What started as a gathering of four friends to play string quartets over 15 years has evolved into Elle Musique, a versatile ensemble of professional female musicians who specialize in Chicago area weddings and special events. We truly enjoy creating beautiful music and sharing it with others!
Founding member of Elle Musique, Ingrid is a full time orchestra teacher and versatile freelance musician. She holds a B.M. in Music Education from Roosevelt University and a M.M. in Music Education from VanderCook College. Ingrid studied violin under Melvin Ritter, Marc Zinger, Cyrus Forough and David Taylor, and piano under Jane Allen, Dmitry Paperno, Eloise Niwa and Pawel Chencinski. She has performed on both violin and viola with several ensembles, including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Oak Park River Forest Symphony and Skokie Valley Symphony. Ingrid has also performed in numerous theatre productions, on live radio and television (with Billy Corgan, Dennis DeYoung and Emilie Autumn) and has recorded with local bands. She loves arranging and composing, and is thrilled that one of her original tangos was recently performed at Inonu University in Turkey. Ingrid is also an avid pet photographer, donating her services to local pet charities.
Anne Patterson received her Bachelor of Music in cello performance from the University of Nebraska and her Masters of Music in cello performance from the University of Michigan. She was a member of the Lincoln Symphony cello section for 6 years and played with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago 2006-2008. Anne’s teachers have included Anthony Elliott, Tracy Sands, Karen Becker and Carol Ourada. She has attended the National Orchestra Institute as well as the Aspen Music Festival. Currently, Anne can be found preparing for orchestra auditions and training to be a pastry chef.
Violinist Robin Sachschewsky is an orchestra teacher in Naperville’s District 204. She began her musical training at the Betty Haag Suzuki School at the age of three. She attended Augustana College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. Robin has also studied violin with Dr. Susan Stone and Mathias Tacke of the Vermeer Quartet. She has performed abroad in China, Germany and Austria, and has spent five summers on staff at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Robin presently performs with the West Suburban Symphony, where she serves as assistant concertmaster. One of Robin’s biggest passions is chamber music, which she performs with numerous chamber orchestras and ensembles, including Elle Musique.
photo by Svetlana Eckhoff
Violinist Maria Storm made her solo debut at the age of fourteen with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. In the following year, her recording of the sixteenth Paganini Caprice was regularly broadcast on the Second Channel of Ukrainian Radio. Two years later, she won second place at the 1st Baltic Competition for Young Violinists in Gdansk, Poland, and performed W.A. Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Major with the Rubenstein School of Music Orchestra. While in Europe, Maria established herself as an active solo and chamber musician. Highlights include an appearance with the Torun Chamber Orchestra, and performances with the Bygoszcz Philharmony (Poland) and at the Volkshaus Dornach and Gmunden Festivals (Austria). In the spring of 2008, Maria was a featured solo artist during a live broadcast from the PianoForte Salon Series on WFMT Chicago. Among many of her chamber music engagements, Maria played in the Atlas Piano Trio, 2006-07 Ensemble-In-Residence in Hampden-Syndney Collage (Virginia). and she appeared at the Clock Tower Festival in Durango, Colorado. She now plays in One SUN Duo with New York-based South African pianist Kathleen Tagg. Together they are set on promoting South African and East European music. She also plays with flutist Nancy Rinaldi in Linea. In the fall of 2008, Maria performed The Lark Ascending by R.V. Williams with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra. Maria studied at the Mannes College of Music, Roosevelt University and Indiana University, where she received her Master’s Degree. Her violin and chamber music mentors have included Mark Kaplan, Vadim Gluzman, Yuko Mori, Janos Starker, Yael Weis, Andrew Watts, Jaime Laredo and Arnaldo Cohen. As an orchestra musician, Maria was Concertmaster of the IU Festival Orchestra during the seventh USA International Harp Competition, and performed under David Efforn, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Stern, David Robertson, Roberto Abbado and Joshua Bell. She currently holds first violin position in Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestras and is a substitute violinist of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Jennifer Smith is a full time orchestra teacher as well as freelance musician. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Illinois State University and a Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music. Jennifer studied violin with Dr. Sarah Gentry at Illinois State University and has performed with several ensembles including the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Heartland Philharmonic, Wheaton Symphony Orchestra and West Suburban Symphony Orchestra. Jennifer has a passion for learning, teaching and performing all styles of music, from classical to rock, on her violin. She recently attended Mark O’Connor’s camp in Tennessee where she thoroughly enjoyed studying fiddling, one of her favorite styles. Jennifer is a recent newlywed!
