CMC Alumni Recital: Loren Gigi, violin

LOREN GIGI was born and raised in San Francisco, where she grew up in a multilingual household speaking Russian, Hebrew, and English. She shares her home with her parents, younger sister Karen, older brother Mark, and her grandfather, plus two beloved dogs, a cat, and a rabbit.

Loren began studying the violin at the age of three and a half, starting with a 1/16-sized rental from Roland Feller Violin Makers, and had her first lessons at the Exploring Music Store on Clement Street. At age five, she was awarded a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She later continued her studies under the mentorship of Mr. Sin-Tung Chiu at the Community Music Center (CMC), during which time she performed at the CMC Gala at SFJAZZ. Loren also studied piano under Tatyana Mikhaylenko at the CMC, where she developed a strong foundation in classical performance.

In 2016, Loren made her Carnegie Hall debut performing with the Sunset Youth Orchestra as part of the Youth Orchestra Festival. She returned to Carnegie Hall in 2022 as co-concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra 2 (NYO2), following a performance at the New World Center in Miami. Loren was also selected to perform in the Junior Bach Festival in both 2016 and 2019. Her dream of joining the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) was realized in 2018. She completed six remarkable seasons with the orchestra, concluding in 2024. A highlight of her time with SFSYO was their 2019 European tour, performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in world-renowned venues such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin.

Loren began giving back to the community through music at the age of six, performing with Mr. Chiu’s student group at a senior home in Russian Hill. Since then, she has carried this spirit of service forward—sharing music in schools, assisted living homes such as Rhoda Goldman Plaza, community events, and fundraising galas. After performing at a CMC fundraising event at the Getty residence, she was invited to return for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Survivors’ Reception, where she performed on both violin and piano. During the pandemic, Loren offered comfort and connection by playing outside the Veterans Administration Hospital.

Loren is currently a student at UC Santa Cruz, pursuing a double major in astrophysics and music performance. She is studying violin with Roy Malan, who invited her to join his quartet, the Santa Cruz Chamber Players, for next year. Loren was hired as a substitute violinist with the Santa Cruz Symphony in September 2024. She has also performed with the Monterey Symphony since then. Loren’s passions for science and music converged meaningfully during her first visit to the Lick Observatory in May 2025, a moment that continues to inspire her dual pursuits.

Outside of music, Loren is a dedicated visual artist. She has built a miniature, to-scale violin with her grandfather and aspires to one day construct a full-sized instrument. Her sculpture of Jascha Heifetz received a High Merit Award and was published in Celebrating Art (Spring 2018). In recent years, she has developed a love for oil painting and drawing and has begun selling her artwork. Loren would like to thank her accompanist, Dmitriy Cogan, as well as all of you for coming today to share in this musical gathering. And of course, as always, she would like to send her heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Chiu and the CMC.

SIN-TUNG CHIU won prizes in violin and chamber music in Hong Kong at the age of 12 as a student of Chung-On Chan. He later studied with Denes Zsigmondy and Anneliese Nissen in Ammerland, Germany. Sin-Tung Chiu is an alumnus of Dartmouth College, The Juilliard School, Teachers College of Columbia University, Meadowmount Summer School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival. At The Juilliard School, he studied violin with Dorothy DeLay and privately with Ivan Galamian, as well as chamber music with Felix Galimir and members of the Juilliard String Quartet (Robert Mann and Claus Adam). Subsequently, he performed in master classes under the tutelage of Nathan Milstein at The Juilliard School and Ruggiero Ricci in Victoria, Canada.

As a Founding violinist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City, Sin-Tung Chiu performed in its concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and participated in its tours to Europe, India, Israel, North and South America, and Puerto Rico, which included two U.S. State Department sponsorships.

He was Artist-in-Residence at Bay View Summer Conservatory and Music Festival (Michigan); Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Visiting Associate Professor of Violin at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Co-Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of its Chamber Orchestra, Music Consultant of the documentary film of the 1977 Van Cliburn Quadrennial International Piano Competition; and Associate Concertmaster of the Round Top Festival Orchestra (Texas). At that time, Sin-Tung Chiu frequently appeared in sonata recitals and faculty chamber music concerts, in addition to live broadcasts on regional public radio and television.

