Calin Lupanu, Charlotte Symphony Concertmaster, was born in Romania and studied at the Bucharest Music Conservatory where he was later appointed violin professor. While residing in Europe he served as Concertmaster of the Concerto Chamber Orchestra and first violinist of the Lipatti String Quartet, with which he toured extensively in Europe and the U.S. and won prizes in the prestigious competitions of London International String Quartet Competition, the Dmitri Shostakovich Competition and Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, as well as the International Violin Competition (Stresa, Italy) and the Suceava National Violin Competition.  Students of the renowned Fine Arts String Quartet and Vermeer Quartet, Lupanu and the Lipatti Quartet held quartet residencies with the Northern Illinois University of Wisconsin and toured extensively in the U.S. Lupanu also serves as Concertmaster of the Colorado Music Festival and teaches violin at the GWU.

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Monica Boboc completed her studies at the Bucharest Music Conservatory, Romania and was later appointed Professor in Chamber Music. As a member of the Lipatti String Quartet and the Concerto Chamber Orchestra, she was prize winner of the prestigious competitions of London International String Quartet Competition, the Dmitri Shostakovich Competition (St. Petersburg, Russia) and Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and toured extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. Prior to becoming a member of the Charlotte Symphony, Ms. Boboc served as Concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Montclaire String Quartet. Presently she is also a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and violin faculty with GWU.

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Jonathan Lewis, Assistant Principal Cello of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and performed with the critically-acclaimed chamber orchestra A Far Cry. Lewis was a prize winner of the Schadt International String Competition, the Society of American Musician’s Competition, and Holland-America Music Society’s Competition. He has performed as a soloist with the Allentown Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Starling Chamber Orchestra, and the Jefferson Symphony, and as a chamber musician at the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. Lewis holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance with a minor in Music Theory from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and a Master of Music from the same institution.

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Benjamin Geller, Principal Violist of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, studied with Larry Shapiro, Michael Isaac Strauss, Mark Buselli, as well as Toby Appel at the Julliard School. Gellar served as violist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra  and as Principal Violist with Auckland Chamber Orchestra. In addition to his work in the Charlotte Symphony, he has performed in the National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Interharmony International Music Festival, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall.

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Marlene Ballena began playing the cello at the age of seven in her hometown of Lima. She served as a member of the Peruvian National Symphony and as a principal cellist of the Piura Symphony Orchestra. Marlene Ballena has earned a Bachelor degree from University of Louisville and continued her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she joined the Matisse String Quartet and participated in the Intensive String Quartet Seminar with members of the Cleveland, Tackacs, Juilliard, Tokio, Cavani and Jerusalem string quartets. Before joining the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Marlene Ballena was a member of the graduate String Quartet in residence at Kent University and of Starling Honor Quartet at Carnegie Mellon University. The quartet represented Carnegie Mellon through various performances in Pittsburgh, New York, Canada and Qatar.