Elizabeth Pistolesi

On Stage

Violinist Elizabeth (Libby) Pistolesi was raised in Greenville, Pennsylvania where she first learned to play the violin. She began violin lessons at the age of eleven with her father, who was a stringed instrument teacher in the public schools. Libby says she began playing the violin by "accident". As she relates the story, "I saw my dad leaving the house with a violin under his arm to return to the music store. I asked him if I could play it. (I'm not sure what possessed me.) He took it out of the case and gave me my first lesson." Libby's other four family members covered all of the instrument families - wind, brass, string, percussion, keyboard, even the banjo. Libby holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York as well as a degree in Mathematics from UNC-Charlotte. She played in the Richmond Symphony for two years before coming to the Charlotte Symphony in 1975 as a member of the first violin section. Libby's favorite pieces played with the CSO were Bach's St. Matthew Passion and b minor Mass. She also enjoyed playing Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky". In her free time she likes reading, taking long walks, and sitting at the beach watching the birds. Libby plays in the Laurel Trio with two of her CSO colleagues who are also from Pennsylvania.