Oregon Symphony Musician Bio

Erin Furbee

Violin, Harold & Jane Pollin Assistant Concertmaster Chair

Erin Furbee joined the Oregon Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster in 2001. Prior to her arrival in Portland, she was a member of the Colorado Symphony for eight years, and she also played with the Milwaukee Symphony for a season.

Originally from Chicago, Erin attended the University of Michigan, received her bachelor’s degree in music from the Shepherd School of Music ( Rice University) and did her graduate work at the University of Minnesota. Her main teachers have been Camilla Wicks, Raphael Fliegal, Jacob Krachmalnick and Roland and Almita Vamos. She has performed as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony, the Colorado Symphony and the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestras.

In addition to her great love for performing classical music, Erin enjoys playing tango music, a passion she developed after first hearing the music of Astor Piazzolla in 1997. While living in Denver, she and fellow bandoneon player Evan Orman co-founded a four piece tango group called Extasis and traveled to Buenos Aires in 1999 to study with musicians in many of the tango orchestras there. In Portland, Erin performs with two tango groups. In 2001, she formed Tango Pacifico, which has been featured on the Chamber Music on Tap series and received a grant in 2002 from the Knight Foundation to perform a show of tango and samba music. She also plays with Conjunto Berretin, a 6-piece ensemble which often performs at milongas for dancers, and has been featured at Portland Tangofest and Valentango. In June 2004, Erin returned to Buenos Aires for a month where she studied and performed with tango musicians, took Spanish lessons and learned to dance – the ultimate tango experience!

Erin is also an avid chamber musician, and she is currently a member of Fear No Music and performs with the Bellingham Chamber Players. She has also played with the Colorado Chamber Players, the Mariposa Piano Trio and the Modern Music Festival. She enjoys teaching privately as well as coaching for auditions. In her spare time, she hikes, dances and studies yoga and Spanish.

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