In a groundbreaking collaboration, Augustana College and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) have partnered to support the Augustana String Quartet, the only professional string quartet in residence at a college in the region. The members of the Quartet serve as associate principals in their respective sections in the Symphony and as adjunct teaching faculty for Augustana College, with special emphasis on recruiting student musicians for Augustana’s string program.

The Augustana String Quartet performs up to 130 different outreach programs per year with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Augustana Orchestra, as well as for special engagements in schools and college and community functions. Recently invited to perform as the guest chamber music ensemble at the 2009 Iowa International Piano Competition, the quartet has performed and given master classes in Sioux Falls, Brookings (SD), Forrest Lake (MN), Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, and Grand Island (NE).

The Musicians

Christian Zamora, violin

Zamora began studying the violin at the age of nine within the public school system of his hometown, Kansas City, Kansas, and switched to private study at age 13 with violinist Paul Hatton  (who, incidentally, became his step-father a couple of years later).  By the age of 18, Zamora moved to Madison, Wis., in order to study with one of Hatton’s former teachers, the renowned violinist and pedagogue Vartan Manoogian.

After college, Zamora pursued a professional career in which he made numerous appearances throughout the country as soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician.  He has held the title of concertmaster for the Bismarck/Mandan Symphony, the Kansas City Puccini Festival Orchestra, the Kansas City Civic Opera, and the Mississippi Valley Orchestra.  He was also a founding member of the Yurodivy String Quartet and served as a faculty member for the Kansas City String Quartet Seminar.  And as a co-founder the Accende Ensemble, Zamora has been active not only as a violinist but also as chief coordinator of Accende’s cross-country tours.

Throughout his professional career, Zamora has been fortunate to have worked with many composers, Roscoe Mitchell and Stephen Dembski being among them.  Though much of Zamora's musical roots lie in the canon of Western classical music he is devoted to the music of contemporary composers, to the study of improvisation, and to the music of Argentina and Cuba. In 2005, he performed with the Mandragora Tango Ensemble in the Jeune Lune Theatre production of Astor Piazzolla’s opera, Maria de Buenos Aires. He was a founding member of Charanga Tropical, a Cuban music collective that is devoted to the performance of Cuba’s classical music. 

Since 2007, Zamora has performed as associate concertmaster of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is first violinist for the Augustana String Quartet, in residence at Augustana College. He and his wife, Kelly, live in Sioux Falls, with their two children, Eli Paavo and Isabella Medea.

Justyna Lutow-Resch, violin

Lutow-Resch is associate principal second violinist for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. She received her bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees from University of Wisconsin, Madison, as a student of David Perry. She has appeared as soloist with the Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra, the Windy City String Ensemble and the York Symphony Orchestra. Lutow-Resch served as second violinist for the Hunt Quartet, a violinist for the Solidar Quintet, and was a semi-finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Lutow-Resch has played in master classes given by Rachel Barton Pine, Keith Conant, Sharon Polifrone, Mark Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, the Pacifica Quartet and David Finkel of the Emerson Quartet. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Molendorf Scholarship.

Kathryn Hufnagle, cello

Hufnagle is second principal cellist with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. She received her her bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and her master’s of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Hufnagle has performed with the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra in Aspen, Colo., the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, National Repertory Symphony and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. She most recently studied with Stephen Graber and Michael Reynolds.

Tyler Sieh, viola

 A native of Minnesota, Sieh studied with Thomas Turner of the Minnesota Orchestra before attending the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Mark Jackobs and Lynne Ramsey.  He is associate principal second violist for the South  Dakota Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Augustana String Quartet. Sieh also performs all across the United States as a member of the United States Air Force Strings.

Prior to his service with the Air Force Strings, Tyler was a substitute member of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Akron Symphony, and the Erie Philharmonic while also serving as as principal viola of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, Tyler has performed with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Dominion Symphony Orchestra, the Ars Nova Chamber Ensemble, and is a founding member of the Oleana Chamber Players.

Sieh has appeared in recital at the Kennedy Center and is an alumnus of the ENCORE School for Strings, the Kent Blossom Music Festival and the Round Top International Festival-Institute where he had the opportunity to perform in recital with members of the Minnesota and San Francisco Orchestras as well as members of faculty of the Juilliard School and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.