Director / Violin, Strings Chair

Emily Moore

Trained in the driving melodies of Celtic fiddle tunes and the precise beauty of Classical music repertoire, Emily Moore is an active performer and educator in Southern California. Studying violin and piano from the age of 4, she has remained a lifelong student in music, finishing her BM in Popular Music Performance from USC and in continuing education with the Suzuki Association.

A veteran of the freelance music community in Los Angeles, Emily has worked with a huge range of artists, played hundreds of weddings, recorded on more albums than she can count, and has performed at Santa’s Village more than once. Her solo music can be found on all streaming platforms and she has additional releases under “Constellation Quartet” and “The Grand Tangent.”

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Emily has studied with Michael and Irina Tseitlin, Alice Schoenfeld, and Sungil Lee. She trained privately under Sherry Cadow (Colburn) for two years and continues her formal Suzuki training with David Strom (Northern Virginia Suzuki School) and additional pedagogy with Elizabeth Faidley (NYC).

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Emily is the founder of South Bay Music Conservatory and believes that the future leaders and change makers of our communities come in and out of our studio every week.

Studio Manager / Piano, Piano Chair

Milaena Martinez

Milaena Martínez is a pianist and instructor from Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Dr. Stewart Gordon for thirteen years, and of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she received her master's degree under the instruction of Dr. Jonathan Bass. 

She has frequently performed as a soloist with orchestras, including Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the USC Concerto Chamber Orchestra, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New Valley Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles, and Mendelssohn’s Capriccio Brillant for Piano and Orchestra with the Coachella Valley Symphony.

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Milaena annually performs full-length recitals throughout the United States and enjoys regularly collaborating with fellow musicians in performance. She is a recipient of the Steinway Junior Artist Award, the Steinway Society Recognition Award, and the Woody Herman Jazz Award with experience in performing several musical styles. 

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In 2023, Milaena was an award recipient in the Boston Conservatory Piano Honors Competition in which she performed the Ginastera Piano Sonata No. 2 as well as a five-time winner of the Steinway Society of Riverside County Piano Competition and first-prize winner of the 2009 MTAC Los Angeles Branch Sonata Competition. Milaena was a keyboardist in the USC Thornton Symphony and participated in USC Popular Music showcases led by Patrice Rushen as a songwriter, keyboardist, singer, and arranger. Milaena has premiered and recorded original works of various composers throughout the country and given lecture-recitals for the students of K-12 schools in the Coachella Valley for a decade, sponsored by the Steinway Society of Riverside County. 

As a young pianist, Milaena was an opening soloist for the Coachella Valley Symphony in 2007 (led by Christian Chalifour), a featured artist in a documentary titled “Steinway Virtuosos” that premiered at the Palm Springs Art Museum in 2009, and was invited to perform a piano duet with Nancy Bricard in concert at the age of seven. 

Milaena is currently based in Los Angeles, where she enjoys performing, teaching, composing, producing, and arranging music.

Violin

Megan Pollon

Megan Pollon is a multifaceted violinist and educator in the Southern California area. She has played with ensembles across the U.S. and internationally including Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Southbend Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, Roundtop Festival Institute, American Youth Symphony, San Luis Obispo Symphony and has served as concertmaster for Roosevelt University’s Symphony Orchestra. 

Megan has performed with the 2025 Zodiac Music Festival including a solo performance at University of the Mediterranean in Nice.  In 2023, she had the opportunity to play for a Violins of Hope event on an instrument that survived the Holocaust.  In 2017, she placed 2nd in the Monday Club Fine Arts Competition and was invited to perform the 1st mvt. of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the San Luis Obispo Chamber Orchestra.  

 

Aside from performing, Megan is passionate about teaching and developing students.  She is Suzuki Certified and has maintained a studio of up to 30 students with many accepted into Chicago Youth Symphony Ensembles and youth orchestras throughout California.  Her approach with students is to allow them freedom to express themselves in the lesson, giving them a strong technical foundation, emphasizing listening, developing beautiful sound, and setting achievable goals for improvement.  She believes that with consistent practice, good instruction and parental support each child can learn to play the violin.  

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Megan’s education includes Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy studying under Almita Vamos, Minghuan Xu, Henry Gronnier, and Moni Simeonov.  She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma on full scholarship from CSUF studying under Ernest Salem.  

Megan began her undergraduate violin studies at California State University, Long Beach studying under Moni Simeonov (Chair of Chamber Music at Colburn) and Henry Gronnier (Chair of Colburn Academy).  During her time there she was loaned a violin from the Colburn Collection to play on.  

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After receiving her B.M. in Violin Performance, Megan continued her studies in Chicago under the world renowned Almita Vamos and MingHuan Xu.  She obtained her Master’s in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from Chicago College of Performing Arts and was awarded the String Program Graduate Assistant Position.  During her time there, she served as Concertmaster and played solos for Shostakovich Symphony 9 and Dvorak Cello Concerto.  Additionally, she had the opportunity to perform in a masterclass for Robert Chen and was selected to play for Roosevelt University's Violins of Hope Event.   

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Megan is currently an Associate Member for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.  She has attended and performed in festivals including the 2019 Roundtop Festival Orchestra, 2021 National Orchestral Institute, and the 2022 National Repertory Orchestra.  She has also performed with the American Youth Symphony.  

