Winner of St Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition, invited to perform with the symphony in subscription series concerts (first in 55 year history of competition)
Concertmaster, Elgin Symphony Orchestra beginning 2004
Work with ESO’s Musicians Care program and Violins of Hope
Violinist Isabella Lippi, who has been hailed "a standout, even among virtuosos," began performing in public at the age of 10 when she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, Lippi became Concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO), and since then, she has performed extensively throughout the Fox Valley for the ESO, Chamber Music on the Fox, at recording sessions, operas and numerous other local performances. Sara Sitzer, co-founder of Chamber Music on the Fox remarked, “Elgin is lucky to be able to call her ‘our own’.”
As a young violinist, Lippi won the St. Louis Symphony Young Artist Competition, so impressing Maestro Leonard Slatkin, that for the first time in the 55-year history of the competition, the winner was invited to perform in the symphony’s subscription concerts led by Slatkin. Throughout her career, Lippi has garnered a stellar reputation. The Los Angeles Times raved, “She exhibited flawless bow control, dazzling listeners with her technical polish and her clean articulate playing… the expressive lyricism of her cantabile playing proved captivating.” She has performed solos with major orchestras nationally and internationally, including the symphonies of Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, and the Mexico State Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao of Spain, the Moscow Symphony and Taipei Symphony.
Born in Chicago, Isabella Lippi's teachers have included Robert Lipsett at the University of Southern California, Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School and Almita and Roland Vamos in Chicago. She’s appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival and more; presented recitals at New York’s 92nd St Y and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC; played on major radio stations in New York, Chicago and LA, and has recorded Miklos Rozsa’s complete music for solo violin on the Koch International label.
Lippi has made her musical mark in the Fox Valley. In addition to her ESO concerts, she participates in the ESO’s Musicians Care program, with Elgin Symphony musicians playing at local hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices. Lippi has given several recitals at Elgin’s Gail Borden Public Library, most recently at the Violins of Hope exhibit, where she played a restored violin that had belonged to a Jewish musician during the Holocaust. This event earned the prestigious 2023 Elgin Image Award. During the COVID shut down, Lippi prepared and presented a Zoom concert for ESO patrons, generating revenue and lifting the spirits of pandemic-weary listeners.
ESO Executive Director Marc Thayer remarked, “Isabella Lippi as concertmaster of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra has greatly enhanced our standing both in the Fox Valley and the greater musical world.”