Players Of Benning Crafted Instruments

A versatile and accomplished violinist, Kristine Whitson has been a member of the LA Phil since 1990. She started playing the violin and piano at the age of four, and soon became a prodigy who performed in various venues across the US and Europe. She made her solo debut at six, playing a Mozart ...

Geraldine Walther is former violist of the Takács String Quartet and was Principal Violist of the San Francisco Symphony for twenty nine years. She has served as assistant principal of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Miami Philharmonic.

Geraldine has performed on ...

Cellist, Erin Breene, is in great demand as a chamber and orchestral musician throughout the United States. Ms. Breene is the Principal Cellist of Orchestra Nova and has been Associate Principal of the Opera Pacific Orchestra. She performs frequently with the San Diego Symphony, Pacific ...

A native of Almira, Washington, violist Mick Wetzel studied at Indiana University and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. His teachers have included Paul Coletti, Roland Vamos, Emmanuel Vardi, Donald McInnes, Camilla Wicks, and Tadeusz Wronski. He ...

Violinist Mitchell Newman is a native of Los Angeles and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1987. After studies with Philharmonic violist David Stockhammer, he attended the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with David Cerone, Yumi Ninomya and Aaron Rosand.

Newman is a regular participant in ...

Cellist David Lin is a member of the cello section of The Santa Monica Symphony, under the direction of Guido Lamell. He is currently a student of Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist Barry Gold.

David began his musical studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He studied ...

A native of California, cellist Maggie Hummel began her cello studies with Nancy Yamagata of the Colburn School and later John Walz of the Los Angeles Opera. Ms. Hummel would continue her education at Northwestern University, earning a BM in Cello Performance under Hans Jorgen Jensen. Following her ...

Violinist Vijay Gupta joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007 at the age of 19, after completing a Master’s degree in Music from Yale University, and a Bachelor’s in biology from Marist College. His principal teachers have included Glenn Dicterow and Ani Kavafian. Gupta frequently appears ...

Violinist Christine Frank is fortunate to perform a great variety of music, from the symphonic masterpieces of the 18th century to the brilliant TV animation scores of today. As a member of the Pacific Symphony and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, she has performed with classical icons such as ...

Violinist Tamamo Someya Gibbs began taking violin lessons at the age of three. At age six she entered the Tokyo College of Music Prep School, where she received training in violin performance, aural skills, and music theory. Her secondary and post-secondary education took place at Toho High ...

Violinist Stacy Wetzel attended the Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory. She studied at the Banff Centre and received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Washington and her Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan.

She was first-place winner in the ...

Praised by the Kansas City Star for his “sweet, sensuous tone and a sophisticated feel for long-breathed lines,” principal cellist Mark Tsuyoshi Gibbs holds the Robert A. Kipp Chair in the Kansas City Symphony.

Prior to his appointment in Kansas City in 1999, Gibbs earned both his bachelor’s ...

Violinist Clayton Haslop joined the professional world of music as a teenager when he was invited by none other than Sir Neville Marriner himself to join the 1st violin section of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Less than two years later he performed as soloist under Marriner's baton in a number ...

Violinist Michael Ferril began violin studies through the Glendale Unified School Strings Program and quickly progressed to private lessons with Purcell Mayor, a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Mr. Ferril attended Cal State Northridge under scholarship and ...

Violinist Alex Granger is a constant collaborator and has a cultivated interest in new music. Most recently, he performed at the Carlsbad Music Festival, and in 2015 will perform Lucas Floyds' Violin Concerto at the Hot Air Festival in San Francisco, a work written for and premiered by him in 2014.

Since joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra's cello section at the age of 19, cellist Ronald Feldman has received critical acclaim for a wide variety of musical achievements.

Feldman has appeared as cello soloist with many orchestras, performing a wide range of concerto repertoire from Dvorak ...

The best-known society orchestra in Southern California became a reality twenty years ago in an apartment above a garage in Silverlake. Violinist Vincent Houser, a former student of Jascha Heifetz, gathered a number of his friends from several local symphonies together with the intention of ...

