ABOUT US

Emily Nash graduated with her MM in Violin Performance while studying with Almita and Roland Vamos at Northwestern University, graduating early and with high honors. She received her BM in Violin Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while studying with Simin Ganatra. Emily was the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s Concertmaster from 2012-2013, and upon Yo-Yo Ma’s request, she was a mentor for the Artistic Challenge Project in 2014. Other orchestral experience includes: the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (as Associate Concertmaster), the Sinfonietta Orchestra of Chicago, and a regular substitute with the Nashville Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. Emily is a founding member of the Cloud Gate String Quartet. Along with performing, Emily maintains a small private violin studio and has been an adjunct faculty member of the Vandercook College of Music. Emily resides in a Chicago suburb with her seven-year-old daughter Natalie and husband and violist, Bruno Vaz da Silva.

Sara has over 10 years of experience as a violinist across the country. A native of Chicago, Sara completed her studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, with a Masters Degree and Artists Diploma from Temple University in Philadelphia. After her time with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she spent 4 years in Los Angeles performing with various groups such as the San Bernardino Symphony, Redlands Symphony, and Pacific Symphony. Upon her return to Chicago, she can now be seen playing regularly with orchestras all over the Midwest such as the South Bend Symphony, Rockford Symphony, Elgin Symphony, and Quad City Symphony. She also enjoys playing a variety of styles of music, whether it’s pop covers in Candelight concerts, opera scores with Opera Festival of Chicago, or musical theater with Porchlight Theater. Sara now lives in Niles with her husband Chris, and loves pilates and trying new restaurants in her spare time. 

Jinty McTavish is a founding member of the mold-breaking string quartet, ATLYS, and has performed over 1000 concerts worldwide with the ensemble on stages spanning Red Rocks and the Gorge Amphitheatre, to intimate chamber music series, and even Chicago Symphony Center. As an arranger and composer for the group, her compositions have garnered ATLYS millions of streams.​ Jinty’s playing and arrangements have been featured on hundreds of recordings—from film and tv to video game music and studio albums. She’s collaborated with artists like Kygo, Halsey, Guster, Seven Lions, and Jim Yosef; and collaborated with DJ’s in clubs through Chicago and abroad. You can also find Jinty performing with the Artemis Chamber Orchestra as their concertmaster.​ When not on stage, you can find her coaching chamber music or snuggling with her sweet pup, Appa.​ Sponsorships include NS Design instruments, Schertler pickups, and Shar Music’s Young Strings of America.

Originally from Tampa, FL, Queenie Edwards is a versatile professional violinist, with experience performing works in the classical, contemporary and pop genres. Queenie has collaborated and played alongside artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Christoph Eschenbach, orchestras Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, The Chicago Philharmonic, and with local collectives like Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and Crossing Borders Music, among others. She is currently the Associate Concertmistress of Artemis Chamber Orchestra and violinist in Solaria Strings, and in recent years, shared the stage with Ed Sheeran during his Subtract Tour show at the Chicago Theatre. Queenie has also been a fellow at the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's training academy). Queenie holds performance degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Masters from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In her downtime, Queenie enjoys training for and running marathons, reading, cooking, exploring local eateries and traveling to the mountains to find fun hiking trails.

Began studying viola in 2004 in his native Brazil at the Escola de Musica de Brasilia. After one year, he placed in a solo competition and had the opportunity to perform with the Orquestra Sinfonica da Escola de Musica de Brasilia,. He graduated from the conservatory in two and a half years, a program which normally takes eight years, and then enrolled in the University of Brasilia. Bruno has worked with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta, Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, among others. Bruno was a founding member of the YOURS (Youth Orchestra Urban Rita Simon) Project Chicago, which is an El Sistema music program for unprivileged students, where he worked until 2012. Bruno completed his undergraduate in music performance at North Park University and his MM at DePaul University. Besides being a performer, Bruno has arranged over 300 pieces for chamber groups. Some of his arrangements were featured at the Banff International String Quartet competition, Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, and Candlelight concerts all around the world.

Larissa Mapua is a Filipino-American violist and violinist based in Chicago. Selected by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, she performed Debussy's String Quartet, Op.10 at the U.S. Capitol for the 114th U.S. Congress and a solo recital for Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines. She recorded for Deutsche Grammophone and was filmed in Netflix's Maestro, under the batons of Yannick Nezet-Seguin and actor Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. She enjoys performing a variety of genres, including pop at Lollapalooza for Liquid Death, and gave U.S. tour performances with the house DJ Kygo, pop singer-songwriter Halsey and jazz artist Laufey. Her training orchestra appointments include The Orchestra Now and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, studying under the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, and live for Georgia Public Broadcasting television. She completed a Master of Music at Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Music at DePaul University.

Bethany Pereboom believes that music is a powerful tool to connect people and is passionate about engaging people in her community as well as in the concert hall. As a supporter and advocate for this diverse musical community, she performs with and serves on the board for 5th Wave Collective, a Chicago-based chamber music collective that programs womxn and gender non-conforming composers, and for Sound Mind, a nonprofit committed to promoting mental wellness in the classical music world. She holds titled positions with Orchestra Iowa, Rockford Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Illinois Symphony, and performs in many special events in the Chicago area. Bethany earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Utah State University and a Master of Music from Boston University in Viola Performance.

Bethany is a devoted auntie, eternal dog-lover, and avid cyclist.

Kelsee Vandervall is a Chicago based freelancer, teacher and arranger. A typical day for this cellist ranges from recording sessions to touring with Broadway productions. With a degree in Contemporary, Urban, Popular Music from Columbia College and a Master's of Music from the University of Michigan, Kelsee is a versatile cellist who has had the opportunity to perform with artists such as Sigur Ros, Jennifer Hudson, Lizzo, PJ Morton, Eminem, J Cole and others. Kelsee is grateful to create timeless moments through music and can provide quality entertainment for your event!

Matthew Agnew attended DePaul University on scholarship and is the principal cellist of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, a position he
has held since 2002. Since that time he has also served as principal cellist for dozens of Chicago Opera Theater performances, including many Chicago premiers. For nearly a decade, ending in 2019, he was the principal cellist for the Joffrey Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” each December. He frequently performs with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra as principal or assistant principal. He has also appeared in recital throughout the Chicago area, and conducted masterclasses for the Elgin Symphony, The New Music School, and North Park University. In 2020 he joined the Metropolis String Quartet, a group that regularly performs a unique mix of classical music, pop, and jazz. Matthew is the father of three boys, who keep him very busy when he is not playing the cello. In his spare time, he enjoys playing guitar and making music with his kids.

Equally at home as a cellist, conductor, and music educator, Matthew Nix is a dynamic musical storyteller on today’s stages. A native of Flint, Michigan, Matthew currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. He has recently performed in the cello sections of the South Bend, Flint, Saginaw Bay, and Lansing Symphony Orchestras, and, presented at the Michigan Music Conference, Illinois Music Education Conference, and at the National American String Teachers Association Conference in Atlanta. Matthew is the former cellist of the award-winning Trio Arvo, a clarinet, cello, and piano chamber ensemble. He recently conducted and collaborated with the Carlos Chavez Symphony Orchestra in Mexico City and the Escuela Superior de Música y Danza in Monterrey, Mexico. Matthew is the Director of Orchestras at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. A graduate of the Michigan State University College of Music, Matthew holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in cello performance and music education, with honor.