FACULTY 2025
Violin
Yuriy Bekker, Charleston Symphony
David Chernyavsky, San Francisco Symphony
Liana Gourdjia, Centro Superior Musikene, Spain and Ecole Normale, Paris
Gulia Gurevich, Prima Trio
Masha Lankovsky, Versailles Conservatory
Eliot Lawson, Amsterdam Conservatory, University of Minho, Conservatory of Mons
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Internationally acclaimed soloist, conductor and arranger
Oksana Solovieva, Orchestra Sinfónica del Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona
Yulia Ziskel, New York Philharmonic
Viola
Alexander Gurevich, New West Symphony Federico Hood, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo Ivetta Natzkaya, Orquestra do Algarve
Cello
Israel Fausto, “Manuel Castillo” Superior Conservatory of Music in Seville
Vicky Wang, San Francisco Conservatory
Sébastien Hurtaud, École Normale Alfred Cortot
Collaborative Piano
Jessica Osborne, Longy School of Music, Heifetz Institute
Marina Radiushina, Miami Chamber Music Society
Pamela Hurtado, Music Conservatoire du Val d'Yerres
Special Guest Faculty, jazz and alternative styles
Tcha Limberger
Joe Deninzon
INVITED GUEST ARTIST : ROMAN KIM
Yuriy Bekker, critically acclaimed violinist and conductor, has been a mainstay of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in Charleston, SC for 15 years. He is incoming CSO Artistic Director for the 2022-23 season, has led as Concertmaster since 2007 and was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2016. Bekker is an adjunct faculty member of the College of Charleston School of the Arts as a violin professor and as conductor of the College of Charleston Orchestra. He has been Music Director of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s Spotlight Chamber Music Series and is co-founder of the Charleston Chamber Music Intensive. Bekker earned a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Herbert Greenberg. He also holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied violin with Nelli Shkolnikova and Ilya Kaler. Bekker has studied conducting with Christopher Wilkins, David Zinman, Imre Pallo and David Effron. His debut CD, Twentieth Century Duos, received worldwide acclaim and a nomination for the International Classical Music Awards.
David Chernyavsky joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2009. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he began violin studies at the age of six and at eleven gave his first solo recital. After winning prizes in competitions in Russia and France, he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1997, Mr. Chernyavsky came to the US to study at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with the famous Profesor Nelli Shkolnikova and, later, at the Juilliard School. He has recorded several CDs with the Saint Petersburg Quartet and with the Joel Rubin Klezmer Music Ensemble, and he has released a solo CD, Klezmer Violin. He also performs and teaches with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra.
Israel Fausto was born in Cuenca, Spain. He began his cello studies with Francisco González and proceeded later to Madrid to study under the tutelage of María de Macedo. Through a scholarship grant from La Caixa Foundation, he completed a Performer Diploma and Masters Degree in cello in Bloomington, Indiana University, under Professor Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Awarded several prizes in national and international competitions, Israel Fausto is since 2003 Cello Professor in the “Manuel Castillo” Superior Conservatory of Music in Seville. Beside a continuous pursuance of a concert career as soloist and performing chamber music he records regularly in labels such as Naxos, Perosi Musici and Thelxinoe. His recording of the complete Bach Suites in 2011 was awarded several prizes and acclaimed internationally.Israel Fausto collaborates regularly with specialized musical publications, with many articles related to the cello or pedagogical issues of this instrument. He is PHD in Philosophy.
Liana Gourdjia started playing the violin at the age of four under the guidance of her grandmother, and professor Tourchaninova. Liana began her official studies at the famous Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory with renowned professors Iryna Bochkova and Maya Glezarova. Upon graduating, she moved to the U.S. to continue her studies with David and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Liana received an Artist Diploma from the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, studying with Jaime Laredo. At The Indiana University she was the first recipient of the prestigious Jacob’s scholarship, and was subsequently awarded the Performance Certificate in recognition for outstanding performances at her degree recitals. Liana benefited from master classes with Menahem Pressler, Janos Starker, Gil Shaham, Alex Kerr, Pamela Frank, Arnold Steinhardt, Gabor Takacs and the Orion String Quartet. Having won many international competitions and fellowships, she now teaches on faculty at the prestigious Ecole Normale Alfred Cortot Conservatory in Paris, and at Musikene in San Sebastián, Spain, combining it with solo and chamber music performances.
Gulia Gurevich is a violinist and a violist of the Prima Trio, a mixed ensemble which won Grand Prix at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. An avid orchestra musician, Gulia Gurevich has performed with the Boston, Indianapolis, Charleston, San Diego symphonies, among others. Gulia was invited to be on the chamber music jury panel of the International Young Pianist Competition in Villahermosa, Mexico and she also taught masterclasses at the Oberlin Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory and the PLU. After graduating with honors from the Interlochen Academy she enrolled at Indiana University, where she studied with Nelli Shkolnikova. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, and won many prizes, awards and scholarships in the USA, as well as abroad.
