Aaron Janse
Second Violin
As the recipient of the Fritz Kreisler Scholarship, Aaron Janse earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the Juilliard School, where he studied with the world-renowned pedagogue Dorothy DeLay and Joel Smirnoff of the Juilliard String Quartet. His most influential teachers include Daniel Heifetz and Robert Semon (a Carl Flesch disciple who fled Nazi Germany to settle in El Paso, Texas). His chamber music studies include extensive work with Felix Galimir, the Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets, as well as Joseph Fuchs and Zoltan Szekely.
At Juilliard, he served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and as Teaching Fellow for Dorothy DeLay, teacher of Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Sarah Chang, et al., teaching technique classes for her at the Juilliard School Pre-College and Aspen Music Festival.
As a student, he tuned in to the Minnesota Orchestra's weekly radio broadcasts led by Music Directors Neville Marriner and Edo de Waart. While still a student at Juilliard, these broadcasts inspired him to take his first professional orchestra audition for a position with Minnesota Orchestra.
He has performed in the world's greatest concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Vienna's Musikverein (home of the Vienna Philharmonic), Berlin's Philharmonie and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw (with both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Minnesota Orchestra), Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall and Tokyo's Suntory Hall.
As a violist Janse has performed, toured and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in chamber music concerts with Gil Shaham, Joseph Silverstein, Charles Castleman, Stephen Hough, Alicia de Larrocha and Ayke Agus (Jascha Heifetz's longtime pianist and author) at festivals including the Tateuchi International Music Festival in Silicon Valley, California, Aspen Music Festival, Cincinnati’s Linton Series, the Las Vegas Music Festival, Alpenglow Festival in Colorado, Foulger International Music Festival and Timpanogos String Camp in Utah.
Janse is one of the most active teachers in the Twin Cities and has a number of students attending and having earned degrees from music conservatories and universities including Princeton, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Brown, NYU, Vanderbilt, Oberlin, Carleton, Emory, Drake, Northwestern University, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Rochester, Cleveland Institute of Music, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Peabody Institute of Music, St. Olaf, Luther, University of British Columbia Vancouver, UW Madison, University of Minnesota, St. Thomas and Macalester.
His current students actively perform with the top youth symphonies in Minnesota including Minnesota Youth Symphonies (MYS), Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS) and the Minnesota All-State Orchestra (MMEA), and are routinely selected as concertmasters and leaders in both violin and viola sections.
His students have won the MYS, GTCYS and SEMYO Concerto Competitions, Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, Thursday Musical Competition, Mary West Competition, and are frequently featured as concerto soloists with orchestras in the Twin Cities.
Janse has given masterclasses and courses at music conservatories and universities including the Juilliard School Pre-College, New England Conservatory Pre-College, Hartt School of Music (Hartford, CT), St. Olaf College, University of Minnesota, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Iowa, University of London (Ontario), University of North Carolina Charlotte and Weber State University in Logan, Utah.
Aaron and his wife Becka met while practicing yoga and were married at the Como Conservatory in Saint Paul. They live in Saint Paul with Sukhi, their beautiful and sassy calico kitty, and Molly, their super sweet doggie—an Aussie Shepherd mix (heartfelt thanks to Warrior Dog Rescue!).