BIO Chicago-based violinist Eleanor Bartsch is the Concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, a former member of both the Madison Symphony and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestras, and an active chamber musician throughout the United States.
Eleanor is a performing member of the Chicago Philharmonic/Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, frequently serving as Concertmaster, Associate Concertmaster, and Principal Second Violin. She also recently joined the roster of The Chicago Ensemble--one of the city's premier chamber music groups for over 40 years.
Ms. Bartsch has also performed regularly with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, Bach Dancing and Dynamite, Midsummer Music Festival, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, the Milwaukee, Nashville and Cincinnati Symphonies, and the Minnesota Orchestra.
A champion of new music, Ms. Bartsch has worked with many well-known living composers including Michael Daugherty, Olly Wilson, Kurt Rohde, Cecilia McDowall, Agata Zubel, and Laura Elise Schwendinger. She has appeared with the Milwaukee-based Present Music, the Spektral Quartet, as well as multiple Grammy award winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird.
In 2015, Eleanor completed her Masters Degree as a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Music. She studied with David Perry and Felicia Moye and concurrently earned a graduate certificate in Business Entrepreneurship from the School of Business. She also holds a bachelor's degree from UW-Madison during which time she spent her summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School studying with Paul Kantor.
Eleanor has training in both jazz and baroque violin and performs frequently with artists outside the classical world. In her spare time, she enjoys the outdoors, food and wine, traveling, and sports (Twins baseball, Packers football, and all things Wisconsin Badgers).
The YouTube video that stars Eleanor, "Elephants Dancing to Violin" went viral in 2014 and appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and other national news outlets. It currently has over 3 million views.
