Faculty - Strings

KRISTEN (ISSIE) DAVIS
Violin
MM in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and BM in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music, graduated with distinction. Directly after graduating from Eastman she won a position with the Eugene Symphony under Marin Alsop, and the Oregon Mozart Players with whom she performed the Bach Double violin concerto. Izzie has spent the last 13 years teaching and performing extensively in New York City, where she was the concertmaster of the Riverside Orchestra and appeared in a solo capacity frequently at the Liederkrantz Club. She was the violinist for theater productions in the tri-state area and for a six -month national tour of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in which capacity she opened shows with the Orange Blossom Special. She has performed with many orchestras in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In addition to teaching private violin lessons for many years at the Spence School in New York, Izzie has taught in schools such as the Hoff-Barthelson School and the Hudson School of Music as well as privately.

MARGARITA DIMOV
Violin
M.M. in Violin Performance, Russia.

LEONID FRIDMAN
Cello
M.M., St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. Mr. Fridman was formerly the principal cellist of Opera and Ballet Orchestra, director and music instructor of chamber orchestra, and cello teacher at the Music School in Petrozavodsk, Russia. In addition to his present position at GSM, he has performed with the Palo Alto Symphony Orchestra, CA.

POLINA GERASIMOVA RATHBONE
Violin
B.A., Kherson Music College, Ukraine, and Donetsk Conservatory of Music, Kiev. After arrivig in the US, Polina has studied with the first violin of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and with a senior faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music. Polina loves to teach, and she believe the purpose of playing the violin is to create a beautiful sound. She also thinks it is important to make playing fun. Polina performs regularly at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Mountain View.

Joel Pattinson
Violin
Joel Pattinson is a two-time graduate of the University of Wyoming with a BA and an MM in Violin Performance with specialties in String Pedagogy, Renaissance and Baroque theory and Baroque and Classical Performance Practice. There he studied with Brian Hanly, Javier Pinell, and Sherry Sinift. Joel has participated in master-classes with many performers like Phillip Setzer of the Emerson String Quartet. In addition to performing with the Fort Collins and Cheyenne Symphony Orchestras, Joel was concertmaster of the UW Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and a finalist in the Dorothy Jacoby Concerto Competition with his rendition of Mendelssohn's E minor Violin Concerto.
After teaching for many years, Joel became an individual and group teacher with the University of Wyoming String Project and UW String Academy, an extension of Indiana University String Academy at the University of Wyoming and Laramie County Community College from 2001 until 2005 under master teachers Sherry Sinift and James Pryzygocki. Pedagogy remains a passion of his. Joel was a founding member of the Vedauwoo String Quartet and has recently been playing with the Silver Bay Chamber Group of New York. After studying contemporary guitar with the legendary Toby Knapp, Joel has traveled with many touring bands since the age of 15 performing in all corners of the US, Canada, and the European Union.
Joel currently teaches for the Gorin School of Music, the Music Place of San Jose, the Music School of Sunnyvale and operates the South Bay String Academy.

TRU VU
Violin, Viola
B.M. and M.A. in Violin Performance, San Jose State University, CA; Studies in Violin and Chamber Music, Saigon Conservatory of Music, Vietnam, studied conducting and chamber music with Barbara Day Turner and the late Marina Grin, respectively. Mr. Vu has performed and instructed for many years at the Saigon Conservatory of Music, and he has taught music and violin in the United States for over ten years. He is currently the Associate Music Director of the Saigon Chamber Ensemble, San Jose.