Chicago-Based violinist Eleanor Bartsch maintains a busy schedule as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout the midwest. Recently appointed first violinist of the critically acclaimed Kontras Quartet, Bartsch is also Concertmaster of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. She is in her 4th season as a performing member of the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra where she frequently serves as Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster for subscription concerts and in the pit accompanying the Joffrey Ballet. As a founding member and Marketing Director of Madison, Wisconsin's Willy Street Chamber Players, she concertizes throughout Wisconsin and maintains a passion for chamber music and community.
A former member of both the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Bartsch has also appeared regularly with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, The Chicago Ensemble, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, the Milwaukee, Nashville and Cincinnati Symphonies, and the Minnesota Orchestra.
A champion of new music, she has in recent seasons appeared with the Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet as well as with multiple Grammy-award-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird.
In 2015, Bartsch completed her Masters Degree in Violin Performance as a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She studied with David Perry and Felicia Moye and concurrently earned a graduate certificate 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. A dedicated teacher, Bartsch is currently on the faculty of the Barrington Music Academy, and as a member of the Kontras Quartet, serves as an artist in residence at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
