Background
MM, Indiana University
Blair Milton joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1975 and four years later became a founding member of the Evanston Chamber Ensemble. As the originator of the Winter Chamber Music Festival, which began in 1997, he has performed with Daniel Barenboim, Gil Shaham, Menahem Pressler, Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, and Janos Starker, among others. He has appeared on the Ravinia Festival Chamber Music Series and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Artist Series, as soloist with the Chicago String Ensemble and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. A member of Northwestern University’s violin faculty since 1984, Milton is the director of Northwestern’s Summer Violin Institute. He has given master classes across the United States as well as in South America, Germany, and Japan. After 48 years of service, Milton retired from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in November 2023. A student of Josef Gingold at Indiana University, where he earned a master’s degree, Milton also studied with Ivan Galamian and former CSO concertmaster Sidney Harth.