Astral Mixtape

Astral Mixtape fuses classical virtuosity with electronics to create music that is personal, captivating, and boldly original. With an unconventional lineup of two violins, cello, and keyboards/electronics, the group reimagines chamber music for the 21st century, blurring the boundaries between composer, arranger, and performer. Drawing from the exuberance of pop, the improvisational spirit of jazz, and the adventurous edge of contemporary music, they craft a sound unmistakably their own.

Winners of the 2023 Astral Artists National Auditions and the 2024 Beverly Hills National Auditions, Astral Mixtape brings their genre-defying performances to stages across North America. Recent engagements include Banff Centre’s Martha Greenham Theater (AB), the Eagles Theatre (IN), Greystone Mansion (CA), Hugh’s Room (ON), World Cafe Live (PA), Hotel Café (CA), The 1905 (OR), and Rockwood Music Hall (NYC). They have served as resident artists at festivals such as the Meadowlark Music Festival, Caroga Lake Music Festival, Benefic Chamber Music Camp, and the Vancouver Music & Arts Festival, where they appeared alongside artists including Time for Three and VSO USA.

Their creative output extends far beyond the concert hall. Astral Mixtape has composed and recorded original scores for several acclaimed short films featured at international festivals including Cannes and BAFTA. Collaborations with filmmakers, visual artists, and electronic producers have led to the creation of multimedia works such as music videos, animations, and remixes. Their 2021 visual album, Astral Plains, created in partnership with the Santa Monica College Film Department and supported by the Banff Centre, reflects their collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach.

In April 2025, they released their second album, Biolumy, which embodies their expansive sound world: a vibrant fusion of orchestral color, electronic energy, and jazz-inflected lyricism.

Dedicated to inspiring the next generation, Astral Mixtape leads residencies and workshops at institutions such as the University of Southern California, Idyllwild Arts Academy, and public schools nationwide, where they invite students to explore collaboration, creativity, and artistic authenticity. Individually, members have trained at leading conservatories including Juilliard, Colburn, the Royal Academy of Music, and USC.

Astral Mixtape operates under fiscal sponsorship from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

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Misha Vayman is a professional violinist, educator, and dog lover. He has performed in a wide variety of contexts, from opening for Dorian Electra to soloing with various orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Russia, and China. In 2023, he joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Misha is part of Delirium Musicum, an award winning dynamic chamber orchestra known to bend time and space to their will, with no regard for anyone’s safety. He is prominently featured in many rehearsal outtakes, “keeping it light”. The orchestra released an album in April 2023 on the Warner Classics label.

He has twice won the Grand Prize in the international ENKOR Competition, once in the Solo division, and once in the Chamber Music division with the Benefic Piano Trio. In June of 2022, the trio released an album of works by composer Daniel Carr on the MSR Classics label.

As a recording artist, he has appeared on tracks by Plini, String Theory, Jamie Drake, Ryan Dilmore and Porter Robinson, among others.

Misha is a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music. Previously he attended the Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. A lot of practice was done at all three, and now he’s good, and doesn’t need to practice at all.

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Michael Siess enjoys a dynamic career as a professional violinist, having performed in eclectic venues across the world as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician.

He joined the Pacific Symphony in 2022, and has collaborated across Southern California with acclaimed ensembles such as the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra, Delirium Musicum, LA Chamber Orchestra, and SMC Ballet. An active recording artist, Michael has played on numerous Hollywood soundtracks and albums. Recent highlights have included work on Avatar 2, The Orville, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and upcoming albums with Seth MacFarlane.

Beginning his musical studies in Portland, OR, Michael holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Margaret Batjer, William Preucil, and Itzhak Perlman. Over the summers he has performed at a variety of festivals including the Perlman Music Program, Aspen Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival and the Banff Centre’s Evolution: Classical.

Michael is a founding member of the dynamic crossover band, Astral Mixtape. Their original music and arrangements can be heard in numerous film soundtracks, animated shorts, music videos, electronic productions, and in live venues across the country.

Juan-Salvador Carrasco is a cellist and composer whose career bridges multiple musical worlds. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestra in venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Broad Stage, and Mexico City’s Auditorio Blas Galindo, and has performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Phil Setzer (Emerson String Quartet), Anthony McGill (principal clarinet, New York Phil), and Laufey.

Juan-Salvador has participated in the Perlman Music Program, Heifetz Institute Chamber Music Seminar, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and PyeongChang Music Festival. He was awarded First Prize in USC Thornton’s 2019 Solo Bach Competition and was a semi-finalist in the national Sphinx Competition.

As a composer, Juan-Salvador has written and recorded original soundtracks for several award-winning short films, including Ends and Means, Fear and Tremble, Never Silly, and Retakes. His original chamber works have been featured in Salastina’s concert series and at the Heifetz Music Institute.

Juan-Salvador holds degrees from Northwestern University (B.M.) and the University of Southern California (M.M. and G.C.), where his primary teachers included Ralph Kirshbaum, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Ron Leonard, and Eleonore Schoenfeld.

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Nathan Ben-Yehuda has been recognized as an emerging musician of impassioned energy and integrity. He has been a prize winner at the Yamaha Young Performing Artist award and the Seattle International Piano Competition, among many others.

He has worked closely with such composers as George Lewis, Kaija Saariaho, Oliver Knussen and Thomas Ades. Nathan has held a fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center, where he performed in a variety of new music and chamber music groups, and took part in a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux alongside pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and performed Nancarrow Studies on two pianos with composer/pianist Thomas Adès.

He has been featured in live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 “In Tune” as well as on WMHT Radio. He has appeared on Musiqu3 TV in Beligium as a competitor in the 2021 Queen Elisabeth competition. He recently was one of two pianists invited to the Taos School of Music, directed by Robert McDonald, and perform as part of their young artist chamber music series.

He is also the pianist for the Victory Players, a recently formed new music ensemble based in Holyoke, MA. Having earned degrees from Juilliard and Royal Academy of Music in London, he is now faculty at Cal Lutheran University.