biava quartet

Mary Persin
viola

Mary Persin, founding member and violist of the Biava Quartet, has distinguished herself with performances throughout the United States and abroad. A native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Ms. Persin is a recent Artist Diploma recipient and graduate of Yale University where she also served as a teaching assistant to the Tokyo Quartet.

Ms. Persin has received numerous awards and was featured in a live radio broadcast on the Performance Pittsburgh Series as winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Auditions. She was the winner of the Duquesne University, Westmoreland Symphony and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Concerto Competitions, as well as the PADESTA Solo Competition and Duquesne Young Artist Competition. Ms. Persin made her solo debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall in 1997. In addition, she has also made solo appearances with the Pittsburgh and Westmoreland Youth Symphonies and was most recently invited to solo with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, performing the Mozart "Sinfonia Concertante" in collaboration with Austin Hartman.

Ms. Persin is the former principal violist of the Westmoreland Symphony, Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony and Chautauqua Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has performed solo recitals in Cleveland, Boston and Pittsburgh and has been invited to perform as a guest artist at both Chautauqua Institution and the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Persin has participated as a scholarship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution and Encore School for Strings, where she spent four summers and was twice awarded the Kay Logan Chamber Music Award for excellence in chamber music performance.

In addition to her international concertizing and teaching as violist of the Biava Quartet, Ms. Persin maintains a keen interest in the business aspect of music and arts advocacy. She serves as the operations coordinator for the Biava Quartet and has been invited to be a guest lecturer and presenter at a variety of schools throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania as a music educator.

Ms. Persin is a graduate with highest honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she was a student of Robert Vernon, Principal Violist of the Cleveland Orchestra. She attended the New England Conservatory for further studies, earning a Master’s Degree in Chamber Music and Viola Performance as a student of Martha Katz. Other former teachers and coaches include Thomas Dumm, James Dunham, Jeffrey Irvine, Stephanie Tretick and Hong-Guang Jia, as well as members of the Emerson, Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets.