Originally from Stuttgart, Germany, Violinist Susanna Klein has enjoyed a varied career as a violinist, educator and classical music innovator on the East Coast. She has performed in orchestra and chamber music settings in Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Israel as well as throughout the United States.  Currently she serves as violinist with both Trio 826, based in Iowa, and the trailblazer group Atlantic Chamber Ensemble (ACE) in Richmond.  ACE has garnered national attention through its novel connections to audiences, recently detailed in Chamber Music Magazine.
As an orchestral musician, Ms. Klein served as principal second violin of the Richmond Symphony for five years. Other full time orchestral appointments have been with the Colorado Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Vermont Symphony (as acting concertmaster) and Rhode Island Philharmonic.  Klein has played under the baton of notable conductors such as Marin Alsop, Sejii Ozawa, Yoel Levi, and Lorin Maazel. She participated in the music festivals at Tanglewood, Spoleto Italy,  Shira, Kneisel Hall, and Nova Scotia.  In 2011 and 2012 performed at the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival in Virginia and in 2012 at the Lake George Music Festival in New York.

 

Ms. Klein is author of the Practizma Practice Journal and presents nationally on the topics of efficient practice, practice psychology, and musician injury prevention. 

 

A passionate educator, Susanna Klein has taught violinists aged 4 to 74. She has served on the violin faculty at the Governor’s School of Virginia Summer program, the Richmond Symphony Camp, and the Boston Youth Symphony Retreat. In 2010 she founded The Orchestra Project, a VCU/Richmond Symphony camp for talented string players. Every year, she co-directs and serves on the faculty at the Orchestra Project, held on the campus of VCU. Susanna Klein is assistant professor of violin and coordinator of strings at her alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University.  Klein holds a Bachelor of Music degree from VCU and Master of Music degree from Boston University, where she was an assistant to the legendary violinist Roman Totenberg. Visit SusannaKlein.com for more information.

Hannah Holman is a cellist with the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Her career has encompassed orchestral and chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. In December 2012 she released her  first solo CD, a recording of the complete Cello Sonatas by Bernhard Romberg with pianist Réne Lecuona.

In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, which she joined at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, Hannah is the principal cellist of the Quad City Symphony, a position she has held since 2008. She began her professional career in England playing with the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. Her orchestral work also includes serving as assistant principal cello with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony, and the American Sinfonietta.

An active chamber musician, Hannah was a founding member of the Beaumont Piano Trio, which performed around the United States and England, and was also a founding member of Quadrivinium, a music ensemble in residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 2002- 2011, she was a member of the Maia Quartet, the University of Iowa’s quartet in residence, which toured China, Japan, and throughout the United States, and held residencies at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. She regularly performs in chamber ensembles with musicians from throughout the United States. As a soloist, Hannah has performed with orchestras in Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, and Iowa.

A dedicated private teacher who finds great fulfillment in helping students of all ages grow musically, Hannah was on the University of Iowa music faculty from 2002-2012, and has served on the faculties of the Worcester College (UK), Michigan State University Community School, and Virginia Union University. She has participated in numerous festivals, and has been on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival since 2001 and the Kansas City String Quartet Program since 2010.

Hannah studied at the Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree. She earned her Master of Music Degree with Fritz Magg at the New England Conservatory. Her musical education began at age 5 with her grandmother, whose 1925 Becker cello she plays today. She is eternally grateful for the loving and transformative teaching, during her junior high and high school years, of Mr. Louis Potter.

Hannah--whose hobbies include food, wine, and finding killer deals on killer shoes--divides her time between New York and Iowa City, Iowa, where she lives with her son, Matisse, and their cat, Ripley. Visit HannahHolmanCello.com.