The Musicians

Nikita Borisevich is an internationally acclaimed violinist who performs frequently across the United States and Europe. Mr. Borisevich is a winner of numerous international music competitions and has performed on world-renowned stages such as the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (Moscow, Russia), Shriver Hall (Baltimore, Maryland) and the Manuel de Falla Auditorium (Granada, Spain), among others.

Nikita Borisevich performs together with his wife, the internationally acclaimed pianist Margarita Loukachkina, as the Borisevich Duo. The Duo was a recipient of the inaugural Young Artist Development Series Award at the El Paso Pro Musica Festival in collaboration with the Peabody Conservatory, and has since been invited into residencies at the El Paso Pro Musica Festival, the Northwest Bach Festival and the Sitka Summer Music Festival by Grammy Award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey.

Veronika Sveshnikova began her journey with the violin at the age of four and has been passionately pursuing music ever since. A winner of numerous international competitions and a participant in a variety of festivals, Veronika believes that her primary goal is to make the world a better place through music.

Her academic background includes both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from the Novosibirsk State Conservatory in Russia, where she refined her skills and deepened her knowledge of music. She has extensive experience performing as a soloist, in orchestras and in a variety of ensembles, touring through countries in Europe and Asia with a repertoire that includes works for solo violin as well as pieces for violin and orchestra and chamber music. Veronika is currently completing a Master's program at Temple University in Philadelphia, furthering her education and artistic development while continuing to build her performance career.

Praised for her versatility and creativity, American violist Renate Falkner leads an active international career as an educator, recitalist, and orchestral and chamber musician. Equally at home on modern and baroque viola, she performs regularly with ensembles such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony and Artis—Naples, and has appeared with Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik and Baltimore's Pro Musica Rara.

A dedicated chamber musician, she serves as Artistic Director of the Charm City Chamber Players, an ensemble highlighting the rich sonorities of violas and cellos, and is a member of the Chestertown Piano Quartet. Her performances have taken her to venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall, as well as festivals such as Verbier, Spoleto and the Carvalho Festival in Brazil.

Praised for his “vibrant musicality” and described as a “tour de force” (Beeld), South African cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan has performed throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States as a soloist, chamber musician and educator.

Malan serves as Cellist-in-Residence and Co-Artistic Director of the historic Embassy Series in Washington, D.C., where he develops programs that promote cultural understanding through music. He is also founder and Artistic Director of the Embassy String Quartet, the Quartet-in-Residence of the Embassy Series, which brings performances centered on cultural exchange and music diplomacy to audiences throughout the East Coast.