Irving Santana

In 2005, Irving entered into the Technical High School of Music with a specialty in Viola at the University Institute of Fine Arts (Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes – IUBA) un the city of Colima, Mexico and then earned a Bachelors in Music from the year 2008-2012 with Professor Oleksander Yanyev.

Irving graduated with honors from the Masters degree in Music Performance at San Francisco State University under the instruction of Paul Yarborough and the Alexander String Quartet. He was selected to receive the Distinguished Achievement Award for Academic Excellence at the Graduate Recognition Ceremony.

In April 2018 Irving was selected to perform with Bay area based Delphi trio for the Emerging Artist Program while still working on the Master’s program at SFSU. Irving’s teachers also include: Boris Vayner, Michael Klotz, Sergei Kravchenko, Yunil Jin, Joseph Gold, Richard Young, Alexander Treger, Toby Appel.

Irving is an active performer in the San Francisco Bay area and he often plays as assistant principal and principal chairs as a freelance violist. Irving is a versatile musician and has been featured in live concerts with rock bands and jazz musicians and recorded for various settings such as film productions in Mexico and the United States, most recently for Cartoon Network’s movie “Craig of the creek”. Irving is an active substitute violist with Opera San Jose, Santa Cruz Symphony, Lamplighters Musical Theater, Berkeley Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, Merced Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Academy Orchestra, and more.