Juliet Dawson is a violist/violinist who has been passionate about string music ever since she was tricked into playing the viola at age 11. Since then, she has received her BM in viola performance from the University of Michigan and her MM from the Hartt School of Music.

As a chamber musician, she has performed as part of Hartt’s prestigious chamber program Performance 2020, along with colleagues and professors from both U of M and Hartt. She performs with ensembles in the Chicago area. Currently, she is head of the Chamber Music Program at the Adler Arts Center and Music Makers of Western Springs; coaching and performing with all the student ensembles.

As a soloist, Juliet debuted with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in 2007. She performed with the Hartt Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the 2012 Paranov Concerto Competition, performing the first viola concerto in over a decade of the competition’s history. In 2017, she performed as a duo artist for the Church of Beethoven, and in 2018, as a solo artist for the David Adler Center Performing Artist’s Concert Series.

She has acted as principal and section viola of her scholastic orchestras, as well as regional, baroque, and opera orchestras in Connecticut, Iceland, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and New York. She is currently playing in orchestras in only three of those states.

She has been teaching private lessons since she was 16 years old, and works actively at the Adler Arts Center and also Music Makers of Western Springs. As of 2019, she has joined the faculty of the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL, as the professor of violin and viola.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY/STYLE:

“I like to explore musical questions with my students, and discover the answer through their playing.  When paired with a solid technique, tone, and form, there is always something new and musically gratifying to discover; no matter whether they are playing Twinkle Twinkle, or a Mozart concerto. Come ready to play, and let’s have some fun!”