ViolaDorothy Zeavin

San Diego Symphony Orchestra violist Dorothy Zeavin received her Bachelor of Music degree from Cal State Northridge and also attended UCLA studying with Alan De Veritch, Walter Trampler, Jeffrey Solow and Raphael Hillyer. During the three years at UCLA she studied bass viola da gamba and performed Renaissance and Baroque music. She has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, YMF Debut Orchestra, Camerata of Los Angeles (touring Europe), Hong Kong Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. Her Helmut Keller viola was made for her in 1976 from a 300-year-old Yugoslavian bedpost. Her sister, Marcia Bookstein, plays cello in the SDSO, and their older sister, Carol is a violinist in N.Y. Ms. Zeavin also is an inventive cook and an accomplished baker, and several times a year she holds Irish Concerts in her home and cooks for 65 people. She is the proud mother of a daughter who is a psychotherapist, and a son who is studying for a doctorate in Exercise and Sport Psychology at the University of Utah.

GETTING TO KNOW DOROTHY ZEAVIN…

Q: What are your favorite travel destinations? 

A: Depends on how much money I have. If I have thousands (ha!), I love Italy and Spain. If it’s hundreds, I will go to the San Francisco area and Sonoma. 

Q: What are some good books you’ve read lately? 

A: Three books that I’ve read recently and that I love are David Sedaris’ When You are Engulfed in Flames, Kathryn Steckett’s The Help and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth.