A native of Hickory, North Carolina, violist Santiago Vazquez-Loredo has appeared at festivals such as the Four Season Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Winter Workshop – in June!, the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and the Potomac Chamber Music Lab. Named as the “Tavola Quartet”, his group was selected as an NEC Honors Ensemble in 2021. In recent events, Santiago has performed at Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage with the 6821 Quintet as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Santiago graduated from East Carolina University where he studied with Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim and from The New England Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian
Originally from Virginia Beach, VA, Jeff Phelps has performed locally with the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Musical Theater, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Stephen Coxe and Friends, and many others. Jeff studied cello and orchestral conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music and recently shifted to professional arts management working with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. He recently completed postgraduate study in cultural policy and arts management in Dublin, Ireland. Jeff's research involves the blurry intersection of law, morality, intolerance, religion, and ethics for constructive and empathetic application to complex dark-history elements across arts disciplines.  
Praised by the Strad Magazine for “warm sound [and] much joy”, violist Ivan Mendoza began his musical studies at the age of ten in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. He received his degree from John J. Cali School of Music under the tutelage of Honggang Li and Kathryn Lockwood. Recent notable engagements include a recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet with the Shanghai Quartet, the music of Charles Loeer with soprano Barbara Dever and pianist Ron Levy, and performances at Encore Chamber Music Festival, Intersections Festival, and Bargemusic. A recipient of the Oscar Ravina Talent Grant, Ivan has held chamber music residencies at Montclair State University, Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, and Shenandoah Conservatory. Ivan is a founding member of the Continuum Chamber Collective—an ensemble dedicated to performing new works from underrepresented groups in classical music. The group has performed and presented recitals extensively throughout the United States and regularly commissioned works from composers belonging in traditionally marginalized populations. In addition to being an avid chamber musician, Ivan regularly appears with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, New Orchestra of Washington, and the Montclair Orchestra. Ivan is currently based in the Greater Washington DC/Baltimore area and is on the viola faculty of the Artsahimsa Chamber Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Oswald P. Backus is an accomplished double bassist with an extensive musical background. He graduated with a BA in Classical Bass Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2008 and completed the Double Bass Performance Program at Boston University Tanglewood Institute in 2004. Oswald also holds an MA in Music from the University of Kansas, earned in 2016.

He is an integral part of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, since 2021. With exceptional precision and musicality, he contributes to creating captivating performances, collaborating with fellow musicians during rehearsals and concerts. Oswald actively engages in workshops focused on team-building and leadership, showcasing his abilities in collaboration and inspiring others.

Aside from his role in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Oswald has held various positions in several other prestigious orchestras, including the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Grand Opera, and more, showcasing his versatility and expertise as a double bassist.

Throughout his musical journey, Oswald P. Backus has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in his craft, leaving a lasting impact on the world of classical music.
Taiwanese-American cellist, Alex Wu, is a recitalist, educator, chamber, and orchestral musician from Philadelphia. A recipient of the Penn State University Brewster Music Grant, Alex debuted with the Warminster Symphony in 2010 and has since performed as a soloist with the Lansdowne, Old York, Penn State, and Southeastern Pennsylvania symphony orchestras among others. He has been selected as a National YoungArts Foundation merit scholar in classical music and has also been invited as a professional performance artist at the Boston Music Institute's masterclass program, working closely with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. In the fall of 2021, he became one of two American semi-finalists to compete in the IXth Annarosa Taddei International Music Competition in Rome, Italy.

As a chamber musician, Alex has performed across the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia with various ensembles. In recent years, he has been invited to perform at the Music Academy of the West, Caramoor International Music Festival, Mount Gretna Music Festival, Harpa International Music Academy, Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute, Penn’s Woods Music Festival, and the Greenlake Chamber Music Festival. Alex has also been invited as a Manchester Music Festival Young Artist, performing celebrated chamber works across the southern Vermont region. As an orchestral musician, Alex currently serves as a cellist in Symphony in C and the Peabody Symphony. Previously the associate principal for the Penn State Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Sinfonia, he has also performed as principal for the 2017 National Youth Orchestra of the USA under the baton of Marin Alsop. Returning for their 2018 season, Alex again traveled with the National Youth Orchestra under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. In their 2019 and 2020 season, Alex attended the York String Orchestra Seminar and performed with the ensemble under the direction of Jaime Laredo.
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Alex is a current master’s student at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Alan Stepansky. As a graduate of the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University in political science and music performance, he has also studied extensively with Kim Cook and Jon Dexter. He is also an alumni of the Temple University Boyer College of Music Preparatory program, studying with Jeffrey Solow. Alex plays on a 1997 Goffriller inspired cello by William Harris Lee & Company located in Chicago.

