A native of Hickory, North Carolina, Violist Santiago Vazquez-Loredo began studying violin at public school at the age of 11.  As a passionate chamber musician, Santiago has collaborated alongside renowned musicians including Miriam Fried, Hye-Jin Kim, Xiao-Dong Wang, Kwan Yi, Catherine Cho, and Emanuel Gruber as part of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival’s Next Generation Series at East Carolina University. Santiago has been a participant at summer
festivals such as the Richard Luby Violin Symposium, the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in Nelson, NH and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.  Santiago has earned the opportunity to perform in solo masterclasses for Kim Kashkashian , Ida Kavafian, Axel Strauss, Maiya Papach,
Bella Hristova, and Jesse Mills.  In the chamber music setting, Santiago has been afforded the opportunity to perform in masterclass for world-class musicians including Michael Kannen, Maria Lambros, Hsin-Yun Huang, Paul Biss and Zvi Plesser. As a passionate teacher, Santiago began teaching in the 9th grade in the community of Hickory, NC.  Santiago enjoys teaching his students which range from teaching levels of elementary school to his eighth grade English teacher.  Santiago graduated from the East Carolina University in 2019 with a Bachelors in Music - Viola Performance under the tutelage of renowned pedagogue Ara Gregorian and was a
recipient of the Friends of Music Scholarship, Mary RM Hardy Scholarship.  He is currently enrolled in the Certificate of Advanced Performance Graduate Program at East Carolina
University where he will continue his studies with Ara Gregorian and Hye-Jin Kim