Local Musicians for Hire Near San Francisco, CA

Violinist

Yuri Kye is a violinist who is versatile across many genres and is in demand as a performer and teacher. From a symphony stage to a sold-out arena show, and from a recording studio to an outdoor wedding, she brings an incredible amount of knowledge and range of experience to any musical endeavor. Yuri is a member of the Sarasota Opera in Florida during the winter season and performs across the Bay Area year-round with groups including the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Stockton, and Oakland Symphonies, and the Reno Philharmonic. Yuri has performed or toured with some of the best-selling acts of the past decade, most recently with Sigur Ros, Halsey, Michael Buble, and Andrea Bocelli, and was featured as the solo violinist and fiddler of the new Tony-award-winning adaptation of “A Christmas Carol (on Broadway)” on its first national tour in 2021. She is an active recording artist with projects spanning from indie rock to major motion pictures, has collaborated with beloved and renowned local acts including Kev Choice and Tony, Toni, Tone!, and led the Innocenti Strings group for its appearance on Paris Hilton’s 2021 TV series “Paris in Love”. Yuri has performed at more than a thousand weddings/private events across the US and Canada ranging from intimate to large-scale celebrity-studded affairs, and performs on both acoustic and electric violins, and viola. Passionate about spreading music, Yuri engages in community and volunteer initiatives for music education and free chamber music performances through various programs and teaches at Enriching Lives through Music, an El-Sistema-based program in Marin County, as well as coaching advanced young violinists at Young People’s Symphony Orchestra.

Listen to Yuri Here

Violin/Viola

Samuel Nelson is a native-born South Dakotan who began his string studies at the age of eight. Sam began private lessons at the age of fourteen with his teachers Coral White, and Carol Knowles.  He graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2014, where he studied with Jodi Levitz. Presently, he performs, records, and teaches throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed in settings ranging from intimate living room chamber music to rock concerts with 12,000 people.  Sam is one violinist in the Astraeus String Quartet, a Bay Area ensemble dedicated to performing exciting works of past and present to new audiences in unconventional settings.  Sam is also a core member and principal player in the conductorless chamber orchestra One Found Sound.  

Viola

Ed Wharton was born into a musical family and enjoys a dynamic career as a violist, educator, and chamber musician in the San Francisco Bay Area. A member of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera and the Reno Philharmonic, he is regularly engaged with major groups in the Bay Area including the California Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the West Edge Opera, the Santa Cruz Symphony, and Symphony San Jose. Ed maintains a busy and active private studio in Oakland and San Jose, in addition to coaching the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, and Berkeley High School. Mr. Wharton is an alumnus of the San Francisco Academy Orchestra program and The Boston Conservatory.

Cellist

Byron Hogan is a cellist, composer, and arranger. He was a founding member of the Julius Quartet, created as Boston Conservatory’s Honors String Quartet in 2012. With Julius, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 and won the Yellow Springs Chamber music competition in 2018, which was followed by artistic residencies at Montclair State and Southern Methodist Universities. Mr. Hogan holds degrees from Florida Southern College, the University of South Florida, Boston Conservatory, and Montclair State University. Mr. Hogan currently teaches at El-Sistema-based programs including Enriching Lives Through Music (Marin) and Muse Program (Oakland Symphony), maintains a studio of private students, and performs with orchestras and chamber groups across the country. In addition to writing pieces for chamber ensembles and recording for established artists in the Bay Area, he performs his self-produced originals and covers for online crowds, Google, and various video collaborations.