BIOGRAPHIES

Dustin Breshears, violinist
Dustin, age 16, began violin lessons at age 4 with David Mallory. By the age of 7, Dustin started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under William Barbini, and currently studies with Zhao Wei. Additionally Dustin is coached by his accompanist, Ayke Agus. Dustin has soloed with six different orchestras since the age of six. He has won numerous solo awards, including winner Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, 1st Place MTAC State VOCE Competition, winner Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Movement Competition, 1st Place Bay Philharmonic Young Artist Competition, 1st Place Mary Jane Beck Young Artist Competition (Nova Vista Symphony), 1st Place U.S. International Music Competition, 1st Place U.S. Open Music Competition, 1st Place ASTA-San Francisco Competition, 1st Place ASTA-Sacramento Competition, 1st Place CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, 1st Place DVC-HNU Strings Competition, 1st Place Classical Masters Competition, and a winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition. Dustin is a recipient of the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award.

Starla Breshears, cellist
Starla, age 15, began cello lessons at age 3 with Yoshie Muratani. By the age of 6 Starla started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Starla has been coached by Christine Walevska and Sergei Riabtchenko and has performed for masterclasses with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alisa Weilerstein and Amit Peled. Starla has soloed with 12 different orchestras since the age of 6 including the California Youth Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, Symphony Parnassus, and the Nova Vista Symphony. She has won 1st prize in over a dozen solo competitions including, 1st Place ASTA State Competition (Novice & Junior divisions), 1st Place California Youth Symphony Young Artist Competition, 1st place SFCM-Sonoma County Philharmonic Concerto Competition, 1st Place U.S. International Music Competition, 1st Place U.S. Open Music Competition, 1st Place Livermore-Amador Symphony Concerto Competition, 1st Place CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, Grand Prize DVS-HNU Strings Competition, 1st Place winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society Competition and 1st Place Etude Club of Berkeley Young Artists Competition. As one of the youngest Beares International Violin Society Young Artists, Starla was the loan recipient of a 1/2 size 19th century Hill cello and a 3/4 size 1808 Lorenzo Ventapane. In 2022 Starla joined the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program and is returning for the summer of 2023.
Starla Breshears, cellist, age 15, began cello lessons at age 3 with Yoshie Muratani. By the age of 6 Starla started studying with her current teacher, Jean-Michel Fonteneau at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college. Starla has been coached by Christine Walevska and Sergei Riabtchenko and has performed for masterclasses with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alisa Weilerstein and Amit Peled. Starla has soloed with 12 different orchestras since the age of 6 including the California Youth Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, Symphony Parnassus, and the Nova Vista Symphony. She has won 1st prize in over a dozen solo competitions including 1st Place ASTA State Solo Competition, 1st place Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition and Grand Prize in the Diablo Valley College / Holy Names University Young Artist Competition for which she will be performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the DVC Orchestra in October. Starla’s sibling string quartet, the Breshears Quartet, has been featured twice on the Violin Channel as Rising Star of the Week and on From the Top. The Quartet recently won 1st Prize in the Piero Farulli International Competition for Young String Quartets and as winners they will be giving several concerts in Italy this September. As one of the youngest Beares International Violin Society Young Artists, Starla was the loan recipient of a 1/2 size 19th century Hill cello and a 3/4 size 1808 Lorenzo Ventapane. In 2022 Starla joined the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program and is returning for the summer of 2023.

Valery Breshears, violinist
Valery, age 13, began violin lessons at age 2 with David Mallory. By the age of 5 Valery started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under William Barbini, and currently studies with Zhao Wei. Valery has soloed 12 times with orchestra since the age of six including Fremont Symphony Orchestra, Nova Vista Symphony, Parnassus Symphony, South Valley Orchestra, Prometheus Symphony, and California Youth Symphony.. She has won numerous solo competitions, including 1st Place California Youth Symphony Young Artist Competition, winner Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, Fremont Symphony Nafisa Taghioff Award, winner Livermore-Amador Symphony Concerto Competition, 1st Place U.S. International Music Competition, 1st Place ASTA-San Francisco Competition, 1st Place ASTA-Sacramento Competition, 1st Place CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, 1st Place DVC-HNU Strings Competition, 1st Place Classical Masters Competition, and a winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition. Valery is a recipient of the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award.

Colin Breshears, violist
Colin, age 10, began violin lessons at age 3 with David Mallory and Ayke Agus. At age 6, Colin began studying viola with Madeline Prager at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Pre-college Division. As a soloist, he has won 1st Place American Viola Society National Junior Solo Competition, 1st Place CalASTA San Francisco Solo Competition - Novice Division, 1st Place in the Classical Masters Music Festival Competition, 1st Place in the CAPMT Sacramento Go For the Gold Competition, 1st place Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition and 1st place Diablo Valley College / Holy Names University String Competition - Viola Division. Since 2018 Colin has performed as a soloist and with his sibling quartet at Iguazú en Concierto festival in Argentina and at Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado in Mexico.