Strings

Grand Feature Film Orchestra - community/youth ensemble (GFFO)

The Grand Feature Film Orchestra (GFFO)

We're a non-profit San Francisco Bay Area student/community group based in Vacaville, California.  With a passion for how music, sound effects, and visual media come together to tell stories, The Grand Feature Film Orchestra studies, rehearses, and presents creative original and restored film scores live with the movie. Films from Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton, Lang, and more, come to life with the music perfectly synchronized with the action on the screen.

New Notes - Orchestral Instrumental Ensemble for kids and adults

This ensemble plays classical and current repertoire. Unlike most classical training, students are guided through improvisation sections in each performance piece. All levels and ages are welcome, and parts are customized for each instrumentalist. This session will focus on The Entertainer by Scott Joplin, The Deserted Garden by Florence Price and a sing-along-play-along of Iz's version of Over the Rainbow to perform on May 20th.

Dorisiya Yosifova

A native of Bulgaria, violinist Dorisiya Yosifova enjoys an active career in music as a teacher and performer. As an orchestra musician, Dorisiya plays as Principal Second Violinist of the Apollo Ensemble of Boston and has also played with the Cape Ann Symphony as Section Player and the Lowell House Opera as Concertmaster. In the recent years, she has appeared in performances as a solo and chamber musician in the Greater Boston Area where Dorisiya was located before her recent move to the Bay Area.

Ilana Blumberg Thomas

Following her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony, Ilana Blumberg Thomas has appeared across the United States and internationally, including appearances at Tanglewood, the Marlboro Music Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival. She is currently in demand as a chamber musician, collaborating with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Earplay, UC Berkeley’s eco ensemble, Ensemble for these Times, and working with Philip Glass and Opera Paralelle last season. As an orchestral musician, Ms.

Mia Nardi-Huffman

Violinist Mia Nardi-Huffman is an active performer in the Bay Area music scene, where she is a member of several chamber ensembles and maintains an active private studio. As a violinist in the Astraeus String Quartet, she performs some of her favorite works in the classical repertoire through intimate house concerts and performances in unusual spaces. An alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mia received her MM in Music Performance in 2016 and her BM in Music Performance in 2014, studying under the tutelage of Bettina Mussumeli.

Gloria Justen

Gloria Justen is a versatile composer, violinist, and violist known for her dynamic, emotionally-charged performances. Her compositions have been performed by Philadelphia and San Francisco chamber orchestras. Featuring all original music, her first CD of original music, Four-Stringed Voice: music for solo violin was released in 2008, and her second CD, Sonaquifer: Music for Solo Viola, was released in January 2018. Gloria lives in San Francisco and creates work both for traditional concerts and for electronic music settings.

James Choi

Faculty at Holy Names University Prep,
Director at Advanced Suzuki Institute at Stanford,
Coach at Oakland Youth Orchestra

Studios in Fremont, Dublin, Oakland, Concord

Jessica Ivry

Jessica Ivry is a longtime Bay Area freelance cellist and educator. Currently conducting the orchestra in the Piedmont Unified School District, and teaching elementary strings in Oakland Unified School District, Jessica previously taught at College of Marin, Ross Valley School District, and San Francisco Unified School District. She was a founding cellist for world music string + vocal ensemble, Real Vocal String Quartet (www.rvsq.com).