Emilia Simeonov is a violinist and interdisciplinary performer whose work moves between classical performance, improvisation, and collaborative projects.
Born in Varna, Bulgaria, she graduated from the Sofia School of Music and continued her studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she received degrees in violin performance and chamber music.
Active internationally, she has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player across Europe and the United States, performing with ensembles including the Manhattan Symphony and the Forte String Quartet in New York City, the TettPå String Quartet in Oslo, and the Kristiansand Chamber Orchestra in Norway.
Her work includes theater and cross-disciplinary projects such as Lifelines: Blavatsky Freud Experience, which toured in the USA and Europe, Araby (New York Fringe Festival) and Dos Parables (Oslo New Theater), where she appeared as both performer and composer.
A faculty member at the Herb Alpert Music Center at Los Angeles City College, she is also a co-founder of Sonora, an improvisational collective where sound and movement unfold through presence, shaped by space and those within it.
Irina Chirkova is a cellist whose work spans classical, contemporary, and cross-genre performance. Born in Bulgaria, she began studying the cello at an early age and later continued her training at the Boston Conservatory, where she received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
Active internationally, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, and has toured with a wide range of ensembles and artists. Her career bridges multiple musical worlds, from classical performance to collaborations in pop, rock, and experimental settings.
She has appeared on major stages and broadcast productions, including performances with artists such as Celine Dion, Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, John Legend, Annie Lenox, Ariana Grande, Carrie Underwood, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefanie, Sam Smith, Andrea Bocelli, Gloria Estefan, Sully Erna (Godsmack), and others. She has recorded for major artists such as: Steven Tyler, Robin Thicke, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Godsmack, Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles), Lang Lang and others.
She has also performed in master classes for Yo-Yo Ma, Tokyo String Quartet, Bernard Greenhouse and others.
As a co-founder of Sonora Motus, her work explores sound as a living, evolving medium shaped through interaction, presence, and the energy of the moment.
Kayla Emerson is an actor, dancer, choreographer, and producer working across performance, theater, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She is a proud member of IATSE 600 and received her BA from the University of California, Irvine.
Her work includes over a decade of collaboration with Transversal Theatre Company, with performances in Romania, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, New York City, and throughout California. She has also toured as a dancer with the Grammy-nominated metal band In This Moment.
As a co-founder of the Shakespearean burlesque company Toil and Trouble Burlesque, she has created and performed in work that blends theater, movement, and live performance.
She is a co-founder of Sonora Motus, an improvisational collective centered on the interplay of movement, sound, and shared presence.