Elissa lee koljonen biography of rory gilmore

After violinist Elissa Lee Koljonen graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1994, she was invited to perform at the Cape and Islands Chamber Music Festival (now the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival).

At a rehearsal there, she confessed to the violist she was to perform with that she had never before performed the popular HalvorsenPassacaglia for violin and viola (based on music of Handel). The violist, Roberto Díaz, then admitted the same thing to her.

Now, more than 20 years later, the two are married, have two children, and continue to perform regularly, separately and together.

Díaz, former principal viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra, is president and CEO of Curtis, and Koljonen maintains a busy international schedule soloing and performing chamber music.

Any disputes in the marriage, says Díaz playfully, are worked out while they’re holding their instruments. “When y