Buffalo String Collective

Some of Buffalo’s best string players are ready to collaborate to create elevated musical opportunities for Buffalo artists and audiences—from performances and recordings to music education and special events.

Members of Buffalo String Collective

SARAH COLE (violin) teaches violin at Buffalo String Works while maintaining a large private studio of beginners to advanced musicians. Sarah has three advanced performance degrees from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Royal Welsh College of Music and the University of Louisville. She performs around WNY as a freelance violinist.

ALEX COUSINS (cello) has performed as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Four Centuries Chamber Orchestra, Peabody Conservatory Symphony Orchestras, SUNY Fredonia Orchestras, Southern Tier Symphony, and others. He also served as Principal Cellist of the South Carolina-based Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra and is a member of The Liminal Space Ensemble. He is a teaching artist at Buffalo String Works.

BOB DONOWICK (viola) bio coming soon.

GRETCHEN FISHER (violin) bio coming soon.

KIERSTEN FISHER (viola) bio coming soon.

AMY KELLY (viola) has performed with the Southern Tier Symphony, Buffalo Opera Unlimited, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, I Solisti of WNY, and other local groups. She is a teaching artist at Buffalo String Works.

MIRANDA SHULMAN (violin, viola) began violin studies at age five under the tutelage of Betty Haag in Chicago, Illinois. She continued her studies on scholarship and now holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance, Performance Certificate and a Master of Music in Performance. Her principal teachers include Michael Ludwig, Elmar Oliveira, Janet Sung, Carol Cole, Laurie Smukler and Tom Halpin. Miranda has performed internationally in China along side Gil Shaham and in Germany with Gewandhaus Orchester, and was Assistant Principal of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2018. Among other summer conservatory programs, she attended the prestigious Heiftetz Institute and Indiana String Academy on scholarship. She taught at SUNY Fredonia in 2019 and 2020, and currently substitutes with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, performs with the Buffalo Tango Orkestra, and teaches privately.

MOSHE SHULMAN (violin, viola) is a Russian-born Israeli composer, violin, viola, bandoneon and accordion player. He received both his Bachelor’s and Master of Music degrees in Composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music, and a Ph.D in Composition from the University at Buffalo (UB). He has studied with Mark Kopytman, David Felder, and Johannes Schollhorn. Moshe writes music for concert halls, theater and opera, and is a performer of classical music, Argentine tango, Klezmer, and Gypsy music. He also coaches youth soccer and tango dancing for adults. In Spring 2012, he led the Baires Klezmer Orchestra in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in the summer of 2012, he formed the Buffalo Tango Orkestra, for which he arranges the music. In addition, Moshe performed on the bandoneon in Toronto, Washington DC, Boston, and Baltimore with world-famous tango artists such as Ariel Ardit. He is currently on the Music Faculty at University at Buffalo and Walden Summer Music Camp, and is the composer-in-residence with the Commonwealth Lyric Opera in Boston, Massachusetts.

JESSIE TUFTE (violin) has performed professionally in numerous orchestras in Western New York, Washington, D.C., and central North Carolina. A lifelong violinist and avid chamber musician, she has performed in master classes with the Tokyo String Quartet and JoAnn Faletta, among others. She has spent time playing in multiple professional tango orchestras and was the fiddle player for a bluegrass band for three years in North Carolina. Passionate about social justice, Jessica has spent time as a teaching artist and music coach for multiple organizations that use music for social change, including Buffalo String Works.

INGA YANOSKI (violin) is a classically-trained violinist in Western New York, where she has been a regular substitute player for the Buffalo Philharmonic, and has participated in several professional recordings with them for the Naxos label. She has also played in the pit at Shea’s for many touring Broadway shows. Inga loves the Buffalo theatre community, appearing in several productions as an onstage musician. Her versatility has allowed her to stretch beyond her classical training, playing folk music with her trio The Bards, being a back-up singer and violinist for 10,000 Maniacs, and appearing onstage with icons like Rod Steward and Stevie Wonder.