a member of San Francisco Opera orchestra since 1980.

Osvaldo De Leon Davila

Osvaldo was the recipient of the Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts grant in 2011 to finish his graduate studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU); The Avalos Award in 2010 after his interpretation of Latin American Music; and the Concerto Competition at SFSU in 2010; the FINANCIARTE grant in 2006 to produce, direct and perform the opera "La Voix Humaine" by Francis Poulenc; and the Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts grant in 2003 to study a year at the University of Texas in Austin.

In Mexico he was admired due to his capacity to approach solo repertoire as well as to perform chamber music, accompany singers and instrumentalists, coach opera, and direct choirs both amateur and professional. He has peformed with the Orchesta Filarmonica de Sonora, The San Francisco State University Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Nuevo Leon, the Orquesta Juvenil de Nuevo Leon. He has appeared at the Festival Ceiba in Tabasco, Mexico, Encuentro Internacional de Opera in Coahuila, the Vocal Cycle at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, the Festival Culltural Tamaulipas, Spring Festival of Radio Nuevo Leon, and the Festival Rio de Bravo in Coahuila.

Osvaldo de Leon finished his Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey, Mexico and his Master's degree in Piano Performance and Chamber Music at San Francisco State University. His teachers have been Gerardo Antonio Gonzalez, Naoya Seino, Gregory Allen and Dr. Roger Woodward. He also has studies in composition under the guidance of Jorge Torres and Georgina Derbez.

Laura Griffiths is very active in the San Francisco Bay area, where she is principal oboist of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Laura is active in numberous summer festivals, having played principal oboe for the Britt Festival Orchestra in Oregon and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. She has also served as a faculty member of the Utah Music Festival and of the Music at Kirkwood in California.

Originally from Alma, Michigan, Laura received a bachelor of music degree and a performer's certificate from the Eastman School of Music in 1991. Her teachers have included Richard Klimer at Eastman and Roger Rehm at Central Michigan University.

Previously, Laura served as Principal Oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra from 2003 to 2005, Associate Principal Oboe of the San Francisco Symphony from 2002 to 2003, and Principal Oboe of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1994 to 2002. She has been guest Principal Oboe with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Griffiths has also served on the faculty of Eastmand and Oberlin Schools of Music.

Natalya Lundtvedt

Natalya Lundtvedt is a native of Minsk, Belarus. She began her piano studies at age 6. In Minsk she studied at Glinka State Music Vocational College and Belarus State Academy of Music, graduating with honors. In 2001, she was awarded a full scholarship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied under Professor Mack McCray and earned a Master in Musical Arts degree in 2003. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009 while she studied under Professor Vitaly Margulis.

She has participated in competitions and was awarded honors at the Belarus Liszt National Competition, Minsk, Belarus in 1994. In 1997, she became a laureate at Milosh Magin International Piano competition in Paris, France. In 2003, she was awarded First Prize in the Young Artist Award competition in California. In 2007, she earned Second Prize at the Russian School Piano Festival Competition in Freiburg, Germany. In 2009, she participated in two competitions where she won First Prize in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in New York, and a special prize for the Best Performance of a Contemporary Piece in the Gabala International Piano Competition in Azerbaijan.

Her performances in festivals includes the International Piano Festival at Mannes College of Music in New York, Music at Rowan University Festival in New Jersey, Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota, Russian School Piano Festival in Freiburg, Germany, and Pine Musica Festival in Imola, Italy. She has performed with the Belarus Philharmonic Society, the Belarus Symphony, the Russian Chamber Orchestra, and San Francisco Concerto Orchestra. Her soloist career also includes performances in Fest der Innenhofe concert series in Germany, the Mozart & Company concert series in Los Angeles, Apollo Arts concert series in Northern California, and in San Francisco area performances with Noontime Concerts series, Old First Concerts series, and First Sundays Concerts series. She is also a performing artist with Steinway Society of the Bay Area. In May 2009, she made her successful debut at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York.

Her piano competition judging experience includes the 2013 MTAC Piano Concerto Solo Competition, and the 2013 Bay Area Music Association's Summer Music Legacy Open Competition. She is invited to judge the 2014 Young Pianist Beethoven Competition at San Jose State University and the 2014 MTAC Piano Concerto Solo Competition. Natalya is a faculty member at Lena Grozman Piano School, and is currently teaching at Heald College as an adjunct professor.