Violist Maria Ritzenthaler is an accomplished chamber and orchestra musician with extensive experience in musical outreach programs. She currently holds the position of Assistant Principal violist of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, and has also been employed by the Madison Symphony, Northwest Indiana Symphony, New Philharmonic, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She had the privilege of sitting principal during her second year with the Civic Orchestra. Currently, Ms. Ritzenthaler is head of the chamber music program at Harper College, where she is also the professor of viola. In building this program from scratch, Maria has coordinated with area middle and high schools, scheduling outreach performances to help build the program, and create a sense of a musical community in the area. Maria recently completed her Master’s Degree at Roosevelt University where she studied with internationally renowned violist Roger Chase. Her other major teachers include Sally Chisholm, Nathan Hackett, and Victoria Chang. She has worked with chamber musicians including members of the Chicago String Quartet, the Borromeo String Quartet, the Jaques Thibeaut Trio, the Vermeer Quartet, the Pro Arte Quartet, and the Emerson String Quartet. She has attended many festivals including Aspen, the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, and the Casal Maggiore Summer Festival in Italy. Currently, Maria is loving life in Chicago where she recently began teaching at the Merit School of Music. She will be wed this September!
Andrea Nott received her Bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and her Master’s degree in cello performance from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Andrea has performed in the Madison Symphony, the Des Moines Symphony, the Illinois Philharmonic and the Dubuque Symphony. Also a lover of non-classical music, Andrea has performed with Josh Groban on the Oprah Show, and bands such as Kansas and Ricky Skaggs. Currently, Andrea is a member of the Bach & Beyond Ensemble, the Oakley Street Cello Ensemble, and the Racine Symphony Orchestra, and teaches in Chicago’s Smiling Strings program.
Louisa Blood received her master of Music degree in violin performance from New England Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music in violin from the Peabody Conservatory. Her teachers have included Lucy Chapman and Violaine Melancon. She performs with the South Bend Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony, and has been a regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has also performed with the New World Symphony, Fifth House Ensemble, Renovo String Orchestra, and Advent Chamber Orchestra Additional experience includes the Castleton Festival Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel, National Orchestral Institute, where she was concertmaster, the Domaine Forget chamber music festival in Quebec and other festivals in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Louisa has completed Suzuki Teacher Training courses and has experience teaching students of all ages and levels. She has also coached students in the Chicago Youth Debut Orchestra.
photo by Imaginar
Cellist and composer, Tomeka Reid is a sought after freelance musician in the Chicago area who consistently strives to expand her musical palette to include other musical styles and performance techniques. Originally from the Washington D.C area, she moved to Chicago to continue her musical studies at DePaul University. She then became involved with a community of musicians whose primary interest is improvisatory music and has been performing and teaching ever since. Ms. Reid currently performs with the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble/Strings, Mike Reid’s Loose Assembly, Chicago Sinfonietta and the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. Ms. Reid is also on faculty at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
photo by Svetlana Eckhoff
Flutist Nancy Rinaldi Williams is a Chicago based freelance performer, orchestral player, and teacher. She is second flute with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the South Bend, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestras, New Philharmonic and other Chicago area ensembles. In addition, she has been an associate member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the New World Symphony. She has spent summers performing in the Aspen Music Festival and playing in chamber ensembles at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. Nancy received her Bachelors degree in flute performance at the University of Illinois where she was the recipient of the Thomas J. Smith talent scholarship. She furthered her studies at DePaul University and received a Master degree in music and a Certificate of Performance under the direction of Mary Stolper and Donald Peck. While at DePaul, she performed and participated in recordings with Chicago Symphony Orchestra members John Bruce Yeh and Charlie Vernon. Over the years, she credits many influential teachers including Bonita Boyd, Mark Sparks, Walfrid Kujala, and Michel DeBost. Nancy also enjoys a passion for teaching flute and maintains a private flute studio in the Chicago North Shore area schools and in her home.
Freelance flutist Heidi Saeter grew up in a musical family playing flute and piano, in addition to acting and directing musical theater productions. She received a Flute Performance degree from St. Olaf College. During her flute studies she had the opportunity to work with some of the greats including, Peter Lloyd, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Geoffrey Gilbert. During a playing hiatus in California, Heidi had the opportunity to explore other passions. She received a TTouch Practitioner Certification which she has found to be very helpful in maintaining a centered, balanced, and grounded musical practice. Heidi recently moved back to Chicago and is excited to continue exploring this culturally rich city.
