The Musicians

Michael Williams

Violin
Michael was born in a musical family, his father being a classical guitarist, mother a classical pianist, and older brother a classical and jazz pianist. Michael first began to play the piano at the age of seven then took up the violin at age 9. Continuing private instruction from members of the Charleston Symphony, he entered Charleston’s School of the Arts and while he was there he attended the South Carolina All-State Orchestra each year for 5 years, being 5th in the state and 1st in the Region Orchestra. While in high school, he started performing at one of Charleston’s most prestigious restaurants, the Charleston Grill when he was only 16 and continues to perform there every Sunday evening. He continued his violin studies at the College of Charleston – classical under Lee-Chin Siow and jazz under David Heywood, and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance on the violin. By graduation and with already 6 years of experience in performing in Charleston, including Kiawah’s 5-Star Sanctuary Hotel for their Jazz Brunch every Sunday, for weddings and private events, he now has the vision and experience to perform with a group of musicians to entertain, share the passion, and hard work to others through performing. You may hear him live at the Charleston Grill downtown any Sunday night.

Lauren Williams

Violin / Viola
Lauren, born in Ridgewood New Jersey, began her music studies at age nine and has been playing violin for fifteen years. She has studied under Professor Lee Chin Siow at the College of Charleston and Professor Oscar Ravina, of the New York Philharmonic. Mrs. Williams has performed solo recitals and in numerous chamber ensembles in New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston, as well as throughout New Jersey. She has participated in summer festivals such as the Rockland Summer Institute for Orchestral and Chamber Studies, Amati Music Festival, and Piccolo Spoleto’s Young Artist Series. Mrs. Williams earned her BA in Music from the College of Charleston and has been performing for weddings, and teaching violin since 2002. In 2003, she attended the Suzuki Institute at Furman University where she received her Suzuki teaching certification. She has participated and and received her Suzuki training under Joanne Bath of East Carolina University and has been a registered Suzuki teacher since 2005. She continues to perform for weddings and events full-time in the Charleston area.

Catherine Clifton

Cello
Catherine began playing the cello when she was 10 years old in Charleston, SC. She received the Lightsey Cello Scholarship to attend The College of Charleston, and studied under Professor Damian Kremer. While at CofC, she was a member of the internationally acclaimed ensemble Charleston Pro Musica, under the direction of Steve Rosenberg. She traveled and toured with this ensemble throughout France, Uruguay, and the Southeastern United States. While a member of Charleston Pro Musica, Catherine performed in Piccolo Spoleto, on 5 CD’s, and in a South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) documentary of their concert series in France. Catherine has been playing a variety of venues, such as weddings and receptions, in the Charleston area since 1997, and has been with playing with Palmetto Strings since 2008.

Lonnie Root

Cello
Lonnie originally hails from Fairfield, Connecticut. He was immediately drawn to the natural beauty and cultural diversity of Charleston and felt equally about the College of Charleston. He became immediately active within the college as he moved up to co-principal of the orchestra and participated in their chamber groups, concerts, and various master classes under the master tutelage of his teacher Natalia Khoma. His work spread to the community as he began playing weddings, church services, and was given a seat with the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra under the great maestro Donald Portnoy. Lonnie finished out his last full semester of school playing to a sold out Sottile Theatre of 800 people featuring the works of young composers / arrangers Andrew Walker and Lee Marchbanks featuring their brainchild of Radiohead arrangements for a classical ensemble. He is currently either teaching, or playing in various ensembles and festivals around Charleston as he remains very active in the classical music scene, performing for weddings and private events with the Palmetto Strings.

Bob Williams

Classical / Jazz Guitar
Bob began playing guitar in middle school and has since been performing and teaching for over 30 years. While playing in bands along the east coast in high school and college he continued his studies of jazz and classical guitar. After receiving his high schools most talented award he attended Methodist University where he developed a jazz program for the music department.After receiving his music degree he continued classical guitar studies at UNC-W with Michael Lorimer, a student of Segovia. At this time he developed a classical guitar program at Sandhills Community College. Many of his students went on to earn their degree and a number of his jazz students have graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music. As an instructor Bob has written two method books which has sold more than 4000 copies. His Modern Method for Guitar is used by a number of teachers and schools. After teaching in the public school system in North Carolina and developing a private school of music he moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he continues to teach and perform full time for weddings in the Charleston area. Bob can be heard weekends performing in the Sanctuary Hotel on Kiawah Island and in the Charleston Grill in Charleston Place Hotel.

Megan Molina

Violin
Megan began her violin studies at aged 4 in her native New Zealand. She received her Bachelor’s degree in violin performance with First Class Honors from Victoria University, Wellington, studying with Vera Rubin and then Donald Armstrong. By age 22 she received her Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Ian Swensen. She has performed solo recitals in both New Zealand and San Francisco and performed as a soloist with the Victoria University Orchestra, Wellington Chamber Orchestra and the Manawatu Sinfonia Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has had the opportunity of working with, and being coached by, many world class acclaimed musicians such as Robert Mann, Manahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Sadao Harada, Mark Sokol, and Jodi Levitz, and also performs regularly with Chamber Music Charleston. With a passion for orchestral playing, Megan has played with numerous professional orchestras including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, the Wellington Sinfonia and recently the Seraphic Fire Chamber Orchestra in Miami, FL. Ms. Allison held a one year position as acting associate concertmaster for the 2007/08 season with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and has now returned to the rotating violin section for her fifth season.

Erika Blanco

Violin
Erika Blanco, a Charleston native, holds a bachelor’s degree in violin from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Having grown up in Charleston, she began her violin studies with Deborah Menick of the Ashley River Creative Arts School and continued with violinist and youth orchestra conductor Rex Conner of Charleston. During her time at the Blair School of Music, she studied with the first violinist of the Blair String Quartet Christian Teal. She also worked alongside violinists Cornelia Heard and Carolyn Huebl, violists John Kochanowski and Kathryn Plummer, cellist Felix Wang, and pianist Amy Dorfman. Suzuki pedagogue and Director of Suzuki Programs Carol Smith mentored and helped her to attain her Suzuki certification. Prior to receiving her degree, she studied under Stephen Panchaud, assistant concertmaster of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. She has performed in recitals and concerts all throughout the Southeast region of the country as well as the United Kingdom. She has had the privilege of performing in masterclasses with violinists Alexander Kerr, former concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and Soh-Hyun Park Altino, Professor of Violin at the University of Memphis. Erika spent an entire season with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera under the baton of Robert Bernhardt and plays occasionally with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. She now spends most of her time nurturing the students in her Suzuki violin studio.

Rebecca Runge

Violin
Rebecca is a classically trained violinist who has been performing in Charleston, SC for more than 18 years. A graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Music degree, she teaches strings in the Charleston County school district, and was the previous conductor of the Charleston County Honors Orchestra for 14 years. Rebecca plays solo violin or with an ensemble for weddings, receptions, dinner parties and community events.

Yun-Hao Yiang

Cello
Yun Hao, born in Shanghai, China, began his cello studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and continued his studies at the Municipal School of Music in Montevideo, Uruguay, with Professor Pedro Laniella. Mr. Jiang was principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra for several seasons as well as a member of the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been coached in cello by William Molinas, Claudio Baraviera, Owen Carmen, Steven Doane, and Hans Jensen. Yun Hao was awarded the Juvenalis Award in 1999 and won First Prizes in the Jeunesses Musicales Competition in 2002 for cello soloist and chamber music ensemble. He now continues to perform for weddings and events with the Palmetto Strings.