CELLIST

Ami Nashimoto is a prominent member of the San Francisco music scene, playing cello with numerous ensembles and bands including Eclecta Strings, Classical Revolution, and the Ami Nashimoto Trio. They play with numerous orchestras and theaters including American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, and Oakland Theater Project, where she was nominated for the 2024 Bay Area Theatre Critics Award Featured Performance - Musical for her multiinstrumental work in Ghost Quartet. Ami brings their work as a composer, arranger, music director, and teacher to all of their projects.

GUITARIST

Owen is a a guitar, bass, and ukulele teacher and performing guitarist and bassist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began playing guitar at age 11 and went on to study Jazz and Classical Guitar at Capital University in Columbus, OH. Owen moved to Oakland in 2010, and has been performing locally and internationally ever since with groups such as Cash Pony, Sleepy Sun, Talkies, and Fine Points. Today he performs with original rock group Cyan Pools and tribute band Fleetwood Macrame.

VIOLINIST

Sarah Elert is a San Francisco-based violinist who enjoys collaborative music-making of all kinds. She currently holds positions as principal second violinist of the Vallejo Symphony and section violin in the Modesto and Berkeley Symphonies, and frequently performs with other groups throughout the Bay Area. An avid chamber musician, Sarah spent several summers in Breckenridge, Colorado as part of the National Repertory Orchestra’s Alumni String Quartet, where she had the opportunity to both curate formal recitals and perform educational concerts at local preschools and libraries. She also performs regularly with her Oakland-based quartet, the Town Quartet, whose focus is on commissioning local composers and championing underperformed works. Though the bulk of her work is within the classical sphere, Sarah enjoys branching into other genres and has performed alongside musicians such as the Indigo Girls, Cypress Hill, and Dessa. Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Sarah received her musical training at the University of Colorado Boulder, Boston University, and the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. When not performing, Sarah enjoys knitting increasingly long scarves, practicing latte art, and reading chamber music with friends.

VIOLINIST

Classically trained in Rīga, Latvia, and based in Oakland, CA, Alise Ewan is a versatile violinist performing across Classical, Jazz, Afrobeats, Hip-Hop, and Pop. She has shared the stage with Smokey Robinson, Eagles, Andrea Bocelli, and Sigur Ros, and performed aboard the Celebrity Infinity, traveling from Alaska to Antarctica, including the Falkland Islands. Fluent in English, Latvian, and Russian, Alise brings poise, artistry, and professionalism to every performance.

CELLIST

A Florida Native now based in the Bay Area, Byron Hogan is a musical polymath: a cellist, composer, beat maker, and rapper whose influences jump from Bach and Ravel to Tupac and MF DOOM.

Byron has toured the world, performing cello at venues like Carnegie Hall and the Zappanalle (Frank Zappa Festival) main stage. He's equally at home shredding as a bassist in metal bands or screaming as a lead singer in power trios.

From symphony halls to block parties, you never know where his love-infused music will take him next.

Violist and violinist Taylor Cooksey-Nguyen has had the privilege to perform both instruments as a soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, and orchestral musician, sharing her love for music with people nationally and internationally. She currently serves as a section violist with the Stockton and Modesto Symphonies, and regularly substitutes for other Bay Area orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Sacramento Phil and Opera, and many more. Before establishing herself in the Bay Area, Taylor previously appeared in leadership and section positions with the Seraphim Symphony and the Bob Cole Conservatory Orchestra in Southern California, where she performed as a violin soloist at the XXX London Olympic Games, and as a viola soloist and chamber musician at multiple cathedrals throughout England, France and Germany. Taylor has performed with bands including Journey and Trans Siberian Orchestra in 2022 and 2023 respectively, and has also played violin and viola alongside a wide range of musicians including Moein, Matteo Bocelli, Patti Austin, Teddy Swims, Chris Potter, Simon Trpceski, and Snow Tha Product.

When not performing classical viola, Taylor spends her time singing and playing electric five string violin in the band Victor and the Callers, as well as arranging and creating multitrack covers of jazz and prog rock songs she enjoys.

Alex is a guitarist, composer, and audio specialist with over 20 years of experience on the national and international stage. He brings proven versatility, skill, professionalism, and intensity to every session, whether on a concert stage, tracking in the studio, or collaborating in a songwriting session.

As a composer, his work is emotionally driven and melodically focused. A "compositional chameleon," capable of crafting high-impact tracks across a wide spectrum of styles and genres, he also brings a keen ear for mixing, dialogue editing, and immersive sound design to provide the final layer of polish and professional impact that takes a production from good to world-class.