Born into a family of musicians in Bogotá, Colombia, Federico Hood won his first professional orchestra audition at 15 and joined the Valle del Cauca Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, Federico left his native country to pursue his violin studies in the United States, first at the Texas Christian University with Curt Thompson and then at the Indiana University, Bloomington in the class of Nelli Shkolnikova. Federico moved to Valladolid, Spain in 2003 as a member of the Castilla and León Symphony Orchestra, initially in the first violins and later as a violist. An enthusiast of pedagogy, he has also been professor of viola at the conservatories of Valladolid and Menton (France). In the summer of 2007 Federico won a position in the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra where he is currently principal violist, as well as the violist in the renowned Trio Goldberg, who recently were awarded a gold medal with high distinction in the 2019 Vienna International Music Competition.
Masha Lankovsky is a professor at the Versailles Conservatory of Music in France. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Indiana University, studying with Professor Nelli Shkolnikova and her Doctorate from the City University of New York. She has participated in numerous international festivals and recorded for the Centaur Label the CD "Russian Dreams." Extremely interested in researching the traditions of the Russian Violin School she translated and edited the writings of Yuri Yankelevich for Oxford University Press and has written articles on this subject for The Strad magazine. www.mashalankovsky.com
Born in Brussels, Eliot Lawson is of Belgian and Luso-American nationality. He studied the violin with L. Souroujon, J. Van Aken, H. Krebbers, I. Oistrakh, J.J. Kantorow, P. Vernikov, N. Shkolnikova and I. Grubert. The titular holder of a Master’s degree in Music, awarded “with greatest distinction” by the conservatories of Brussels and Rotterdam, he also obtained the “Artist Diploma” of Indiana University in Bloomington and a “Perfezionamente” diploma from the Fiesole Music School in Italy. He obtained his PHD degree with distinction in music performance and musicology at the Evora University in October 2020. A laureate and finalist of several national and international competitions (including Brahms, de Beriot, Premio Jovens Musicos, Mozart, Proce Vitate, Vieuxtemps, Maasmond, Lantier, Krebbers, Premio Vittorio Gui semi-finals, Tibor Varga semi-finals, Cardona competitions), Eliot has given many concerts in Europe and the United States, appearing on numerous important stages and invited by the radio and television in Portugal, Holland and in Belgium. He is professor of violin at the conservatory of Amsterdam, the University of Minho and the conservatory of Mons. He recorded many albums for labels such as Cypres, Phaedra, Zed classics, Azur Classics, Brilliant Classics, toccata classics and Fuga Libera receiving excellent reviews in magazines such as the Strad, Diapason (5/5), Crescendo (Joker) and the golden label. Eliot is often invited as jury member for international violin competitions in Portugal, Italy, Hong Kong and Belgium. Together with his sister Pianist Jill Lawson , Eliot forms the Lawson & Lawson duo and is member of the Lopes Graça quartet.
Since picking up his first instrument the guitar, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tcha Limberger is one of a handful of world class musicians to have become accepted and respected in a style of music culturally not their own. His showcasing on the international stage of his Transylvanian Kalotaszeg Trio and Budapest Gypsy Orchestra, and his nurturing approach to teaching almost forgotten traditional musics has made him one of the most prominent and ‘important figures in folk music of the Carpathian Basin’. Critics remarking on his achievements have claimed he is ’entirely made of music’, ‘The Polymath king of Gypsy music’, whilst musician colleagues refer to him as ‘the fifth element’. Tcha Limberger studied the music of Kalotaszeg with his mentor the legendary Neti Sandor, and the Magyar Nota style of Budapest with celebrated primas Horvat Bela. Both contribute to his recognition as both an exceptional and enthusiastic teacher who frequently holds masterclasses and leads interactive workshops encompassing both jazz and Central European folk music.
Ukrainian-American pianist Marina Radiushina made her debut with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Valery Gergiev in 2012 appearing at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and Theatre Des Champs-Elysee in Paris. Marina was named laureate of the following competitions and festivals: Vladimir
Krainev International Piano Competition in Kharkov, Virtuosi-2000 International Festival in Saint-Petersburg, the International Festival in Kaunas, Lithuania, Corpus Christi International Music Competition, Arthur Rubinstein International Competition in Bydgosch, Poland, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, USA. Marina Radiushina was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and now divides her time between two cities she loves – New York and Miami. In Miami she performs and serves as the co-founder and artistic director of the Miami Chamber Music Society and the artistic director of the Mainly Mozart Festival.
A renaissance man and a magnetic creative force, Dmitry Sitkovetsky is recognised throughout the world as having made a considerable impact on every aspect of musical life. A prolific recording artist, with a career spanning more than four decades, he is celebrated globally as a violinist, conductor, creator, transcriber, and facilitator – and holds an undisputed and venerable position in musical society as a giant personality and educator. As violinist and/or guest conductor, the 2022-2023 season and beyond sees Sitkovetsky perform extensively throughout Europe and North America. He performs chamber music at the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival and conducts the Israel Jerusalem Camerata in Israel; plays at the Guadalajara Chamber Music Festival and conducts the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Mexico; and is featured in concerts in Berlin, Germany; Mexico City, Mexico; Bucharest, Romania; Havana, Cuba; Istanbul, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; and Sofia, Bulgaria. Sitkovetsky is also the President of the jury of the George Enescu International Violin Competition in Romania and a member of jury at the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Austria and the Concours Musical International de Montréal in Canada. In summer 2023, he performs in the Verbier Festival’s 30th anniversary season.
