Elaine Kreston Inessa Zaretsky

Elaine Kreston, cellist, most recently from New York City, has recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. An active chamber musician, she has performed in New York City’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, the Kosciuszko Foundation and Steinway Hall, in addition to other venues.

Ms. Kreston has also performed throughout the United States and Europe, and as an advocate of new music, has participated in numerous premiers. You may see her in other events similar to this one: she enjoys the closer interaction between audience and performer that is possible at smaller venues.

Because of her strong interest in education, Elaine not only teaches privately: she has also participated and created in-school residencies in a variety of communities. These programs allow students the opportunity to experience live performance in their own environment and receive coaching from professional musicians while encouraging personal interaction with the performers.

Ms. Kreston has been featured several times on National Public Radio (including the local station WNYC) as well as PBS stations.

Inessa Zaretsky, pianist and composer, has given numerous recitals in halls such as Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space, Steinway Hall, Landon Gallery and the Lincoln Center Library in New York, as well as throughout the United States and Italy, Israel, Austria, Mexico, Canada and Cuba. Her success on WQXR’s "Young Artists Showcase" has led to repeat appearances and her live performances have been broadcast on WNYC and nationally on WNPR.

Her composing credits include over ten World Premieres. She has written a variety of chamber music works as well as a concerto and a film score. In 1999, Ms. Zaretsky received the ASCAP Annual Composition Award.

Ms. Zaretsky is on the Piano Faculty of the Mannes College of Music, and the Summertrios Music Festival. She has taught a "Russian for Singers" course at the Metropolitan Opera. Known as a master interpreter of Scriabin, Inessa Zaretsky has recorded preludes, etudes, poems and sonatas of this composer’s works.