Korean-American violinist Hannah Cho started playing the violin at age 3, and her talent was recognized early when she won her first prize within the first few years of study. She completed her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School with Masao Kawasaki, Cho-Liang Lin and Joel Smirnoff, as well as a Professional Studies Certificate at the Manhattan School of Music with Sylvia Rosenberg and Nicholas Mann. In addition to her formal studies in New York, Hannah studied and collaborated with renowned pedagogues at European summer academies in Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Hannah made her soloist debut at age 12 and has since performed nationally with orchestras in New York, Connecticut, Texas, Colorado, and California. Other notable highlights include her solo recital debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2020 as the winner of the 2019 New York Concert Artist Audition and prizes at the Michael Hill, Schoenfeld, Mauric Ravel Foundation, and Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competitions. She was the youngest participant in the 2009 New York String Orchestra Seminar, two-time participant in Juilliard’s intensive ChamberFest, a Student Artist for the Starling-Delay Symposium, and her quartet was selected for the 2015 Juilliard String Quartet Seminar.

Hannah Cho’s performances as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician have been broadcasted on several radio stations and led her across the globe in renowned halls, including Carnegie Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Teatro Carlo Felice, Seoul Arts Center, and Suntory Hall. She has performed on tour with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Asia in 2019 and Japan in 2020.

Hannah won an audition to join the 2nd violin section of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 2022.

Annette Jakovcic, a cellist originally from Englewood, New Jersey, enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. She entered the Academy in the Fall of 2022. Since 2021, she has been a substitute cellist for the Vienna State Opera while studying for her Master’s Degree at Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. She previously studied at Columbus State University and The New England Conservatory in Boston. She has played as a solo and chamber musician in the U.S., Europe and Asia. A third-generation musician in her family, she plays on a 1742 Andrea Castagneri cello from Paris that was her grandfather’s.

American born Academist Kelton Koch has won a blind audition and has joined the Vienna State Opera full time. He received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, where he studied with Michael Mulcahy. Prior to joining the VPO Academy, he was enrolled at the Hochschule der Künste Bern, Switzerland where he studied with Ian Bousfield. He was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach from 2014-2017 and the Orchestra Academy of Opernhaus Zürich from 2017-2018. He has performed as principal trombonist with the London Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and London Philharmonia. He has also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. In 2019 he was awarded a “Special Prize” at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kelton joined the Orchestra on their October 2019 tour to Korea, China and Japan.

Kelton won an audition to join the Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020.

American violinist Robert Sanders, from Skokie, Illinois, received his first violin instruction at the age of five from his mother, Tamara Glassburg, and his father, James Sanders. He continued his studies at the Music Institute of Chicago with Prof. Hye-Sun Lee and Prof. Robert Hanford. Robert Sanders completed his Bachelor study with Prof. Renée Jolles at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, with a Minor in General Psychology. While at Eastman, he served as concertmaster of the Eastman Philharmonia and was a member of the Asha String Quartet. He has completed master classes with artists such as Augustin Hadelich, Sarah Chang, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Tessa Lark and Paul Kantor and has appeared as a chamber musician with the Ariel, Jupiter, Schumann and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

Robert Sanders is a prizewinner at numerous competitions, resulting in solo appearances with various orchestras in the USA. In the summers, Robert has attended the Chautauqua Institution as a concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where he performed chamber music with Robin Scott, first violinist of the internationally renowned Ying Quartet. He appeared as a stipendiary at the Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2021.

Robert is continuing to study music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

American violinist Lucas Stratmann is from New York City and studied at the Juilliard School, receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees under the tutelage of Prof. Sylvia Rosenberg and Prof. Masao Kawasaki. He served as concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra from 2020-2021.

Lucas Stratmann is a prizewinner of numerous competitions, including the 2016 Aspen Music Festival Violin Competition. In 2015, he was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Artist Award from NPR’s “From the Top”. Since then, he has performed as soloist and chamber musician in the USA and Japan, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and David Geffen Hall. He has also performed as a soloist on three separate concert series with The Little Orchestra Society and is active as a teacher. He has spent his summers studying and performing at the Aspen Music Festival, the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg and the Taos School of Music.

Lucas has won the position of lead of the 2nd violin section in Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.