Marla Hansen, viola Violist Marla Hansen has performed solo, chamber and orchestral music throughout the United States and Europe. A diverse player, she is a member of the avant-garde pop group My Brightest Diamond and a former member of both the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She recently has appeared with folk musician Sufjan Stevens at Symphony Space, and can be heard on Stevens' critically acclaimed 2005 album Illinois. She has also performed with rapper Kanye West on Saturday Night Live, and with the new music group Fireworks at the Tenri Cultural Institue. Ms. Hansen is on faculty at the Bloomingdale School of Music, where she teaches violin, viola, and chamber music. She earned her Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and her Master of Music degree at Stony Brook University, where she received a full scholarship and teaching assistantship. Ms. Hansen has studied primarily with Sally Chisholm and Mitchell Stern.