Polina Sedukh

Born to a family of musicians in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ms. Sedukh began studying violin at the age of four, her first teachers being her father Grigory Sedukh and Savely Shalman. She is a graduate of Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, where she studied under the guidance of Lev Ivaschenko and Vladimir Ovtcharek. She also holds Artist Diploma from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, where she studied with Laura Bossert and Malcolm Lowe.

Prizewinner of the International Spohr Competition in Weimar, Germany, Ms. Sedukh made her solo orchestral debut at the age of seven with the Chamber Orchestra of Liepaya, Latvia and has since appeared as soloist with St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Boston Virtuosi Orchestra, St.Petersburg Capella Symphony Orchestra, Newton Symphony Orchestra and Weimer State Capella Orchestra.

Ms. Sedukh with cellist, Terry King, presented the world premiere of Vladimir Uspensky's Double Concerto at the International St. Petersburg Spring Music Festival in 2001. In 2014 her engagements included collaboration with pianist Kirill Gerstein and members of San Francisco Symphony in a performance of Shostakovich Piano Quintet in Davies Symphony Hall.

Following her passion for symphonic music, Ms. Sedukh pursued career in major American orchestras, presently being a member of 2nd violin section of San Francisco Symphony since 2009, and having previously served as a member of Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007. Ms. Sedukh resides with her family in San Francisco Bay Area since 2007.

Eliot Lev proudly holds the Isaac Stern chair of the second violin section. Prior to joining the orchestra, they performed with the Utah Symphony as a member of the first violin section and acting assistant concertmaster, and with the Charlotte Symphony as a tenured associate concertmaster. Eliot is an alumnus of Roosevelt University where they studied with Vadim Gluzman. After Roosevelt, Eliot joined the New World Symphony where they were featured as a soloist with the Wieniawski Violin Concerto #1. Eliot is an active chamber musician and coach and has most recently appeared with the Ensemble SF, Intermezzo Chamber Music Series, Chamber Music Sundaes and SF Academy Orchestra. Eliot plays on a 1910 Neapolitan violin and an Ouchard bow generously purchased for them by the Carey family from Boston, MA, without whom their career would not have been possible. Eliot lives in San Francisco with their fiance, Stephanie MacAller, and their rescue dog and two cats.

Amy Zanrosso

Lauded for her "pianistic brilliance" Amy Zanrosso, a sensitive and dynamic musician, has worked within a wide range of musical genres--classical, contemporary, musical theatre, German cabaret and tango. Originally from British Columbia, Canada, Amy completed her Bachelor's Degree at the University of Victoria with Bruce Vogt. She furthered her studies in Italy, working with Maria Tipo and Michele Campanella and then returned to Canada to complete a Master's Degree at McGill University in Montreal during which she studied with Dorothy Morton and Louis-Philippe Pelletier.

Much in demand as a collaborator, and a chamber musician at heart, Amy has shared the stage with principle members of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet. In her years in Montreal she specialized in repertoire for cello and piano and was invited to play for numerous masterclasses led by internationally acclaimed pedagogues and performers such as Philippe Muller, Pieter Wispelwey, Matt Haimovitz, Peter Wiley and Paul Katz. In Fall of 2015, Amy worked with Gustavo Dudamel as the pianist for chorus rehearsals of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and went on tour to China with the Grammy award winning Pacific Boy Choir. She has also appeared as soloist with the Canadian orchestra Symphony of the Kootenays.

Amy is a faculty member at the Pre-College of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music coaching chamber music and piano ensembles. As well as freelancing in the Bay Area she is part of four local ensembles - The iO Piano Quartet, RossoRose Duo, Tangonero, and the Mana Trio. She is steadily realizing her plan of learning and performing all existing piano chamber music and when not practicing Beethoven or Brahms, Amy can be found hanging out with her husband and dog or riding her bike to rehearsals. www.amyzanrosso.com.

David Chernyavsky

David Chernyavsky joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2009. Native of St. Petersburg, Russia he began to study violin at the age of six. At the age of eleven, he gave his first solo recital. In 1996 he graduated from the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Alexander Yuriev and later with the first violinist of the Taneyev Quartet, Vladimir Ovcharek. During his studies in St. Petersburg he was a prizewinner of several youth competitions and gave numerous concerts in St. Petersburg and also throughout Lithuania, Finland, Germany, and Poland.

