Hanna Pedersen » Viola

Biographical Info

Originally from Lancaster, PA, Hanna Pederson is looking forward to relocating to Madison, WI after seven years as a performer and teacher in Chicago. Hanna is a member of the Madison Symphony viola section, performs frequently with many orchestras around the midwest such as the Illinois Philharmonic, and recently served as guest principal viola of the Elmhurst Symphony. She has performed with orchestras in Carnegie Hall, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Center, Chicago Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall, and Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Ken-David Masur, Brett Mitchell, Leonard Slatkin, and Larry Rachleff. Hanna’s recent chamber music performances include faculty member at Manitou Springs Chamber Music Festival, six months as guest violist for Crossing Borders Music, and guest violist with the KAIA String Quartet in 2022.

Alongside her performance calendar she maintains extensive educational activities including leading sectionals for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, coaching chamber music at area high schools, and maintaining a large private teaching studio in which she has helped students successfully audition into the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and ILMEA district and all-state festivals. Hanna is able to form friendly and motivating rapports with a wide variety of students, and has student retention rates of 3-7 years and counting.

Hanna’s primary teachers include Ivo-Jan van der Werff, Katherine Murdock, Ning Mu, and Nancy Levasseur. She has also had significant studies with Li-Kuo Chang, Peter Slowik, Joan DerHovsepian, Daniel Foster, and Caroline Coade. She is a recent alum of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and holds degrees from Rice University and the University of Maryland.