Recently moving from Chicago, Hanna Pederson is excited to begin teaching and performing in Madison, WI. Hanna is a member of the Madison Symphony viola section, performs frequently with many orchestras around the midwest such as the Illinois Philharmonic, and recently served as guest principal viola of the Elmhurst Symphony. She has performed with orchestras in Carnegie Hall, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Center, Chicago Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall, and Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Ken-David Masur, Brett Mitchell, Leonard Slatkin, and Larry Rachleff. Hanna’s recent chamber music performances include Viola Faculty at Manitou Chamber Music Festival, guest violist with the KAIA String Quartet and long-term guest violist with Crossing Borders Music.
Over the summers she has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, Contemporary Performance Institute, Kent Blossom Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and Chautauqua Music Festival. Alongside her performance calendar she maintains extensive educational activities including leading sectionals for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, coaching chamber music at area high schools, and maintaining a large private teaching studio in which she has helped students successfully audition into Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the ILMEA district and all-state festivals.
Hanna’s primary teachers include Ivo-Jan van der Werff, Katherine Murdock, Ning Mu, and Nancy Levasseur. She has also had significant studies with Li-Kuo Chang, Peter Slowik, Joan DerHovsepian, Daniel Foster, and Caroline Coade. She is a recent alum of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and holds degrees from Rice University and the University of Maryland.