GERSON MEDINA

Gerson Medina began his musical studies in 2006 at the age of 10 in “El Sistema” in Táchira – Venezuela. Two years later he started his Violin studies and since then he has participated and played in recitals and concerts in Venezuela such as: 
-The Nuevo Mundo Festival & Academy" (2008 - 2012) in Maracaibo-Venezuela, where he won the first prize at their National Competition in the youth category. 

-The National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela", (2010-2011) which was conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and Gustavo Dudamel.

-The Merida Music Festival (2011) in Merida-Venezuela, where he played as a soloist with the Merida Symphony Orchestra.

In 2014 Mr. Medina got a scholarship to start his music studies at Shenandoah University with renowned professor Akemi Takayama. Later in 2016, he was one of the winners of the Bach-Handel Festival held at Shenandoah University, during the same year he had the opportunity to play the piece STOMP! for violin solo by John Corigliano for the composer himself at Shenandoah Conservatory.  During the summer of 2016, he was part of the Ohio Light Opera where he got to be part of the orchestra for their season. 

 

In 2017 he was named the 2017 Strings Virginia representative at the MTNA competition held at the University of South Carolina. He was also awarded the VASTA Scholarship for his excellence in his studies at Shenandoah University. Mr. Medina has been a recipient of the fellowship program at the Dali String Quartet Summer Festival in 2017 and 2022 and the Snowpond Chamber Music Camp in Maine in 2017.

 

Later in 2018, he was invited to participate as an intern at the Liechtenstein Global Leadership program, a festival sponsored by the Ueno Foundation in the D.C. Metropolitan area. Later, Mr. Medina got a scholarship to pursue his Master's Performance degree at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, under the tutelage of Guillermo Figueroa -founder of the Orpheus Orchestra and Emerson String Quartet-. 

 

As a professor, Mr. Medina has worked at “El Sistema” in Tachira-Venezuela (2010-2014) teaching children from 8 to 18 years old. In the U.S. he has taught in multiple private academies and summer festivals such as Nat King Cole Generation of Hope (2019-2020), Miami Music Project (2019-2020), and Arconet Bootcamp (2022-2025). Furthermore, Mr. Medina has also held teaching positions in Florida Public schools in Palm Beach district (2018-2020) and Miami County (2018-2019). Mr. Medina Has taught over 100 individual students in his private studio and over 500 students in group classes. For more information about his teaching pedagogy and availability, please check here.

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He has played in masterclasses and violin lessons for renowned musicians, such as Midori, Daniel Phillips, Mrs. Almita and Mr. Roland Vamos, Kristoff Barati, Yura Lee, Yoko Moore, Vladimir Dyo, Alexis Cárdenas, and José Francisco del Castillo.

His principal professors have been Simon Gollo (Venezuela, 2008-2012), Akemi Takayama (Shenandoah University, 2014-2018), Guillermo Figueroa (Lynn University, 2018-2020), Dmitri Berlinsky (Michigan State University, 2021-present) and Mike Chen (Michigan State University, 2023-present).

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Recently, Mr. Medina has been in the Viola section of the  Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (2023-2024), Principal Viola of the Midland Symphony Orchestra (2022-2024), and in the Violin and Viola section of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra (2022-2024). He taught K-12 grades at Spring Vale Christian School and K-5 grades at St. Paul Catholic School, both located in Owosso, Michigan (since 2022).

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Currently, Mr. Medina holds a position with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Viola since August 2024 and plays a composite Violin matching a Francesco Mezzadri 1747 Milan top by Phillip Injean, and a  modern 16 3/4' Viola.