Zoia Bologovsky is an active violinist in the New England area. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Zoia has had many adventures touring as first violinist with the Arden String Quartet around America and Europe. She has held positions with the Portland and Springfield Symphonies and Rhode Island Philharmonic as well as Symphony New Hampshire. Currently, Zoia is Concertmaster of North Shore Philharmonic and the Portsmouth Symphony. She is also Principal 2nd violin of PORTopera, and teaches at St Paul's School in Concord, NH, and at her studio in Stoneham, MA. She especially enjoys Musical Theater work, performing frequently at Providence Performing Arts Center, North Shore Music Theater, Hanover Theater in Worcester and the Boston Opera House, playing touring and local Broadway shows.

She purchased her violin, made by Ray Melanson, Rochester, MA, in December, 1989, with only three hours of playing time on it. It has remained her primary instrument. The back is made of antique Vermont maple, cut in the early 19th century and planed for use in violin making. It was stored in a family barn for over 150 years until Ray bought it.

Her bow is a late HR Pfretzsner, made between 1901 and 1914, while he had a shop in Dresden. The frog has a coat of arms stamped on, after Pfretzsner was granted a noble title.

Dorothy Braker, cellist, had her very first lesson in music at age four with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, whose new idea about musical study through unlocking each child’s innate potential was first being brought to the United States. Braker is a vibrant performer whose performance style has developed as informal and educational, designed to draw in and educate the listener about the music being played, making them a partner by removing the barrier between performer and listener. Her studies in cello, starting at age eight, were with Lois Yopp, Phil Blum, and Karl Fruh, culminating at the Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, where she earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in music performance. She currently is principal cellist of the New Hampshire Philharmonic and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, has performed as soloist with many area orchestras, performs with Aliento Chamber Players and the Kiran Trio, and works as principal cellist with many other orchestras, chamber and vocal groups.  

Braker’s Jacques Boquay cello was made in 1727. Boquay was a key figure in the "Vieux Paris" school of violin making. After likely worm damage, it was cut down, then built up in the then-new Stradivarius proportions from a church bass. Her rose-gold mounted pernambucco wood bow was made by Richard Grünke senior, at some time between 1950 and 1975.

A native of Montreal, Amira Acre began her piano studies at age three. At four she had her first professional engagement on radio, and at age five she won her first piano competition.  She studied with Abbey Simon at the Juilliard School, in New York City, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees, and later returned to the US to earn her doctorate in piano performance at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In Canada, she taught and performed both solo and chamber music. In both nations her concerts have been well received: "This is a pianist who adores the instrument and who demands we listen to her ideas... a real talent and a name to remember." (The Montreal Gazette) "Expertise and grace... Deftly illuminating interpretations and quite exciting". (NY Times)

She has received many scholarships and awards including three Canada Council Grants, and Fellowships to Tanglewood, Fountainebleau, and Banff. She was awarded full tuition scholarships at Juilliard from the William Petschek Piano Fund, and has won scholarships from La Fondation des Amies de l'Art.  She received first prize at the Artists International Auditions in New York and was a winner of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra competition.

Ms. Acre gave her New York debut in 1984 at Carnegie Recital Hall, which led to many engagements across Canada and the United States. She has performed in France, England, Belgium, Italy and other European countries. Besides performing internationally as a solo artist, Ms. Acre, a distinguished chamber musician, has performed in that role numerous times at Lincoln Center in New York City as well as in many music festivals in North America and Europe.

After being focused on music from age three, she turned her focus to raising her two surviving triplet daughters and her younger son. She is now happily returning to her career and sharing her love for the piano.

Amira’s playing can be heard online with several performances posted on YouTube, including the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2, recorded at Jordan Hall in Boston; also Liszt’s b-minor Sonata with our 1846 Streicher piano, and Ravel’s Jeux d’eau on our 1877 Erard, recorded during our concerts.

A faculty member of the Brookline (MA) Music School, Amira is a happy founding member of the Kiran Trio.