Melos, according to the ancient Greeks, is the melodic basis of music: the fusion of word, rhythm, and melody. Indeed, melos is synonymous with music as a performing art; any melody or lyric poem intended for singing. Melos Music Chamber Ensemble combines this strong foundation rooted in the classics with modern additions to convey a story in every concert and evoke emotion in a singing cantabile style.
A Los Angeles based ensemble, Melos Music is dedicated to bringing the highest quality of chamber music concerts to the local community/engaging audiences, particularly our youth in classical concerts/providing affordable tickets to underserved communities and access to experience live classical music/creating programs to meet the needs of the diverse communities of Los Angeles.
Melos' philosophy in outreach is proactive and strives to serve the community from within, bringing interactive concerts and education to local schools in underserved areas of the city. Proceeds from our annual benefit concert support the Good Shepherd Shelter L.A, the first domestic violence shelter in LA. Melos also works to bring Family Music to women and children of the shelter as a way of healing. Matinee concerts are intended to serve members of the community who do not have the means or opportunity to attend live evening performances.
Melos Music's concert season presents 3-5 thematically conceived concerts, all of them performed by diverse ensembles and covering music from baroque to contemporary composers, most notably local L.A. composers. /concerts-tickets
Natalia Hudson (piano) has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., Europe, and Israel in numerous festivals and concerts, including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, First Night Charleston, the International Piano Series, the Young Artist Concert Series, the Drayton Hall, the LACC, and Moreno Valley College Concert Series. A native of South Carolina, Natalia was awarded the Isabella Mebane Piano Performance Scholarship to pursue a performance degree under Uruguayan pianist Enrique Graf at the College of Charleston. She continued her artist education at the Conservatory in Madrid, Spain under German-born pianist, Uta Weyand. Her other main influences include Vitalij Margulis (Ukraine), Ilana Vered (Israel) and currently Oxana Yablonskaya (Russia/Israel). She received her Master’s degree from the University of Southern California and has participated in the World Piano Pedagogy (WPPC), MTNA, and Focus on Piano Literature conferences. A member of the California and National Music Teacher Associations, Ms. Hudson is a sought-after teacher at her private piano studio, Hudson Conservatory. She is on the faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and also serves on the piano faculty of the Oxana Yablonskaya Piano Institute (OYPI) in various parts of the world, including Bulgaria and Israel. Her first solo piano album, Balancing Darkness and Light, was released this year. Founder of the Mt. Olive Concert Series in Pasadena and Artistic Director of Melos Music Chamber Ensemble, Natalia firmly believes in the power of music to heal, uplift, and unite people by transcending any boundaries of race, gender, religious, economic or cultural backgrounds. www.nataliahudson.com
Sakura Tsai (violin) Violinist and educator Sakura Tsai enjoys a multifaceted career having performed nationally and internationally as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician.
A native of Southern California, Dr. Sakura Tsai earned degrees (B.M., M.M., and D.M.A.) in Violin Performance from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music where she was honored the prestigious Order of Areté and became a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. Her mentors and teachers included Midori Goto, Kathleen Winkler, Hagai Shaham and Alice Schoenfeld. Additional fields of study while pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree included Music Theory and Analysis, Violin Pedagogy with Endre Granat, and Kinesiology.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Tsai is Artist Teacher of Violin at University of Redlands. She is also on faculty at California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley, California State Summer School for the Arts, Junior Chamber Music (Inland Empire), and coaches instrumentalists in the Walnut Valley Unified School District at both Diamond Bar and Walnut High Schools. During the summer, Dr. Tsai has been on faculty at Idyllwild Arts’ Chamber Festival Intensive and Symphony Orchestra Intensive programs as well as the Montecito International Music Festival. Most recently, Dr. Tsai was invited as Guest Artist for the Colburn Summer Chamber Intensive program. Dr. Tsai makes frequent appearances as an adjudicator and serves as clinician in schools around Southern California where she mentors aspiring young musicians. In 2018, Dr. Tsai was selected to be the guest conductor of the San Bernardino County High School Honor Orchestra. In addition, Dr. Tsai has a robust private studio and has previously held faculty positions at Marymount California University and Idyllwild Arts Academy.
