SF Wedding Violinist

Every event starts with a full consultation about your needs, as every event is unique. Whether you're hiring me as an acoustic soloist, asking me to lead a string quartet, or engaging me for a party where you're wanting high energy music to get excited--even dancing--my focus is on the mood you're seeking to convey.

Once we settle on instrumentation, I'm eager to hear what types of songs will make your event stand apart. My song list numbers in the thousands and spans all genres, so that's a good place to start with our planning, but I'm also eager to hear your special requests, many available without any additional charges.

My main goal as a performer is to play music that audiences like to hear. It may sound simple, but it's a rather nuanced equation of reading a room, knowing as much music as possible, and riding the wave of an event, all while staying within the parameters that the client establishes for me. My happiest moments as a performer occur when that connection is complete and I know I can add magic and energy to an already very special moment.

With over 25 years of top-tier experience, this conservatory-trained violinist made her debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age 16, and followed a path which has led her to concert stages around the world, innumerable luxury weddings, countless corporate events, top festivals, and intimate private concerts.

Currently, she balances her time between performing as a principal and section violinist with area orchestras, including the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Symphony San Jose, and the Oakland, Santa Rosa & Marin Symphonies, with providing incomparable performances to private clients in a dizzying array of genres. Equally comfortable as a violin soloist, accompanying a DJ on electric violin, providing glamorous entrance music for Indian or Afghani weddings, providing contemporary or classical wedding ceremony music for City Hall weddings and other high-end events, playing in string quartets, duos, and trios, or playing along with recorded backing tracks or DJs, Ilana excels at everything from Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms to pop, contemporaryBollywood, R&B, soul, and hip hop. She adds songs to her list weekly, keeping things current and her playlist engaging.

Her past endeavors have included appearing with ODESZA in sold out NYE shows at the Warfield, at their Sundara Festival in Riviera Maya, Mexico, and in tour finale shows in LA and Stanford. She also performed with Kygo at Napa's Bottlerock Festival, at Monterey Jazz Festival backing Bridgerton phenom Kris Bowers, at Chase Center with the Eagles and with Andrea Bocelli and at the Greek Theater with Sigur Ros and Beck. She has also shared the stage and the studio with Josh Groban, Philip Glass, Michael Buble, Third Eye Blind, Warren Haynes, Il Divo, Adrien Marcel, DJ Fresh, the Monophonics, and countless others and has appeared at every major classical music festival, including Aspen, Tanglewood, Marlboro, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In the theater, she performed in original Broadway NY productions of The Producers and Aida and touring Broadway productions of Anastasia and Cinderella.

Ilana is a proud Oakland resident, devoted to continuing the next generation of music instruction in her community, teaching at the public charter Oakland School for the Arts as well as privately.

I generally prefer to perform acoustic, but can also provide amplification, consisting of a contact mic and amplifier, for larger or noisier events.