Pasadena Conservatory Honors Quartet
The quartet studies with Andrew Cook and Aimée Kreston.
Natalie Boberg, Violin
Natalie, 16, has served as Concertmaster of the Colburn Youth Orchestra, and has also performed with the Debut Orchestra and American Youth Symphony. Natalie plays chamber music in the Chamber Institute at the Colburn School, in the Honors String Quartet at Pasadena Conservatory of Music, and in Salastina Music Society’s Sounds Promising Program. She also studies conducting with Maxim Eshkenazy at Colburn. Natalie has attended Interlochen and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute on scholarship. Additionally, she sings in the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. She has performed under and alongside musicians like Gustavo Dudamel, John Williams, James Conlon, Kristen & Robert Lopez, Kristen Chenoweth, & Grant Gershon. She currently studies with Aimée Kreston.
Amy Sze, Violin
Amy, 15, began playing the violin at the age of 3, and now studies with Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School. She was a semifinalist in the 2016 Stradivarius International Violin Competition, and is currently a semifinalist in the Mondavi Young Artists Competition. Amy recently won first prize in the Classics Alive Young Artists Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with the Palisades Symphony, Antelope Valley Symphony, Santa Monica College Orchestra, Santa Maria Philharmonic, Montecito International Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the New World Baroque Symphony, among others. She also plays with the Eastern Sierra Symphony. This past summer, Amy was broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio One.
Andy Park, viola
Andy, 15, is in his freshman year at Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences. He studies viola with Andrew Picken at the Colburn School. At Colburn, Andy has served as principal violist of the String Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra. He's also participated in Colburn's Ed & Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute. He has spent summers in Mammoth playing in the Eastern Sierra Symphony. He recently earned third place in the Los Angeles ASTA competition. In his free time, he likes to swim and read books. Andy is the brother of cellist Claire Park (below).
Claire Park, Cello
Claire, 16, is the recipient of a full merit scholarship from the Colburn School, and has been selected to perform on Colburn's prestigious Honors Recitals multiple times. She has soloed with the Eastern Sierra Symphony, the Dream Orchestra, and the Colburn Cello Ensemble. Claire recently won first prize at the ASTA Solo Competition. She has played with the American Youth Symphony, the Montecito Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the Eastern Sierra Symphony Orchestra, and was invited to participate in this year's New York String Orchestra Seminar. At age 13, Claire was one of the youngest musicians ever to advance to the quarter-finals of the highly regarded Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. Claire studies with Dr. Richard Naill at the Colburn School.
Colburn School Honors Duo
The duo studies with Maia Jasper White.
Alexander Fried, Violin
Alex, 13, began violin lessons at age 4. He During the last few years, Alex has won top prizes in many competitions, including ASTA-Greater Los Angeles, Encore Chamber Competition, and Classics Alive. In 2016, Alex received a Congressional Certificate of Recognition, and performed in the Daniel Pearl World Music Days. Currently, Alex is a Merit Scholarship Recipient at the Colburn School. At Colburn, he studies music theory with Kathy Sawada and chamber music with Maia Jasper White. During the summers, Alex has attended the Montecito Music Festival, Center Stage Strings, and Beverly Hills International Music Festival. Alex is an 8th grader at Mt. Gleason Middle School. He is member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, loves to read, and enjoys skiing, nature, and animals. He also plays the organ.
Osheen Manukyan, Cello
Osheen, 17, began his musical education at the age of 6. Since 2009, he has been studying at the Colburn School with Dr. Richard Naill. In 2012, Osheen was invited to participate in the International Young Musicians Festival in Yerevan, Armenia. He recently won the Colburn Concerto Competition and will be performing as a soloist with the Colburn Chamber Orchestra. For the past two summers, Osheen has attended the Montecito International Music Festival, where he benefited from masterclasses with Dennis Karmazyn and Lynn Harrell. Osheen is currently associate principal cello in the Colburn Youth Orchestra conducted by Maxim Eshkenazy. Furthermore, he has studied chamber music with Ko Iwasaki, Henry Gronnier and Andrew Cook, and is currently in a piano trio coached by Maia Jasper White at the Colburn School.
Violist D'aci Knight
D'aci Knight, Viola
D’aci, 16, is principal violist of the Colburn Youth Orchestra. She is also in two quartets through Colburn's Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Institute, and plays in a trio through Junior Chamber Music. She toured Europe on a merit scholarship with the Colburn Youth Orchestra and has performed with orchestras at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, and the Bing Theater at LACMA. Las summer D’aci attended Bowdoin International Music Festival where she studied with Jeffrey Irvine and has performed in masterclasses with the Jupiter Quartet, Geraldine Walther, Robert deMaine and Andrew Bulbrook of the Calder Quartet. She is a musician for the Los Angeles branch of Music for Food, raising money to benefit the local food bank. She studies with Helen Callus.