Who We Are
Our team of professional musicians maintains active performing and teaching careers. Our expertise will make your event run seamlessly and enhance your learning experience as a student. Tap each musician's name to learn more about their background. We look forward to working with you!
About Star City Strings
Star City Strings, LLC is a professional performing ensemble and a thriving music lesson studio serving Lincoln, Nebraska and surrounding areas. We believe maintaining an active performance career is essential to inspiring our students, and we prioritize excellence in all endeavors.
In the summer of 2016, Star City Strings was founded by current Executive Director Korynne Bolt and former director Rebecca Vieker. After both completing graduate degrees at UNL and Boston University, the two founders decided to collaborate and formed an ensemble that has played in a diverse array of settings. When Rebecca moved out of state, Korynne expanded the lesson studio branch of Star City Strings and continues to add new musician performers and teachers to the team.
All of our musicians are professional caliber players with degrees in classical music performance. We specialize in a wide repertoire of music, from traditional Classical pieces to arrangements of pop, rock, jazz, and fiddle tunes. Star City Strings has played at a variety of locations for Lincoln’s First Friday festivals, at the Haymarket Farmers’ Market, Indigo Bridge Books, the Burkholder Gallery, and more.
Students of Star City Strings enjoy individualized mentorship from professional musicians. Our students have successfully auditioned for ensembles such as the Youth Ensemble of Strings, Junior Youth Orchestra, Lincoln Youth Symphony, and SAIL Camp Honors Orchestra. Former students have won high school concerto competitions, earned a place in the All-State Orchestra, and gone on to major in music at UNL and other colleges.
Our teaching philosophy emphasizes healthy playing habits, including good posture to support longevity and a strong foundation of technique. We believe music is part of a healthy life, and encourage students of all walks of life to join us. To support our community of students, we offer chamber music ensembles and encourage students to connect with other groups at their schools.
The Star City Cello Choir, formed in 2023, is a community ensemble open to cellists of all ages. It is recommended to be able to read music and play at a Suzuki Book 2 level or the equivalent. The cello choir performs in our full studio recitals as well as community outreach concerts, beginning in August 2023 at Tabitha Health Services.
Full-Length Biographies
Korynne Bolt holds a Master's degree in Cello Performance from UNL and a Bachelor's degree from Boston University, summa cum laude. A full-time member of Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra, Korynne also performs as Associate Principal Cello in the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, section cello in the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and substitute cello in the Rangbrook Ensemble and Omaha Symphony Orchestra. Korynne is the founder and director of Star City Strings, both a professional performing ensemble for events and a multi-teacher studio offering lessons on violin, viola, cello, and piano. Korynne has over 13 years of private teaching experience and also oversees studio Suzuki group classes and small chamber ensembles.
While enrolled at UNL, Korynne studied with Greg Beaver of the Chiara String Quartet. One highlight of her career was performing the Schubert Cello Quintet with the Chiara Quartet in March 2016 as winner of the annual "Play with the Chiaras" competition. Korynne's other previous teachers include Marc Johnson, Karen Buranskas, Carol Ou, Emilie Grondin, and Soo Bae.
In high school, Korynne's piano trio, Trillium, won the Geoffroy Prize at the 2007 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in her hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Korynne also played in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, earning a spot in the selective Encore Chamber Orchestra. As winner of the Young Artist Competition, Korynne performed the Dvorak Concerto with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra in 2007.
Korynne pursued chamber music at summer festivals including Vianden Music Festival in Luxembourg, Manchester Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and UNL Chamber Music Institute. In college, Korynne premiered several solo cello works by colleague composers and has performed in BU’s new music ensemble, Time’s Arrow.
While studying at BU, Korynne became a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society and was named the 2012 Presser Scholar. Korynne worked as a Teaching Assistant for philosophy and interdisciplinary courses at Gordon College and has earned national awards in French, Latin, and writing. Korynne's experience as a TA continued at UNL, where she served as the Graduate Teaching Assistant for Chamber Music Outreach.
Korynne has experience organizing concerts, beginning as a senior in college when she initiated and presented the Boston Strong Benefit Concert, a fundraiser for the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. She coordinated volunteers to perform and staff a three-hour program of music, including a 12-member cello ensemble, at the Old South Church on Boylston St. on May 4, 2013.
Korynne was a member of the Global Leaders Institute in 2020, completing a year of coursework in music entrepreneurship and traveling to Chile to participate in the full cohort residence. For the 2023-2024 season, Korynne will perform as auxiliary cello in the Omaha Symphony Orchestra.
Korynne Bolt
David Pira is a cellist from Bogotá, Colombia, who recently completed a DMA in Cello Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Karen Becker in the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also received his Master of Arts degree in Cello from Ball State University where he studied with Dr. Peter B. Opie, and in 2017 he also received his Master of Music degree in Missouri State University, with Dr. Michael Murray as his primary instructor.
