Randall Weiss (violin) made his solo violin debut
performing the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto as winner of the
Victoria, B.C. Concerto Competition. For 17 years, he was
Assistant Concertmaster of the San Jose Symphony,
substituting regularly as Concertmaster. He is currently
Assistant Concertmaster of Symphony Silicon Valley, one of
America’s newest symphony orchestras. Mr. Weiss has also
appeared with the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco
Ballet and the Louisville Orchestra, and has served as
Assistant Concertmaster of the Music in the Mountains
Festival as well as Concertmaster and soloist with the Santa
Cruz County Symphony. His international performances include
service as Concertmaster of the AIMS Orchestra in Graz,
Austria. Mr. Weiss trained with Paul Kling at the University
of Victoria and the University of Louisville, with Tadeusz
Wronski at Indiana University School of Music, and with
Sylvia Rosenberg at The Peabody Conservatory. During the
summer of 1998, he performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
at the acclaimed Eastern Music Festival, where he has been a
faculty member since 1989. In 1999, Mr. Weiss founded Music
in the Mishkan, a chamber music series at Congregation
Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. He is also an avid runner,
hiker, skier and swimmer and has completed three marathons.
Contact:
randyviolin@gmail.com
A
native of California, Leslie Ludena (violin) grew up
in a suburb of Washington, D.C., where she began her
professional career in local orchestras at age 15. After
attending the Eastman School of Music, she returned to
Washington, freelancing throughout the D.C. metro area. Ms.
Ludena joined the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in
1995, and played operas, ballet, and Broadway musicals there
for three seasons. In 1998, she moved to San Francisco to
accept a position with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra,
and she intends to remain here, further cultivating a
lifelong passion for opera. Ms. Ludena also continues to
freelance, subbing with several Bay Area orchestras and
playing chamber music whenever possible. Contact:
lludena@mac.com
Natalia
Vershilova (viola) was born in Leningrad and graduated
from the Leningrad Conservatory where she studied with the
renowned violist, Professor Yuri Kramarov. While still a
student at the Conservatory she played with the Leningrad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mali Opera Theater of
Leningrad. She was awarded first prize at the "Competition
for the performance of works by Soviet Composers" in
Leningrad. Ms. Vershilova has performed as a recitalist, and
as a member of Foyer Des Artistes Chamber Orchestra in Rome,
Italy. After emigrating to the United States she performed
with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of New York and was a
member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra with whom she
appeared as soloist in Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante. Ms.
Vershilova is presently a member of the San Francisco Opera
Orchestra. As a soloist she has appeared with the Sinfonia
San Francisco and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She has
served as Principal Violist with the San Francisco Chamber
Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Symphony, and the Russian
Chamber Orchestra. Ms Vershilova has also performed with the
San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and the Elixir Chamber
Ensemble. . . For more than twenty years a resident of San
Francisco, she frequently performs with various ensembles
throughout the Bay Area. Contact:
violaasif@juno.com
Victoria
Ehrlich, cellist, was born in Texas and received her
musical education at Southern Methodist University in
Dallas, the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, and the
State University of New York at Stony Brook , and summer
programs at Interlochen, Aspen, and Tanglewood. Her teachers
include Robert Marsh, Bernard Greenhouse, and Robert
Gardner. Before joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in
1984, she performed with the Santa Fe Opera, and Santa Fe
Chamber Music Festival, and served as principal cellist with
the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmond, VA, and Phoenix. Ms.
Ehrlich has performed with such disparate groups as the San
Francisco Ballet and Symphony, New Century Chamber
Orchestra, California and Berkeley Symphonies, Lamplighters,
Composer's Inc, and Pocket Opera, and is an active chamber
musician, appearing regularly with the percussion group
Adesso, the Gold Coast Chamber Players, the Fath Chamber
Players, and the Ariel String Quartet. Recent work includes
collaboration with poets and composers under the auspices of
the American Composers’ Forum. Contact:
vickyehrlich@gmail.com
Pianist Marilyn Thompson received
her Bachelor’s Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of
Music, where she was a student of Adolph Baller. She was
awarded a Fulbright Grant to the Vienna Academy of Music,
and subsequently received her Master’s Degree from Stanford
University, where she studied under the Helen Evans Memorial
Scholarship – a full-tuition grant.
Miss Thompson has performed in chamber
music concerts in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; the 92nd
Street “Y” in New York City; the Philip’s Gallery,
Washington, D.C.; Boston’s Symphony Hall; Davies Symphony
Hall in San Francisco; and most recently in the Teatro
Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica. In the 1980’s she was the
pianist member of the Chamber Soloists of San Francisco and
the San Francisco Trio. At the present time, Miss Thompson
is the pianist of the Navarro Trio, a group which performs
frequently throughout the Bay Area.
Marilyn has taught at the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music; the College of Holy Names,
Oakland, California; at the University of California at
Santa Cruz; and is currently on the faculty of Sonoma State
University where she has taught since 1976. Contact:
marilyn.thompson@sonoma.edu
A
native of California, Leslie Ludena (violin) grew up
in a suburb of Washington, D.C., where she began her
professional career in local orchestras at age 15. After
attending the Eastman School of Music, she returned to
Washington, freelancing throughout the D.C. metro area. Ms.
Ludena joined the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra in
1995, and played operas, ballet, and Broadway musicals there
for three seasons. In 1998, she moved to San Francisco to
accept a position with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra,
and she intends to remain here, further cultivating a
lifelong passion for opera. Ms. Ludena also continues to
freelance, subbing with several Bay Area orchestras and
playing chamber music whenever possible. Contact:
Natalia
Vershilova (viola) was born in Leningrad and graduated
from the Leningrad Conservatory where she studied with the
renowned violist, Professor Yuri Kramarov. While still a
student at the Conservatory she played with the Leningrad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mali Opera Theater of
Leningrad. She was awarded first prize at the "Competition
for the performance of works by Soviet Composers" in
Leningrad. Ms. Vershilova has performed as a recitalist, and
as a member of Foyer Des Artistes Chamber Orchestra in Rome,
Italy. After emigrating to the United States she performed
with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of New York and was a
member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra with whom she
appeared as soloist in Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante. Ms.
Vershilova is presently a member of the San Francisco Opera
Orchestra. As a soloist she has appeared with the Sinfonia
San Francisco and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She has
served as Principal Violist with the San Francisco Chamber
Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Symphony, and the Russian
Chamber Orchestra. Ms Vershilova has also performed with the
San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and the Elixir Chamber
Ensemble. . . For more than twenty years a resident of San
Francisco, she frequently performs with various ensembles
throughout the Bay Area. Contact:
Victoria
Ehrlich, cellist, was born in Texas and received her
musical education at Southern Methodist University in
Dallas, the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, and the
State University of New York at Stony Brook , and summer
programs at Interlochen, Aspen, and Tanglewood. Her teachers
include Robert Marsh, Bernard Greenhouse, and Robert
Gardner. Before joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in
1984, she performed with the Santa Fe Opera, and Santa Fe
Chamber Music Festival, and served as principal cellist with
the Symphonies of Omaha, Richmond, VA, and Phoenix. Ms.
Ehrlich has performed with such disparate groups as the San
Francisco Ballet and Symphony, New Century Chamber
Orchestra, California and Berkeley Symphonies, Lamplighters,
Composer's Inc, and Pocket Opera, and is an active chamber
musician, appearing regularly with the percussion group
Adesso, the Gold Coast Chamber Players, the Fath Chamber
Players, and the Ariel String Quartet. Recent work includes
collaboration with poets and composers under the auspices of
the American Composers’ Forum. Contact:
