ABOUT

Violist Seth van Embden performs and teaches through Chicago and its suburbs. As an orchestral player, Seth has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Northbrook Symphony, and has recently accepted a position with the Illinois Symphony.

 

Seth received his Masters degree from Northwestern University as the recipient of the Charlotte Kickhaefer Davis and Ernest Davis Endowed Fellowship, studying with the renowned soloist Helen Callus. His previous studies consist of a dual degree in viola performance and music education from Rutgers University under the tutelage of Philadelphia Orchestra principal violist CJ Chang. He has also studied privately with Lynne Ramsey and Stanley Konopka of The Cleveland Orchestra.

 

Seth has performed in solo, orchestral, and chamber settings all over the world including Italy, the United Kingdom, and China. He was most recently named Britten–Pears Young Artist of 2020 by the UK's Snape-Maltings festival.

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Seth is an enthusiastic performer of baroque music and has had the privilege to perform in many summer engagements, including the Dartington Music Festival and Berwick Academy of the Oregon Bach Festival. He is a founding member of Ensemble Affect, an early music group dedicated to bringing an old art form to new audiences. In February 2020 he had the immense pleasure and privilege to be featured in a concert with Bourbon Baroque of Louisville, Kentucky.

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Before his relocation to Chicago, Seth taught in the public-school system as an elementary orchestra director in Princeton, New Jersey. He is now on faculty at Joliet Junior College and the Oak Park School of Music, and also runs his own private studio on the north side of Chicago.