Coaches and Teaching Artists

Sarah Pizzichemi

Dr. Sarah Pizzichemi (DMA, MM, BM) has distinguished herself as a versatile and passionate artist and educator with international performances and masterclasses as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She is a founding member and violinist of Skyros Quartet, established in 2010, and co-creator of Skyros Quartet’s 501(c)3 nonprofit: Constellation Creatives. Sarah is concertmaster of the Saratoga Chamber Orchestra of Whidbey Island. She is also co-concertmaster of the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute during the summer. She is co-founder of the music publishing company Evergreen Music Press, which has a mission to broaden string and chamber music education.
Sarah has many private violin students, and maintains the award winning Pizzichemi Violin Studio. Her students regularly perform as soloists with orchestras, attend prestigious music festivals, win and place in competitions, and go on to earn college degrees in music. Sarah has also performed with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, Waco Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, substituted as concertmaster of Seattle Modern Orchestra, and was previously concertmaster of the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra.
Sarah received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with honors and her Master of Chamber Music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and her Doctor of Musical Arts with an emphasis in String Quartet from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln as part of the graduate quartet-in-residence with Skyros Quartet. Her dissertation, “Virtuoso Violinist Maud Powell: Enduring Champion of American Women in Professional Music,” adds to the research literature of feminist musicology. Her main mentors include the Coleman Violin Studio, Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto and the Miró Quartet, Hyeyung Yoon and the Chiara String Quartet, Jerzy Kaplanek and the Penderecki Quartet, Earl Carlyss, James Dunham, and Sylvia Rosenberg.

Brandon Vance

Brandon Vance (BM, MM) had a prodigious start to his performance career when he won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship in 1999, the youngest to do so, at the age of 14. Since then, he has established himself as a violinist, fiddler, ensemble player, and music educator, performing and teaching at universities and venues throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including University of Oregon, University of Limerick in Ireland, and The Nevis Centre in Fort William, Scotland. In addition to performing with the Northwest Sinfonietta and maintaining a private violin studio in the Seattle area, Mr. Vance is an active composer and self-produced recording artist with seven albums to his name. He joined Skyros Quartet in 2019.

Justin Kurys

Dr. Justin Kurys is a founding member and violist of Skyros Quartet. As a member of Skyros he performs nationally, with tours to California, Connecticut, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, and throughout Washington State; as well as internationally with tours to Canada and China. Recent highlights include performances with Skyros at Benaroya Hall for the Seattle Chamber Music Society Winter Festival, several performances at SOMA towers for their Resonance Concert Series, multiple performances at Harris Hall for the Aspen Music Festival and School, and at the Moscow Music Festival, in Moscow Idaho. Dr. Kurys is on faculty at Seattle University. With Skyros, he can be heard on their debut recording “Introspective Odyssey” which was received with critical acclaim. Dr. Kurys maintains a private teaching studio in Lynnwood.

Cecelia Archuleta

Cecilia Archuleta, violinist, enjoys a varied and colorful career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and soloist. Her refined and expressive virtuosity have brought numerous engagements with some of our region’s most esteemed ensembles, as well as internationally. In her native Los Angeles, she studied violin with Frances Hahn, Eudice Shapiro, Paul Shure (member of the Hollywood String Quartet), and was privileged to count Camilla Wicks, Henryk Szeryg and Jascha Heifetz among her mentors.

Cecilia was concertmaster with Philharmonia Northwest and has played with Northwest Sinfonietta, the Seattle Symphony, Pacific NW Ballet Orchestra. She is currently a member of Seattle Baroque Orchestra and the Auburn Symphony Orchestra.

In chamber music (her greatest love), Cecilia has performed with the Philadelphia String Quartet for twelve seasons at the Olympic Music Festival, and the renowned Onyx Trio Series at Town Hall. She is on faculty with the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Madness series and Midsummer Musical Retreat, where she coaches chamber ensembles. She has performed with Gallery Concerts, Intimate Baroque, Anacortes Arts series, Friday Harbor Chamber Music Festival, Oswego music Festival and the Mainely Mozart Festival.

As a soloist, Cecilia has been a guest of the Toluca Symphony, Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Philarmonia, Octava Chamber Orchestra, Cantare Ensemble, and the Chaspen Chamber Orchestra. She has toured North and South America with the Orchestra de la Juventud and the Toluca Symphony. Highlights of her experience in Los Angeles include concerts for Princess Grace of Monaco with harpsichordist Igor Kipnis and a special performance for the President of Mexico, by special request of the First Lady of Mexico, and a performance of the Bach Double Violin Concerto with Jack Benny!

