Valery Breshears, a 15-year-old violinist, started violin at the age of 2 with David Mallory. When she was 5, she was accepted to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying under William Barbini. Valery currently studies with Zhao Wei. In March 2025, she won first place in the prestigious Johansen International String Competition. She also earned third place in the 2024 Chicago Violin Competition.

Valery is currently the principal second violinist of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. She is also a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. In addition to her studies, Valery has attended several esteemed music camps, including the Greenwood Music Camp and the Accademia Musicale de Chigiana, where she had the privilege of learning from Maestro Salvatore Accardo.

Valery plays on a Antoine Nedelec & Jeff Phillips violin, and the Baron von der Leyen, Ex-Klaveness Stradivari, 1705.

PROGRAM 

SEMIFINALS – Wieniawski 

Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 22

I. Allegro moderato

II. Romance

FINALS – Saint-Saëns

Havanaise in E Major, Op. 83

Allegretto lusinghiero – Allegro – Tempo primo – Allegretto -Allegro non troppo – Più Allegro – Allegretto – Lento