Sharon De Kock, violinist, has been a member of the quartet and lecturer in violin at the UFS since 2008. After studying with Jürgen Schwietering and Gina Beukes (both Julliard alumni), she left South Africa to study in the USA at the age of 17. She is a B.Mus (magna cum laude) and M.Mus graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where she received many awards and prizes. She studied under the well-known concert violinist Chee-Yun Kim, Kurt Sassmannshaus and Piotr Milewski, all also Juilliard alumni. From 1999 to 2001 she was a first violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra in Costa Rica. She has performed as soloist and orchestral player with orchestras in Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and Spain, as well as the Kentucky Symphony, Richmond Symphony and Dayton Symphony Orchestras in the USA. From 2004 to 2006 she was a violin lecturer at two universities and a conservatoire in Puebla, Mexico. Sharon also participated in the Aspen and Grandin festivals in the USA, the Lucca festival in Italy and others in Japan, Scotland and Portugal. She returned to South Africa in 2007 and performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician. She is the primary instructor of the Junior Odeion String Quartet, established in 2009.