Irene Apanovitch is a DMA candidate in Choral Music at USC Thornton School of Music, currently in her second year of studies. In addition to being the Lead Conductor of Oriana Women’s Choir, she is also a Teaching Assistant Fellow with USC’s Center for Excellence in Teaching. In her research, Irene explores perspective-taking and empathy in choral ensemble settings. Initially trained as a pianist, Irene holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Alberta. In her spare time, Irene enjoys magic realism books, going to the beach, and spending time with her fiance and their two guinea pigs, Omar and Victor.

Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Allegra began singing with the Tucson Girls Chorus and the Rincon/University High School Choir. While pursuing her BA in Media Studies and Theatre, she studied vocal performance with Soprano Anne Harley at Scripps College. Highlights of her musical career include being selected to participate in a master class with Marni Nixon as well as singing with the national tours of Evita and The King and I. Allegra currently works as an assistant at a TV studio and can be seen performing Improv comedy at UCB.

Matthew Earl is a largely self-taught composer from Orange County. He serves as the lead composer at the Los Angeles based audio production studio, Hexany Audio, where he writes for video games and other media. With compositional roots set in vocal music, Matthew's love for the Russian choral repertoire brought him to Camerata Rus.

Adam Faruqi is a vocalist based in Los Angeles who sings in numerous professional ensembles, including the LA Opera Chorus, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pasadena Opera, Tonality, and Camerata Rus. He balances his performance career with one in arts administration, currently serving as Executive and Artistic Assistant for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Adam received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Southern California, where he was honored with the Opera Award for his contributions to the program. Adam is a gamer, a polyglot, a flaneur, and a public transit enthusiast.

Elene Kartvelishvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. She began her piano studies at the age of seven and took part in many international and national competitions and regularly performed concerts in Georgia. Elene frequently performed with Tbilisi Symphonic Orchestra and also gave solo recitals in Tbilisi State Conservatoire. She had master classes with renowned teachers and musicians including Hans-Jürg Strub and Alexander Garber. After graduating high school in Tbilisi, Georgia, Elene and her family moved to the United States. She started studying in Los Angeles, at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California under the mentorship of well-known pedagogue Stewart Gordon. At USC, she had privilege to work with well known musicians such as Daniel Pollack, Antoinette Perry and Kevin Fitz-Gerald. She received her BM degree in piano performance from USC Thornton School of Music and currently is pursuing her Master’s Degree at USC. For the spring of 2016, she is organizing a concert with her friends where they will perform solo and chamber works by Georgian composers.

Vasilije Katanic is a composer and performer originally from Pittsburgh, but currently based in Los Angeles. He is pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University of Southern California, studying music composition. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic and with USC’s Concerto Chamber Orchestra on trumpet. In 2014, he received an honorable mention from the Frost School of Music’s "The Other Competition” contest for an original work. He has studied composition with award winning composers Todd Goodman, Ted Hearne, and Sean Friar.

Joseph Nakpil moved to Los Angeles from State College, Pennsylvania after earning his B.A. in Comparative Literature and Russian from the Pennsylvania State University (Schreyer Honors College, class of 2015). Joseph has studied abroad several times (including to Russia and the Czech Republic), has studied many languages (including Russian, Czech, and Georgian), and invests in many hobbies (singing being one of them). Joseph is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Southern California in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Michael is thrilled to be performing with Camerata Rus where he enjoys sharing the beautiful hymnography of the Orthodox Church and singing in the rich Russian choral tradition. Michael holds a BM Music Composition from the University of Tulsa as well as a MM Film Composition from the Seattle Film Institute, where he studied with the Emmy-award winning composer, Hummie Mann. Having exhausted his Tex-Mex palate back home in Dallas, Michael moved to Los Angeles in order to find the perfect street taco. When he's not distracted by LA's amazing food scene or watching baseball, he works as a composer and orchestrator for film and media.

Hope Thompson is a graduating senior in the BA Choral Music program at USC Thornton School of Music from Lakewood, CA. She currently studies voice with Mary Mattei Scheibe and sings with the Thornton Chamber Singers under Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, Tonality under Alexander L. Blake and Reverse Osmosis A Capella. In the past she has been a soprano section leader at Arrowbear Music Camp, Idyllwild Arts Academy, and University Chorus where she was a featured soloist in Rossini’s “Agnus Dei” from Petite Messe Solennelle. In March, Thompson represented USC and the state of California in the ACDA National Collegiate Honor Choir in Minneapolis under the direction of Dr. Jeffery Ames. In addition to her choral work, Hope Thompson served as the Alto Saxophone Section Leader in the Trojan Marching Band under Dr. Arthur C. Bartner this past year and will perform with the USC Concert Band as a soprano soloist in April.

Zoe Turton is a So Cal native whose lifelong hobby has been music, despite her professional ambition as a strategic software consultant. Initially trained in flute, Zoe played in many state-wide honor ensembles and competitions in her early musical years. While pursuing her BS in Computer Engineering at USC, she also began to study trumpet, which she has since played on numerous stages and TV sets. Upon graduation, she decided it was time to train her voice, so in these more recent years, Zoe has studied Byzantine chant under Cappella Romana’s John Boyer, choral singing under LA Master Chorale’s Elias Kalivas, and is now under the vocal tutelage of Camerata Rus’ own Roksana Zeinapur. Zoe has also directed various local ensembles and is currently the English director of HVM’s Cathedral Children’s Chorus.

Jaco Wong is a Hong Kong native, Los Angeles-based composer and conductor. He currently serves as the choral director at Esperanza Azteca Los Angeles and Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church. He holds a double Master’s degree in Choral Music and Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music. Jaco is the winner of the Allen Strange Memorial Composition Contest 2014 and the receiver of Morten Lauridsen Endowed Composition Scholarship. His compositions have been performed by Hocket piano duo, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, SJSU Choraliers, Duo Equilibrium, and among others. As a conductor, Jaco has recently participated at the Taipei International Choral Festival 2016. Musically versatile, Jaco was the former director of contemporary acapella group, Pitch Please, and the vocal coach for HKFYG Hong Kong Melody Makers and Theatre Noir Foundation.

Mezzo soprano, Antona Yost, will be graduating with a BM in Voice and a minor in Folklore and Popular Culture this May from the USC Thornton School of Music.  Originally from Salt Lake City, Antona’s love for music, and for ensemble singing specifically, began at a young age when she attended The Madeleine Choir School, an elementary school devoted to producing outstanding choral and sacred music.  Antona has sung with many ensembles including the USC Chamber Singers, Utopia Early Music Ensemble, Flos Campi, Rivals in Harmony, and Camarata Rus.  At USC, she also performs frequently with USC Opera, most notably singing the role Annio in their 2015 production of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, and Orfeo from Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in their 2017 scene’s program.  Besides singing, Antona enjoys reading, hiking, cute alpacas and lively discussions.

Roksana Zeinapur is a Russian-American lyric soprano, actress and improviser. Roksana has performed with Long Beach Opera, Repertory Opera, Classical Revolution, Symbiosis Chamber Orchestra, and OperaWorks, among others. Additionally, she serves as choir director for Protection of the Holy Virgin (Pokrov) Russian Orthodox Church in Hollywood. Roksana holds an MFA in Collaborative Piano from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Piano Performance from Pepperdine University. Born and raised on the Baltic Coast in Riga, Latvia, she now makes her home in Los Angeles. When not performing, Roksana shares her commitment to the performing arts teaching voice at Z Vocal Studio and piano at Dickens Music.