About Us

About Hot Metal Strings

            We are an all-female, professionally-trained string quartet residing in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to bringing the highest quality of music to your event, each of us have a very active performing career. We have over 25 years of experience playing at weddings, receptions, cocktail events, etc... Depending on your preference or budget, we offer solos, duets, trios or quartets. The addition of a non-string instrument (flute, trumpet, piano...) is a possibility as well.  We pride ourselves on bringing elegance and passion to our playing so as to make your event a very special and memorable one.

             A variety of musical styles are in our repertoire but if you would like a piece that is not in our list, an arrangement of the song can be made for a small fee. Once contacted via this website, e-mail or phone, we work with you one on one to meet your specific needs and requests. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have. We would love to be a part of your special day!

Maureen Conlon Gutierrez,  Violin

Founder of Hot Metal Strings, Maureen was born and raised in the heart of Mexico and has embraced many styles and genres from classical and tango to rock and light jazz.
As a solo concert violinist, Conlon has performed to much acclaim on many stages throughout Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. Due to her passion for chamber music she co-founded the Trio Nova Mundi in 2001 with whom she has performed throughout various concert venues in Latin America, Africa, and the U.S. including appearances as soloists with the Atlanta Virtuosi orchestra in Atlanta, GA. While at Rice University they were awarded the Ralph A. Anderson music scholarship award. Maureen has garnered many first prizes and placed at many competitions nationally and internationally.
As an avid orchestral musician she is Concertmaster of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and member of the first violin section in the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra and Wheeling Symphony. She was Concertmaster of the Erie Chamber Orchestra during five seasons and has also been a member of the Erie Philharmonic, Sphinx Symphony, Sphinx Virtuosi, Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra, Penns Woods Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. She appears often with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has played with the National Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and Akron Symphony among others.
Her keen interest and devotion to music and especially the violin began at a very early age but it was several years later that she would begin lessons with Pedro Gasca and later with Gilberto Nunez in her hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato Mexico. She earned her Bachelors in Music Performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, TX with Kenneth Goldsmith and her Masters in Violin Performance as a graduate assistant to Jim Lyon at the Penn State University where she was concertmaster of the Penn State Orchestra and Baroque Ensemble in addition to playing first violin of the graduate string quartet.  She completed a Performance Residency  at Carnegie-Mellon University studying with the former Pittsburgh Symphony concertmaster, Andres Cardenes.
Maureen loves watching shows/movies and eating great food when she isn’t making music.   She has a home studio and loves sharing all she has been imparted along the way. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with husband, Michael Dorosh and their beautiful daughter, Camila.

Gabrielle Faetini - Violin

Gabrielle is a Pittsburgh based violinist who holds a career as an orchestral musician and educator.  While pursuing her Master’s Degree in 2019, Ms. Faetini won a section violin position with the Pittsburgh Opera.  She is a member of and has performed with numerous orchestras including the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, and Butler County Symphony Orchestra.  Gabrielle was also a violinist for Chamber Orchestra Pittsburgh where she was part of Andrea Bocelli’s symphony for his US tour, and last year she was able to collaborate with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and perform on stage with Yo-Yo Ma.  She is also a violinist for various summer music festivals including Buzzard’s Bay Music Festival and Berkshire Opera Festival both located in Massachusetts, and Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas. 
In addition to her orchestral career, Gabrielle holds an extensive career as an educator. She maintains her own private violin and piano studio and loves to teach people of every age and ability.  As of August 2022 she is also a private strings teacher at the Ellis School. Gabrielle also had the opportunity to serve as Assistant Orchestral Director at the Sewickley Academy, and had previously taught at the Environmental Charter School in Pittsburgh where she helped create a “Meet the Maestro” program so students could attend performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and talk with Maestro Manfred Honeck. 
Gabrielle is a founding member of the Ferrum String Quartet.  Her quartet has had the opportunity to perform in numerous festivals including the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas and the Miami Music Festival in Miami, Florida. As of this fall, Gabrielle has been named one of the violinists for the Hot Metal Strings, an all-female professional chamber group based in the Pittsburgh region.
Ms. Faetini was a student of Charles and Rachel Stegeman at Duquesne University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance in 2018 and Master’s Degree in Violin Performance in 2020.
In her free time, Gabrielle loves to bake, create cocktails, and ride her bike.  She spends time in the city trying out new restaurants, but you can also find her enjoying the many beautiful Pennsylvania trails on horseback.
 
