YogaATHLETIC | Mark Gonzalez

Experience a unique flow-based master yoga class designed to increase strength, flexibility and stamina. YogaATHLETIC combines dynamic breathing with strong, flowing and static movements set to an eclectic soundtrack. Mark's signature yoga classes are known for being robust, playful, invigorating, purifying and an all-around dynamic experience.

Open to all levels! (Although the class is physically demanding, modifications are offered for those who do not feel comfortable doing certain poses. Beginners are always welcome, although it is recommended that students have an existing yoga practice before coming to this class.)

Mark is a Yoga Instructor, Personal Trainer and Holistic Lifestyle Coach residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. His current clientele and work experience in the fields of health and fitness has involved companies all over the bay area, such as training executives at Google/YouTube, dot-comers at Equinox, athletes at Crunch, and new moms at ClubSport, just to name a few. He is also the on-site yoga/fitness expert at various private startups, spas and wellness centers in and around SF. He's been featured in Yoga Journal magazine and the 2012 Yoga Journal Talent Search Winner.

Concert | Martha Aarons, Lev Polyakin, Jason Vieaux

After 25 years with the Cleveland Orchestra, Martha Aarons embarked on a freelance career that has taken her to many major orchestras around the country. Most notably, she is a regular guest with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom she has toured to Asia as well as in the U.S. Other guest appearances have been with the Metropolitan Opera, Mostly Mozart Festival, the Orchestra for World Peace, and the orchestras of Minnesota,
Milwaukee, San Diego and Baltimore. She also taught and performed at the
Aspen Music Festival for 19 years. Her CD, History of the Tango, is a collaboration with pianist Frances Renzi and guitarist Jason Vieaux.

Lev Polyakin joined the first violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1982 and was appointed an assistant concertmaster in 1999. In addition, he serves as concertmaster of the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival. Born in Tashkent, Mr. Polyakin studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Yuri Yankelevich and Leonid Kogan. At age 21, he was appointed co-concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. In that position, he was regularly featured as a soloist, with many of his performances recorded by Melodiya. Mr. Polyakin immigrated to the United States in 1980. In 1984, he was a prizewinner at the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London; among his honors was the Albert Frost Prize for best performance of a Beethoven sonata. Two months later, at the Romano Romanini International Violin Competition in Brescia, Italy, he was awarded the gold medal. In addition to his solo performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, he has appeared as a soloist with the London Mozart Players, London’s Royal Philharmonic, and The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Polyakin has sustained an abiding love of jazz throughout his life. In Cleveland, he plays with a jazz group called Russian Blue. His first jazz CD was titled Russian Blue, followed by The Other Side of the Road and Christmas Kaleidoscope.

Jason Vieaux, "among the elite of today's classical guitarists" (Gramophone), is the classical guitarist that goes beyond the classical. He has earned a reputation for putting his expressive gifts and virtuosity at the service of a remarkably wide range of music, and his schedule of recital, concerto, chamber music, teaching and recording commitments is distinguished with return engagements throughout the U.S. and abroad. This year, Vieaux’s performance invitations have included returns to the Caramoor Festival, New York's 92nd Street Y "Guitar Marathon", the Elgin Symphony and others. Numerous highlights for 2012-2013 include concertos with the symphonies of Houston, Toronto, Spokane, Augusta (GA) and Silicon Valley, a performance of the Lukas Foss Concerto for the New Hampshire Music Festival, duo recitals with acclaimed harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro, solo recitals in Austin, at the Mannes School of Music and California’s La Guitarra Festival, and another Curtis On Tour sojourn, this time to South America.

In May 2012, the Jason Vieaux Guitar Academy was launched in partnership with ArtistWorks Inc., an unprecedented technological interface that provides a one-on-one online study exchange between Vieaux and guitar students around the world. For more information, visit www.jasonvieaux.com; Jason can be found tweeting @JasonVieaux.