Core Musicians
Nikita Borisevich,
violin
Nikita Borisevich is an internationally acclaimed violinist, who is frequently performing across the United States and Europe. Mr. Borisevich is a winner of numerous international music competitions and has performed on world renown stages such as The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory (Moscow, Russia) Shriver Hall (Baltimore, Maryland) and Manuel de Falla Auditorium (Granada, Spain), among others.
Nikita Borisevich performs together with his wife, 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 Peabody Conservatory, and has since then been invited to do a residency at El Paso Pro Musica Festival, Northwest Bach Festival and Sitka Summer Music Festival by Grammy-Award-winning cellist, Zuill Bailey. The Borisevich Duo made their debut at the Venetian Arts Society in Florida, the Chamber Music Society of Maryland, The Shandelee Music Festival in New York and gave performances in France and Luxembourg. Most recently The Borisevich Duo performed at the Alden Theatre in McLean (VA), the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts (NY), the Gualala Chamber Music Society in Gualala (CA), the Tuesday Concert Series in Washington, DC and the Evensong Concert Series in Silver Spring (MD). In 2020 The Borisevich Duo was named a winner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions and will perform a series of concerts in Southern California in the 2021-2022 concert season.
Veronika Sveshnikova,
violin
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 improved her skills and deepened her knowledge of music. She has extensive experience performing solo, in orchestras and various 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. Currently, Veronika is working on her Master’s program at Temple University in Philadelphia, furthering her education and artistic development, and she continues to actively build her performance career.
Renata Falkner,
viola
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, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, 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.
An engaged educator and scholar, Falkner holds faculty positions at the National Music Festival and the Orfeo Music Festival in Italy, and is currently an Artist Affiliate at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, in addition to her work at the Peabody Preparatory. She previously taught at the University of North Florida and George Mason University, and has served on the board of the American Viola Society, contributing to competitions, seminars, and research initiatives. She studied at Oberlin College and Conservatory and the Yale School of Music, and holds a doctorate from Florida State University, where her research focused on York Bowen’s viola works within the English Musical Renaissance. Her recordings appear on labels including Chandos, Nimbus, Naxos, and Rezound, and she continues to explore new collaborative and educational projects, including the Violin2Viola workshop series.dStreetReview.com
Jacques-Pierre Malan,
cello & Founder
Internationally prize-winning, South African cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan is known as a “tour de force” player with “vibrant musicality” (Beeld). Mr. Malan is an Artist-in-Residence at the Embassy Series in Washington D.C. where he engages with the Embassies not only as a soloist and chamber musician, but as a producer, developing concert programs with humanitarian themes.
With a passion for chamber music, Mr. Malan has performed extensively on stages spanning multiple continents. He is the founder of the Embassy String Quartet, and a member of Serafin Ensemble based in Wilmington, DE. He has had the opportunity to collaborate with such players as Ivry Gitlis, Anthony McGill, Victor Yampolsky, and Jonathan Carney, among many others. Select chamber music engagements include performances on the Four Seasons Music Festival, Stellenbosch International Chamber Festival, Venetian Arts Society, Arts Club of Washington, Casa Labia Series in Cape Town, Worcester Music Society, and Erin Hall in Roedenbosch.
As a concerto soloist, Mr. Malan has performed with Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Mid Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, FreeState Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Conductors Orchestra, and the South African National Youth Orchestra. With the Creative Concert Group, he premiered a new arrangement of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with string quartet accompaniment. Mr. Malan is currently principal cello of Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Opera Society, and was formerly the assistant principal position of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2013, as a member of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mr. Malan was selected to perform for the funeral of the South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Earning a Masters Degree in cello performance and a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody Conservatory at John Hopkins University, Mr. Malan studied under the tutelage of Amit Peled (principal teacher), Alan Stepansky, Seth Knopp, and Michael Kannen. Graduating with honors, he received a Bachelors of Music from the University of Pretoria in South Africa studying with Heleen Du Plessis, and a Performance Licentiate from the University of South Africa. He has been a prize-winner in such competitions as the Yale Gordan String Competition, SAMRO Bursary Competition, Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Competition, and Baltimore Music Club Competition. Mr. Malan currently holds faculty positions at the Bryn Mawr School and the Nelly Berman School of Music, and maintains a private cello studio.