Katerina Istomin, Violin/Viola

Lauded for her “special artistry” Russian-American violist, Katerina Istomin, continues to establish herself as an international performer and educator. As principal of the Juilliard orchestra and the New World Symphony, Katerina has performed under notable conductors such as Michael Tilson-Thomas, Manfred Honeck, and John Adams. As soloist and ensemble musician, Ms. Istomin has toured throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Recognized for her powerful effect on young musicians, Ms. Istomin has developed a commitment to bringing music to underserved areas through music education and community outreach. She has worked as a fellow with the Music Advancement and Gluck Community Service programs at the Juilliard School and as a teaching artist in Medellin, Colombia with the New World Symphony. As section leader of the group Double Sens, led by violinist Nemanja Radulovich, Katerina recorded an all Bach album for the Deutsche Grammophon label. Katerina earned her Bachelors of Music degree from The Juilliard School and her Master of Music degree from the University of Montreal and the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. Katerina is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology at Carlow University with an emphasis on Pediatric Neuropsychology and Family Therapy. Dedicated to holistic wellness on and off the stage, Katerina is also a certified yoga instructor.

Alisa Innocenti, Viola

Alisa Innocenti has played the viola for almost 30 years.  Her formal training was at West Virginia University with Philip Tietze (B.M.) and Carnegie Mellon University with Atar Arad (M.M.).  Alisa has performed for many years around the Pittsburgh Area, and has played with groups such as the symphonies of Wheeling, Butler, Youngstown, Westmoreland, West Virginia, and Kingsport (TN).  Alisa is also a professional photographer.  You can view her work at www.weddingsbyalisa.com and www.alisagarinphotography.com. 


Jeanne R. Tupper, Cello

Jeanne (Strittmatter) Tupper began studying the cello at the age of twelve.  She began performing professionally two years later.  Ms. Tupper studied under the direction of Pittsburgh Symphony cellists Mikhail Istomin, David Premo, and Anne Martindale Williams, principal cellist with the PSO.  She has participated in several masterclasses, including those with world renowned cellists Yo Yo Ma and Anner Bylsma.  She attended Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for both undergraduate and graduate studies in performance and music education.  An avid chamber musician, she performs regularly with The Strittmatter Trio, and Hot Metal Strings, as well as several orchestral ensembles in the Pittsburgh region.  In addition to her active freelance work as a soloist, chamber and orchestral performer, she has devoted much of her career to educating young musicians.  Ms. Tupper has been a member of the faculty at the Carnegie Mellon University Preparatory School and maintains a large private teaching studio.  She is currently the vocal music teacher at St. Thomas More School in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.  Ms. Tupper enjoys spending time with her husband, Bob and her young children, Benjamin and Rebekah.

