Third Coast Chamber Collective Performers

Dr. Eric Olson, Adjunct Professor of Violin, Viola, and Music Theory at Bemidji State University, earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance from Michigan State University where he studied with Robert Dan and I-fu Wang. He earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Violin Performance at the University of Minnesota where he studied with Sally O’Reilly. In addition to his violin studies, Dr. Olson studied viola with James Vanvalkenburg (assistant principal viola of the Detroit Symphony) and Robert Dan, and piano with Deborah Moriarty, Michael Alan Nathan, and Penny Draper. He also received a Master’s degree in Music Theory from Michigan State University. Some of Dr. Olson’s performance appearances include a guest artist recital at Western Michigan University, a guest artist performance for the Schubert Club celebrating composer Dominick Argento in Minneapolis, MN, and a concert tour of Bemidji, MN and Alexandria, MN. He also has extensive orchestral experience and has performed with the American Ballet Theatre, the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, the Minnesota Oratorio Society, the Kalamazoo Symphony, the West Michigan Symphony, the Lansing Symphony, the Battle Creek Symphony, the Adrian Symphony, the Jackson Symphony, and the Midland Symphony.

Russian violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov has extensive experience performing as soloist as well as in ensembles, in both classical and contemporary repertoire. Frequently invited as a solo and ensemble performer and by various orchestras, he has taken part in many concerts in the main concert halls of St. Petersburg, such as the Music Hall, the Great Hall and Small Hall of the Philharmonic, the Chapel, and Smolny Cathedral. He has toured with ensembles in Japan, Finland, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Italy, etc. As a member of the Grammy nominated St. Petersburg String Quartet, Evgeny participated in many summer music festivals and concert series in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, and performed in renowned concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall in New York. Evgeny has taught master classes in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Dallas, Eureka Springs, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Manaus Conservatory, and has served as a jury member of chamber music competitions. He has collaborated with many famous musicians, including pianists Anton Nel, Misha Dichter, Leon Fleisher, Gilbert Kalish, and Peter Donohoe. Since 2017, Evgeny is a lecturer in violin and a member of the Harrington String Quartet at the West Texas A & M University in Canyon, Texas.

Pedro is a Paraguayan Violist and Orchestra Conductor, currently serving as the Director of Instruction and Guest Conductor at the Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Besides the artistic leadership in Itasca county, he is also the Associate Principal Viola at the Symphony Orchestra of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR. Pedro is the former conductor of the All-University String Orchestra at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and has previously been on the podium conducting the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Juvenil Curanilahue (Chile), VerArte Music Camp Orchestra (Peru), and the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra. As a violist, he has collaborated with a number of professional orchestras, Uninorte Symphony Orchestra (Paraguay) as Principal Viola, National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay, Asuncion City Symphony (Paraguay), Centro de Conocimiento Symphony (Argentina), Orchestra Crescendo (Germany), Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Light Opera, to name a few. Pedro is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the Global Leaders Program, an Ivy League curated Executive Education program for impact-focused Art Entrepreneurs.

Prize winner of international competitions, Magda performs across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and appeared in renowned concert halls such as Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, BOZAR in Brussels, Witold Lutoslawski Studio in Warsaw, NCPA in Mumbai. Recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship, Magda is a graduate of music conservatories in Poland, Belgium, and Austria, and was a member of the acclaimed European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) in Vienna. She is a recent graduate of the prestigious Global Leaders Program, an Ivy League curated Executive Education program for impact-focused Art Entrepreneurs. Magda presents masterclasses and workshops across the globe in collaboration with MusAid Organization, El Sistema, Global Leaders Program, Neemrana Foundation Delhi, and Jeunesses Musicales Belgium. Since 2020, she is also the Director of Program Development and Global Outreach at the International Cello Institute in Northfield, MN. In February 2021, as a member of the ICI Team, she launched the new initiative focused on supporting and promoting women cellists - C'ELLE.