Louise Jaffe

Louise received a Master of Music Degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. At Eastman she studied viola with Heidi Castleman, and chamber music with members of the Cleveland String Quartet. At PCPA she studied violin with Charles Castleman, and viola with Patynka Kopec. Other notable musicians with whom she has worked include Donald Weilerstein, Mitchell Stern, Edgar Ortenberg, and Abram Loft.
She began her performing career as violist with the Shelbourne and Cascade Quartets in Great Falls, MT. Since then she has performed in numerous chamber recitals in the United States and abroad, including concerts in Zurich, Bern, Boltigen, and Castasegna, Switzerland.
Louise is a founding member of the Elysian Camerata and performs with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble, the New Bridge Ensemble (Switzerland), Chadds Ford Strings, the Wilmington String Ensemble, and ViVaCe Strings. Other ensembles with whom she has performed include the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Symphony, Allentown Symphony and Pennsylvania Opera Theater.
Louise’s other love is teaching violin and viola. She maintains an active teaching studio, working with children and adults of all ages.
She spends her summers at Vermont Music and Arts Center, where she serves as faculty violist. She coaches and performs with other faculty musicians, as well as with adult non-professional musicians who are passionate about chamber music.