Elisa Kohanski - Cello

Elisa enjoys a diverse performing career, appearing regularly as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, and championing unique collaborations with artists of other disciplines. A highly-regarded solo performer, Elisa was featured in the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Come Up From the Fields Father with the Wheeling Symphony in 2011. In 2012, she performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, her trio commissioned Spanish-American composer Elisenda Fabregas’ Triple Concerto, which had its inaugural performance with the Atlanta Virtuosi under the baton of Juan Ramirez in 2015.
A native Rhode Islander, Ms. Kohanski has a love of travel which, combined with her passion for music, has brought her to over 50 countries around the world. In Africa she has explored Tunisia, Egypt, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana. A love for Africa was the inspiration for a three-country tour of the Continent with Trio Nova Mundi, Ensemble-in-Residence at Grove City College. Ms. Kohanski, along with pianist Becky Billock and violinist Maureen Conlon Gutierrez, presented nine concerts over the course of two weeks, in addition to numerous workshops and performances for children. The African tour inspired the next international tour in 2014 to Mexico. 
Ms. Kohanski has performed with dozens of top-billed artists, including the Miami String Quartet, Olivia Newton John, Robert Shaw, Garrison Keillor, Phil Keaggy and Harry Connick Jr., and has played in some of the most prestigious concert halls around the world. In addition to touring China and the US with the Mantovani Orchestra, she has performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City; Royal Albert Hall in London, England; Schlossfestspiele in Heidelberg, Germany; and the Stefaniensaal Concert Hall in Graz, Austria. She has performed at all of the major venues in Pittsburgh, including Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center and City Theater.
Described after a Pittsburgh Ballet performance by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review as “most superb,” Ms. Kohanski was appointed the position of Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2009. She holds the same position with the Wheeling Symphony and is a member of the cello section in the Pittsburgh Opera and the Erie Philharmonic. Elisa performs regularly with the Pittsburgh Symphony and has also played with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, TX and the Columbus Symphony.
 Each summer, Ms. Kohanski can be heard in performances with Music on the Hill, in which Rhode Island natives return to perform chamber concerts throughout the state.  The festival repertoire ranges from J.S. Bach to Osvaldo Golijov, and regularly features world class artists such as William Preucil, James Dunham, Ronald Leonard and Daniel Gilbert. Elisa has performed in several summer festivals including the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and the Heidelberg Castle Festival. She is looking forward to being on the faculty of the Interharmony International Music Festival in Italy this summer.
A passionate educator, Ms. Kohanski currently serves as adjunct faculty at Grove City College. She also maintains a private studio (ranging in age from five to sixty) and is on the faculty for the Carnegie Mellon Summer Strings Program. She has served on the faculties of Westminster College, Seton Hill University, Westmoreland Suzuki School, and the Carlow College Campus String Program. 
Ms. Kohanski earned her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Pamela Frame. She received her Master of Music Degree from Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Pittsburgh Symphony cellists Anne Martindale Williams and David Premo. Other notable teachers include Timothy Terranella, Carol Pellegrino, and Elizabeth Reardon. 

_  Useful Links 

Founder of Hot Metal Strings: www.maureenconlon.com

  For Argentine Tango Band: www.aquitango.com

  Wedding Photography: www.alisagarinphotography.com

Wedding Videography: www.DoroshDocumentaries.com
 
Bridge we are named after:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Metal_Bridge

 

 Listings

www.theknot.com

www.weddingwire.com

www.pittsburghwedding.com

www.mywedding.com

www.afmpittsburgh.com

here


FAQs

Q: How do I know what combination of instruments to choose?

A: Depending on the size and location of your ceremony, we help you decide what would fill the space the best as well as your budget.

Q: Do I get to choose my own musical selections?

A: Absolutely! We have an extensive repertoire list you can choose from or if you have a certain song you really want an arrangement can be purchased.

Q: What if there is no arrangement of a song I want for the instruments I’ve chosen?

A: An arrangement can be made for a fee of any song in print.

Q: What if one of the members of the group becomes ill or is unable to make it to my event?

A: A replacement of equal caliber will be found so there is no interruption in your event.

Q: Can the musicians play outside?

A: Yes, however there must be some kind of shelter from the elements (sun, rain...) to protect our valuable instruments. Even a big shady tree will do!

Q: Do you use amplification of any sort?

A: We are an acoustic ensemble so do not typically use amplification. If you're worried about your guests being loud and not being able to hear us, you could request that we be amplified by the DJ that you are using or see if the venue provides a speaker and microphones .