The VEM Ensemble is the cornerstone of the Armenian Music Program at UCLA, which in its 10 years of existence has become an internationally renowned leader in celebrating the richness and diversity of the Armenian musical tradition. In residence at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the VEM Ensemble has worked with musicians such as Tigran Mansurian, Kim Kashkashian, David Starobin, Armen Hyusnunts, Artur Avanesov, Seth Knopp, and many others.

The VEM Ensemble has performed at various venues in Los Angeles including Zipper Hall, Bing Theater, Schoenberg Hall, and the Hammer Museum, as well as in Boston, Montreal, Detroit, New Mexico, Colorado, and the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival in Italy. In his review of their performance in Italy, critic Laurence Vittes wrote, “The evening’s most memorable music was made by the VEM Quartet… who laid out Eduard Mirzoyan’s String Quartet with a feline, subtle grace that touched hearts with its gentle melodic content and long-lined eloquence.” The VEM is featured in Modulation Necklace and Serenade with a Dandelion, the critically acclaimed CDs of Armenian Music by the Naxos-distributed label, New Focus Recordings.

Ally Cho’s musical journey began in Gold Coast, Australia, where she first picked up the violin at the age of 5. Ally’s talents were recognized at ten years old with a full music scholarship to All Saints Anglican School , Gold Coast. An opportunity arised when she was 14 where she auditioned for Melbourne’s prestigious Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Her acceptance marked a transformative journey to Melbourne, a city brimming with artistic energy. In Melbourne, Ally’s talents and skills broadened with solo performances and by leading orchestras as concertmaster. Notably, she won the prestigious Bach Competition in Melbourne twice, leaving a lasting mark in the city’s musical history.

She went to Manchester, England, as an exchange student during her musical journey where she benefited from masterclasses with professors from prestigious institutions like the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music.

In 2018 Ally crossed continents to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in classical violin at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, broadening her horizons with chamber music opportunities. Today, Ally embarks on a new chapter at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of the UCLA resident quartet, VEM, under the guidance of the distinguished Movses Pogossian and Varty Manouelian. Ally aspires to be a virtuoso violinist, captivating global audiences and inspiring future musicians.

A Los Angeles native, Niall Tarō Ferguson is a cellist, composer, and orchestrator. He is currently an active freelance musician, contributing in equal capacity to the worlds of concert and commercial music.

Niall has participated in music festivals such as the Rencontres Musicales Internationales at the International Menuhin Music Academy, Musique à Flaine, and the Borromeo Music Festival in Altdorf, Switzerland. He has studied with cellists Antonio Lysy, Lynn Harrell, Niall Brown, Ben Hong, and Timothy Loo. In Los Angeles, Niall has performed on many of the city’s premiere contemporary music series, such as Monday Evening Concerts (M.E.C.), Jacaranda Music, and the Hear Now Festival. As a session cellist, he records regularly on motion picture and TV soundtracks, record dates, and reality shows. Niall has performed with artists such as David Foster, Andrea Bocelli, Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, Danny Elfman, and many others.

Niall has studied music composition with composers Mark Carlson, Ian Krouse, and Bruce Broughton. His concert works have been performed throughout California and overseas, in such places as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Barnum Hall, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Aratani Theatre at JACCC, among others. In 2021, his piece Scamper was chosen to be performed virtually for the California Orchestra Directors Association’s All-State High School Orchestra.

Niall has orchestrated on several films including Bruised (2021), Cat Burglar (2021), American Factory (2020 Academy Awards Best Documentary Feature winner), Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019), Ni No Kuni (2019), and Kruimeltje (2020), among many others. He has worked as an orchestrator on two of composer Joe Hisaishi’s concert tours: Kiki’s Delivery Service in 2019, and Porco Rosso in 2022. Niall’s string arrangements have also been featured on a number of commercial recordings, most notably on Lukas Graham’s 3 (The Purple Album) which was released in October 2018 by Copenhagen Records, Then We Take the World, and Warner Bros. Records, and debuted at number one in Denmark.

As of 2019, Niall is a Program Associate with the Asia / America New Music Institute (AANMI), a collective that pursues cultural exchange through modern music. In April 2019 he participated in his first AANMI tour, accompanying founder Chad Cannon and contributing to lectures given at institutions throughout Asia such as the Hong Kong Baptist University, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and The American School in Japan, among others.

Niall received his bachelor’s degree in 2017 from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he studied cello performance with Antonio Lysy, and music composition with Ian Krouse and Bruce Broughton.

Niall is of Japanese descent on his mother’s side, and of Scottish and Irish descent on his father’s. He goes by both his Gaelic and Japanese names, Niall or Tarō respectively.