Meet the Utah Symphony’s three newest violinists — all women, and one a Salt Lake native

Three violinists have joined the Utah Symphony this season, including Salt Lake City native Bonnie Terry.

Hannah Linz

• <b>Hometown:</b>&nbsp;Okemos, Mich.
• <b>Age:</b> 25
• <b>Education:</b>&nbsp;Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
• <b>Experience:</b>&nbsp;Dallas Symphony 2015-17,&nbsp;Philadelphia Orchestra (substitute violin) since 2014
• <b>Interests outside music:</b>&nbsp;Cooking, watching movies, reading, video games, basketball. Linz also played soccer for 10 years.
• <b>Why violin? When did you start?</b> ”I started violin lessons at age 3 and started piano at age 5. I was born into a musical family. My older siblings all played (two violinists and one cellist) and my grandparents were professional musicians as well.”
• <b>Provenance of your instrument:</b>&nbsp;I have a French violin made in 1932 by Gustave Villaume.
• <b>Favorite repertoire to play:</b>&nbsp;Anything by Mozart, Beethoven or Bartók!

Linz’s first assignment with the Utah Symphony was the orchestra‘s Great American Road Trip — a five-day, 1,200-mile tour that took the musicians from Zion National Park to Dinosaur National Monument. “We saw so many incredible things, like around every corner,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve been in an orchestra that travels the entire state. It’s amazing that we get to do this.”

Bonnie Terry

• <b>Hometown:</b> Salt Lake City
• <b>Education:</b> Interlochen Arts Academy, Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music
• <b>Experience:</b> Associate concertmaster, San Antonio Symphony (10 years); concertmaster, Tucson Symphony (three years); Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago (14 years and counting; the orchestra plays a 10-week season every summer); taught violin at University of Virginia and University of Arizona; New World Symphony
• <b>Interests outside music:</b> Singing, comedy improv, modern dance, theater. A self-described “theater kid,” Terry sang in the Salt Lake Children’s Choir as a child. She also trained with Chicago’s famed Second City troupe until her orchestra schedule made it impossible to continue.
• <b>Why violin? Why did you start?</b> “When I was 5 years old, I saw two kids playing the violin and I immediately told my parents I wanted to play. They made me wait a year, and I was still asking. So they gave in and got me a violin and a teacher! I never looked back.”
• <b>Provenance of your instrument:</b> J.B. Vuillaume 1870, France. I have had it for about seven years.
• <b>Favorite repertoire to play:</b>&nbsp;“I love it all! Orchestral, chamber, solo. My favorite composers are Beethoven, Bernstein, Barber, Copland, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Bach and Mahler.”

Returning to Utah was “not something I really planned,” she said, but when she saw the latest job openings here, “I thought, ‘Well, my family is there — maybe it’s time to come home.’ … I really enjoy being able to see my family whenever.”

She first played with the Utah Symphony as a 10-year-old Salute to Youth soloist, playing the finale from Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. “My whole sixth-grade class was in the front row,” she said.

Evgenia Zharzhavskaya

• <b>Hometown:</b> St. Petersburg, Russia
• <b>Age:</b> 34
• <b>Education:</b> St. Petersburg Conservatory, Lynn University (Boca Raton, Fla.)
• <b>Experience:</b>&nbsp;“I started to play in a professional orchestra at the age of 19. I won a first violin position in Mariinsky Theatre (Russia) at the age of 21. I moved to Florida to study with the amazing teacher Elmar Oliveira at Lynn University in Boca Raton. During those years, I freelanced all over the east coast of Florida. In November 2014 I got position of full-time substitute at Houston Symphony and in April 2017 won the position of assistant principal second violin in Utah Symphony. I played in numerous music festivals around the world such as Schleswig-Holstein music festival in Germany, Gustav Mahler Academie orchestra in Italy, Verbier festival in Switzerland and Miyazaki Festival in Japan among others.”
• <b>Interests outside music:</b> Baking, hiking, cycling, Krav Maga self-defense, photography, salsa dancing, aerial yoga.&nbsp;“I‘ve never skied, but I’d love to start and see if it’s my thing.”
• <b>Why violin? When did you start?</b>&nbsp;“I started to play piano first at the age of 3-4, and then my teacher suggested to switch to violin, which I did. She was very practical woman and she wanted me to actually get a job when I grow up :-)”
• <b>Provenance of your instrument:</b> Matthaeus Ignatius Brandstaetter 1822 Vienna. “I got it last December. I would like to imagine this violin perhaps had an opportunity to meet Beethoven somewhere in Vienna. …”
• <b>Favorite repertoire to play:</b>&nbsp;“I like all kinds of music — symphony, opera, ballet, it’s really hard to choose any particular one, especially that it actually changes throughout my life as I get more and more experienced.”

“Everybody told me how beautiful this place is and how happy I will be, and I certainly am,” said Zharzhavskaya.

Like Linz, Zharzhavskaya got her first look at Utah on the Great American Road Trip. “It was a wonderful introduction,” she said. “First of all, we could see the state, and also meet people in the orchestra more closely because we spent more time on the bus.” She‘s impressed with the Utah Symphony’s commitment to take its music all over the state.

What else is new?

Visitors to Abravanel Hall will notice some changes, beginning with the installation of new carpet last season. The remodel also includes a new guild shop/merch table and concessions area, four large video monitors where there formerly were two, and an escalator from the box office to the lobby.