Polina Sedukh

Born to a family of musicians in St. Petersburg, Russia, Polina Sedukh began studying violin at the age of four with her father Grigory Sedukh, and Savely Shalman. She is a graduate of the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, where she studied under the guidance of Lev Ivaschenko and Vladimir Ovtcharek. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied with Laura Bossert and Malcolm Lowe.

Prizewinner of the International Spohr Competition in Weimar, Germany, Ms. Sedukh made her solo debut at the age of seven with the Chamber Orchestra of Liepaya, Latvia, followed by recital tours in USA, Germany and Austria. She has since appeared as soloist with St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Boston Virtuosi Orchestra, St.Petersburg Capella Symphony Orchestra, Newton Symphony Orchestra, and Weimer State Capella Orchestra. Ms. Sedukh with cellist Terry King, presented the world premiere of Vladimir Uspensky’s Double Concerto at the International St. Petersburg Spring Music Festival in 2001. 

Following her passion for symphonic music, Ms. Sedukh pursued a career in major American orchestras, serving as a member of Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007, and collaborating with San Francisco Symphony since 2007. Ms. Sedukh has joined San Francisco Symphony as a member of 2nd violin section in 2009, where she is serving to the present time. In 2016, Ms. Sedukh was appointed Principal Second violinist of Sun Valley Music Festival. 

Upon moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2007, Ms. Sedukh has made numerous solo appearances with the Russian Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Academy Orchestra. In 2014 her engagements included collaboration with pianist Kirill Gerstein and members of San Francisco Symphony in a performance of Shostakovich Piano Quintet in Davies Symphony Hall. In 2015, Ms. Sedukh was featured in San Francisco Symphony subscription series concert as the second violinist in Beethoven Quartet op. 74. A year later, Ms. Sedukh joined the Bronfman Quartet as the second violinist. In 2019, Ms. Sedukh has participated in a joint project by Metallica and San Francisco Symphony, S&M2, and has been displayed as a member of the orchestra in the S&M2 movie released in theaters worldwide. In December 2019, Ms. Sedukh appeared as a soloist in the Sibelius Concerto with the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra. In February 2020, she was featured as a soloist in SF SoundBox in a presentation of Missy Mazzoli’s Vespers for Violin, described as “magnificent performance” in the San Francisco Chronicle. Ms. Sedukh’s last live solo appearance before the lockdown in the Bay Area due to the pandemic was in performance of Bach Concerto in E Major with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. Since then, she participated in multiple video projects, including the recordings of Mazzoli’s Vespers for Violin at the Grace Cathedral and Debussy Quartet at the Kohl Mansion for Sun Valley Music Festival, as well as a video recording of Vespers for Violin at SoundBox for the launch of SFSymphony+ in February 2021, described in the San Francisco Chronicle as a performance of “fierce mastery.” As part of collaboration between San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Botanical Garden, Ms. Sedukh was showcased at a video performance of Enescu’s Ménétrier in the setting of the beautiful Moon Garden.