Meet the Viola Studio

Students in the UNCSA Viola Studio range from high school to graduate-level studies. The studio is led by Jordan Bak.

Arina Komarova

Arina Komarova was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She began to study the violin at the age of 6 and started to play viola in 2015. Arina graduated from Moscow Chopin College in 2019 and continued her education at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory before transferring to UNCSA.

Arina has a rich orchestral background, having played in an international children's orchestra in Norway in 2015 and as a member of the British-Russian Youth Orchestra in 2020. Participating in a film music orchestra since 2022, she performed in different cities, including Moscow, Kazan, Ekaterinburg and Antalya, Turkey.

Arina's musical interests range from baroque to modern classical music, and she aspires to enrich her repertoire with uncommonly played pieces. Also, she enjoys adapting pieces, originally written for other instruments, for viola — her favorite adaptation so far is Romanian Dances by Bela Bartok, which she first performed in Moscow in 2020. Besides her professional interests, Arina likes listening and making rock music, watching movies, and traveling.

Ava Hirko

Ava Hirko is a first year undergraduate student from Gainesville, Florida. Coming from a heavily

music-centered family, Ava was immersed in music throughout her childhood. After having grown up

listening to her five cousins' recitals and chamber music rehearsals, she eventually was able to begin

learning violin from her aunt when she was eight years old. She was introduced to the viola when she

was ten, and it quickly became her focus. In middle school she began preforming in chamber

ensembles, and was accepted in the Alachua County Youth Orchestra when she was thirteen, where she later sat as the principal violist during her last two years of high school. In 2020, she joined the Joey's Wings String Quartet and has preformed with the group around Alachua County raising money for children's cancer research. In addition to being a violist, Ava has experience as a clarinetist, which she has preformed on in wind ensembles, honor bands, jazz bands, and marching band, as well as often having opportunities as a soloist.

David Rankin

David Rankin, a fifteen-year-old violist, is currently in his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' high school program. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, he began playing the viola at the age of ten. Prior to attending UNCSA, David studied with Mr. Matt Darsey. In 2022, he won the Arts+ String Solo Competition and earned the distinction of being a Debbie Abels Strings Scholar. David has held the position of principal violist in both the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra (CSYO) and the Charlotte Symphony Youth Philharmonic (CSYP). He has also participated in the North Carolina Junior Western Regional Honors Orchestra and the North Carolina Western Regional Honors Orchestra. Additionally, David enjoys performing chamber music and has been a member of various quartets in recent years. This past summer, he had the privilege of studying under the guidance of Dr. Eric Koontz at the Hayes School of Music. He is very excited to study with Professor Bak at UNCSA and further nurture his growth as a musician.

Hehe Qi

Hehe Qi has been fascinated by this unique and charming instrument since he first started playing the viola at her six. Hehe’s passion originates from the triggering of inspiration, she was fortunate to have met teachers who represented China's first-class viola teaching and performance skills. After three years studying with the famous viola performer of the Chinese Symphony Orchestra Jialu Qu, Hehe studied under Wing Ho professor of the Central Conservatory of Music (aslo was the president of the China Viola Association) at the age of 9. In the autumn of 2019, she was admitted to the Affiliated Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music.

Since the age of 9, Hehe has participated in several well-known viola competitions in China and the world, winning laurels or outstanding results several times. The main competitions include: Golden Beijing Violin & Viola Festival, International Clara Schumann Competition, World Classical Music Awards International BTHVN Wien Competition Amadeus International Music Awards and Inaugural virtual international Viola Society.

In addition to being a diligent soloist, Hehe is also obsessed with chamber music. In a series of programs such as Xi’an International Viola Festival, Heifetz Summer Camp and Morningside Music Bridge, she has received guidance from many great violists, including Antonello Farulli, Pierre Henri Xuereb, Hsin_yun Huang, Jeffrey Irvine, Steven Tenenbom.

Viola is in her hands, and loyalty for music is in her heart. As a new student just join in UNCSA, we believe Hehe will continue to pursue her music dream in such an awesome place.

Isabella Okhotina

Isabella Okhotina is a high-school senior and has been playing the viola for five years. Born in Russia and raised in America, she began playing the violin at the age of seven. After five years of violin, she decided

to switch to the viola and has enjoyed playing it ever since. Isabella served as principal violist in Metropolitan Youth Concert Orchestra in Portland,

Oregon as well as Youth Orchestra of Charlotte here in North Carolina. She participated in the chamber music festival Portland Summer Ensembles in Oregon. Besides her musical interests, she also loves to read, to listen to music, and draw.

Joshua Forbes

Joshua Forbes, Natural Born Violist, was raised in Durham, North Carolina. As a child he was always interested in music. At the age of 7 he started out as a singer for a music school called Cinitapp located in Raleigh NC. By being a part of this team it piqued his interest in the arts. His true passion for the viola began in middle school at Durham School of the Arts. He was first introduced to the viola by the music teacher Mr. Boyd Gibson. That is when Joshua fell in love with music. During 2017, Joshua decided it was time to pursue music as a career and began to study under Simon Ertz. In 2018, Joshua took a leap of faith and decided to attend UNCSA for high school. As a high school student, Joshua studied viola with Ulrich Eichenauer. He is currently an undergraduate violist at UNCSA in the Winston Salem North Carolina area. A native of Durham, North Carolina, Joshua began his studies on the viola at the age of eleven. He is pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a soloist, and professional chamber musician. Since then, he has attended summer intensives across the United States: Northern Lights Chamber music festival, Green Mountain chamber music festival, and Landeskakademie für musizierende, and the Josef Gingold Chamber music festival of Miami. He’s also been able to play under several professional conductors. When not performing, Joshua spends his free time making tea and sight reading.

RoKem Bayne

Cydney Williams

Hi, my name is RoKem Bayne. I am a senior in the high school program from Hendersonville, NC, and have been playing the viola since the 6th grade. I love Shostakovich, Boba Tea, and chamber music. My favorite performer is Sara Kim and I hope to one day see her live in concert. In my free time I enjoy cooking, hiking, and watching pop-science videos. My greatest fault as a musician and student is that I am a huge procrastinator. Post-high school, I am looking to double-major in data science and music performance, although my dream job is to tour as a chamber musician. If I could be any animal, it would be a cat as I would be able to sleep all day, and no one loves their pets quite like cat owners do.

Yiming Zhao

Yiming Zhao Yiming Zhao, graduate student from China. Started playing viola when she was 17 years old, learned from Prof. Yanming Xu. In 2017, she was going to Tianjin Conservatory of Music to continue studying viola with Professor Yanming Xu. Yiming graduated from the Tianjin Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music in 2021. During this period, she participated in various concerts as an orchestral player. In the summer of 2019, she went to New York to participate in the New York International Music festival. And she got the second prize of festival competition. She also Won the first prize of professional Group in Tianjin division of Milan International Competition in 2018. After graduating from college, she has participated in many large-scale performances by the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra. During two gap years, she studied viola performing with Honggang Li,Tianjin Juilliard Professor of viola and Yin Pan, principal viola of Tianjin Symphony Orchestra.