Martha Koljonen

On Stage

Martha Koljonen, violinist, has been active as a performer of orchestral and chamber music in the Charlotte and Davidson areas since 1980. At that time, she served as Concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and violinist of the Nikos Piano Trio. She served as Artist Associate in Violin at the Davidson College Music Department from 1996-2011. She has also taught privately at home and at the Southern Park Music School. In addition to the Charlotte Symphony, her extensive orchestral experience includes the Savannah Symphony (as Concertmaster), the Alabama Symphony, the Virginia Symphony (Assistant Concertmaster), the Philadelphia Lyric Opera, and as an extra with the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Many of her summers have been spent performing with the Santa Fe Opera, Eastern Music Festival, St. Paul Opera, and Chautauqua Festival Orchestras. Ms. Koljonen is also in demand as a violist, having taught viola at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, while playing viola in the New Cadek Piano Quartet. Other chamber music groups have included the Chamber Soloists of Savannah, the Akashic Ensemble, the Birmingham Musica Antiqua, the Columbine Quartet, Nikos Piano Trio, Chamber Music at St. Peter’s, and Martha Koljonen and Friends, an ensemble comprised of violin, cello, clarinet, and piano. Ms. Koljonen is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with David Cerone. Chamber music coaching at the Cleveland Chamber Music Seminar included sessions with Joseph Gingold, Arnold Steinhardt, David Soyer, and Robert Newkirk. Martha also attended Temple University and the New School of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky and enjoyed chamber music coaching from Edgar Ortenberg, Geoffrey Michaels, and Michael Haran. In more recent years, Martha has learned the practice of EFT, the Emotional Freedom Technique, an innovative self-help technique which enables the user to overcome obstacles to success, and teaches others how to use it. She is also trained as an instructor in fire walking.

First year with the CSO: 1980 
Favorite concert experience with the CSO: When we played in Krefeld, Germany, our sister city in 1987. We were all electrified, and the audience hung on every note.
Hobbies: My hobbies include reading, cooking, artwork, and walking.
Favorite thing about Charlotte: Besides the CSO, the great neighborhood I live in!