Carving his way into the music industry, cellist Matthew Park, first made his concerto debut with the CSUN Youth Philharmonic and since then has flourished as a cellist and a musician. An avid soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Mr. Park has collaborated with top musicians from ...

Growing up in a musical family in which both parents and sister played the violin, cellist Jeanne Shumway began musical studies on the violin at age three with her parents, but discovered the cello along the way, and eventually the cello won her allegiance at the age of 10. She has studied ...

Violinist Cyndi Hall is a native to Southern California. Having picked up the violin as an adult in her late thirties, she never dreamed of performing as a professional musician. Yet through hard work and discipline she found herself performing in church orchestras after just eight months on her ...

Violinist Tito Quiroz Angulo was born in Mexico. His family moved to the orphanage in Vicente Guerrero where Nancy Benning was teaching violin.  He quickly became her best and most enthusiastic student.  She continued to teach him after the family moved to Ensenada.  Tito began ...

Violinist Sharon Cooper is an active freelance musician in southern and central California.  She studied chamber music at San Francisco Conservatory and holds a BA degree in Music from Stanford University.

Sharon has performed throughout California, Europe and Australia in numerous ...

Cellist Michelle Beauchesne has been passionately playing her cello since the age of seven. Soloing with numerous orchestras, she has won multiple competitions at a very early age.

When Michelle turned seventeen she received a full scholarship at the St. Louis Conservatory studying with John Sant' ...

Cellist Elizabeth Wright, received her BA in cello performance from the University of California, Los Angeles with Ronald Leonard.  She performs regularly with the Santa Barbara Symphony, Long Beach Symphony and the Mladi Chamber Orchestra.  Ms. Wright is an avid chamber musician and ...

Cellist Linda Mehrabian began her professional career as a cellist at the age of sixteen as the youngest member of the San Diego Symphony and remained a member of that orchestra for the subsequent six years. Her distinguished series of mentors included Joseph Di Tullio, Milos Sadlo, Edgar ...

Violinist Brian Benning's curriculum vitae reads like a virtual who's who of the entertainment business. Brian is the son of violin makers Hans and Nancy Benning and the brother of violin maker Eric. Brian plays and performs on a violin crafted with his own hands and is also an accomplished ...

Violinist Ashot Tigranyan is a world renowned concert violinist who graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with the legendary Russian violinist Leonid Kogan.  He has performed extensively throughout Russia, Europe, and the United States.

He has recently added to his ...

Violinist Aleksandra Maslovaric has performed throughout Europe and North America and is recognized for her virtuosic technique and the "heartfelt nature of her interpretations."

Born in Belgrade, Serbia, her musical talent and stage presence were recognized at an early age, leading to regular ...

A native of New York City, cellist Victor Lawrence is currently living in Los Angeles. He has worked on more than 250 motion picture and television scores including The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Watchmen, Lost and Fringe with featured cello solos on the Clint Eastwood film Changeling. He has worked ...

Chinese-born violist Silu Fei has enjoyed great acclaim as an orchestral and chamber musician.  His recent orchestral experience includes section viola player in the Oregon Symphony,San Francisco Symphony, Principal Viola of the New York String Seminar Orchestra, American Youth Orchestra, ...

Violist Paul Coletti, on faculty at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, has personally selected the latest viola by Eric Benning to be owned in the Colburn School's collection. The 16 1/4" viola was made on a Stradivarius pattern with a gorgeous one-piece, Bosnian maple back with a strong, ...

A founding member of the Rossetti String Quartet, violinist Henry Gronnier was born in Saint-Quentin, France. He received his early music education at the local Conservatoire where he won Premier Prix in both piano and violin. He then went on to the Conservatoire National de Region de Versailles, ...

Violist Alexis Carreon is a freelance musician in the Los Angeles area. She has studied with Milton Preves, Mary K. Rosen and Alan deVeritch. Principal violist for the Calabasas Chamber Orchestra performing with many ensembles throughout Southern California. She has performed before 4 US ...

Taissia Sokolova is an outstanding violist from Russia. Sokolova studied with Elena Ozol at the Gnessins Academy Special Secondary Music School in Moscow, Russia and recently completed the program at the Colburn School Academy in Los Angeles where she studied under master violist and renown teacher ...