Sin-Tung Chiu became an American citizen in New York in 1984 and established his home in San Francisco in 1988. 

In San Francisco, Sin-Tung Chiu teaches privately and is on the violin faculty of Community Music Center (CMC) since 1988, serving on the CMC Faculty Council (2007 to 2010) and (2012-2015); Chinese Ameri can International School (1997-2015); Music City Academy (2008-2017); in Hillsborough, California, on the violin faculty of The Nueva School as a Menuhin violin instructor since 1991, serving also as Director of the Nueva String Ensemble since 2005. 

From 2005 to 2008, Sin-Tung Chiu was a member of the Board of Directors of the Del Sol Performing Arts Organization that oversees the career of the San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet, known for its focus on contemporary chamber music working with living composers worldwide.

In September 2011, Sin-Tung Chiu played a debut recital with pianist Yeeha Chiu and violinist Charmian Gadd at the Inaugural Spring Festival at The Concourse Concert Hall in Chatswood, Australia.

In August 2015, Sin-Tung Chiu returned to Hong Kong to collaborate with Music for the Young Youth Orchestra directed by Gordon Siu.

In January 2016 and 2017, Sin-Tung Chiu returned to Sydney, Australia to perform in a recital at Central Coast Conservatorium of Music in Gosford, Australia.

In December 2017, Sin-Tung Chiu returned to Hong Kong for a recital and radio interview with performance on RTHK4. In January 2018, Sin-Tung Chiu, as a mentor of El Sistema Hong Kong taught a violin master class to underprivileged youths in a youth orchestra. In December 2018, Sin-Tung celebrated his 30th anniversary at CMC with an all-Beethoven Sonata recital with guest pianist Dmitriy Cogan at the piano.

Sin-Tung Chiu performs in solo and sonata recitals with pianist Dmitriy Cogan, celebrating 25th anniversary as a Duo in 2018. He also performs in chamber music concerts and enjoys teaching students of all ages, introducing them to the world of classical music and the performing arts

Born in Moscow in 1963, pianist DMITRIY COGAN began music studies at the age of six at the Central Music School in Moscow.

In 1974, he immigrated with his family to the United States and settled in San Francisco. He studied conducting at the san Francisco Conservatory of Music and continued his piano studies with Vladimir Pleshakov and Maria Cysic. In 1979, he moved to New York to study with Martin Canin at the Juilliard School, where he received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees.

He has performed publicly since age nine in Moscow. 

His American debut was in 1975 with the Peninsula Symphony in San Mateo, California. In 1976, he won the Junior Bach Festival in Berkeley: his recitals in the San Francisco Bay Area have been favorably reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. 

Since 1980, he has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music concerts in the New York area. In 1981, he was prizewinner at the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in New York; in 1982 won first prize at the American Music Scholarship Association International Piano competition in Cincinnati; in 1983 he was a laureate of the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland.

Dmitriy Cogan gave his New York recital debut in October 1988 at Carnegie Hall to favorable reviews, and has appeared in recitals throughout the Northeast and California. He has also toured in France twice, performing in Paris, Nice, and other cities to enthusiastic reviews, and was laureate of the Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition in Valencia, Spain. 

He toured Russia in 1993 and again in 1997, giving a series of concerts in Moscow, including the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and in other cities, playing to capacity audiences. Since 1985, he has also performed throughout North America and Asia with violinist Alexander Markov; their first compact disc was released worldwide on the Erato label.

Dmitriy Cogan currently lives near San Francisco. He has often performed with Philip Quint throughout California in recent years.

Dmitriy was a staff accompanist for 20 years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento and with clarinetist Patricia Shands have been released recently. He is an official accompanist for the Schoenfeld International String Competition in China.

He also teaches piano privately in the Bay Area.