Margaret Leenhouts is currently on the faculty of Nazareth University and is a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
A frequent performer, Leenhouts has appeared regularly with Eastman faculty in the Kilbourn Hall recital series and returned to her native Arizona several times to give benefit concerts for the Sedona Chamber Music Society and the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. The recipient of the First Prize for Chamber Music at the American School of Arts in France, Dr. Leenhouts is an avid chamber musician. Most recently, she appeared with Amadeus Trio members Marian Hahn and Jeffrey Solow at the Sedona Chamber Music Society. She was a member of the Eos and Evergreen String Quartets and has performed chamber works at the British Arts Center of Yale, at the Eastern Festival of Music and in Eastman School of Music's Virtuosi Series with RPO concertmaster Ilya Kaler.
Dr. Leenhouts has shown an interest and affinity for new and unusual music in her career.
Recent premieres include Carl Wiens’ One Fast and One Slow and Jorge Martin’s Carnaval at Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall. She toured nationally as solo violinist with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company in a set of premieres by composer Bella Davidovich and was chosen by Samuel Adler for an Eastman Theater premiere of nine chamber works in memoriam of the Holocaust.
In addition to her solo and chamber music work, Dr. Leenhouts has been a member of the Rochester Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She toured throughout Germany with the American Sinfonietta.
Dr. Leenhouts has taught all age and ability levels. Collegiate faculty appointments include Hope College, Mansfield University, and Nazareth University. She spent thirteen years teaching at the Eastman School of Music’s Community Music School where she directed the Summer Chamber Music and Middle School Strings Workshops and served as the chair of the string department.
Margaret Leenhouts earned a bachelor of arts magna cum laude in European History from Yale University and went on to complete a doctorate in violin performance and literature with Charles Castleman at the Eastman School of Music. She has appeared in master classes with legendary teacher Josef Gingold, legendary performer Henryk Szeryng, and New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow. Additional musical studies included work at the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School with world-renowned violin pedagogue, Dorothy DeLay.
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