Lydia Umlauf recently won a position in the second violin section of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She is one of the youngest members of the orchestra. Previous to her job in the Dallas Symphony, Lydia was offered a position in the Louisville Symphony Orchestra as interim assistant concertmaster.
Lydia received an honorable mention in the Chinese Fine Arts Society Music Competition and won third place in the Sejong Music Competition both in Chicago, IL. She was a finalist in the Indianapolis Symphony “Maurer Young Musician Competition”, a finalist in the Skokie Valley Young Artist Competition, Skokie, IL and was invited to give a recital performance in the Young Steinway Concert Series in Skokie, IL. Lydia won solo performances with the Lafayette and Muncie Symphony orchestras. In May of 2010 she won The Eleanor Pearce Sherwin Scholarship from the American Opera Society and gave a recital performance in October of 2010. Lydia appeared on WFMT's Introductions radio program where she performed a solo recital. In 2013, Lydia won Jo Ellen and Steve Ham Merit Award and the JoAnn Athanas Memorial Award (first prize) from National Society of Arts and Letters and Ross and Andella Pyle Memorial String Award (first prize) from the 2013 IMMCC.
Lydia has played in Master classes for performers and teachers such as Stephen Clapp, David & Linda Cerone, Ilya Kaler, Ida & Ani Kavafian, Vivian Hagner, David Kim, Midori Goto, Almita Vamos, and Joshua Bell.
She attended the 2012 and 2013 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival orchestral academy where she took part in the 2012 Salzburg Music Festival and played under such renowned conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Semyon Bychkov, and Manfred Honeck. Lydia also attended the 2012 New York String Orchestra Seminar conducted by Jaime Laredo where she played chamber music coached by Sylvia Rosenberg and performed orchestra concerts in Carnegie Hall.
An avid lover of new music, Lydia was a part of IU's prestigious New Music Ensemble playing works by many of the finest living composers. In addition, she has performed and recorded many pieces by fellow composers and colleagues during her time at the Jacobs School. In 2014, Lydia became a member of KammerMahler, a dynamic chamber orchestra dedicated to playing large orchestral works paired with new music in a smaller setting. They have recorded a chamber orchestra arrangement of Mahler's 9th symphony which is available on iTunes and Spotify.
In addition to her violin activities, Lydia also frequently plays chamber music on the viola.
Lydia received a bachelor's degree in violin performance from Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music on full scholarship where she studied with Alexander Kerr. She is an alumnus of the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy program for gifted pre-college musicians where she studied with Desiree Ruhstrat. Prior to her studies with Ruhstrat, Lydia took violin lessons from Tamara Ringas, Chesterton, Indiana.
Lydia plays a 1916 Carl Becker violin on generous loan from the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation.
Photo by: Lydia Umlauf