
Olivia Hajioff, a Fulbright scholar, received a BBC Young Musician of the Year Award and was also a prize winner in the European Violin competition. In her native England, she has performed chamber music at the Dartington International Festival with David Owen Norris and Stephen Kovacevich. She has also performed with Edgar Meyer, Awadagin Pratt, and Led Zeppelin. She has concertized throughout Europe and the U.S. notably in London’s Wigmore Hall, the South Bank, Cheltenham Festival, Paderewski Hall in Switzerland, and the Kennedy Center. Arnold Steinhardt (Guarneri Quartet) described her as a “compelling performer”.
Marc Ramirez has concertized throughout Europe and North America, performing at such halls as the Tretyakov Museum in Moscow, Carnegie Recital Hall, and the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. His recitals have been broadcast on many radio stations, including those in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Among his awards are First Prizes in the Henryk Szeryng Competition, the Parisot-Friedman International Competition, and the Cavallaro International Competition for a two-year Fellowship to Yale University. From 1983-1986, he was invited by Henryk Szeryng to study and tour with him, visiting many European cities. The Washington Post has described his playing as “intensely beautiful”.
Hajioff and Ramirez perform together as the MarcOlivia violin/viola duo performing music of many styles and periods, including Folk Music, Jazz, and Salon/Virtuoso works. The Marcolivia Duo appears frequently on NPR’s “Performance Today” and “Front Row Washington”. They are regular guest artists at the Tokyo College of Music, Japan, and have performed for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cosmos Club, and annually at the Phillips Collection (where they are featured on several CDs of Series Highlights and Distinguished Performers). Other venues include the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, Merkin Hall, and Symphony Space, NYC. Marcolivia regularly adjudicates, perform, and give masterclasses for events organized by the Washington Performing Arts Society. Marcolivia also performs double concertos regularly with many of the DC area regional orchestras, including Alexandria and Fairfax Symphonies. In 2015, they were invited to perform as soloists with the National Gallery of Art Orchestra and St Petersburg State Orchestra at the National Gallery of Art.
Marcolivia performed at Chamber Music America’s 25th Anniversary Concert in NYC, alongside groups such as the Juilliard Quartet, and were the only chamber music finalists in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 2000. The duo is on the roster of the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the Virginia Commission For The Arts Touring Roster. In 2011, Marcolivia were invited to be founding members of the Phillips Camerata, based at the Phillips Collection and the National Gallery of Art. The Camerata gives several performances annually at both galleries – many of which have been broadcast.
Jonathan Weber maintains a versatile musical career in multiple genres as a violinist, violist, conductor, and composer. A graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (CUNY) and classically trained under violinist Daniel Phillips, Mr. Weber has collaborated in the chamber music field with artists including Daniel Phillips and Timothy Eddy of the Orion String Quartet, Tara Helen O’Connor of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Windscape, oboe virtuosos Ronald Roseman and Randall Wolfgang, and the Bach Aria Group. Mr. Weber has also made solo and ensemble appearances with symphony orchestras both in the United States and abroad.
Branching into alternate musical genres such as jazz, hip-hop, country, and rock, Mr. Weber has performed with artists including Billy Joel, Roger Daltrey, Peter Gabriel, Josh Groban, Taylor Swift, Idina Menzel, Sarah McLachlan, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, Savion Glover, Jay-Z, Beyonce Knowles, Alicia Keys, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu, Corey Glover, the Roots, the Irish Tenors, the Trans Siberian Orchestra, the Mahavishnu Project, and fusion band DBR & The Mission (Opus 3 Artists) for which he has received critical acclaim. As an active New York freelancer, Mr. Weber performs regularly in the Broadway circuit and has appeared as a violinist with the vintage jazz band, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. CD credits include Billy Joel: Live at Shea Stadium, Jay-Z: Kingdom Come, Albert Hammond Jr.: Como Te Llama, and Boardwalk Empire Volume 3: Music from the HBO series. Mr. Weber has also participated in television and film score collaborations with artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto and Steven Van Zandt.
Journeying into the cinematic medium, Mr. Weber has appeared as an on-screen musician in films such as Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Billy Joel: The Last Play at Shea (2010), the HBO Miniseries: “Mildred Pierce” (2011) and Annie (2014). He has also made television appearances performing on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Rachel Ray Show, The View, Christmas: Live at Rockefeller Center” and PBS programs: Great Performances and Soundstage, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he made his televised conducting debut in 2014, performing in collaboration with comedian Dana Carvey and The Roots. In 2012, Mr. Weber appeared as guest conductor for the 2012 NMEA All-County Music Festival performing in concert at the Tilles Center at C.W. Post, LI University.
Jonathan Weber has been a faculty member at the Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies in Music [Pre-College Division of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (CUNY)] since the year 2000, where he serves as music director of the pre-college orchestras, head of the chamber music department, director of the CPSM Summer Chamber Music Festival, and member of the violin and viola faculty. In addition, Mr. Weber is a recurring faculty member at the University of Buffalo Summer Strings Workshop where he has served as orchestral conductor, chamber music coach, and jazz/rock improvisation instructor. Mr. Weber is also a member of the strings faculty at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
“Full of Herculean power” (Time Out), cellist Miho Weber continues to excite audiences with her thought-provoking performances throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In New York, she regularly performs at Bargemusic, Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, and the United Nations. Miho’s recent chamber music projects have included the InterPlay duo and collaborations with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the Memling Ensemble. She has performed with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, Paragon Orchestra, and String Orchestra of New York City throughout the United States as principal cello. Her popular engagements have included a performance with Imagine Dragons on Saturday Night Live and Josh Groban at the US Open.
Miho has held residencies at the Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre, Schleswig-Holstein, and many others. She is the director of the strings and chamber music after school program at NEST+m, a specially gifted and talented public school in New York City and is a chamber music coach for the New York Youth Symphony. Miho is the founding director of InterPlay Chamber Music, an educational organization with a unique mission to create an inspiring learning environment for chamber musicians of all ages. During the summer, Miho also teaches at the New York Summer Music Festival at SUNY Oneonta.