Violinist Randall Garacci began his violin studies in the music program at the elementary school he attended in Los Angeles. Although he wanted to play the clarinet*, the school only had violins and cellos available. So he ended up studying the violin. He continued his studies with the late Manuel ...

Violinist Hubert Pralitz is a pupil of Zino Francescatti, Henryk Szerlng and Sandor Vegh. Studied at the National Superior Conservatory of Music- Paris, France. He graduated with highest honors, receiving his Master's of Music at the Academy for Performing Arts "Mozarteum"-Salzburg, Austria.

Mr. ...

Violinist Colleen Coomber is a native of Los Angeles, California. Colleen began the violin at age 6, studying with Lily Mahler Epstein, Sybil Maxwell and Elizabeth Holborn. Studying with Alice Schoenfeld, Colleen earned both a Bachelors and Masters of Music in Violin Performance at USC. She ...

Violinist Carolyn Osborn is a graduate of The Eastman School of Music (BM) and the USC School of Music (MM). Carolyn has been a member of both the Capriccio Chamber Players and the Vista Piano Trio and she is currently a member of the Cuarteto Ysaye de Los Angeles, the Ariel Ensemble, LuminArias, ...

Cellist Matt Cooker studied at the University of Michigan with Oliver Edel and Samuel Mayes. He has played in orchestras in Toledo, Ohio; Sacramento, California and the Orchestra della Scala in Milan, Italy. Matt is currently a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and has been principal cellist ...

Cellist Jonathan Karoly has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra since the 1997/98 season. A native of Chicago, he began studying the cello at the age of three, and was a prize-winning cellist, pianist, and composer from an early age. Following his studies in Chicago with Karl ...

Cellist Jon Joyce received his Bachelor of Music from California State University Northridge in 2003 in cello performance.  His instructor at the university was David Aks.  He is currently studying with Diane Roscetti.  He recently completed his California teaching credential in ...

A true musical rarity. As a performer, Jacob Szekely is one of the few legitimate improvising string players in the world, and one of only a handful of cellists who has developed a jazz/funk concept on his instrument. In addition to being in great demand as a sideman, performing with the likes of ...

Cellist Gregory Bemko studied under Felix Salmond as a fellowship holder at the Juilliard Graduate School. He also held scholarships with Joseph Schuster, Maurice Eisenbert and finally studied with Pablo Casals.

Became the principal cellist with the Denver Symphony and instructor at Denver ...

Cellist Gayle Smith began her career as a soloist in Russia after becoming a finalist at the 1970 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Studied with Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico. Graduated from UC Berkley. Studied with Gregor Piatigorsky atht USC Institute for Special Music Studies. From 1966-1968 ...

Debra Fayroian enjoys an active and successful career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. At appearances throughout the United States and Canada, she has captivated audiences with her remarkable musical insight and beauty of tone.

Fayroian has been a member of the Detroit ...

Daphny Chen was born in Kaohsiung, and studied piano since childhood. She was trained by the respected musician Tai-Zan Xiao and subsequently learned to play cello from her teacher, Kuang-Jung Chang, where she quickly developed a brilliant talent in cello performance. After graduating at the top of ...

Widely hailed as one of the greatest cellists in California, cellist Armen Ksajikian began his professional career at age 12 with the Abkhazian State Philharmonic (then part of Soviet Georgia). Since arriving in the United States in 1976, he has been very active in the musical life of Los Angeles. ...

Cellist Andrew Cook has excited audiences as a soloist and ensemble artist both in the United States and abroad. Mr. Cook received his bachelor's degree from the Peabody Conservatory under Stephen Kates and in 1987 went to study with Lynn Harrell as a scholarship student at the University of ...

Cellist Drew Dahms began his cello studies at the age of 8 with local cellist Valerie Muccio and continued his studies with Andrew Cook throughout high school. He made his solo debut with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic in winning the CWOTO concerto competition in 2012. Through attending the ...

Cellist Alisha Bauer recently obtained her Master of Music degree in cello performance from UCLA. Ms. Bauer graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance as well as a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Her primary teacher's include Antonio Lysy, ...