LISA BOYKO joined the Cleveland Orchestra in 1991, having previously been a member of the New Orleans and Toronto Symphonies and the Minnesota Orchestra. Ms. Boyko studied for two years in Vienna at the Musikgymnasium and the Hochschule fur Musik.  In 1985, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of Robert Vernon.  A year after returning to Cleveland, she appeared as alumni soloist with the CIM Chamber Orchestra in the Cleveland premiere of Darius Milhaud’s Concertino d’Ete.  Ms. Boyko is now a faculty member at CIM and Encore School for Strings.  A founding member of the Collective, she is an active recitalist and chamber musician in the Cleveland area.

MARK JACKOBS joined the Cleveland Orchestra in 1993, having previously served as a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony.  A graduate of the Interlochen Arts academy, he received a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, and was in the artist diploma program at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Mr. Jackobs is on the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Encore School for Strings.  He has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including appearances at the Aspen American Music and Heidelberg festivals.

STANLEY KONOPKA joined the Cleveland Orchestra in 1991, and has been assistant principal viola since 1993.  He previously served as principal and solo violist with the National Repertory Orchestra and was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony.  Mr. Konopka won several notable awards at the Interlochen Arts Academy before attending the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Robert Vernon.  Mr. Konopka teaches at Encore School for Strings and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has performed at the chamber music festivals of Banff, Taos and Pensicola.

ELIESHA NELSON joined the Cleveland Orchestra in the fall of 2000.  Born and raised in Alaska, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Her teachers have included Robert Vernon, Linda Cerone and Gyorgy Pauk.  Ms. Nelson previously served as acting principal violist for the Florida Philharmonic and has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic and the San Antonio Symphony.

LEMBI VESKIMETS was appointed to the Cleveland Orchestra in 1997, having previously served as principal viola of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra.  She has performed in chamber music venues from Carnegie Hall to the cite de musique in Paris, France and the Expo in Osaka, Japan, as well as at the festivals of Aspen, Sarasota and Taos.  She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of Robert Vernon.  Currently a faculty member at the Cleveland Music School Settlement and Encore School for Strings, she also performs in the public schools as an Artist-Teacher in the Orchestra’s Learning Through Music program.

RICHARD WAUGH joined the Cleveland Orchestra in 1994, after serving as acting principal viola in the Indianapolis Symphony. He had previously held positions with the New Mexico Symphony and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he began playing the viola at age nine.  After serving as a paratrooper in the United States Army’s 82^nd Airborne Division and playing basketball for the University of New Mexico, Mr. Waugh moved to Cleveland to study with Robert Vernon at the Cleveland Institute of Music.