NYC
STRING QUARTET
The New York City String Quartet
Versatile and cutting edge, the New York City String Quartet provides a unique experience to their audiences.
Founding Members
Katy Ho, Violin
Macao-born violist/violinist Ieong Cheng (Katy) Ho has quickly gained national and international attention, gracing concert stages around the world. Katy has performed in various concert halls in United States, China, Germany, Austria, France, and Denmark. During her six years of study at The Juilliard School, she served as a principal violist in The New Juilliard Ensemble and as assistant principal viola in The Juilliard Orchestra. She has performed with renowned musicians such as Itzak Perlman, Lang Lang, Robert McDonald, Trey Li, and Timothy Eddy. She has also performed at numerous music festivals across the United States.
Katy received her Bachelor and Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School. As an Enid W. & Lester Morse Jr. Scholar, she is now a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University in Music and Music Education. In the past year, Katy worked as education director of International Chamber Orchestra Young Artists Program, which aims to promote orchestral music experiences to underserved students. In addition, she is a member of the strings faculty at Opportunity Music Project and Teachers College Community School and serves as a research assistant at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Lindsey Castellano, Violin
Violinist and Violist, Lindsey Castellano, is an active performer in New York City. She has performed at concert halls across the country including the Chicago Symphony Center and David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. As the Florence Geffen Fellow for Music Assessment and the Research Associate for the Center for Arts Education and Research at Teachers College, Lindsey is a doctoral candidate in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Lindsey is an applied Violin and Viola instructor at Teachers College and is on the faculty at the Bloomingdale School of Music, working with their community outreach program at the Manhattan School for Children. She completed her Masters in String Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was awarded a position as the String Pedagogy Teaching Assistant. Lindsey has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Violin Performance and attended Manhattan School of Music's Precollege.
Aline Vartanian, Viola
Armenian-American violist Aline Vartanian began her studies at the age of sixteen. Ms. Vartanian received her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from Manhattan School of Music, where she served as assistant principal in the various orchestras and actively participated in chamber music ensembles. Aline received the President’s Scholarship and remained on the Dean’s List for the full duration of her time at Manhattan School of Music. During her undergraduate career, Aline traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Europe to participate in some of the world's most prestigious festivals. Ms. Vartanian has also performed at the United Nations, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, St. John the Divine, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, and the Estates Theater in Prague, Czech Republic. Aline currently facilitates a successful private violin/viola studio and teaches music theory to groups of students throughout New York City. Her goal as a music educator is to ignite creativity and a love for learning within all of her students. Ms. Vartanian continues to study with Daniel Avshalomov of the American String Quartet and is pursuing her Masters of Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Eva Dines, Cello
Eva Dines began her cello studies under the direction of Guang Wang of the Vega String Quartet. She continued her studies with Martha Gerschefski for seven years. With the help of a full merit scholarship, she later earned her bachelors degree in Cello performance from University of Miami’s Frost School of Music under Ross Harabaugh.
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Eva has spent summers studying under Melissa Kraut, Marion Feldman and Susannah Chapman. She has appeared in concert with artists; Sarah Chang, Dawn Upshaw, Gloria Estafan, Mark O’ Connor, Joshua Bell, Ben Folds, Steep Canyon Rangers, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Berry Manilow, Johannes Moser and Cyrille Aimee. Eva has performed under conductors Leon Fleisher, James Judd, Keith Lockhart, JoAnn Falletta, Matthias Bamert, Ken Lam and Maria Schneider.
Eva is currently a Masters student at Columbia Teachers College and is teaching strings at the Bronx Global Institute for Girls. Eva was previously cello faculty for the Atlanta Suzuki Talent Development Program and Frost Music Outreach Program and the Coral Gables Community Arts Program.