Outside of music, Alex is an avid outdoorsman and hobbyist. As an Eagle Scout, he enjoys hiking, camping, canoeing, and archery in his spare time. Alex is also a brother of the Lambda Phi Epsilon International Fraternity Inc. and remains active in the Greek life community.
Violinist Ava Figliuzzi is a Minnesota native based in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, where she enjoys performances with Galatea Chamber Music and the Virginia and Williamsburg Symphony Orchestras. She was previously a member of the Palm Beach Symphony for their 2022-23 season.

In recent summers, Figliuzzi has received fellowships from Eastern Music Festival, Texas Music Festival, the Monteux School, Round Top Festival Institute, and Garth Newel Music Center. She spent formative summers assisting and eventually coordinating Lakes Area Music Festival’s community engagement program — striving to make professional, live classical music accessible to audiences in her northern Minnesota hometown.

Figliuzzi completed her master’s degree with Carol Cole at the Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, and her undergraduate work with Bayla Keyes at Boston University, serving in concertmaster and principal positions at both. She has had the opportunity to perform in several masterclasses with renowned artists such as Ida Kavafian, Elmar Oliveira, Kathleen Winkler, Judith Ingolfsson, Peter Wiley, Joshua Bell, and the Muir, Calidore, and Daedalus String Quartets.
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During her graduate studies, Figliuzzi served as a violist in Lynn Conservatory’s Philharmonia and chamber ensembles and worked as a journalist for Palm Beach Arts Paper. She was recognized with the conservatory’s 2023 M. Elizabeth “Maddy” Cumpton Endowed Memorial Award.
Jason Mooney began playing the cello at the age of nine. Jasonearned his bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Anne Martindale Williams, principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and his master’s degree from Southern Methodist University where he studied with Andres Díaz and Christopher Adkins, principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony. Jason has attended some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals for young musicians including the National Orchestral Institute, Meadowmount and Garth Newel, and has also performed in master classes for many prominent cellists such as Raphael Wallfisch, Steven Doane, Joel Krosnick, Stephen Geber, Eric Kim, Robert DeMaine, Brinton Smith, and Natasha Brofsky. 

Jason has performed in chamber music collaborations with many renowned musicians such as Andres Cardenes, William Hagen, Gary Levinson, Yuriy Bekker and Michael Klotz, and has shared the stage with Grammy Award winning performers Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, the Eagles, Luke Combs, and Ed Sheeran.

As a soloist, Jason was featured in recital at the General Consulate of Mexico’s Mexican Cultural Series where he performed works by Latin American composers including a world premier by the renowned tango composer Sonia Possetti. Jason performed the world premiere of Kyle Jones’s Concerto for Two Cellos with cellist Khari Joyner in Morgan Hill, California.  Jason was also featured on Pittsburgh’s WQED 89.3 fm where he played J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1. 

Jason currently holds the position of principal cello with the Shreveport Symphony, and performs with the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphonies as a substitute cellist. In addition to performing, Jason maintains a vibrant teaching studio in Dallas, Texas. 
Florrie Marshall is an artist of sounds, and lover of all things musical. Florrie comes from a long musical lineage and is proud to be continuing in the footsteps of her family members from previous generations. After the passing of both paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother who lead lives as professional musicians, Marshall continued her musical studies with her great-aunt and legendary pedagogue Dora Marshall Mullins in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

With a passion for exploring chamber music literature, Marshall has been a participant at several esteemed chamber music festivals most recently including ClasClas, under the direction of Guy Braunstein, former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic. Other festival appearances include the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival’s Winter Workshop 2016, 2017 & 2019, the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Beethoven Institute in New York City, and the Manchester Music Festival. Such festivals have afforded Marshall the opportunity to perform alongside revered artists such as Guy Braunstein, Franz Bartolomey, Chris Grymes, Ida Kavafian, Ani Kavafian, Michael Kannen, Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Ilya Kaler, Ralph Kirshbaum, Mark Jakobs, Raman Ramakrishnan, Emanuel Gruber and Melissa Reardon.

In addition to her love of chamber music, she also developed as an orchestral musician, having served as principal violist of the Yale Philharmonia, concertmaster, principal second violin and principal viola for both the East Carolina University Symphony Orchestra and conductor-less ensemble, The Virginia Beach Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. During her senior year at ECU, Marshall performed an orchestral concert in the same way her grandfather once did: As concertmaster from the first violin section for the first half, and as concertmaster from the viola section for the second half.
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Florrie earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance and a Certificate of Advanced Performance Studies in viola from East Carolina University where she studied with Hye-Jin Kim and Ara Gregorian. She recently earned her Master of Music degree from Yale University, studying with renowned pedagogues Steven Tenenbom and Ettore Causa. As a graduate student and recipient of the Stephen and Denise Adams Fellowship, she received the 2017 Presser Foundation Graduate Award and the 2018 Philip F. Nelson Prize. Florrie also received the 2017 Interdisciplinary Arts Award from Yale’s Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.

​Florrie is currently completing her first year as a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Yale School of Music, where she studies with violist Ettore Causa.

Bring more chamber musicians to our area!