An avid chamber musician, Melinda Daetsch has performed with the Lion’s Gate Trio, The Claremont Trio, The St Petersburg Quartet, the Philadelphia Piano quartet, and has collaborated with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mt Gretna and Luzerne Chamber Music festivals. She has also performed at the The Assisi Performing Arts Festival, (Italy), The Banff Arts Center (Canada), The Yehudi Menuhin Festival (Switzerland), and with Chamber Music Charleston (SC). She has performed with numerous orchestras in the US and abroad, and currently she serves as Principal viola for the Music at Penn’s Woods Festival at Penn State University. She also holds the Andre Jagendorf viola chair with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra.
Ms Daetsch received a Master’s in viola performance from The Juilliard School. While there, her quartet received acclaim from the New York Times for their performance of Schoenberg’s seldom heard work “Ode to Napoleon” on the FOCUS! Festival of Contemporary Music. She holds a BA with honors in comparative religion from Harvard University where she worked closely with composer and chamber music coach Leon Kirchner. She joined the faculty of the Hartt School in 2002 after having served as the String Director of the State College Suzuki Program and conductor of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Chamber Orchestra for 9 years. She serves currently as the Chair of Chamber Music and Viola Coordinator at the Hartt Community Division and on the college viola, chamber music, and pedagogy faculty.
Daetsch is passionate about teaching as well as performing and has served as a guest artist and clinician at string workshops and festivals both abroad and in the United States. She has a special interest in musical ambassadorship and has led several successful European concert tours of young musicians. In the wake of 9/11 she and her colleagues at the State College Suzuki Program organized a special concert at Ground Zero for the children of a New York City public school. She is especially interested in using music as a tool to bring joy and to overcome difficulties in life and is very grateful to her mentors and to her parents for making it possible for her.