Player Biographies: Sandra Zaninovich, Violin

Sandra Zaninovich was born in Croatia, where her father, Sandro Zaninovic, is a well-known composer. She had already been playing violin for a couple of years before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 7, and continued her studies under the tutelage of Sybil Maxwell.  She was chosen to participate in the All-Southern-California Honor Orchestra while in junior high at El Rodeo in the Beverly Hills school district, in whose orchestra she also played.

Her father founded the Beverly Hills Chamber Orchestra, with whom Sandra performed many times.  She has also performed twice with her father at the internationally acclaimed music festival on her father's native island of Hvar in Croatia.  Together with her brother, Igor, she and her father formed the "Trio Zee," with which she had many performances over the years at various events.  For years she also performed with the Casa Italiana orchestra in downtown Los Angeles, and very much misses Mario and Aida, who ran the Casa, and the happy operatic performances she enjoyed with them.

Sandra received her BA in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley which, together with Hvar, she continues to visit each year.  She also attended the UCLA School of Law.

She joined the Palisades Symphony in 2005, and has tremendously enjoyed the journey with her fellow music lovers under the baton of Maestro Joel Lish. 

A few of Sandra's favorite things are travel, literature (most especially Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo," though only in the unabridged Penguin Classics edition), Game of Thrones, delicious vegetarian food, chocolate, her kitties, family and friends, and all kinds of music (especially Mozart and Springsteen).