Faculty Profile

Michelle Lee Elliott
NMS Violin Faculty
Suzuki and Traditional Violin/Viola

Since beginning her violin studies at the age of two-and-a-half, Michelle Lee Elliott has enjoyed a diverse musical career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.  She is thrilled to be joining the faculty of New Music School and to be returning to the Chicago area; in her pre-teen years, Michelle’s parents made the weekly commute from her hometown of Decatur, Illinois, to Northwestern University where she studied with Dr. Myron Kartman, the then chair of the string department.  Michelle firmly believes that learning to play the violin can be an empowering experience, giving “soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything.”  With a strong background that includes many different pedagogical approaches, she is committed to providing instruction that is not based on a single method, but rather one which is directed by the individual needs of each student.

For the past two years, Michelle was a teaching-artist at Music Haven, a non-profit organization in New Haven, Connecticut, dedicated to building a vibrant urban community through music performance and education.  As the first violinist of the Haven String Quartet, the organization’s resident ensemble, she helped to bring world-class performances to underserved areas in New Haven, and also developed strong mentoring relationships with students through Music Haven’s instrumental lessons program.  Michelle has also taught at the Connecticut School of Music in Westport, Connecticut, and has been teaching privately and coaching chamber music even as early as high school – the summer after graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, she was asked to coach chamber music groups at the Academy’s summer session.  Passionate about chamber music and its value as an educational tool, Michelle was a founding member and first violinist of the Vinca Quartet for six years; with the quartet, she performed and taught at residencies with the Aspen Music Festival, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Soundfest Chamber Music Festival, and the Peaks to Plains Suzuki Institute.

 Michelle has appeared as soloist with various orchestras, including a recent appearance with the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra, and she is currently the associate concertmaster of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Vinca Quartet, she was a medalist at the Fischoff National String Quartet Competition, and finalist or prizewinner at the Chesapeake and Plowman Chamber Music Competitions, the Premio Paolo Borciani Competition in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and was also selected to participate in the Emerson Quartet’s Carnegie Hall Training Workshop where the quartet was hailed as “stunning” and “musicians worth keeping an eye on” by the New York Times.  Michelle received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, and continued her studies at the Yale School of Music where she received both a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma degree.  Most recently, while studying with the Vincas at the University of Colorado at Boulder under the tutelage of the acclaimed Takàcs Quartet, she pursued her Doctor of Music Arts degree and expects to receive it in May. Michelle began her studies using the Suzuki Method with Mary Nagy in Decatur, Illinois, and her other primary teachers include Terrine Gomez of the Young Artist’s Studio, Sherban Lupu, Danwen Jiang, Syoko Aki, and Edward Dusinberre.

To study with Michelle or ask a question, please contact her at MichelleLeeElliott@newmusicschool.com.