violin, 2018/19 music director
Hailed as "deliciously exuberant" by the Baltimore Sun, violinist Madeline Adkins has established herself as equally at home in the spheres of solo performance, chamber music, and orchestral playing.
In September 2016, Adkins assumed her new post as Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony under Maestro Thierry Fischer. She made her concerto debut with the Utah Symphony in November 2016, performing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2.
For the 2018-2019 season, Adkins will also serve as the Music Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series, in its 41st season in Salt Lake City.
Adkins performs on the "ex-Chardon" Guadagnini of 1782, graciously loaned by Gabrielle Israelievitch to perpetuate the legacy of her late husband, former Toronto Symphony concertmaster Jacques Israelievitch (1948 - 2015).
Prior to her Utah appointment, Adkins was the Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She was appointed by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov in 2005, after joining the orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in 2000. Adkins appeared semi-annually as soloist with the BSO, and performed over 25 works with the orchestra including pieces of Beethoven, Sarasate, Vaughan Williams, Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Vivaldi, Bruch, Saint-Saens, and Arvo Pärt. She was also the concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra from 2008-2016.
Adkins' CD of the complete works for violin and piano by Felix Mendelssohn with pianist Luis Magalhães was released in August 2016 on the TwoPianists Records label. American Record Guide notes that Adkins and Magalhães are "ardent and spontaneous" and "their fierce coordination is breathtaking."
She has served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, where she was featured in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. She has also been a guest artist at numerous festivals including the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, the Sarasota Music Festival, Jackson Hole Chamber Music, Music in the Mountains, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, as well as a clinician at the National Orchestral Institute and the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
A champion of early music, Adkins has been active in baroque performance on period instruments since the age of 11. She has been a member of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, the Dallas Bach Society, and Pro Musica Rara of Baltimore. With the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Adkins appeared as conductor and soloist in several baroque programs of her own design, as well as hosting concerts on the Casual Series. These appearances on the BSO’s subscription series included works of Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, Biber, and Carlo Farina.
The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, six of whom are professional musicians. The siblings, who included titled players in the National, Dallas, and Houston symphonies, joined together to form the Adkins String Ensemble. She performed on viola and violin with this unique chamber ensemble for over 15 years, and the group has made numerous recordings, including Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht.
Adkins received her Bachelor’s summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Buswell. While a student, she served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa and won first prize in a number of competitions, including the Stulberg International String Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition. She was also a second prize winner in the Irving Klein International String Competition.
When not on stage, Madeline is passionate about animal rescue. She volunteered weekly for Small Miracles Cat and Dog Rescue in Maryland from 2008-2016, and has fostered over 100 kittens.
upcoming performances and NOVA Podcast appearances