Hailed by the Washington Post as a pianist “with a refreshing mellowness and poetic touch” after her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Xylina Osborne is one of the most intensely expressive and passionate artists of her generation. She is widely considered to be one of the most sought-after collaborative partners, and has worked closely with some of the world's finest musicians, including Timothy Eddy, Hilary Hahn, and Mark Kosower. She has performed throughout the continental U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has appeared in recitals at many of the world's most celebrated venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and the Seoul Arts Center. Dr. Osborne is a laureate of international piano competitions worldwide, including the Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev Piano Competition, the International Russian Music Piano Competition, and the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg Competition. Dr. Osborne holds degrees in solo piano performance from Indiana University and Rice University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance from Yale University. She currently resides in New York City, where she is Artist Faculty at Third Street Music Settlement.
Cellist Vicky Wang is on the faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-College Division and an assistant professor of cello at University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music and serves as the cellist of its faculty piano trio-in-residence, Trio 180. She is the artistic director of C’est Bon Chamber Music Academy in Los Altos, a summer program dedicated to inspire the love of music in young musicians through chamber music. Prior to relocating to California, Dr. Wang served on the faculty of Mannes College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York City. Her recent performances and masterclasses include appearances in Chamber Music America Conference, Pacific Music Institute of Hawaii Youth Symphony, Korea’s Busan MARU Music Festival, pianoSonoma Music Festival, and MTAC convention. Dr. Wang’s principal teachers include Eleonore Schoenfeld, Zara Nelsova, Darrett Adkins, Joel Krosnick, and Marcy Rosen. She has participated in music festivals such as the New York String Seminar, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Verbier Music Festival (Switzerland), Spoleto Music Festival (Italy), and Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara). Dr. Wang received her Bachelor and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from City University of New York.
Yulia Ziskel is a member of the New York Philharmonic's First Violin section (Friends and Patrons Chair) and her activities include numerous international solo and chamber music appearances. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Yulia Ziskel began her musical training on the violin and piano at age 4. She made her solo debut at the age of 7 at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and at age 12 as a soloist with St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra. She toured extensively during her teenage years, appearing in solo recitals throughout Russia, Germany, Finland, Poland and United States. In 1994, Ms. Ziskel's family emigrated to the United States, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana University and her Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School.Yulia Ziskel’s solo CD on the Sonoris label includes works by Wieniawski, Tchaikovsky, Ysaye, Brahms, and Paganini.
Cellist Sébastien Hurtaud is acclaimed as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. The press, including BBC Mag, Strad Mag, Gramophone, Forbes, and Fanfare, have praised his ability to capture the essence of works with a rich and expressive sound, combining "the soul of Mistlav Rostropovich and the virtuosity of Feuerman". He studied and obtained his degrees at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris under the tutelage of Jean-Marie Gamard, then with Karine Georgian at the Royal Northern College of Music, and in chamber music with Réna Scherechevsakaya at the Conservatoire de Colmar. His rise as a solo cellist began at La Monnaie, where he also won awards at international competitions, propelling his solo career. Hurtaud was a laureate of the international Namburg Foundation competition in New York and the Adam International Competition in New Zealand. He has given masterclasses at international institutions including Washington University, Missouri State University, Southern Minnesota University, and the Funsicopa Foundation in Panama and has founded the "Artist Angel" program during the Covid period to support young professional cellists online. Together with his wife, Pamela Hurtado, he has recorded the complete music of Paul Hindemith for cello and piano under the Naxos label. Sébastien Hurtaud is presently cello professor at the École Normale Alfred Cortot.
Pianist Pamela Hurtado is an active soloist and makes regular appearances in many concert halls including: Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, Les Archives Nationales, Claude Debussy Theater, Marcel Landowsky Concert Hall, the Fondation Heinrich Heine in Paris, Caruth Concert hall in Dallas, National Theater in Beauvais, Colmar and Lyon Operas and many others. Her artistic activity leads her to perform in France and abroad and she also appears in various Festivals such as Chopin Piano Festival and Young Talent Festival in paris, Piano Passion Festival in Saint Etienne, International Forum Musical in Normandie, Salon de musique Festival in Belfort, Musique à la ferme, Offenbach Festival, Saint Ulrich Festival, Musique en Ré Festival. Pamela Hurtado is a student of Rena Shereshevskaya from the Ecole Normale Cortot of Paris where she obtained the Zaleski Scholarship. She is the winner of national and international competitions such as the Steinway Young Artist Competition, Vulaines Special Chopin Competition, Claude Kahn compétition, San Sebastian International Piano Competition in Spain, and finalist of the “World International Piano Competition” of Santa Fe in USA. She was awarded top prize of the International Piano Competition of Montrond in France. She is presently professor of piano and chamber music at Music Conservatoire du Val d'Yerres where she is also head of department of chamber music of the 5 conservatoires in the Val Sénart. She gives masterclasses at the Academies of Flaine, Musicalta, and Nancyphonies in France.