Miroslav Chakaryan was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and comes from a family of musicians. His father was the principal viola of the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for many years. Miroslav started violin lessons at the age of 6 and made his first public appearance at the age of 8, playing concertos by Vivaldi and Bach. He graduated from the Sofia Music School in 1984, and after a very tough selection process, was accepted into the National Music Academy in Sofia, from which he graduated in 1990. Since 1982 he has been performing regularly as a soloist in Bulgaria and has worked with the best Bulgarian orchestras and chamber music groups, touring with them worldwide. 

Miro came to South Africa in 1991, where he was the concertmaster of the Bophuthatswana Chamber Orchestra. After completing his 2-year contract, he then joined the National Symphony Orchestra in Johannesburg. In 1995 he was appointed as assistant concertmaster. After the demise of the NSO in 2000, he was one of the founding members of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he became the concertmaster in 2001. He was a soloist with the JPO on 3 occasions and has been involved in numerous solo recitals and chamber music concerts throughout South Africa.

In 2019, together with Zanta Hofmeyr, he won a Fiesta award for the best Classical Music Performance. Miro is also very involved in teaching and has had a lot of success with many of his students who have won awards. One of his students was the first South African student to be accepted to study music at the Moscow Conservatoire in Russia. He is presently still serving as Concertmaster of the JPO.

Sonja van Zyl grew up in Kroonstad, where she began piano lessons with Mrs Katie van der Merwe at the age of 5. 

She is a graduate of the University of Pretoria (BMus Performance) where she studied with Prof Joseph Stanford and Philip Levy.  She obtained the Unisa Performance Licenciate in Piano; the Unisa Accompanist’s Licenciate for Voice as well as the Unisa Ensemble Licenciate in Music, with distinction.  She holds a Masters degree in Piano Performance from the University of the Witwatersrand under the supervision of Prof Malcolm Nay and Mrs Pauline Nossel in 2015.   In 2020 she obtained her Doctor of Music with Music Performance through the North-West University under supervision of Prof Tinus Botha and Prof Conroy Cupido (Thesis).  

She is a highly dedicated and skilled pianist who performs on a regular basis with renowned musicians in Johannesburg, Pretoria and at the Wakkerstroom Music Festival.  She was the organist for Melville NG Church for 10 years. She is an enthusiastic specialist Piano Teacher and mentor for young musicians at The Ridge School and Roedean School (SA) in Johannesburg.