Kristen Pellegrino - Violin

Kristen is enrolled in the PhD music education program at the University of Michigan.  Her previous degrees include a BM in Violin Performance and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and MM in Violin Performance (Chamber Music) from the University of Michigan.  Kristen continued to study violin with the revered violinist, Camilla Wickes, as a fellowship student at LSU.  She went on to perform with the Satory String Quartet, in residence at Kent State University, and then to be a founding member of the Chagall String Quartet.

In 1996, the Chagall String Quartet received a 2 year Rural Residence grant from Chamber Music America, the NEA, and the local communities of Johnstown, Indiana, and Somerset PA.  The quartet rehearsed, performed, and went out into the community and schools to help make chamber music more accessible and relatable, believing that music and art are mediums that can bring all people together.  During this time, Kristen toured both with the quartet and as a harp/violin duo with harpist, Min Kim.

Kristen spent the next eight years as a full-time music educator; first teaching strings in the Fairfax County Public Schools and then returning to Warwick, RI in 1999 as String Teacher and Orchestra Conductor at Toll Gate HS, her alma mater.  Other professional responsibilities included chairing the All-Eastern Orchestra in Providence, RI, President of RISTA, member of RIMEA executive board, and board member of the Warwick Music Festival.  Kristen presented at the Biennial Colloquium for Teachers of Instrumental Music Methods, RIMEA In-Service session, and for undergraduate classes at the University of Michigan.  Her first article was published in the Michigan Music Educator in January 2007.  Upcoming events include presenting research and leading a session at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids and presenting research at the ASTA National Conference in Albuquerque, NM.

Since the summer of 1992, Kristen has been performing chamber music recitals in Rhode Island.  The Chrysalis Piano Trio was formed and played its first concert in 1999.  Biennially, the trio has performed concerts in various venues around Rhode Island and continues to enjoy playing together and in mixed extended ensembles.


Last updated February 2008