Artists

Co-founder of Viridian Strings, cellist Kyle Stachnik just graduated with a masters in Chamber Music at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying under Professor Jennifer Culp. Previously to SFCM, Kyle completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music with Professor Ross Harbaugh. As a chamber musician he has been able to perform with artists such as Andrés Cárdenes, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Marcy Rosen, Itamar Zorman, Dimitri Murrath, William Fedkenheuer, Dennis Kim, Chauncey Patterson, and Jodi Levitz. Around the Bay Area, Kyle can be seen performing regularly with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Vallejo Festival Orchestra, and Marin Symphony.

Born in 1999, American violist Joseph Skerik is a member of the Vega String Quartet, on faculty at Emory University in Atlanta. His 2024-25 quartet activities include performances with Mark O’Connor, Ettore Causa and Jon Kimura Parker in the US and Mexico. In 2024, the Vega Quartet was featured in concerts at the National Gallery in Washington, DC in conjunction with a special exhibition of Mark Rothko works, and collaborated with musicians such as Zuill Bailey, Ransom Wilson and the Juilliard Quartet.  In addition to studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale School of Music and the Paris Conservatory, Joseph has participated in the Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World and the Schiermonnikoog Festival in the Netherlands. 2024 summer performances include Washington’s Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Highlands-Cashiers Festival and Viridian Strings. Joseph has been a guest artist at Heifetz’s Hear and Now Series, the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the festivals of Lake George, Vivace and Kneisel Hall. He has performed chamber music with Ani Kavafian, Edward Arron, Ilya Kaler, Erin Keefe, Colin Carr, Andrew Shulman, Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson. Joseph is a prize-winner at the AVS Competition and the 2022 Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition in Prague and was recently the featured soloist for the Heifetz Institute’s 2023 tour of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, subbing in for violist Paul Neubauer. 

American violist Brian Isaacs is passionate about developing meaningful musical experiences for both performers and audience members alike. In pursuit of this, Brian is based in Berlin as a member of both the class of Tabea Zimmermann (Konzertexamen, Frankfurt HfMDK) and the Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker (mentored by Sebastian Krunnies).  Brian has received awards and prizes from institutions such as the Verbier Festival Academy, Yale University, Frank Huntington Beebe Fund, and international competitions including Grunewald, Nedbal, and Rubinstein. He has advanced to the semi-finals of major competitions such as ARD, Primrose, and Prague Spring. Brian has benefited from working in masterclasses with violists such as Misha Amory, Yuri Bashmet, Noemie Bialobroda, Ettore Causa, Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Tenenbom, Lars Anders Tomter, and Tabea Zimmermann.  An avid chamber musician, Brian has participated in numerous festivals and concerts in the USA, Europe, and Asia. Recent festival appearances include Four Seasons, Gstaad String Academy, NUME, Taos, Thy, Verbier Festival Academy, and Viridian Strings.  A native New Yorker and graduate of Yale University, Brian received his MM in Viola Performance, studying with Ettore Causa, and his BA in Sociology. He plays on a viola made in 2011 by Douglas Cox in Brattleboro, VT, on generous loan from the Virtu Foundation.

Matthew Hakkarainen is a highly accomplished violinist, being the first American to win first prize at the Premio Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition in Gorizia, Italy. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music studying with Pamela Frank, and currently studies at the Juilliard School with Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes. Matthew has won numerous competitions, including the New World Symphony's Concerto Competition and the Aspen Music Festival and School's Violin Competition. He has also served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and appeared frequently as a Substitute Violin with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Matthew has performed as a guest artist at FestivalSouth, on National Public Radio's "From the Top," and as a soloist with many prestigious orchestras around the world. Born in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Matthew is also an accomplished academic, having been recognized as a National Merit Scholarship recipient, a Kovner Opportunity Scholar, and a Sunshine State Scholar. He has attended numerous festivals and masterclasses, studying with some of the world's most renowned artists, including Zvi Zeitlin, Gordon Nikolić, and Vadim Gluzman, among others. This is Matts second year with Viridian Strings.

Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, a violinist born and raised in Hong Kong. Winning her first job at one of the major orchestras in the United States at the age of 21. Ms. Yeung is now the Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Yeung has performed with the New York Philharmonic; San Diego Symphony; Hong Kong Academy, New World, and Princeton Symphony Orchestras; Symphony in C; New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Ms. Yeung served as Concertmaster of The Juilliard School Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra where she was awarded the loan of a fine Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin. Ms Yeung led the orchestra in the 2020 Curtis on Tour and performed in world renowned venues including the Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Yeung has been an artist of the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival since 2022. Ms. Yeung has won numerous prizes including first prize at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, prompting engagements with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini di Pesaro in Italy. Her other competition awards include second prize of the Juilliard Violin Concerto Competition, winner of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Concerto Competition for two consecutive years, second prize of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, and first prize of the Hong Kong Youth String Competition. In 2018 she was named a New York Philharmonic Global Academy Zarin Mehta Fellow and she was the youngest finalist of both the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Concertmaster Audition.

Ms. Yeung plays on a 1768 Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza.

Violinist Cuna Kim began her violin studies at the age of four in Pittsburgh, PA. She recently completed her bachelor's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Wonhee Bae from the Esmé Quartet. With a strong passion for chamber music, Cuna actively advocates for the accessibility of classical music, aiming to break barriers and reach underprivileged communities. She has had the opportunity to collaborate with distinguished artists such as Robert McDonald, Stefan Jackiw, David Radzynski, and William van der Sloot, as well as esteemed quartets like the Miró, Telegraph, and Jupiter Quartets. Recently, she has been a participant in the Bowdoin International Music Festival and Orford Musique Academy. In the fall, Cuna will (etc.) This is Cuna’s first year with Viridian Strings.

Katie Liu is a Master of Musical Arts student at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Ettore Causa. Katie received her Master of Music degree at the Colburn School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, concentrating in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with minors in Musical Performance and Computer Science; she has had corporate working experience in asset management and fintech consulting. She commenced her viola pursuits as winner of the Princeton University Concerto Competition; as a soloist, she has performed with the Princeton University Orchestra and Colburn Orchestra. Previously the principal violist of the American Youth Symphony, she is currently a section violist at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs with the New York Philharmonic as a substitute violist. An active chamber musician, she performs with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and has participated in the NUME Academy and Verbier Festival Academy. Her upcoming engagements in 2024 include the Aspect Chamber Music Series, BeethovenFestival Sweden tour with pianist Per Tengstrand, Kronberg Academy Chamber Music Connects the World, and North Shore Chamber Music Festival. Katie is an upcoming quarterfinalist at the Primrose International Viola Competition. This is Katies second summer at Viridian Strings.

Violinist Oliver Leitner is in his first year of masters studies at the Yale School of Music in the studio of Professor Soovin Kim. He completed his undergraduate degree at Yale College earning a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with additional studies in violin performance and chamber music under Professor Wendy Sharp. A passionate chamber and orchestral musician, he has been a fellow at festivals including Music Academy, Tanglewood Music Center, Domaine Forget, Thy, and Bowdoin. A winner of the Music Academy MAX competition, he studied and performed with the London Symphony Orchestra in November 2023. He as also served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and is a section violinist in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. 

As an undergraduate Oliver received recognition for his work in music and chemistry, having been a finalist in Yale College’s William Waite Concerto Competition (2022), a recipient of junior and senior awards from the Department of Music, an intern at the National Renewable Energy Lab, and a co-author on chemistry research published in JACS and Angewandte Chemie. This is Oliver’s second year with Viridian Strings.