Violin and Viola Lessons with Daren Fuster

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Daren’s career in the music industry includes a twelve-year career in performing arts administration, a performance career, as well as an entrepreneurial career since 2000.

As an entrepreneur, Daren has been the founder and managing member of entertainment agency Pro Art Music LLC, in Cincinnati and Columbus and Los Angeles. Under Daren’s leadership, the business accumulated numerous awards and has provided outstanding music and musicians for thousands of private events and large productions such as; orchestral tour contractor for Princeton Entertainment’s concert production of “Legend of Zelda”, in Columbus and Cincinnati, OH; orchestra contractor for Three Irish Tenors; orchestra contractor for performing artist and composer A.R. Rahman’s (film score composer of “Slumdog Millionaire”) “Unity of Light” tour in Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Vancouver. With his string trio in Los Angeles Daren performed on a wedding episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, performed on music soundtracks for Days of Our Lives, Indie film The Search now featured on Sony, and in Cincinnati, Daren performed and recorded with vocal artist K.D. Lang on her “49th Parallel” tour for “Mountain Stage”, an NPR syndicated radio program. Daren has managed solo engagements for violinist Nicolas Kendall (from the group “Time for Three”) in the United States and Japan; Spanish-Canadian violinist Alexandre DaCosta (special projects and engagements in the South Pacific); and principal cellist of the Toronto Symphony and Santa Fe Opera, Joseph Johnson, and Emmy Award winning composer and conductor, Mark Watters.

Daren’s career in arts administration began in Cincinnati in 2006, when he served as production manager and donor records manager, followed by artistic and orchestra operations manager and ultimately culminating into an offer for executive director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Eager to gain experience with a large ICSOM orchestra, in 2012, Daren accepted a position with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra as Orchestra Personnel Manager and Sold Performance Manager. In Columbus he managed full-time and per-service orchestra personnel as well as programmed, produced and managed sold performances of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. In August 2014 Daren was named Director of Artistic Administration of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and produced the orchestra’s concerts, engaged soloists and partnered with ABC’s the Bachelor, USC Thornton School of Music, CapUCLA, LA Opera, Hear Now Music Festival, CAMA International Series, among others. In June of 2016 Daren accepted the position of Lead Booking agent for TCG Entertainment which produces and represents tribute bands, cirque performers, thematic shows and headliner artists for engagements with symphony orchestras. Artist roster includes Cirque Musica productions, Nelly, Common, Toni Braxton, Kenny G, Sheena Easton, Mary J Blige, Peter Cetera, Brian Wilson, among others.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester and the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, Daren’s performance career has included engagements such as; auxiliary violist for Cincinnati Symphony, Pops and Cincinnati Opera Orchestras; an auxiliary member of Columbus Symphony Orchestra in both the violin and viola sections for 15 years; auxiliary violist for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra; assistant principal and principal violist of Fundacion Sinfonia under the direction of Philippe Entremont, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic since 1999. In the past Daren has performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival under former music director Eiji Oue; the Lancaster Music Festival, Lancaster, OH; the Heidelberg Festival, Heidelberg, Germany; and as a concerto soloist under harpsichordist and director Eiji Hashimoto with the 18th Century Music Ensemble in Luca and Florence, Italy. Daren’s professors included Martha Strongin Katz, founding member of the Cleveland Quartet, and Masao Kawasaki, professor of violin and viola at CCM and The Juilliard School.

Daren’s private and university teaching experiences includes maintaining a private studio of 40 violin and viola students in Cincinnati, OH; a private violin and viola tutor for for the Indian Hill and Mason City School systems; teaching master classes at the Northern Kentucky University; serving as a guest lecturer at the Xavier University, maintaining a studio of 14 at 88 Keys in Arcadia, California and substitute instructor at Bloom School of Music in Eagle Rock, CA, among others. In the past Daren’s students have been accepted into regional, state and national orchestras as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Symphony, and Pasadena Youth Symphony.

In addition to teaching for City Strings Columbus, Daren serves as the Personnel and Community Engagement Manager of the Columbus Symphony and performs as an associate violinist with the orchestra.