Founder of DflatStrings, Co-Founder of SVSQ

Denise is an accomplished and innovative violist recently relocated to the Bay Area. She has a passion for chamber music that quickly grew during her studies. Not only does she perform classical music, but Denise has an affinity for pop and rock music. She has performed and recorded with local Denver bands Ivory Circle and Covenhoven, as well as with the singer/songwriter, and rapper Dessa.

During her time in Denver, CO, Denise performed as the primary violist for the Nexus String Quartet. With Nexus Strings, she was hired for events through Land Rover, the Colorado School of Mines, and FeverUp Candlelight. No matter the ensemble, Denise helps bring fun and new ways to twist the classical quartet sound to be more approachable and enjoyable for all audiences. She worked with other string quartets in the area such as the Red Rocks String Quartet and Spinphony.

Her love for chamber music has given Denise the opportunity to work with and perform for many distinguished musicians and ensembles. She has performed in many styles of ensembles from a traditional string quartet to clarinet/viola duos and a viola/vibraphone duo. She performed in chamber ensembles with notable musicians such as Alex Kerr, Brian Lewis, and Matthew Zalkind, and she performed in Masterclasses for Antoine Tamestit, Walter Seyfarth, the Harlem String Quartet, and the Aspen Trio.

Outside of performing, Denise is an experienced music arranger for strings. She is inspired by popular and movie music alike. Denise spends her time arranging new music for the Silicon Valley String Quartet as well as for commissions. She self-publishes her music for others to enjoy. Her music can be heard in performances by string quartets and trios around the world.

Denise holds a Master of Music Degree from the University of Denver under the instruction of Basil Vendryes, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Arizona under the instruction of world-renowned soloist Hong-Mei Xiao.

Denise Flatness, viola

Co-Founder of SVSQ

Brooke Mickelson is a violist, music educator, and social entrepreneur with a passion for community arts engagement. Through all of her roles, Brooke’s mission is to connect people through the arts and provide access to music education. She started playing viola in public school at age 10 because it was “cool” and has never stopped believing it. Brooke now holds a Master of Music Performance (Performance Pedagogy) from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Music Performance from Boise State University, having studied with Nancy Buck, Dr. Linda Kline, and Jennifer Drake.

Brooke has more than 10 years of experience teaching private viola and violin lessons. Her students have earned seats in youth orchestras and high school chamber orchestras and have been accepted to study music at university. While teaching for both the ASU String Project and SOUNDS Academy, nonprofit organizations providing private lessons for underserved students, Brooke discovered her passion for accessibility to music education. She created a Subsidized Music Lesson program that provided over 200 affordable private music lessons for 21 low-income students in 3 years. She has encouraged private music teachers to make their studios accessible to low-income students in presentations at the 2021 Music Teachers National Association conference and the 2019 Idaho Music Teachers Association conference.

Brooke has played in orchestras at prestigious music festivals from Brevard Music Institute to FOOSA Festival. In 2018, she performed in Los Angeles’ Disney Hall with the FOOSA Philharmonic. She was a leading player in her university symphony and chamber orchestras and has also enjoyed playing in community orchestras. She has played in chamber music masterclasses with the Borodin, Borromeo, Cremona, Shanghai, and Saint Lawrence string quartets. Brooke loves collaborating with composers and has played in premieres for 4 new chamber music pieces. Her specialty lies in 20th-century works. At the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, she performed Hindemith’s “Trauermusick” viola concerto with a professional orchestra in 2016 and Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei” in 2018.

Lauded for “exceptional tone colors and range of intensity”, Brooke won 2nd place in the 2018 Music Teachers National Association Idaho State Competition and received honorable mentions in 2017 and 2019. Most impressively, she placed in the finals for the 2019 Boise State University Concerto-Aria Competition performing the first movement of Hindemith’s “Der Schwanendreher” viola concerto from memory. She has played in solo master classes for renowned viola soloists and pedagogues Jeffery Irvine, Mai Motobuchi, and Karen Dreyfus.

Co-Founder of SVSQ

Oshagan Merjanian completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance at Cal State University, Northridge (CSUN), a Master’s in Cello Performance from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Certificate in Music Performance at the University of Houston (UH). His primary teachers include Diane Roscetti, Antonio Lysy, Anthony Kitai and Eunghee Cho. He has participated in masterclasses with Daniel Rothmuller, Robert DeMaine, Chris French, Norman Fischer, the Formosa Quartet and Quatour Modigliani. He has also played for Ron Leonard and Desmond Hoebig.

Oshagan’s awards include the CSUN Arts Council Scholarship for Extraordinary Achievement in Music, the Gluck Foundation Scholarship, and the Mangasar M. Mangasarian Fellowship. He was principal cellist for the CSUN Symphony Orchestra as well as the UCLA Opera Orchestra. Oshagan was chosen to be cellist for the competitive Samuel Goldberg Honors String Quartet at CSUN, the UCLA Gluck Cello Quartet, and most recently at UH the highly selective AURA Contemporary Ensemble, an innovative and professional-caliber ensemble dedicated to the performance of chamber music composed in the last two decades.