The Artists
The core part of the collective is the string quartet. The ensemble often chooses to collaborate with other musicians, composers, and other artists.
Sasha Ono, Cello
Sasha Ono is a freelance cellist and music educator in the New York City area. Recent performances include work with Grammy Award-winning jazz musicians, Mozart in the Jungle, Streetlight Manifesto, and Little Kruta Orchestra. Sasha is also a part of a new collaboration with organist Anthony Rispo in a series of concerts performing newly imagined works for organ and cello which was featured at Piccolo Spoleto. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, National Sawdust, Avery Fischer Hall (David Geffen Hall), Madison Sq. Garden as well as international performance venues. Recently, she is coming off of a concert tour of Nothern Japan, to raise awareness and funds for areas still heavily impacted by the tsunami and earthquakes.
As an advocate for making live music more available to the public, she founded Lotus Chamber Music Collective which centers on works by female, female-identifying women and people of color. The series presents concerts at informal venues and encourages audience members to engage in meaningful dialogue. The series also collaborates with local music educators to provide resources and workshops for students.
Sasha is a faculty member for Youth Orchestra of St.Luke’s (YOSL) and is the former director of the Elementary and High School Brewster Central School District orchestra programs. During her tenure teaching and conducting elementary through high school orchestras, Sasha developed a unique strings curriculum focused on developing perseverance, building effective practice techniques, and learning music literacy through ear training. At YOSL, she works as a group cello instructor as well as a consultant and creator of student assessments. Sasha is also the current conductor of the String Ensemble at Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra.
Sasha received her B.A in Cello Performance under the direction of Julia Lichten at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Music and Masters of Arts in Music Education from Manhattanville College where she received the Fromkin Award and became a New York State Certified Music Teacher.
Tiffany Weiss, Violin
Tiffany Weiss is an New York-based freelance violinist, teaching artist, and dancer originally from Arizona. She began violin and dance lessons at age four in the small town of Prescott, Arizona. She competed in local and regional competitions growing up, and won her first competition at age 11. Some of her most favorite memories from Arizona was her first solo performance with the Prescott POPS Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto, No.4 at age 17, and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole with the Four Seasons Symphony Orchestra during college.
Ms. Weiss graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with both her Bachelor of Music/Minor in Dance and Master of Music degrees studying under the tutelage of Professor Danwen Jiang. During the summers while attending ASU, she was Concertmaster of the Prescott POPS Symphony Orchestra and traveled to Europe to participate in music festivals.
After teaching in the classroom for four years, Tiffany made the decision to pursue violin full-time and now works as a session musician, orchestra sub and other performance opportunities. Her career has taken her to many different formats, including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, live Kirtan sessions, local bands, corporate galas, and event entertainment wearing a dress made of roses. She truly loves performing in any scenario.
She still currently teaches private violin lessons aside from working as a Teaching Artist for various organizations in Manhattan. She performs in the NY/Tri-state area and goes on tour with productions 1-2 times per year.
In her free time, she enjoys Latin/ballroom/swing dancing, cycling, reading, and traveling anywhere with clean air.
Emily Frederick, Violin
Born and raised in Upstate New York, violinist Emily Frederick has worked with many renowned performers and educators, including masterclasses with James Ehnes and members of the Ying Quartet and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. After studying with James Krehbiel in Syracuse, Emily worked with Nicholas DiEugenio at Ithaca College, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 2013. She recently had the honor of participating in Music from Salem, a chamber music concert series based in Upstate New York. In May of 2015, Emily finished her studies with Cal Wiersma at Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where she received a Master of Music. Emily is currently an active member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Albany Symphony, the Binghamton Philharmonic, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, where she sits assistant principal 2nd violin.
Brianne Lugo, Viola
A New York native with Puerto Rican heritage, New York City has been my home since 2016 after spending a decade in Midwest cities. As a violist, I have performed in symphonic and operatic settings throughout my career, as well as both on and off-Broadway musical theater productions. This career also includes performances on Saturday Night Live (Chance the Rapper), The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon (SZA), to Lincoln Center Out of Doors concert series, to outdoor Brooklyn stages, to Rockwood Music Hall, to Carnegie Hall. Normally, I can be found traversing the NYC region with my viola, and, most likely, a bagel. For the 2018-2019 season, I had the privilege of joining the Southwest Florida Symphony in Ft. Myers, Florida, and enjoyed every moment of being a snowbird migrating south in the winter.
Trained in viola performance at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by the Cleveland Institute of Music, I was eager to hit and to join the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in 2011. While there, I was spoiled with the amazing halls of Symphony Center, colleagues, and world-renowned conductors, composers, and soloists. With the precious few minutes I had in a one-on-one discussion with Yo Yo Ma, we laughed and talked about Sesame Street, cookies, and how to stir up new audiences to classical repertoire. “A little of this, a little of that” laughs, jokes, a little less serious, coupled with “okay, what is the problem and how do we fix it?”
Beyond performing, it has been my privilege to share my love for, and knowledge of, music with various educational groups throughout the city, such as The Harmony Program, Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), and OrchestraOne. The importance of groups and programs like these is so, so, so, etc high. To reach out and connect with students, young folk, and their families about the joy and power that music can bring to a rather uncertain and shaky future in unstable financial and familial settings is practically immeasurable (although there is plenty of research to support the benefits of music education, so you don’t have to just take my word for it. Science says so.).
Here in this city, “crossover” and genre-hopping are all part of the fun. Don’t get me wrong, I still and always will be a #1 fan of laying down the middle voice in a Beethoven symphony, yet this is flipping NYC. Meeting John Kander and performing a new musical of his, Kid Victory, was one of the first things I had the honor of doing here. Learning the ropes and intricacies of behind-the-scenes for my Broadway debut in 2019 (Ain’t Too Proud) shocked me with the amount of people and communication in small spaces. Working with film composers and sitting in recording studios for bands with the headphones on and getting the “hits” right- incredible! Rocking out performing in a Prince tribute in Brooklyn- downright groovy. Seeing the sea of people at Damrosch Park paying their respects to J Dilla while Miguel Atwood Ferguson led us through his magnificent orchestrations of hip hop classics- priceless. Name dropping aside, I’m here for the music. The “who/what/when/where” all comes from the “why”- the answer is simply from my love and appreciation for music.