In 1997, Chernyavsky came to the United States to study at the Indiana University School of Music with the famous professor Nelli Shkolnikova. He won the IU Concerto Competition and soloed with the Indiana University Concert Orchestra. In 2000 Chernyavsky with his student quartet won the Kuttner Quartet Scholarship. In the same year, he became a member of the Spoleto USA festival orchestra, where he performed as a concertmaster during the 2001 and 2002 summer seasons. After graduating from Juilliard School with a master's degree he joined the St. Petersburg String Quartet. As a member of the quartet, David has performed hundreds chamber music concerts and gave numerous masterclasses throughout the world. He collaborated with such distinguished musicians as Ida Kavafian, Ruth Laredo, Michael Tree, and many others. In 2005 Chernyavsky was appointed an Assistant Concertmaster of the Washington National Opera Orchestra. In 2007, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Chernyavsky has recorded several chamber music CDs with the St. Petersburg Quartet and with the Joel Rubin Klezmer Music Ensemble, and he has released his own solo CD, Klezmer Violin.

Since 2012 Mr. Chernyavsky serves as a principal second violin and a faculty member at the San Francisco Academy Orchestra's Artist Diploma Program and also coaches the El Camino Youth Orchestra violin section.

Varvara Milinder

Ms. Varvara Milinder was born in St.Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music majoring in Piano Performance and holds a Theater History Degree from St. Petersburg Theater Academy. She continued her Vocal Studies at St. Petersburg State Conservatory.

Ms. Milinder had developed an extensive concert career as vocalist and collaborative pianist. Recent singing highlights include International Music Festival "Spanish Nights" and production of L'arbore di Diana by Martin y Soler, series of thematic recitals at Yusupov Palace and St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, performances at Dutch and Polish consulates, and recitals at Sheremetev Palace and Rimsky-Korsakov Museum. She also recorded CD of songs "Music for a While" with Tatiana Shtoda.

Varvara performed the role of Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo for the Opera Academy of California and also sang recitals at Bellevue Club in Oakland, St.Michael's Ukranian Orthodox Church in San Francisco and Bon Vivant in Palo Alto, CA. This April she was the Chorus Master and also sang in West Edge Opera production of Donizetti's Poliuto. Ms. Milinder participated in Master Class with Lotfi Mansouri and currently studies with Catherine Cook.

JenniferCho

Born in Glendale, California, Jennifer Cho attended the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences before moving to the Juilliard School where she studied with Stephen Clapp and Robert Mann. For her graduate studies, she was chosen by the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to be a Graduate Scholar. The JKC foundation financially supported her studies until she graduated with a Master's Degree in 2008.

Jennifer moved to the Bay Area when she joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2011. In 2017 she was appointed Concertmaster of the California Symphony by Donato Cabrera and has been lauded as bringing "eloquently shaped violin solos." - Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle. Jennifer has been invited to be guest concertmaster at the Reno Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Mendocino Music Festival, Sarasota Opera, Merola Opera, New Hampshire Music Festival, and Skywalker Sundance Orchestra. She has also performed with the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, and New Century Chamber Orchestra.

Jennifer lives in Petaluma, California with her husband and son. She is an avid organic gardener and has been passionate about creating a food forest landscape in her front and backyard.

Roxanne

A product of a musical family, pianist Roxanne Michaelian began piano studies with Claire James at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She continued her education there completing an undergraduate degree and earning a Master's Degree in Piano Performance under Paul Hersh. Roxanne's father was first violinist in the San Francisco Symphony for 50 years, and her sister Patricia, also a concert pianist, was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to perform on the Young People's Concert series.

Roxanne's first appearance as soloist with orchestra was at the age of twelve when she was chosen to perform with the San Francisco Symphony on its youth concert series. She subsequently received First Prize in the North American Young Artists Competition in Denver, performing with the Denver Symphony under the baton of Brian Priestman. Other prizes include the Los Angeles Young Musicians Foundation Competition where she was chosen as overall winner. As a result of that award, Roxanne appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra under the baton of Calvin Simmons at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She has also been heard with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.

