Alisa Roberta Gukasian (she/her) is a classical violinist and educator based in Southern California. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Violin Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she studies with Professors Varty Manouelian and Movses Pogossian. As a recipient of the VEM Fellowship, Alisa is actively studying the kamancha and is passionate about learning and preserving Armenian folk music traditions.
Originally from Moscow, Russia, Alisa began her violin studies at the age of 8. After immigrating to the United States at 13, she was accepted into the Colburn School's Community Program, where she studied music theory, orchestra, and chamber music until college. During this time, she also studied privately with Joe Ketendjian, who was instrumental in shaping her early development.
In 2022, Alisa graduated with honors from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) with a Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Strings and a Bachelor of Arts in History, studying under Dr. Lorenz Gamma. During her time at CSUN, she served as Assistant Concertmaster of the CSUN Symphony Orchestra and became the university's first Whitsett Smithsonian Fellow, conducting research at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Her work focused on the museum's violin collection and the intersection of classical music education and historical scholarship.
Alisa is deeply passionate about teaching and finds great joy in helping students build confidence and creativity through music. Outside of performing, she loves reading, especially historical nonfiction and memoirs, and has a strong interest in violin history and its role in cultural storytelling. She hopes to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in the future, with the goal of combining performance, scholarship, and education in her career.