Charles Enlow

Charles Enlow, pianist, has been richly praised throughout the United States and in Europe for his sensitive and virtuosic recital performances. In the Pacific Northwest, he has appeared frequently as a solo recitalist and with chamber music ensembles. Charles Enlow’s performance repertoire spans over three centuries, from Bach, Scarlatti, and Mozart to Rachmaninov, Mompou, and contemporary works by American composers. Charles has a special passion for the piano music of Spain and France, with a particular interest in the solo piano music of Gabriel Fauré. A native of Idaho, Dr. Enlow pursued his musical studies at the Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Dr. Enlow attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University, and is currently a member of the music faculty at Shoreline College, where he teaches collaborative piano, vocal ensemble performance, and produces Shoreline Community College’s opera and musical theater productions.

Thane Lewis

Thane Lewis, violist, is principal violist of Symphony Tacoma. He studied with Steven Staryk at the University of Washington and has performed as Assistant Principal Viola of the Boise Philharmonic and as an extra with the Anchorage Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Auburn Symphony, the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, and the 5th Avenue Theater Orchestra. Mr. Lewis has appeared as soloist with Symphony Tacoma, the Eastside Symphony, the Vashon-Maury Chamber Orchestra, Octava Chamber Orchestra and the Lake Union Civic Orchestra.

Emily Acri

Violinist Dr. Emily Acri is a passionate performer, educator, and arts administrator with a strong commitment to chamber music education. Originally from Winnetka, IL, she earned degrees in Violin Performance from Indiana University (BM, 2015), the University of Michigan (MM, 2017), and the University of Washington (DMA, 2020). After completing her doctorate, Dr. Acri was an ArtistYear Fellow with AmeriCorps in Colorado, where she developed and led music programs in an elementary school, combining performance with community-centered, educational initiatives.

Since returning to Seattle in 2022, Emily has focused on chamber music education and mentorship. Recent positions include working as a violin and chamber music coach with Seattle Youth Symphony’s Orchestra and Conservatory programs and serving as Adjunct Music Faculty at Holy Names Academy, where she taught strings and coached ensembles.

Emily currently serves as Education and Community Engagement Manager at Seattle Chamber Music Society, where she leads the Adult Academy for Chamber Music, co-curates the String Quartet in Residence program, and helps manage and run the Youth Academy for Chamber Music. Through this work, she designs and oversees educational initiatives that connect musicians of all ages with high-level chamber music experiences.

As a performer, Emily is active throughout the Seattle area. Recent highlights include appearances with Emerald City Music, Second City Chamber Series, and Candlelight Concerts. Emily also serves on the board of the Seattle Young Artists Music Festival Association as Adjudicator Liaison, and as a performing member of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. Emily attributes her lifelong musical inspiration to her late grandfather, Robert Acri, a celebrated Chicago pianist.

Miriam Shames

Miriam Shames, cellist, earned a BA in Literature from Yale University and a Masters degree in Cello Performance from Juilliard. She spent twelve years in arts administration, as a classical music publicist for Shuman Associates and Young Concert Artists, and then for five years as Executive Director of the Piatigorsky Foundation in New York City. As a freelance performer in Seattle since 2000, she has served as Principal Cello of Philharmonia Northwest, Assistant Principal of the Tacoma Symphony, and has played with Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta, and Seattle Choral Company, among many other area ensembles. Currently, Miriam maintains a busy private teaching studio and is director of Carlsen Cello Foundation, a non-profit that loans fine cellos to deserving and talented students who cannot afford their own instrument. She and her husband Michael Cole, a photographer, live on Queen Anne in Seattle.

Eli Weinberger

Cellist Eli Weinberger is in demand for recordings, solo engagements, and as a regular performer in local ensembles. He has performed with a wide variety of internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles from pianist Manahem Pressler to pop group Macklemore, and has appeared on and recorded for television shows, film scores, video games, albums, music videos and commercials. He is a co-founder of Seattle’s conductorless chamber orchestra, the North Corner Chamber Orchestra, where he serves as principal cello. Eli also founded Pronto Musica, a professional training orchestra in Montréal, Canada in 2013. 

Eli earned his Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Graduate Diploma in Professional Performance from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, as a student of Elizabeth Dolin.