Mc Kayla Talasek is a Specialist in violin and viola. Currently, she teaches private violin and viola lessons to all ages from four and up in St. Louis, Ellisville, and O'Fallon, MO. She has experience in teaching group lessons, private lessons, and coaching orchestra. She received her BA in Violin Performance at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, along with an MM in Viola Performance at University of Nevada, Reno. Mc Kayla studied under the tutelage of Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio and Dustin Budish at UNR and received the Graduate Assistantship for Viola giving her the opportunity to perform as principal violist in the school orchestra and as a resident member of the Nightingale String Quartet. One of her biggest accomplishments during this time, was receiving a contract with the Reno Philharmonic in April of 2016. Along with performing in the Reno Phil, she performs regularly with the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Susanville Symphony. At UIW, she studied violin with Richard Kilmer and viola with Gerald Schoelzel, taught private lessons, group classes, and performed in quartets and regional orchestras all over Texas: Victoria Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic, Corpus Christi Symphony, Mid-Texas Symphony, Symphony of the Hills, Kingsville Symphony, and the Mozart Festival. For the past two summers, Mc Kayla had the privileged of being principal violist in the Prague Summer Nights Music Festival traveling all over the Czech Republic, performing in orchestra, opera, and chamber music settings. Recently, she studied viola with renowned teacher and soloist, Yizhak Schotten, who studied privately with William Primrose and Lillian Fuchs. She grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri, and started violin at seven years old in a very musical and artistic family. Her father is a luthier and her mother was a ceramics professor at Fontbonne University. During her free time, she runs with her black labrador, Simba, and practices yoga daily.