Elizabeth Skinner

Intrigued by the violin, Elizabeth Skinner began studying music at the age of nine in her hometown of Victoria, Canada. Since then, she has become an engaging and versatile performer and a dedicated educator, sharing music across America, Europe and Asia. An active chamber musician, she is a founding member of Trio Émerillon and a member of Montreal’s cutting-edge classical string band, collectif9. A recognized leader, Elizabeth has enjoyed the role of concertmaster with the McDuffie Center String Ensemble, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble. She currently performs regularly with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and is a substitute violinist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Elizabeth was the winner of the Canadian Music Competition (19-30 years strings category) and the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada’s Peter Mendell Award. She won first prize in the Prix d’Europe competition strings category in 2016, as well as third prize in the overall competition, and the Guy Soucie prize for her interpretation of a Québécois work. The same year, Elizabeth won the McGill Chamber Music Competition with Trio Armonioso and they performed at the Salzburg Mozarteum. In 2017 she was a recipient of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation award, and in 2018 she was a finalist in the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Most recently she was named one of CBC’s “30 hot Classical musicians under 30”. Elizabeth graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Georgia, USA. She also holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and recently completed her Doctor of Music in Performance Studies at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music where she studied with Axel Strauss.