Christina LeBlanc - First Violin
Christina LeBlanc is a local violinist and violist with experience as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, school clinician, and orchestra director. She is currently the Concertmaster of the Galveston Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs with the Woodlands Symphony, Lake Charles Symphony, and Houston Latin Philharmonic. She has also performed alongside the National and Colorado Symphony Orchestras as well as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. In college, she participated in the National Repertory Orchestra and the Texas Music Festival. Most recently, she has taught and performed at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a faculty member.
While orchestral music has been her passion, she continues to perform as a chamber musician and soloist. She has soloed previously with the Washington Symphony Orchestra and the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra. Through her current position with the Galveston Symphony, Christina can be seen yearly performing in chamber recitals and in art venues throughout Galveston. This past season, she performed two world premieres with the GSO, including "Elegy for Violin" by Braxton Blake and "Lilith and Eve" by Ketil Hvoslef. She has also performed with numerous chamber music organizations in the Houston area, including Da Camera of Houston, the Restoration Music Series, and Rice University’s 20-21 Ensemble.
In addition to being an active performer, Christina was the Associate Conductor and String Specialist this past season for the Woodlands Area Youth Symphony (WAYS) and is a frequent clinician and coach for local orchestra programs. In the past two school years, she has conducted clinics and workshops at over 30 programs, including schools in Cypress Fairbanks, Katy, Klein, Aldine, Spring Branch, and Alief ISDs.
She currently has a large private violin and viola studio in Cypress, where her students have frequently earned Region, Area, and All-State accolades. Christina has previously worked as the Orchestra Director at Bridgeland High School, Elsik High School, and YES Prep West. She is excited to join the faculty at Sprague Middle School in CFISD as the Assistant Orchestra Director in the Fall of 2023.
Originally from Washington, D.C., she has a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University, respectively. She lives in Cypress with her husband, two children, and Corgi and enjoys CrossFit, swimming, gardening, and reading in her spare time.
Julia Tondera Savitski - Second Violin
Native to Poland, Julia Tondera has received numerous awards for her violin performance in both solo and chamber music competitions. Some of her recent achievements include winning 3rd prize in the Moores School of Music Concerto Competition and a 1st place in the Best Bach Performance Competition. At the age of 11, she had her first tour in Poland as a violinist accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Since then, Julia studied with many prestigious musicians including Dr. Kirsten Yon, Jan Stanienda, William Preucil, Rollo Kovac, and Yuriy Bashmet. She has also performed in some of the most prestigious halls in Poland including Warsaw Philharmonic as well as many renown venues in United States, such as Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC.
In addition to her solo career, Julia is also an experienced chamber and orchestra musician. She is a current violinist and co-founder of the Houston-based Miror Piano Quartet. She also has performed as a section violininist with numerous orchestras, such as Polish National Opera Orchestra, The Symphony of Southeast Texas, Texas Medical Center Orchestra, and Brazosport Symphony Orchestra. For 3 years she held a position of a concertmaster in the Moores School of Music, leading symphony, opera and ballet orchestras. Julia resides is the center of Houston with her husband and bassoonist, Dima Savitski and their two awesome kids, Amelia and Niko.
Luis Perez - Viola
Luis Perez is a violist and educator based in Houston, TX. Born in Puerto Rico, he began violin studies at age 10 through his public school in San Antonio, TX. He received a bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance from the University of Houston where he studied with Wayne Brooks. From 2016 to 2023, Luis worked in public schools teaching orchestra in Central and West Houston. He serves as principal viola with the Brazos Valley Symphony, and performs regularly with the Symphony of Southeast Texas, the Galveston Symphony, and the Lake Charles Symphony. He maintains a private studio in Cypress, TX, where he focuses on helping young violists develop into confident and capable musicians.
Hannah Deplazes - Cello
Originally from North Dakota, Hannah graduated from Minot State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance and from University of Houston Moore’s School of Music in 2023 with Master’s degree in Music Performance, cello. She has studied cello since the age of 8 with multiple teachers in the United States and Germany. Hannah has attended summer festivals including the Eastman Cello Institute, Dakota Chamber Music, University of Utah Chamber Music Workshop, High Peaks Music Festival, and Texas Music Festival: Orchestral Institute. She has also competed in several competitions like MTNA, the national Jugend Musiziert Wettbewerb, and won two solo competitions which resulted in solo performances with the Minot Symphony Orchestra. Hannah has over four years of experience teaching cello and currently teaches and performs around the Houston area. Hannah was also recently accepted as the newest member of the Carya String Quartet in Houston.
