can-can
From Orpheus in the Underworld
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
String Quartet No. 4 in C Major, K. 157
I. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
“Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”
Variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
ROMANIAN FOLK DANCES
Béla Bartók (1881–1945)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT
Folk Song
down by the bay
Folk Song
l’estate (summer)
From the “Four Seasons”
III. Presto
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
leibesleid (love’s sorrow)
Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962)
“Habanera”
From Carmen
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
libertango
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Special Surprise Encore
Bios
Ji Young An
Born in Seoul, South Korea, violinist Ji Young An studied violin performance at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris with Olivier Charlier and Joanna Matkowska, awarded Premier Prix in 2007. An furthered her studies in violin performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music with Guillaume Sutre, graduating with her Master’s and Doctoral degrees. She has also studied closely with renowned violinists such as Maryvonne Le Dizes, Régis Pasquier, Movses Pogossian and Alexander Treger.
Since 2013, she has been the Associate Concertmaster with the San Bernardino Symphony, and in 2014 joined the Santa Barbara Symphony. She has been serving as Principal Second Violin with Opera Santa Barbara since 2015. An is also an active recording musician, performing in major movie and video game music sessions.
Passionate about teaching, An served as Visiting Lecturer in Violin at UCLA during the 2014 Winter Quarter, filling in for Prof. Movses Pogossian during his sabbatical. She has also been in demand as a chamber music coach at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (EMMI) since 2015. When not performing or teaching in school, An maintains a full private studio from home.
Luke Santonastaso
Luke Santonastaso is a versatile musician, instructor, and mentor presently based in Los
Angeles, CA. He currently serves as the principal 2nd violin for the Santa Cruz
Symphony as well as tenured member of the New West Symphony and the Sarasota
Opera Orchestra. His musical collaborations extend to various orchestras on the west
coast, including the Long Beach Symphony, Santa Barbara Opera, San Bernardino
Symphony, and Redlands Symphony, among others. Luke has collaborated with
renowned artists such as Midori Goto, Maxim Vengerov, Osmo Vänskä, Lynn Harrell,
Gilbert Kalish, Kim Kashkashian, and Augustine Hadelich. He has been a fellow at the
National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, and Incontri in Terra di Siena
music festivals. As a passionate teacher, he maintains a private studio, along with serving
as a chamber coach with Junior Chamber Music. He is also a member of the Scottish
Fiddlers of Los Angeles and enjoys folk music in all its forms. He holds both a Bachelor
and Master of Music degrees from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
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 Bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School under the mentorship of Michael Tree and Masao Kawasaki, and her Masters from the Haute École de Musique de Genève 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 Regală and Orchestra Națională Radio România. She is also an active chamber musician, frequenting chamber music festivals and series in SoCal and beyond.
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 Channel’s Suite Life with Zack and Cody, and recorded back tracks for Beyoncé. She recently joined the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs for their Hidden in Pieces tour. Currently, she tours with her string quartet “Knights Of Tears” throughout the US, bringing beloved music from anime and video games.
As an educator, Ariana teaches violin, viola and piano, and is a mentor at the Windward School in Santa Monica. 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.
Aristides Rivas
Cellist Aristides Rivas embodies a rich culture from South America combined with western classical repertoire to delight audiences. The exquisite balance of sounds, storytelling, and flavors, invites you to a new experience of live concerts. Rivas’ multi-style career has brought him to share the stage with world renown artists in jazz and classical music, including living jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera, Yo-Yo Ma, and jazz virtuosic guitarist Julian Lage. He has performed at a wide range of international music venues and festivals such as Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, Caramoor Music Festival, Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall, Newport and Montreal Jazz Festivals, the Barbican in England, Sejong Center in South Korea, and Teatro Colon in Argentina, among many others.
As a chamber musician, Rivas has collaborated with an array of artists in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia, performing recitals and chamber music alike. In 2018, Rivas performed the complete cello works by Beethoven with pianist Spencer Myer in Cambridge, MA. The following year, he released his album Laberintus, in collaboration with pianist Victor Cayres, featuring music for cello and piano written by Latin American composers. As an avid teacher, Rivas has been a guest faculty in numerous music festivals and music schools throughout the world, including the Vivace Vilnius Music Festival in Lithuania, performed As an orchestral cellist, Rivas has been the principal cellist of many groups in the United States, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and the A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, to mention a few. Rivas is currently the cello faculty at California Baptist University and the University of Redlands, as well as the principal cello of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra.