Josef Gingold was a Russian-born American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United States, with many successful students.
Steven Sam Staryk, OC is a Canadian violin virtuoso. He had a distinguished solo career and was concertmaster of several major orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Staryk was offered the concertmaster position with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra but chose to pursue solo work at that time. He appeared frequently as soloist in violin concertos with these orchestras. Staryk also had an extensive and awarded teaching career.
Martin Beaver is a Canadian violinist. He was the first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet from 2002 until its final season in 2013. As a part of the Tokyo String Quartet, he played the Paganini-Comte Cozio di Salabue violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, part of the Paganini Quartet collection of instruments made by Antonio Stradivari. He currently performs on a violin made by Nicolò Bergonzi.
The Shanghai Quartet is a string quartet that formed in 1983. The quartet is made up of: first violinist Weigang Li, second violinist Angelo Xiang Yu, violist Honggang Li, and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras. On November 20, 2020 the ensemble announced the newest member, Angelo Xiang Yu. The Shanghai Quartet accepted the resignation of former second violinist Yi-Wen Jiang on March 17, 2020. The group's tours have included North America, South America, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Among their performances, the Shanghai Quartet has developed a long list of performance collaborators including Yo-Yo Ma, David Soyer, Eugenia Zukerman, Sharon Isbin, Ruth Laredo, Arnold Steinhardt, and Chanticleer.
Julia Sakharova is a professional violinist. A native of Zheleznovodsk, Russia, she debuted at the age of eight with the Moldavian Symphony Orchestra. Her mother is also a musician. By the age of 11, she was already internationally known as a child prodigy due to her skills on the violin. At the age of 15, she won the top prize in the International Competition for Music of Eastern and Central Europe; Vladimir Spivakov, the head of the jury, presented her with his bow in addition to the prize. She attended Oberlin College, graduating in 2003 with a major in violin performance; she studied under Milan Vitek while there. That same year, she competed in the Concours International de Montréal des Jeunesses Musicales, and won sixth prize. In 2005, she visited Caracas, Venezuela to perform with the National Philharmonic Orchestra there. She has been Assistant Concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 2008. Since 2012 Sakharova is the newest member of the Arianna String Quartet which is on Residence at the University of Missouri St. Louis. She is part of the Music Faculty as Associate Professor of Violin. In 2024, Sakharova was appointed Concertmaster with Orchestra Iowa.
Gábor Rejtő, also known as Gabor Rejto, was a Hungarian cellist who performed with various artists and chamber music ensembles in the 20th century.
The Audubon Quartet (1974-2011) was an American string quartet based at residencies at Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania (1974-1979) and at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia (1980-2001).
John Dalley is an American violinist. He was raised in a musical family. His father was an orchestra conductor, violinist, composer, instrumental teacher, and music educator. His mother, from Bloomington, Illinois, was a cellist, music teacher, and music publisher.
Stanislav Ioudenitch is an Uzbekistani-born American pianist, known for winning the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal at the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001, jointly with Olga Kern, as well as the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music. He has also won top prizes at the Busoni, Kapell, and Maria Callas Competitions, as well as at the 1998 Palm Beach Invitational and the 2000 New Orleans International. His win at the Van Cliburn Competition led to a recital debut at the Aspen Music Festival and a European tour, highlighted by appearances at summer festivals in France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) is a Canadian string quartet.
Andor John Toth was an American classical violinist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades. Toth played his violin on the World War II battlefields of Aachen, Germany; performed with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in 1943 at age 18; and formed several chamber music ensembles, including the Oberlin String Quartet, the New Hungarian Quartet, and the Stanford String Quartet. For 15 years he was the violinist in the Alma Trio. Toth conducted orchestras in Cleveland, Denver and Houston. In 1969, he was the founding concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Neville Marriner. Toth taught at five important colleges and universities, and recorded for Vox, Decca Records and Eclectra Records.
Andor Toth, Jr. (1948–2002) was an American cellist in the Central European, Berlin, and Hungarian traditions.
The Oberlin Trio was founded in 1982 by three faculty members of the Oberlin Conservatory: Stephen Clapp, violin; Andor Toth Jr., cello; and Joseph Schwartz, piano. Now in its current configuration with pianist Haewon Song, violinist David Bowlin, and cellist Dmitry Kouzov, the group continues an Oberlin tradition.
Stephen Clapp was a violinist and Dean Emeritus of the Juilliard School.
The New Hungarian Quartet was a string quartet founded by Andor Toth in 1972 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where members were on the faculty. It is separate from the well-known Hungarian Quartet, though the violist in both groups was the same. From 1975 until 1979 the quartet was the first faculty quartet-in-residence at the Taos School of Music in Taos, New Mexico.
The Stanford String Quartet was formed in 1984 as a special project of the Stanford University Department of Music.
The Miró Quartet is an internationally performing professional classical string quartet based in Austin, Texas. The group is the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas and its members are on the faculty of the Butler School of Music. Its members are Daniel Ching, violin; William Fedkenheuer, second violin ; John Largess, viola; and Joshua Gindele, cello.
Quartet San Francisco is a non-traditional and eclectic string quartet led by violinist Jeremy Cohen. The group played their first concert in 2001 and has recorded five albums. Playing a wide range of music genres including jazz, blues, tango, swing, funk, and pop, the group challenges the traditional classical music foundation of the string quartet.
Desmond Hoebig is a Canadian cellist with a career as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. Hoebig has held the chair of Principal Cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Hoebig is currently Professor of Cello at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, in Houston, Texas, US. He is also on the faculty of The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. From 1989 to 1991 he was an associate professor at the University of Toronto in Canada.
Milan Vitek is a violinist, conductor, educator and Professor of Violin at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
