The Musicians
Pianist/Harpist/Flautist Lara Garner
Lara Garner is both a Classical pianist and harpist. She has performed in concert halls, churches, castles, cathedrals, gardens, stately homes, restaurants and pubs in both the United States and Europe. She has lived and performed in both Rome and in Paris, where she developed her musical style. As a pianist, Lara has played much of the major piano chamber music repertoire and is the founding member of the Amethyst Trio and Trio Con Spirito, as well as the Celtic folk group, Celtic Sands. She has recorded multiple CDs, including two for Celtic Sands "Myrddin" and "Wild Horses", also on the Skitz, Mixolydian & Harper's Hall labels, several solo CDs and an Amethyst Trio "Wedding Classics" CD. Lara's musical interests are diverse; she has made appearances in music videos and performed multiple times on TV and radio. She has accompanied many opera singers and instrumentalists and has played many stage shows and been on radio both locally and in Europe. Lara has a degree in music from U.C. Berkeley and a Master's Degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University. Lara plays flute in addition to her main instruments.
Violinist Jessica Folson
Jessica Folson is a versatile and instinctive artist who performs all genres with ease and energy. A native of Grand Forks, North Dakota, she is now an active freelancer and teacher in the Bay Area. Jessica plays with many Bay Area orchestras including the Monterey Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Vallejo Symphony, and the California Symphony, and recently won a one-year position with the Boise Philharmonic. She also enjoys playing various gigs, performing for weddings, recording sessions, collaborations between genres, musicals, Candlelight Concerts, and much more. An avid chamber musician, Jessica performs at venues including Old First Concerts, The Commons, Music on the Hill, and the Cathedral of St. Mary’s of the Assumption with ensembles including the Bridge Music Collective, who in January 2025 was the guest artist for the Grand Forks All-City Orchestra Festival in North Dakota. Jessica maintains an expanding private violin studio and teaches at several different schools including Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco and Scherzo Music School in San Mateo, in addition to in-home lessons. Jessica earned her master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Simon James.
Violinist Ilana Thomas
Ms. Thomas' numerous solo and chamber music engagements have occurred throughout the United States and Europe. Highlights include solo appearances with the San Francisco Symphony and the Albany, NY Symphony, as well as appearances at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Ms. Thomas served as the associate concertmaster of the Albany, NY Symphony Orchestra for 7 seasons, including one as acting concertmaster. She has performed as a member of the NYC based chamber orchestra Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Springfield MA Symphony, the Modesto Symphony, and the California Symphony. Ms. Thomas' diverse appearances have included Broadway productions in NYC, including Aida and the Producers. Among her recording credits are the Broadway Cares benefit album "Home for the Holidays" and with Broadway vocalist Lauren Kennedy in "Songs of Jason Robert Brown". Her Classical recording experience has involved projects for numerous labels, including Deutsche Grammophon, Argo, and Albany Records, for film, and for the Nickelodeon cartoon, "The Backyardigans".
Violinist Jennifer Redondas
Originally from Cuba, violinist/violist Jennifer Redondas has performed a soloist in the U.S, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, France and Cuba in venues that include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Mozarteum in Austria. As a historical violinist and violist, she has participated in the Oregon Bach Festival and Berwick Academy under the direction of Jos van Veldhoven. She won the SFCM Baroque Concerto Competition in 2023. Her passion for Cuban music and jazz has led her to perform at SF Jazz with renowned artists such as Chris Potter, Anat Cohen and Chucho Valdés. An active member of the “Adventures in Music” program at the San Francisco Symphony, Redondas was a Fellow for the Classical Tahoe Orchestra 2023 season. She holds a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Cellist Lewis Patzner
Born in Oakland, Lewis received his music degree from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins under the tutelage of Amit Peled from 2003-2007. He then went on to tour internationally with the rock band Judgment Day, exploring instrumental metal on stringed instruments. Lewis's versatile background of contemporary and Classical styles helped him carve out a niche in the Bay Area, where he is known for stretching the bounds of cello technique and expanding his own unique improvising skills. He is involved with a whole roster of local projects and groups, including styles such as eclectic pop, hip-hop fusion, classical-jazz fusion & progressive jazz. He also plays in a standard Classical string quartet and is founder of the Haydn society. He is also a composer and is nearing completion of an original album for cello. He has written various string quartets and has composed a commissioned work. He was seen recently playing with the internationally renowned rock band Train, when they were on tour in San Francisco this year.
Violinist Rebecca Wishnia
Rebecca Wishnia is a San Francisco-based violinist and writer. She is a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Classical Voice and also writes commissioned essays for concerts and recordings. She is the 2025 recipient of the William Littler Prize for Music Criticism. As a performer she appears this season with chamber ensembles across the Bay Area and orchestras throughout California and beyond, including Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Sacramento Philharmonic, Santa Cruz Symphony, Symphony San Jose, Opera San José, and Pocket Opera, among others. Raised by two cellists, Ms. Wishnia is a proud second-generation member of the Bay Area “Freeway Philharmonic.” Ms. Wishnia previously worked for nearly a decade as a music educator, including at the Crowden Music Center, as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music program, and as the high strings instructor at College of Las Positas. Her teaching was the subject of a short documentary produced in 2017 by SFGovTv. Her pedagogical products, including a series of simplified piano accompaniments for the standard violin repertoire, are used by students and teachers around the world.
Violinist Matt Szemela
Besides playing with Amethyst Trio, Matt has been a full time member of the Quartet San Francisco from 2012-2018. He is also touring and recording throughout the year. Praised by the New York Times for his outrageous fiddling, Mannes College graduate Matthew Szemela crosses musical styles with ease. Originally from Maine, Matthew has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in New York’s Carnegie, Alice Tully, and Merkin Recital Halls and abroad in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and Australia. Matthew has toured and recorded with singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia, recorded with Sufjan Stevens, and in 2006 served as concertmaster of the Hustla Symphony Orchestra for Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt 10th Anniversary Concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Matthew has collaborated with tap dancer, actor, and choreographer Savion Glover on his production Classical Savion, and he has appeared with artists Sting, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Lana Del Rey, and Cassandra Wilson as well as the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour, Susan Sarandon, Beyoncé Knowles, and Olivia Newton John. In 2007 Matthew portrayed an Irish rock violinist in the Warner Brothers film August Rush. Matthew left New York for Berkeley, California in the summer of 2011 where he performs with the Berkeley Symphony.