In addition, Roxanne is an active chamber musician and one of the area's most sought-after collaborators. A past winner of the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition and the Carmel Chamber Music Society, she has performed in joint recital with S. F. Symphony members such as principal cellist, Michael Grebanier, Nadya Tichman, principal bassoonist, Stephen Paulson, Jill Brindel, and former principal violist, Geraldine Walther. Roxanne has also performed in concert with Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Zuill Bailey and Heiichero Ohyama. She has been a frequent participant at festivals including Chamber Music West, Chamber Music Sundaes, Mid -Summer Mozart Festival, San Jose Chamber Music Society, Oakmont Chamber Music Series, the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. Roxanne was formerly one of the pianists for the Irving Klein International String Competition, accompanist for San Francisco Symphony auditions, as well as playing as an extra in the S.F. Symphony. She was the piano coach at the Kirkwood Chamber Music Workshop, as well as piano instructor at the Nueva School, Santa Rosa Junior College, and the San Domenico Conservatory. Roxanne currently maintains a private studio as well as adjudicating for competitions in the Bay Area.

Nai-Yu Chen

Dr. Nai-yu Chen, a Taiwanese pianist, is an active soloist and a chamber musician. During her doctoral study, Dr. Chen was a scholarship recipient and thus, granted her over 15 recitals annually, performing an extensive repertoire, ranging from traditional works to new music.

Her collaboration with various artists has appeared in several venues, including Santa Clara University, Mission College, Mountain View Performing Arts Center, McAfee Performing Arts Center, and Cubberley Theater.

As a competition prize winner, Dr. Chen won first place and the Best Performance Prize in the Prof. Mao-Shuen Chen Scholarship Competition, first place in the Taiwan KAWAI piano competition, and was named a finalist in the Grieg Festival Young Artist Competition.

Dr. Chen is a faculty member at the New Mozart School of Music and serves as Board of Directors of East Bay Music Foundation and Program Chair of MTAC Palo Alto Branch, developing community music programs.

Ani Bukujian

Ani Bukujian was born into a musical family and started playing the violin at the age of two and a half. When her grandmother gifted her with a toy violin, she would stand in front of the television while imitating famous violinists, such as Sarah Chang and Itzhak Perlman. Ani studied with her father exclusively until the age of 15. A native of Los Angeles, she is the winner of numerous musical competitions, including three gold medals at the World Championship of Performing Arts, and first place at the Bach Competition, the ASTA Annual National Solo Competition, and the Pasadena String Festival. At the age of 7, she was a solo performer in her debut concert with a chamber orchestra at the Alex Theatre in California. Ani was also part of the Viva-Vivaldi All-Girl Orchestra in Washington DC, being the youngest 1st violin in the orchestra. At the age of 8, she was asked to perform a solo piece with the Bakersfield Symphony, where she played one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Summer). As an AGBU scholarship recipient she performed at Weill Recital Hall in her freshman year at The Juilliard School in 2012.

She has recently performed as a member of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and has served as Concertmistress in the Miami Summer Music Festival, where she played the solo of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. She has also participated in other festivals such as Bowdoin Music Festival and Fontainebleau Festival in France. She has performed in venues such as David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie's Stern, Zankel, and Weill Hall as a chamber and orchestral musician as well as solo performer. Ani has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Kim Kashkashian, Ian Swensen, Dimitri Murrath and participated in masterclasses with teachers including Andres Cardenes, Aaron Rosand, Ruggiero Ricci, Abraham Shtern, Gerard Poulet, Dmitry Berlinsky, Ida Haendel and Pamela Frank among others. She holds both Bachelor and Master Degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with Lewis Kaplan and Laurie Smukler. After moving from New York to San Francisco she ttended the San Francisco Conservatory where she studied with the concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony, Alexander Barantschik. Ani is now the Principal Second Violinist of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.

Ruth Lane

Ruth Lane has been playing cello with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra since 1990. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from U.S.C., while spending her summers on fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival, Piatigorsky Seminar, and the Banff Music Festival. Her teachers include Eleonore Schoenfeld, William Pleeth, and Lynn Harrell. She has performed as principal cello with the Carmel Bach Festival and the Fresno Philharmonic.

Ms. Lane has been heard in recital in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and London. Strad magazine calls her "a cellist of scrupulous intentions and dexterous manual coordination...unimpeachable intonation and admirable poise." Ruth Lane lives on a ranch in Sonoma county where she enjoys bicycling and gardening.