Holly Sternberg Kozan
At the age of four, Holly discovered a violin in her grandmother’s closet and knew from that moment that she wanted to play it. She started playing when she turned eight and has since become the five-time Nevada State Fiddle Champion. She has also won the California Western Open and is a member of the National Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame. Holly has performed across the United States as well as overseas in Europe and New Zealand. While music inspired by the six Celtic Nations is her first love, she also enjoys playing Québécois, Appalachian, and Scandinavian tunes. Occasionally you can even catch her playing classical music with her quartet.Originally from Cromberg, CA, Holly now lives in Reno and stays busy teaching fiddle lessons, painting (https://pixels.com/profiles/holly-sternberg ), gardening, hiking (especially to hot springs!), horseback riding, playing sessions, and performing in several bands including, of course, Fiddlers2. She also just finished recording her solo album “Among Friends”, featuring musicians from all over the US and set to be released next month in celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day.
Vanessa Nicole Porter
Vanessa grew up in Indiana and started playing violin at four years old. Around the age of sixteen she decided to focus entirely on a career in classical music. Going on to get undergraduate and graduate degrees in violin performance she then spent 25 years playing in professional orchestras in Indiana and then later in Nevada and California. Vanessa has lived in Reno for almost 20 years now and stays busy teaching violin lessons, working on her National Parks Commissioning Project (www.nationalparkcompositions.com), road-tripping and fiddling with Holly.
Fiddlers2
Vanessa and Holly met at the weekly Irish session at Ceols Irish Pub in Reno and then got together to practice tunes and chopping techniques that they learned at Lark Camp in 2019. They loved playing together and decided to form Fiddlers2. Now, 7 years later they’ve finished up 2 albums in their “Mirrors of Elsewhere” series and are working on a third. In addition to arranging and recording they stay busy performing their arrangements at house concerts around California, Nevada, and across the United States.