Dance of the sugar plum fairy
From “The Nutcracker”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Feliz Navidad
Jose Feliciano
Abi Gezunt
Molly Picon
Last Christmas
George Michael
Waltz of the Flowers
From “The Nutcracker”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Sound of Hanukkah
arranged by Norman Ward
Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson
March
From “The Nutcracker”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Jingle Bell Rock
Folk Song
Hava Nagila
Folk Song
Here Comes Santa Clause
Folk Song
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Folk Song
Jingle Bells
Folk Song
Trepak (Russian Dance)
From “The Nutcracker”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Special Surprise Encore
Bios
Ji Young An
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ji Young An studied violin performance at the Conservatoire National SupeĢrieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Olivier Charlier and Joanna Matkowska, being awarded Premier Prix in 2007. Ji Young furthered her studies in violin performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music with Guillaume Sutre, graduating with her Masterās and Doctoral degrees. She is an alumnus of the AcadeĢmie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel (France) and the Taos School of Music (USA). Ji Young performs as Associate Concertmaster of the San Bernardino Symphony, Principal Second Violin of the Opera Santa Barbara, and Guest Principal Second Violin of the Redlands Symphony. She also performs with the Santa Barbara Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic, West LA Symphony and Wild Up.
Recent concertmaster engagements include the San Bernardino Symphony, the Santa Barbara Choral Society and Los Angeles Conductor’s Workshop. Passionate about passing the traditions of violin performance to
younger generation, she has been maintaining an active private studio since 2013. Ji Young has coached chamber groups at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciencesā Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (EMMI) for several years, and has been serving as Lecturer of Violin at UCLA Herb Alpert Music since 2016 working with music performance major students.
Ani Sinanyan
Born into a family of musicians, Ani began taking violin lessons at the age of six, quickly emerging as a gifted and promising young artist. As a prizewinner of many competitions, Ani was a finalist of the Youth Talent Festival in 2010, earning the distinguished opportunity to perform in the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York City. As Associate Principal 2nd Violin with the American Youth Symphony, Ani performed and recorded alongside many well-known composers and artists, including Sarah Chang, David Newman, and Kris Bowers in celebrated venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royce Hall, and the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox Studios. Ani earned her Bachelorās degree in 2022 from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she studied under the guidance of Movses Pogossian and Varty Manouelian. In 2024, she completed her Masterās degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Ilya Kaler and Olga Dubossarskaya Kaler.
Along with her engagement in prominent music festivals and unique ensembles, Ani is currently touring internationally as a solo violinist for the Piano Rhapsody concert series. Continuing her versatile exploration of different genres in music, Ani also performs with her familyās contemporary group, Trio SynThesis, which competed and successfully won in the UCLA 2022 āCall for New Worksā in the categories Music of Armenia, as well as World Jazz and Intercultural Improvisation Ensemble.
Ariana Solotoff
Ariana Solotoff, originally from New York, lives and works in Los Angeles as a performer, recording artist and teacher of viola and violin. Ms. Solotoff earned her Bachelorās degree from The Juilliard School under the mentorship of Michael Tree and Masao Kawasaki, and her Masters from the Haute EĢcole de Musique de GeneĢve in Switzerland where she studied with Miguel Da Silva. While in Geneva, she was a recipient of the prestigious Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Scholarship Award. Ariana has performed with many chamber and symphonic orchestras across the US and Europe including Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Venia, Hulencourt Symphony Orchestra, Camerata RegalaĢĀ and Orchestra NatĢ¦ionalaĢĀ Radio RomaĢnia.
She has made appearances on the Grammy Awards with Kelly Clarkson, Video Game Music Awards with Twenty- One Pilots, Global Demand Awards with Shelea & Disney Channelās Suite Life with Zack and Cody, and recorded back tracks for BeyonceĢ. Most recently she joined the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs for their Hidden in Pieces tour.
As an educator, Ariana runs the Pascale Music Program where she teaches violin, viola and piano. She is also on faculty at Montecito International Music Festival, Idyllwild Arts Summer Music Program and Cremona International Music Academy in Italy. She also runs the strings division of the Los Angeles branch of the Orbifold International Music Competition which spotlights up and coming young artists.
Hillary Smith
Hillary Smith is a Los Angelesābased cellist who performs widely as a soloist and chamber musician across the U.S. and abroad. Her work has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, Americaās Got Talent, The Ellen Show, LACMAās Sundays Live, and KCRWās Morning Becomes Eclectic. She records regularly for film and television, with recent projects including Avatar: The Way of Water, Encanto, and Oppenheimer. In 2020, she was the featured cellist on Kris Bowersās āStrangeā for Bridgerton, a track that reached Billboardās top 10 for TV and has over 30 million Spotify streams.
A dedicated chamber musician, Hillary has been a finalist in both the Coleman and Chesapeake Chamber Music Competitions, held a quartet residency at the Banff Centre, and performed frequently in the Getty Museumās Sonnets and Sonatas series. She has also recorded with major artists such as The Beatles, Michael BubleĢ, The Backstreet Boys, and Weezer. Her upcoming album of new music for cello and piano with Nikos Syropoulos will be released in Spring 2024.Ā