As a performer, Dr. Tsai is a member of the Redlands Symphony and the Long Beach Symphony orchestras. She performs in several regional orchestras and has spent summers at the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland) and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany) academies, and Music Masters Course Japan (Japan). Dr. Tsai maintains an active career as a chamber musician winning honors at international competitions such as the International Young Artists Peninsula Music Festival and the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition. An avid performer of contemporary music, Dr. Tsai championed works of numerous living composers; extensive collaboration with young composers with various ensembles included residencies and performance projects at institutions such as Idyllwild Arts Academy, California State University, Northridge and Long Beach, University of California, Riverside, and University of Southern California. Dr. Tsai’s solo and ensemble performances have been featured live on world-wide television and radio broadcasts such as classical KUSC, KRTU-FM, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Germany), and Japan Broadcasting Corporation – NHK (Japan).
Tamila Azadaliyeva (piano) was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where she attended the music school, affiliated with Tashkent State Conservatory, for gifted children. She then received her B.M. degree from Tashkent State Conservatory while studying with Elmira Mirkasimova. Tamila came to the United States to study with Oxana Yablonskaya at the University of Hartford Hartt School, where she received her Graduate Professional Diploma and then her Master's degree the following year, while studying with Luiz de Moura Castro.
Tamila has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Israel, Kazakhstan and native Uzbekistan. She has been a guest soloist with several orchestras including the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Tamila’s recent performances include solo performance of Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” for piano and orchestra with San Francisco Civic Symphony in the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, California, and a recital at Carnegie Hall with Misha Quint, cello, in New York City.
A sought-after educator, Tamila has taught and lectured at various institutes and workshops in the United States and abroad. She recently served as a member of the piano faculty at Oxana Yablonskaya Piano Institute in Eilat, Israel and Kovacevica, Bulgaria, where she met her wonderful piano duo partner, Natalia Hudson.
Tamila has taught piano at the University of Connecticut, University of New Haven and currently teaches at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Community Division, Loomis Chaffee School and maintains a private studio in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Alina Roitstein-Anderies (soprano) Los Angeles native Alina Roitstein is known for her “beautiful voice and equally beautiful presence” (El Nuevo Herald). Her career spanning opera and art song, jazz and Latin music, chamber music and contemporary works, and choral music has taken her to venues all over the world, including Japan’s Symphony Hall in Osaka, South Korea’s Seoul Arts Centre Concert Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Scotland’s Royal Conservatoire, Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Concert Series, Chicago’s Poetry Foundation, and Los Angeles’ REDCAT, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Hollywood Bowl. One of Alina’s passions is performing new works, and she has premiered pieces by Juhi Bansal, Jordan Nelson, Thomas Kotcheff, Dale Trumbore, Reena Esmail, Diana Syrse, Trevor Anderies, David Roitstein, and others. She also premiered the role of Emily in The Discord Altar, the first of OperaWorks’ Arts for Social Awareness Project, a groundbreaking musically improvised opera created to bring awareness to current social issues. Roitstein is also a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, with whom she is often a featured soloist on their home stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Roitstein is an active studio singer in Los Angeles, most recently singing for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. She also sang with Los Angeles Master Chorale on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which earned the Grammy award for Best Choral Performance. Other recording credits include Trevor Anderies Quintet’s Promise of a Tree (Orenda Records), River Song Quintet’s Monarchs, and Toomai String Quintet’s Cuerdas Cubanas.
A committed educator, Roitstein is on the voice faculty at Pomona College and Pasadena City College and has performed workshops and master classes at universities throughout the United States. www.alinaroitstein.com
