professional chamber musicians for all occasions
Tatyana Swanson studied violin at Moscow Prokofiev's School of Music and undergone viola instructions with Galya Dubrova at Moscow Conservatory. She has also studied viola under Y. Schutten and X. Montiel at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, as well as with several members of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with various groups and ensembles, such as Erie Philharmonic and Pops Orchestra, Traverse City Orchestra, Wheeling and McKeesport Symphonies, Johnstown and Westmoreland Orchestras, among others. Ms. Swanson was a string coach of the Pittsburgh Youth Phoenix Orchestra, string coach at the yearly Summer Chamber Music String Camp in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh, and a string coach at the Interlochen Summer Academy. In the summer of 2001, she was a participant in the Chamber Music String Workshop in Vermont. Currently, she holds a private violin/viola teaching studio at the Musik Innovations School of Music with over thirty students in addition to numerous performing engagements throughout Pittsburgh.
Douglas Lischner received his Bachelor of Music Performance under the instruction of Mimi Zweig and Joseph DePasquale at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and received his Master of Viola Performance with Atar Arad at Carnegie Mellon University. He has performed as violinist or violist in numerous orchestras in the United States as well as principal and section viola in the Spoleto Festival. Presently, Mr. Lischner is on the faculty of the Mt. Lebanon School District strings department and maintains a private studio in addition to performing in the Pittsburgh area.
Jami Bale performs throughout the region as both a violinist and a flutist. Formerly a native of Kansas City, Kansas, Ms. Bale is currently a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, the Wheeling Symphony of West Virginia, and several other area orchestras. She has been a faculty member at Duquesne University and The City Music Center. Ms. Bale holds a Bachelor's and two Masters' Degrees from the Conservatory at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and an Artist's Diploma from Duquesne University. In the summer of 1999 she was chosen to perform at the Lake Placid Flute Workshop. In recent years, Ms. Bale has returned to the Midwest as both a recitalist and as a performer in the Sunflower Music Festival of Topeka. Ms. Bale is a also a private violin instructor at the Musik Innovations School of Music, as well as a coach at the Summer Chamber Music String Camp in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh.
Kathy Painter earned her Minor in Violin Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. She studied with Eugene Phillips and played under the baton of Werner Torkanowsky and Keith Lockhart, performing with the Carnegie Mellon orchestra at Carnegie Music Hall in New York City. Recently, Kathy has participated in several workshops with Sherry Kloss, former student of Jascha Heifetz. She has performed with local community orchestras and in chamber groups for fundraisers and other community events.
Erin Snyder has been teaching and performing in the Pittsburgh area since 1984. As a cello performance major at Carnegie-Mellon University and principal cellist in the school's orchestra, she studied under Anne Martindale-Williams of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and George Sopkin of the Beaux Arts Trio. She also studied with Joel Moershel of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during a summer at the Tangelwood Music Center. She has performed throughout the United States and Europe, including Carnegie Hall in New York City. For the last eight years, Snyder has been teaching cello privately at Musik Innovations and playing with orchestral and chamber groups throughout the Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. She has extensive recording and playing experience in non-classical genres, as well. She played electric cello in the jazz quintet Watershed from 1990 to 2000, has played upright bass in numerous bluegrass, rockabilly and country bands since 1993, played electric bass locally and nationally since 1986 (including a recent appearance at the Grand Ole Opry's Opryland Plaza in Nashville, TN) and recently toured the United States as the fiddler in a country-rock band.
Galina Istomin has received her Master's Degree in Music Performance and Education at Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has an extensive experience both as a performer and a teacher. Istomin has been a member of numerous orchestras such as St. Petersburg State Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Temirkanov, Mussorgsky Theater Ballet and Opera Orchestra. She has also taught at Tchaikovsky School of Music for Children. Here in Pittsburgh, Istomin has performed with Butler and Edgewood Orchestras as a concertmaster and a soloist. She has taught privately at Duquesne University City Music Center. Currently, she is a member of Pittsburgh Ballet and Opera Orchestras, private coach at Shadyside Chamber Music Festival, and also holds a position as a String Instructor at The Ellis School, where she created the "Silver Strings" program, encompassing string, woodwind and brass players.
Kathryn Hatmaker recently completed her Masters in Violin Performance at Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as the graduate assistant to PSO Concertmaster Andres Cardenes. Kathryn is a contracted member of various orchestras in the Pittsburgh area, including the Wheeling, Youngstown, and Cleveland Pops Orchestras. She additionally performs with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Opera and Benedum Center orchestras. She currently serves as Associate Concertmaster for the newly-formed Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra and can often be heard at various musical theaters around town, as she is quite active in genres outside of classical music as well. Ms. Hatmaker supplements her performance schedule with both teaching and participation in summer music festivals. Her last few summers have consisted of performances with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, where she performed Ravel's "Tzigane" with the orchestra, l'Academie Internationale de Musique (in Montpellier, France) and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. She completed her undergraduate training at both the University of Iowa and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, where she received high honors and degrees in both Political Science and French.
SarahBreckenridge earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the Pennsylvania State University and an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Duquesne University. She continued her violin studies with Albert Tan (member of the Pittsburgh Symphony) and Burton Kaplan (Professor of violin at the Manhattan School of Music). Sarah performs regularly with the Wheeling and Youngstown Symphony Orchestras and maintains a private violin studio with 20 students.
Robin Hasenpflug has established her performance career on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to her position in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, she is presently a member of the Illinois Philharmonic and the Northwest Indiana. Robin also found time to perform with her clarinet trio, "Trio Brioso," that had its German debut performance in Kauserslautern. Robin also continued her education while performing abroad, studying privately with Hans Christian Schweiker, cello soloist and professor at the Musikhochschule Koln. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory in 1992 after studying with renowned soloist Regina Mushabac. She earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory in 1994 following an intense course of study with Lee Fiser of the La Salle String Quartet. After earning her degrees, Robin was selected to be a substitute member of several prestigious orchestras, including the Columbus Symphony, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony. While performing regularly, she continued her professional development by studying with Eric Kim, principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony.