Artists

Kyle Stachnik

Co-founder of Viridian Strings, cellist Kyle Stachnik recently graduated with a masters in Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying under Professor Jennifer Culp. Prior to his studies at SFCM, Kyle completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music with Professor Ross Harbaugh. 

As a chamber musician, he has performed with artists such as Andrés Cárdenes, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Marcy Rosen, Itamar Zorman, Dimitri Murrath, William Fedkenheuer, Dennis Kim, Chauncey Patterson, and Jodi Levitz. Kyle regularly performs around the Bay Area with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Vallejo Festival Orchestra, and Marin Symphony.

Joseph Skerik

Co-founder of Viridian Strings, American violist Joseph Skerik is a member of the Vega String Quartet, on faculty at Emory University in Atlanta. 

Joseph's 2024-25 quartet activities include performances with Mark O’Connor, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Ettore Causa and Jon Kimura Parker in the US and Mexico. They will be premiering a new viola quintet by Paul Coletti and commissioning two works as part of the PBS Series "Songs About Buildings and Moods." In 2024, the Vega Quartet was featured in concerts at the National Gallery in Washington, DC in conjunction with a special exhibition of Mark Rothko works, and collaborated with musicians such as Zuill Bailey, Ransom Wilson and the Juilliard Quartet.  

In addition to his studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale School of Music and the Paris Conservatory, Joseph has participated in the Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World and the Schiermonnikoog Festival in the Netherlands.

Joseph's 2024 summer performances include Washington’s Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Highlands-Cashiers Festival and Viridian Strings. Joseph has been a guest artist at Heifetz’s Hear and Now Series, the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the festivals of Lake George, Vivace and Kneisel Hall. He has performed chamber music with Ani Kavafian, Edward Arron, Ilya Kaler, Erin Keefe, Colin Carr, Andrew Shulman, Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson.

 Joseph is a prize-winner at the AVS Competition and the 2022 Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition in Prague and was recently the featured soloist for the Heifetz Institute’s 2023 tour of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Brian Isaacs

American violist Brian Isaacs is based in Berlin as a member of both the class of Tabea Zimmermann (Konzertexamen, Frankfurt HfMDK) and the Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker (mentored by Sebastian Krunnies). 

Brian has received awards and prizes from institutions such as the Verbier Festival Academy, Yale University, Frank Huntington Beebe Fund, and international competitions including Grunewald, Nedbal, and Rubinstein. He has advanced to the semi-finals of major competitions such as ARD, Primrose, and Prague Spring. Brian has benefited from working in masterclasses with violists such as Misha Amory, Yuri Bashmet, Noemie Bialobroda, Ettore Causa, Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Tenenbom, Lars Anders Tomter, and Tabea Zimmermann.  

An avid chamber musician, Brian has participated in numerous festivals and concerts in the USA, Europe, and Asia. Recent festival appearances include Four Seasons, Gstaad String Academy, La Jolla SummerFest Fellowship, Methow Valley, NUME, Taos, Thy, Verbier Festival Academy, Viridian Strings, and Yellow Barn.

A native New Yorker and graduate of Yale University, Brian received his MM in Viola Performance, studying with Ettore Causa, and his BA in Sociology. He plays on a modern viola made by Douglas Cox in Brattleboro, VT.