Shuma and Karin Hoppo, violin duo with Uliana Kozhevnikova, piano
Xudong Zhou, piano
Lace Hilboky, harp
Red Spruce Quartet: Karin Hoppo and Shuma Hoppo, violins, Brady Conley, viola, Albert Dong, cello
Karin and Shuma Hoppo have grown up playing the violin together. Karin is a senior at the North Allegheny Senior High School. Shuma is a sophomore at the North Allegheny Intermediate High School. They both began their violin studies with their mother. Karin began at the age of 4 and currently studies with Justine Campagna. Shuma began at the age of 5 and currently studies with Dylan Naroff. In the past summer, they expanded their musical understandings, studying at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. They are previous winners of the Pittsburgh Concert Society, both solo and ensemble. They are both enrolled in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and continue to enjoy playing in their quartet.
Originally from Moscow, Russia, Uliana Kozhevnikova is a pianist and teacher residing in Pittsburgh, PA. Since moving to Pittsburgh in 2009, she has been active in the city’s musical life by performing with organizations including Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Resonance Works, Mendelssohn and Junior Mendelssohn Choirs, PYCO, and the Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Kozhevnikova works for the Carnegie Mellon Preparatory School and CAPA. She has been the pianist at Bethany Baptist Church since 2011.
Kozhevnikova graduated from Moscow State Conservatory and earned her Master’s in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011. Her principal teachers include Viktor Merzhanov, Sergey Schepkin, and Ralph Zitterbart. Kozhevnikova is a founding member of Piano4te, an ensemble committed to performing and commissioning works for four pianos. The inaugural concerts took place in 2019 in Pittsburgh and New York City.
In addition to her musical activities, Kozhevnikova has a diverse range of other skills and interests. From 2008 to 2013, she served as an assistant stage director and pianist for Lyrique-en-Mer, Festival de Belle Île, France. From 2013 to 2016, she founded and directed the Russian Education Center, teaching children the Russian language and culture. In her free time, Kozhevnikova enjoys working as an Emergency Medical Technician.
Xudong Zhou is a 11th-grade student at Winchester Thurston School. He is originally from China. Xudong started his piano studies at the Yamaha School in Beijing in China.This experience greatly increased his interest in piano and music. During his middle school years in China, Xudong was selected for advanced studies in the school’s piano performance training program and won first prize in the competition of International Institute for Young Musicians and in Shanghai International Music Festival. Since September 2023, Xudong has been a student of Professor Luz Manriquez at the Carnegie Mellon University, School of Music Preparatory School. Last year he was a winner in the Pittsburgh International Performance Competition and the SSWPA Audition. Outside of academics and piano, Xudong enjoys reading classic novels, playing basketball, and has participated in the school’s basketball team and orchestra.
Lace Hilboky is a freshman Harp Performance major at Duquesne University studying with Gretchen Van Hoesen, Principal Harpist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Her former teachers include Katherine Dolfe, Ruth Hunter, and Louis Lynch. Lace has been playing the harp for 10 years and has played in orchestras and ensembles, such as the Hershey Symphony, Duquesne Symphony Orchestra, and Messiah University Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she has served as concertmaster of the Harrisburg Harp Orchestra and has performed at Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, as well as Kresge Recital Hall and Alumni Concert Hall at Carnegie Mellon University, and Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. She has participated in harp masterclasses with Claire Jones, Cheryl Losey-Feder, Abigail Kent, Katherine Ventura, and Mindy Cutcher. Besides playing the harp, she enjoys skiing and traveling.
The Red Spruce Quartet is composed of Karin Hoppo (Senior, North Allegheny), Shuma Hoppo (Sophomore, North Allegheny), Albert Dong (Junior, Sewickley Academy), and Brady Conley (Sophomore, Woodland Hills). They were selected in the Youth Chamber Connection’s premier chamber music program (Montgomery Fellowship), receiving weekly coachings with Jeremy Black. The quartet performs regularly for community audiences and outreach events, sharing chamber music beyond traditional concert hall settings to expand access to classical music.