A native from Bogotá, Colombia, David attended the National University of Colombia’s Conservatory of Music,
where he received his Undergraduate degree in Cello Performance. At the same time, David attended the MARGUZ Academy of Chamber Music and Cello Performance where he expanded the art of Chamber Music and the mastery of an effortless and natural Cello technique with the guidance of Gabriel Guzmán and Adriana Marin, the latter former student of Christopher Bunting. As a teacher, David expanded his studio in Springfield MO coaching students from diverse ages and backgrounds, and in the STARS Foundation in Cabool, MO, where he contributed to the expansion of self-efficacy teachings and the enhancement of Cello Performance through Orchestral, Solo, and Cello Chamber ensembles.
Outside out his academic career, David has dedicated to serve international communities in Missouri State
University as an Activity Leader in the MSU Global Leadership program, where he connected international students from United States, Colombia, Japan, Vietnam, and several from South America, focusing on collaborative work for community groups in Springfield, MO such as Bass Pro Shops, The Creamery Arts, Watersheed Center, and The Springfield’s Boys and Girls Club. For the Music Community, David has been an active collaborator in Muncie Indiana, with Muncie Symphony Orchestra’s Instrument Petting Zoo, where Elementary and Middle School students had the opportunity to interact with instruments from the Orchestra, and a book presenter with children’s tales to enhance their active participation in the Muncie community. Also, as a Colombian, David has been the host of several Cello and Networking workshops for the Technological University of Pereira, focusing on Musical Collaboration, Performance, and Study Abroad.
As a performer, David participated in several orchestras such as the Colombian National Symphony, Springfield
Symphony, Kokomo Symphony, and the Muncie Symphony, performing in several international venues such as
Barcelona, Lima, Pereira, and several areas from the United States. Additionally, David had the opportunity to
participate in several masterclasses with Edgar Moreau, Ismar Gomez, Thomas Loewenheim, Laura Ospina, Crispin Campbell, Santiago Cañón, Álvaro Bitrán, Nicholas Finch, Phillip Borter, Aldo Mata, Michael Hell, and Peter Schmid.
As an award recipient, David has been a winner of the William T. White Scholarship in Missouri State, the Ball
State Cello Graduate Assistantship, and recently he has been the recipient of the GTA Assistantship and the Hixon-Lied Fellowship, where he develops his duties for the Theory Area, Chamber Ensembles and Cello coachings. As a contribution to the Glenn Korff School of Music, David—with the assistance of Dr. Becker—designed a Cello Technique Handbook for the Cello studio with the purpose of support the mastering of technical skills through mindful performance.
David Pira
Lucy Collins is a performer and teacher based in Lincoln, Nebraska. She recently completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance at the Glenn Korff School of Music where she studied with Professor David Neely. Her past teachers include Kim Osborne Salistean and Hyeyung Yoon of the former Chiara String Quartet.
Lucy concertizes frequently with her rock band Vera Devorah, the Trace Chamber Society, and as a substitute for the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. Vera Devorah recently released their self-titled EP on all streaming platforms. A champion of contemporary music, Lucy has collaborated with many composers and given over 50 world-premieres of pieces in the last decade. Lucy is also a member of the Atelier Piano Trio with cellist Sam Stanley and pianist Cameron Berta. The ensemble formed in 2018 at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln where they studied with Jonah Sirota of the former Chiara String Quartet and Dr. Karen Becker. In 2020, the ensemble launched a call for scores project that culminated in a recital showcasing five original works by composers from around the country.
Lucy has attended the Cortona Sessions for New Music, the Brevard Music Center Institute, the Wintergreen Summer Music Academy/Festival, and the Texas Strings Festival. She has collaborated with the Nebraska Chamber Players, the Sounding Light Chamber Choir, and has performed as a part of the Vesper Concerts Series.
Lucy has been teaching violin, viola, and chamber music for six years.
Lucy Collins
Mee-Hwa Roche is a performer and teacher based in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 2022, Mee-Hwa received a Bachelor’s degree in viola performance from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, studying under Clark Potter. In her time attending UNL, Mee-Hwa participated in orchestra, chamber music, and played as an instrumentalist in five operas. She was also a winner of the 2020-2021 Glenn Korff School of Music Concerto Competition.
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Mee-Hwa started playing the viola at age eight through the University of Northern Iowa Suzuki School, studying with Ms. Ute Brandenberg and Dr. Julia Bullard. More recently, Mee-Hwa has attended the Brevard Music Center Institute, performed as a substitute in the Lincoln, Kearney, and Sioux City Symphony Orchestra viola sections, and is a frequent gig performer. Mee-Hwa also served as co-arranger and performer in Madeline Reddel’s Garden Party concert series in Omaha, Nebraska. She aims to help students discover and cultivate a love for music, just as her teachers have done for her throughout her journey with the viola.
Mee-Hwa Roche
Sarah Wibben
A current Master of Music student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Sarah Wibben is a vocal performer and music educator, having previously taught piano and voice in the Northeast Nebraska area. Her hometown is Wayne, NE. Sarah also enjoys teaching guitar, percussion, and ukulele. As a piano teacher, she taught at the Wayne State College Music Academy for several years. She also had a group of privately taught students. Sarah earned her BA from Wayne State College in K-12 Vocal Music Education and Vocal Performance.