Elise LeBihan (’15) selected to perform in the All-National Honor Ensembles Orchestra

Elise LeBihan was chosen from a small group of the best music students from Maine who auditioned to participate in the All-National Honor Ensembles Festival in Nashville this October.

Elise began playing violin at the age of 4. She currently studies privately with Ronald Lantz of the Portland String Quartet. She is a member of the Advanced Chamber Ensemble of the PSQ at the Portland Conservatory of Music and has attended the PSQ summer workshop for two years.

This past spring, she auditioned for and was accepted into the All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra of 2014.  She will be representing Waynflete School and the State of Maine at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, in October of this year.

At Waynflete, Elise plays in a chamber group ensemble, under the direction of Julia Adams of the PSQ, and she has provided accompaniment for theater productions at the School. She also performed with the Waynlfete Chamber Group at the Installment of the Head of School, Geoffrey Wagg.

From a young age, Elise has been performing publicly in a number of settings and situations, ranging from concerts and recitals to playing her violin for diplomats including the Ambassador of France and Governor Baldacci at the Blaine House when she was 7 years old.

Elise was accepted to play in the All-State Festival Orchestra for the past three years. In her Freshman and Sophomore year, Elise auditioned for and participated in the Karger Scholar Program Professional Division at the Portland Conservatory of Music. In middle school, she was a member of the Pineland Suzuki Chamber Music Program for two years and the Advanced Ensemble, Capital Strings, for two years, both under the direction of the late Stephen Kecskemethy of the Portland String Quartet.

This year, Elise will be sharing the first stand with Violinist Shaina Graff in the Mozart Mentors Orchestra at Bowdoin College.

Now a senior at Waynflete, Elise, in addition to playing her violin, is busy preparing college applications. She wants to pursue Violin Performance, French, and Writing in college.