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BYO Artists-In-Residence Program Every orchestra’s dream is to have a professional quartet at the ready to demonstrate, teach, and encourage its members. Berkeley Youth Orchestra is proud to offer the skills of our “Artist in Residence” String Quartet. Through instruction and professional “modeling” the BYO String Quartet elevates the support for each member of the orchestra to a very high level. Our quartet demonstrates the repertoire for each concert to students and literally sits in with sections to assist students with the mastery of parts. Members of the string quartet get to know the members of their section and individualize instruction every week. They bow the music, perform the music, are positive role models, coach the ensembles, and are available to meet individual student needs. John Bennett, Artist-In-Residence - Cello
Heghine Boloyan, Artist-In-Residence - Violin
Clif Foster, Artist-In-Residence - Violin
Ilana Matfis, Artist-In-Residence - Viola
Meet the rest of the BYO Family Jay Lehmann, Artistic Director and Conductor Celia Cheung & Lily Mackay, Librarians
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John was born and raised in the Bay Area; he attended San Francisco State University and California State University at Hayward. His cello teachers include Allen Gove, Laszlo Varga, Margaret Rowell, and Irene Sharp, with chamber music coaching from Bonnie Hampton and Roy Bogas. Currently, Mr. Bennett is the cello instructor at Pacific Union College and the Paulin Center for the Creative Arts in Angwin where he both teaches and coaches the Junior Orchestra and chamber music. He also teaches at his private studio in Vallejo. He is a member of the Vallejo Symphony and the Napa Valley Symphony, freelances as much as time permits, and has a music contracting business, The Armonioso String Group. Mr. Bennett frequently performs with his wife, the pianist, Karen Balabanian. 
Heghine is a teacher with 40 years of experience in the USSR and America. She is a teacher at The Crowden School and a coach for the Oakland Youth Orchestra. She currently performs with the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony. She has performed with the San Francisco Chamber and Ballet Orchestras and was Concertmistress for Camerata Americana Chamber Orchestra. Heghine has performed with the San Francisco Opera and Merola program.
Clif grew up in the Chicago area where he attended the American Conservatory of Music. His further classical studies were with Paul Makanowitzky and the Meadowmount School. He has played under such highly regarded conductors as Carlo Maria Giulini, Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim and is a tenured member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Clif has performed on recordings with Art Pepper, Linda Ronstadt, John Williams and Yanni as well as on numerous movie soundtracks. His television credits include Good Morning America and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. From 1994 to 1998, Clif was Concertmaster for the Yanni World Tour, and he appears on the Tribute and Albert Hall videos. He has performed live with a wide and varied range of well-known artists including Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Boz Skaggs, Moody Blues, Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald. Clif currently lives in Benicia with his wife, Paula, and their German shepherd, Bogey. He is very active in developing a chamber music series there as well as a youth string program.
Ilana is a freelance violist and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a Master’s degree in Viola Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a B.A. in music from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She is a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic and appears frequently with other Bay Area ensembles, including the Berkeley, Oakland, Marin, Modesto, and Silicon Valley Symphonies. Ilana is also the violist of the Presidio String Quartet, a group that is dedicated to the performance of new music and often collaborates with local composers. An enthusiastic teacher, Ilana maintains a private studio of violinists and violists and coaches chamber music for the Villa Sinfonia Foundation. She is a strong believer in the importance of public school music and is highly involved with the Berkeley Symphony's Music Education Program, giving demonstrations and performances at all eleven of the Berkeley public elementary schools. Ilana has studied with Catherine Van Hoesen, Jodi Levitz, Don Ehrlich, Jeffrey Irvine, and Kathy Kalogeras. Originally from Massachusetts, Ilana now resides in Berkeley with her boyfriend (an accomplished trombonist) and her cat.