Incendium Quartet

		Incendium Quartet: Geneva Lewis, violin; Mei Zhan, violin; Atticus Mellor-Goldman, cello; Emma Wernig, viola

Geneva Lewis (16), originally from Auckland, New Zealand, is a merit scholarship student at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts where she studies with Aimée Kreston, Concertmaster of the Pasadena Symphony. Geneva made her orchestral debut at age 11, and has since matured into an exceptional violinist.

Geneva’s powerful performances have awarded her first-prize wins in numerous competitions, including the Brentwood Concerto Competition, Parness Concerto Competition, Southern California Junior Bach Festival Complete Works Audition, and The American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition. Geneva was selected as one of the world's top 20 young violinists in the Menuhin International Violin Competition. She was presented with the ‘Discovery Prize’ in the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Concerto Competition and won the Doublestop Foundation's "Artist In You" Instrument Loan Competition. Geneva has twice reached the semi-finals of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and has performed with Junior Chamber Music on tour at such venues as the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the St. Petersburg Concert Hall of the Union of Composers in Russia. As a soloist, Geneva has performed with the Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra, Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra, Culver City Symphony, Pasadena Pops, Sierra Summer Festival Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In 2012, Geneva was cast alongside Emmy-Award winning actress Mariette Hartley as the young virtuoso violinist, Erica Morini, in the LA Times Critic's Choice, The Morini Strad. In 2014, Geneva performed in a duet with Glenn Dicterow at Royce Hall. Geneva will make her solo debuts with the Diablo Symphony and Pasadena Symphony in their 2014/2015 seasons.

Geneva plays on a Terry Borman violin (1991).

Mei Zhan (17), originally from Shenyang, China is a student of Aimée Kreston at the Colburn Academy, and is a member of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute’s Honors Quartet at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts. Mei performed her first Solo Concert at 11 years of age in Shenyang; at age 12, she was invited by Xinhua Hu, the concertmaster of the Shenzhen Symphony, to perform at his solo concert as a special guest; and, at age 13, Mei played a solo with the Liaoning Symphony. The following year, Mei received a full scholarship to study at the Music Institute of Chicago with Almita Vamos. After studying with Mrs. Vamos, Mei accepted a scholarship to study at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Since becoming a student of Aimée Kreston, Mei has continued to grow as an artist and to perform as a soloist, most recently with the Sierra Summer Festival Orchestra. Mei has attended master classes with such renowned artists as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Martin Beaver, Paul Coletti and Midori.

Atticus Mellor-Goldman is 17 years old, lives in Los Angeles and studies with Andrew Cook at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. He's currently a part of the Incendium Quartet, the Colburn Honors Quartet for 2014/2015; as a group, they are planning to compete at the Voce and Fischoff competitions in the Spring. Additionally, this is his second season playing with the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. Atticus is completing his senior year of High School and auditioning for several conservatories for fall 2015, including Juilliard, Colburn and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings.

Fifteen year old Emma Wernig, a first generation American in her Austrian-German family, is a High School Junior living in Los Angeles. She began her violin studies at age 5 with Idell Low at the Suzuki Music Program of Los Angeles while simultaneously being a serious ballet student at the Los Angeles Ballet Academy for 10 years. In 2012 Emma began learning to play the viola and quickly fell in love with the instrument, and chamber music in particular. She has been studying viola with Andrew Picken at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts for about two years and is currently a student of Helen Callus

.

As a violist Emma has been performing with advanced chamber music groups in Los Angeles and Pasadena. She has won a viola merit scholarship to attend Interlochen Summer Music Academy in 2013 were she studied with David Holland, and a merit scholarship from the Colburn School in 2014. Over the 2014 summer Emma studied with Roland Vamos and Yizak Schotten, and played in Roberto Diaz’ Masterclass at the Montecito International Music Festival. In August 2014 she was invited to study with violist Tim Frederiksen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This year Emma is a member of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute’s Honors Quartet at the Colburn School where the ensemble was recently chosen to perform at a Martin Beaver masterclass. The “Incendium Quartet” was also invited to perform at the inauguration of the new Olin and Ann Barrett Recital Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and performed in a masterclass with cellist Thomas Landschoot. Besides music Emma enjoys film editing, photography and traveling.