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In addition to performing, Megan loves teaching violin and helping students to develop.  She is Suzuki Certified in Units 1-8.  In 2021, she was selected as a teacher and mentor at National Orchestral Institute’s Sphinx Fellowship Program.  The Program partnered with the Baltimore Public Schools and offered advanced teaching and mentorship to underserved high school students during the time of the festival.  Megan has been teaching for over 10 years and her students have been accepted to youth orchestras as well.  

Violin

Luke Santonastaso

Born in Los Angeles, Luke Santonastaso is a versatile musician, instructor, and mentor active across the United States, presently based in Orange County, CA. He currently serves as the principal 2nd violin for the Santa Cruz Symphony as well as tenured member of the New West Symphony and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. 

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His musical collaborations extend to various orchestras on the west coast, including the Long Beach Symphony, Santa Barbara Opera, San Bernardino Symphony, and Redlands Symphony, among others. Luke has had the privilege of collaborating with renowned

artists such as Midori Goto, Maxim Vengerov, Osmo Vänskä, Lynn Harrell, Gilbert Kalish, Kim Kashkashian, and Augustine Hadelich. He has been a fellow at prestigious institutions including the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, and Incontri in Terra di Siena music festivals.

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Beyond his performance commitments, Luke is dedicated to nurturing emerging talents in his private studio along with serving as coach and instructor with institutions such as Junior Chamber Music and previous positions with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and the Crowden School in Berkeley, CA. Luke holds degrees from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he studied with Movses Pogossian and Guillaume Sutre, member of Quatuor Ysaÿe. Outside of classical music, Luke is a member of the Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles and enjoys folk music in all its forms. He is a loving cat dad and technophile.

Violin, Viola

Jonathan Burns

Jonathan Burns is a violist, violinist, and music educator based in Los Angeles, California. He holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Steve Wyrczynski and Ed Gazouleas.

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Jonathan currently enjoys an active career as a freelance violist and teacher in the Los Angeles area. Since 2022, he has been a teaching artist at Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA), the LA Phil’s community-based music education program. At Indiana University, he studied with influential pedagogues Mimi Zweig and Brenda Brenner and is continuing his Suzuki teacher training with Sherry Cadow.

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As an orchestral musician, Jonathan has been a member of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and was the assistant principal violist of the American Youth Symphony from 2021-2024. Additionally, he has performed with the New World Symphony, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Columbus Philharmonic, and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra.

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An avid chamber musician, Jonathan studied chamber music with members of the Grammy winning Pacifica Quartet during his time at IU. In 2022, he performed as a soloist with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra. He has participated in numerous summer festivals such as the National Orchestral Institute, where he led the viola section as principal and assistant principal viola. He has also performed in master classes for teachers such as Jeffery Irvine, Carol Rodland, Katherine Murdock and Daniel Foster.

Cello

Aristides Rivas

A unique mix of talents, Grammy nominated cellist Aristides Rivas embodies a rich culture from South America combined with traditional western repertoire to delight audiences. The exquisite balance of sounds, storytelling, and flavors, invites you to a new experience of live concerts. Rivas’ multi-style career has brought him to share the stage with world renown artists in jazz and classical music alike, including Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel, jazz guitarist Julian Lage and living jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera. Rivas is also an active solo and chamber musician whose versatility in different music genres has brought him to some of the most prestigious international venues, including the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Caramoor Music Festival, Tanglewood, Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and North Sea Jazz Festivals, among others.

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Rivas has appeared as a soloist with the Orchestra of Indian Hill, the Narragansett Bay Symphony, University of Caxias do Sul Symphony in Brazil, the Panama Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Baylor Symphony, among others. In 2017-18, he performed the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven with pianist Spencer Myer. The following season, he released his album Laberintus, in collaboration with pianist Victor Cayres, featuring music for cello and piano written by Latin American composers, which is available in all streaming platforms. As an orchestral cellist, Rivas has been the principal cellist of many groups in the United States, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and the A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Rivas has taught worldwide in a range of conservatories, universities, festivals, and youth orchestras, such as the New England Conservatory of Music, Skidmore College, and Stanford University in the US, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes in Mexico, El Sistema Hanwha Youth Orchestra and Sejong Dream Tree Youth Orchestra in South Korea, the International Music Festival Presjovem in Spain, Vivace Vilnius International Music Festival in Lithuania and I Cordas POA festival in Brazil. Rivas founded the Rivas Cello Academy in 2020 and has offered 21 free online masterclasses since, with renowned guest teachers such as principal cellist of the Boston Symphony, Blaise Dejardin, Robert deMaine of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and soloist Johannes Moser, among many others. Rivas has also served as a faculty at Longy School of Music of Bard College, University of Massachusetts Lowell and the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Currently, he serves as the cello faculty at California Baptist University.

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As a public speaker, Rivas gave a TEDxTalk at the TEDxBeaconStreet, where he spoke about his own trajectory out of an impoverished slum in Venezuela. He is also a frequent guest presenter and lecturer at music education conferences, including the International Teaching Artist Conference (ITAC) at Carnegie Hall, the Orchestra of Dreams (El Sistema) Forum in South Korea, and the El Sistema USA Symposium, where he co-presented with renown author and teaching artists specialist Tricia Trunstall.

Some of Rivas’ mentors and teachers include Bernard Greenhouse, Lluis Claret, Larry Rachleff, Natalia Gutman, Natasha Brofsky, and Gary Hardie. Rivas received his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. For more information, visit www.aristidesrivas.com