Sonata Series Event #1: Performer Bios

Jake Pietroniro, viola
Jake, a Teaching Artist Fellow at CMW, began his studies in New Hampshire through a Waldorf school program. Jake now holds two degrees in viola performance from the University of California at Santa Barbara and The Hartt School, where he studied with Helen Callus and Rita Porfiris. Jake has appeared as a soloist with the Kankakee Valley Youth Symphony, and was a founding member of the Luna String Quartet, which was awarded a fellowship at The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in 2019. In competition, Jake won first prize in the Hartt Chamber Music Competition and was recently a finalist in the Coltman Chamber Competition in Austin, TX. Jake has also appeared as a guest teaching artist with Arpeggio Peru and El Sistema de Guatemala. In his spare time, Jake likes to learn about physical therapy as it relates to healthy playing, and enjoys playing basketball, reading, and hiking in the White Mountains.

Lisa Sailer, viola
Lisa joined CMW in 2019 as a Beginning Strings Specialist and Resident Musician. In addition to teaching individual lessons, she directs the newest and youngest ensembles in CMW’s Daily Orchestra Program. She also teaches at the Community Music Center of Boston, and was a Teaching Artist Fellow in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s META (Music Teachers/Teaching Artists) Fellowship’s first cohort. A certified Alexander Technique teacher, Lisa incorporates body awareness and freedom of movement into her string teaching. She has been a guest Alexander Technique teacher and Teaching Assistant at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, and has run Alexander Technique workshops in Alaska, Florida, and in between. She earned a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from SUNY Purchase and a Master of Music in viola performance from The Boston Conservatory. When not playing or teaching music, Lisa can be found doting upon her two cats and her sourdough starter.

Ivan Tan, piano
Equally at home playing classical piano or rocking out on a keytar, Ivan Tan has performed in venues ranging from the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music to the Rochester Fringe Festival. He is on faculty at Brown University, where he teaches courses on music theory, and is a Ph.D. candidate in music theory at the Eastman School of Music, where he is completing a dissertation on keyboard performance in 1970s progressive rock. Ivan also holds degrees from Brown and SUNY Purchase in music and applied mathematics.