About Virtu
The Virtu Ensemble was founded in 2017 by several Silicon Valley chamber musicians who are passionate about performance practice and creative programming. It is our mission to bring excellent performances to South Bay audiences, and offer music programs that are bold, unique, and adventurous.
The Virtu Ensemble was founded in 2017 by several Silicon Valley chamber musicians who are passionate about performance practice and creative programming. It is our mission to bring excellent performances to South Bay audiences, and offer music programs that are bold, unique, and adventurous.
Soprano Angelique Zuluaga has performed opera, oratorio, and chamber music throughout the U.S. and South America and can be found frequently collaborating with composers in new works. Her voice has been described as “free-floating and unfettered” (Bloomington Herald Times), “dark and delicate” (Indy Star), and “exquisite and expressive voice, capable of a wide dynamic range from the most delicate sotto voce pianissimos to full-voiced fortissimo coloratura passages” (Monterey Herald Times). In 2012 she was hailed by Fanfare magazine as a performer of “gusto and finesse.” Recent and upcoming engagements include concerts with Philharmonia Baroque, soprano soloist with the San Francisco Symphony for the inaugural concert of Soundbox under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, and recitals throughout the Bay Area with the Poldowski Project. Additional recent performances include the role of The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl & The Night Visitors with the Monterey Symphony Orchestra, and performances with early music ensemble Valley of Heart's Delight in the South Bay. Past performance highlights include: soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Handel's Ode to St. Cecilia with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Zankel Hall under the direction of Ton Koopman, and soprano soloist with the Youth Orchestra of the America’s St. Matthew Passion Brazilian tour under the direction of Kent Nagano. An avid performer of contemporary music, Angelique created the role of Chirinos in the world premiere of “Las Cuerdas del titiritero” by Gerardo Dirié, and collaborated with Aguavá New Music Studio in the world premiere of Aurelio De La Vega’s Variacion del Recuerdo at the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. Recent premieres include a guest recital of contemporary art songs at Mannes College as part of the 2012 festival Composers Now featuring over half a dozen world and U.S. premieres. Winner of Indiana University's 2006 Latin American Fellowship, she also holds awards, grants and scholarships for her performance, research and concert programming from the Early Music Institute of Indiana University, The Latin American Music Center of Indiana University, Metropolitan Opera Council, Universidad Del Valle National Art Prizes, and the Embassy of Spain. Ms. Zuluaga began her singing career in Cali, Colombia, South America, where she received her Licenciatura en Música with Emperatriz Figueroa as her major professor in voice at the Universidad del Valle. Further studies in music led her to the Jacobs School of Music and Early Music Institute at Indiana University where she completed two master’s degrees in voice performance and early music. www.angeliquezuluaga.info
Claudia Liliana Gantivar holds a Master of Arts in Recorder Performance from the Conservatory of Music in Geneva, Switzerland (2004). She has performed and taught in Europe, the U.S. and South America. She has recorded with the Ensemble Elyma (Switzerland, 1997), Musica ficta (Colombia, 2007), Esfera Armoniosa; www.esferaarmoniosa.com (Colombia, 2009, and 2015). After moving to the USA in 2009, she collaborated in the Early Music program at the Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida. In California, she has been a guest conductor at several recorder workshops, has served as a member of the faculty of the SFEMS Recorder Workshop, and has played recently with the California Bach Society, the American Bach Soloists, and the Farallon Recorder Quartet. As a teacher, Claudia teaches piano, recorder, ear training and music theory to her students preparing them for the ABRSM test.
Alisa Rata Stutzbach performs baroque and classical viola as a soloist and chamber musician with period instrument ensembles throughout the U.S. She has performed and recorded music of the French Baroque with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Barthold Kuijken (All Hail the Sun King), has been featured as a soloist performing all six of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos on numerous occasions with the Dallas Bach Society, and has also performed with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, among others. In the San Francisco Bay area, she has performed with Archetti Baroque String Ensemble, Jubilate Baroque Orchestra, and Albany Consort, and she is a founding member of the Silicon Valley-based Virtu Ensemble. After receiving a bachelor’s of music in viola performance from Southern Methodist University, Alisa received two master’s degrees in historical musicology and library science from Indiana University in Bloomington. During those studies, she became passionate about performing on period instruments. She studied baroque and classical viola with Stanley Ritchie and received coachings from other renowned faculty members of the Jacobs School of Music as a frequent chamber musician and performer in the Early Music Institute and Bloomington Early Music Festival.
Maria Brodsky studied piano and music theory at Moscow State Gnessin College in Russia, and continued her studies at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She became especially interested in early music and historic performance practice, leading her to pursue her studies of harpsichord performance at University of Michigan School of Music. She studied with Edward Parmentier, Davitt Moroney, Natalia Yurigina, Yuri Kholopov, Tatiana Zenaishvili, Margarita Katunyan, and many other musicians to whom she feels very grateful for helping her have a profession she loves. Maria performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. Some of her solo activities include a lecture/recital presented at the Super Regional Conferences of the College Music Society (Gettysburg, PA) and a solo recital given at Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture (Moscow, Russia). In 2002 she was one of 12 semi finalists of Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. She collaborates with many Bay Area chamber groups and orchestras, including Monterey Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Philharmonic, and Soli Deo Gloria Choir. As a teacher, Maria enjoys working with students of all ages and all levels. She always balances the amount of material and the intensity of required studies with the level and capability of individual students. She encourages her students to participate in recitals, festivals, and competitions. Many of her students take the yearly exams for the Certificate of Merit Evaluation Program and are often selected to perform at Branch Honor Recitals and Convention Recitals. Several of her students participated and won top prizes at US Open Music Competition and American Protégé International Piano Competition. In 2014 Maria became a music director of Congregational Church of Almaden Valley, San Jose, where she performs organ, piano, and directs the choir Shalom.