Starla Breshears will join the San Francisco Symphony cello section for the 2026–27 season. A Kohl Scholar, she studies at the Colburn Academy with Clive Greensmith. She previously attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College as a Joseph Chan Full-Scholarship recipient, studying with Richard Aaron and Jean Michel Fonteneau. She began cello at age three with Yoshie Muratani and has received additional coaching from Christine Walevska and Sergei Riabtchenko.

A prizewinner at both the Stulberg International String Competition and the Johansen International Competition, Starla has appeared as a soloist with 18 orchestras since age six. Her former ensemble, the Breshears String Quartet, has been featured twice as the Violin Channel’s Rising Star of the Week and on NPR’s From the Top. The quartet won First Prize at the 2023 Piero Farulli International Competition, toured Italy, and earned the silver medal at the 2024 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Starla served as Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (2025–2026) and Assistant Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Choral Society. She has attended Yellow Barn, Greenwood, and Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and is a YoungArts Winner with Distinction.