Lakshmi Thorne (Viola)

Lakshmi Thorne, founder of The Devonshire Players, currently performs with the Ridgefield Symphony, Westchester Chamber Orchestra, Norwalk Symphony, Greater Bridgeport Symphony and Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She holds a Master of Music degree in Viola Performance at the State University of New York at Purchase and Bachelor of Music degree from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. Thorne maintains an active studio at the Riverside Music School in Greenwich, CT and through the Rivertown Arts Council in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY as a Suzuki Registered teacher. Ms. Thorne has performed with the Greenwich Symphony, New Britain Symphony, Garden State Philharmonic, Bristol Symphony, and the Camerata Ensemble. She has also received chamber coaching from the Emerson String Quartet, the Adaskin String Trio, and the Lions Gate Trio. Ms. Thorne has also studied with Lawrence Dutton, Steve Larson, Ira Weller and Joey Corpus.

Jessica Elkhatib (Cello)

Jessica Elkhatib has a Bachelors Degree in Cello Performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts, a Masters Degree in Cello Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a Masters Degree in Music Education from Teachers College Columbia University, and an Artist Diploma from SUNY Purchase in Cello Performance. Her primary teachers include Peter Wiley, David Geber, and Robert Marsh. Jessica has played under conductors such as Kurt Masur, David Gilbert, Gunther Schuler, and Gerald Steichen. Ms. Elkhatib currently performs with the Ridgefield Symphony, Chappaqua Symphony, The Devonshire Players, and often appears with the Greenwich, Norwalk, and Waterbury Symphonies. Ms. Elkhatib has appeared in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. She has performed with renowned artists such as Roy Hargrove, Dave Brubeck, Michael Buble, DeVotchKa, and Beyonce Knowles. In addition to her active performance career, Ms. Elkhatib has a private studio and is a String Specialist for the Scarsdale, NY Public Schools. See www.jessicaelkhatib.com for more information.

Melissa Macy (Violin)

Violinist Melissa Macy holds a BM from Eastman School of Music and recently received her MM from the Purchase Conservatory of Music. She has studied the violin with renowned teachers Joey Corpus, Lynn Blakeslee, and Laurie Smukler, and has also studied chamber music with distinguished teachers Julia Lichten, Calvin Wiersma, Ira Weller, and the Ying quartet. Melissa has performed in master classes for many celebrated musicians including Victor Danchenko, the Tokyo String Quartet, and the Claremont Trio, and has performed as a soloist with the Hawthorne Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician and orchestra player, she has performed chamber music on the Westchester Philharmonic’s pre-concert series, and has also performed with orchestras in the New York/New Jersey area including the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, the Opera at Florham and Cape May Festival Orchestra.

Sasha Korczynski (Violin)

Sasha Korczynski is an active freelancer, traveling throughout the tri-state area to perform in solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts, as well as at weddings and other events.  Not only a classical violinist, Sasha performs folk, Celtic, bluegrass fiddle, jazz, and contemporary music; her performances have occurred at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, the Rainbow Room, Merkin Hall, Cami Hall, and the Chelsea Art Museum. Sasha graduated from Barnard College in 2006 with a B.A. in musicology, during which time she studied with Min-Young Kim of the Daedalus String Quartet and Burton Kaplan at the Manhattan School of Music.

She is currently based in Sussex County, NJ where she runs a music studio with her husband John, a pianist, and is enjoying time with their two small children.

Melinda Hirsch-Robnson (Viola)

Melinda Hirsch-Robinson received her Bachelor's degree in music performance from Boston University where she studied viola with Michelle LaCourse and chamber music with Leslie Parnas, Raphael Hillyer, Lucille Lawrence, Peter Zazofksy, and Lucia Lin. Mrs. Hirsch-Robinson went on to receive her Master's degree from Florida State University where she studied viola with Pamela Ryan and chamber music with Pamela Ryan, Carolyn Bridger, and Karen Clarke. There she was awarded a tuition waiver, stipend and graduate assistantship. After graduate school Melinda attended Brevard Music Center's Advanced Chamber Music program on a full fellowship for two consecutive summers. Now an active freelance violist in the New York Tri-state area, Mrs. Hirsch-Robinson can regularly be seen performing with the Ridgefield Symphony in CT, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Long Island Choral Masterworks, and various chamber orchestras in the NYC area. Melinda is proud to have taken part in many exciting new music concert series throughout Manhattan. Some highlights include: performing with members of Alarm Will Sound as part of Carnegie Hall's Making Music Series for the Meredith Monk 40th Anniversary Concert, performing with Ensemble Sospeso at the NY Film Festival for Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain, and performing with Alan Semerdjian and band at the 92nd Street Y's Makor Cafe "Under the Radar" series hosted by John Platt. She has also enjoyed performing with ensembles on radio and television shows including: WNYC's New Sounds hosted by John Schaeffer, WFUV's City Folk Sunday Breakfast hosted by John Platt, and NBC's Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting.

Bethany Cook (Cello)

Bethany Cook began playing the cello at age 9 through the Fairfield,CT Public School system. Born into a musical family, she started piano at
age 7 and began studying cello privately with Cheryl Labrecque. Bethany continued her cello studies with Chris Finckel, cellist of the
Manhattan String Quartet, and performed with the Greater Bridgeport Youth Symphony for eight years. Bethany has bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Maryland. There she studied with Evelyn Elsing and Glenn Garlick. Ms. Cook currently teaches orchestra in the
Greenwich, CT public schools, teaches cello privately, and performs with the Ridgefield and Greater Bridgeport Symphonies. She is working towards her Master's Degree in Music Education and is anticipated to recieve her degree from the University of Michigan in 2013.

Fiona Lloyd (Violin)

British born violinist, Fiona Lloyd has enjoyed performing with orchestras around the world. Having earned her Master of Music and Artist Diploma from SUNY Purchase she now enjoys performing chamber music and with regional orchestras.