Simon Hagopian-Rodgers
Violin
Born in 2004, American violinist Simon Hagopian, currently a recipient of the C.V. Starr scholarship and a senior at The Juilliard School, began studying the violin at age 4 at the Special Music School in his native Manhattan, and went on to study with renowned violinists and pedagogues Aaron Rosand, Hyo Kang, and Stella Chen. When he was 11 years old he won the Cremona International Music Academy competition in Cremona, Italy, and two years later the Kaufman Music Center Concerto Competition in New York City. In 2024 he performed Shostakovich duets at Carnegie Hall with Chen Yi, and in December 2025 he performed as a soloist with the Diablo Symphony Orchestra in California.
Simon performs regularly in the Juilliard Orchestra and has participated as a chamber musician and soloist at festivals in Belgium, Geneva, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Bowdoin, Maine. In 2016 he performed as a soloist at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C. in honor of Armenian violinist Sergey Khatchaturian. His awards include Grand Prize Winner of both the Raada Rise and Servaas International competitions, semi-finalist at the Johansen International Competition, and prize winner at the Adelphi Concerto Competition and Zodiac International Competition. He was also a laureate of the Washington International Competition and has participated in masterclasses with Masao Kawasaki, Catherine Cho, and Ida Kavafian.
Simon also enjoys playing the piano and composition, which he has studied respectively with Genya Paley at the Special Music School and Manual Sosa at Juilliard.
Zoey Long
viola/violin
Zoey Long is a twenty-one-year-old violist from Winchester, Massachusetts. She began her music studies on the violin at age five under the guidance of Dr. Vera Rubin who also introduced her to the viola. She later studied with the late Yizhak Schotten at the University of Michigan, where she pursued a dual degree in Music and Cognitive Science, before enrolling at The Juilliard School, where she currently studies with Professors Samuel Rhodes and Molly Carr.
Zoey has soloed with the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra and won first prize at the Roman Totenberg Young Musicians’ String Competition and the MMTA Bay State Competition. She was also the second-prize winner at the 2025 Verão Clássico TalentFest in Lisbon. In addition, she has toured Europe with the Boston Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Preparatory Orchestra, and in 2024 was selected by the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance to perform Music from Auschwitz in Poland and Vienna. She has also attended the Cremona International Music Festival, Center Stage Strings, and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.
Brandon Leonard
CELLO
Brandon Leonard is a twenty-year-old cellist from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He studied with Karen Freer of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the Talent Development Program and currently studies with Natasha Brofsky at the Juilliard School as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. He was the winner of the 2023 National Sphinx Competition and has soloed with orchestras such as the Atlanta Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Hilton Head Symphony. He has attended summer music camps, including the Center Stage Strings program and the Morningside Music Bridge program. As a member of the Sycamore Trio, he won 1st prize at WDAV’s Young Chamber Musicians Competition and 2nd prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2022. Most recently, he was a prizewinner at the 2025 Washington International Competition for Strings.