Valery and Starla Breshears, Violin & Cello
Prometheus Orchestra announces Valery and Starla Breshears, violin and cello, as the Co-Winner of the 2021-22 Khuner Young Artist Concerto Competition
Valery, age 12, is in the 7th grade at the Oakland School for the Arts. She 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. Additionally Valery is coached by her accompanist, Ayke Agus. Valery has soloed eight times with six different orchestras since the age of six. She has won numerous solo competitions, including 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 has appeared on NPR’s From the Top and is a recipient of the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. Valery is Concertmaster of the SFCM Pre-College String Orchestra.
Starla, age 13, is in the 8th grade at the Oakland School for the Arts. She 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. Additionally Starla is coached by her accompanist, Ayke Agus, and by cellist, Christine Walevska. Starla has soloed with seven different orchestras since the age of six. She has won numerous solo competitions, including winner Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, 1st Place ASTA State Competition, winner Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Movement 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, 1st Place DVS-HNU Strings Competition, and a winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Competition. Starla is Principal Cello of the SFCM Pre College String Orchestra.
