(Isabelle Senger | Photo courtesy of High Desert Chamber Music)
Soon after moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, California (LA), Isabelle LaForêt Senger began lessons on a 1/16 size violin at the tender age of four. Her talent was quickly evident, and by middle school she was featured in performances around LA. Her studies included attending intensive summer programs such as Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Meadowmount School of Music. As a young student, she received rigorous orchestral training through the American Youth Symphony, under the direction of Mehli Mehta. At this time, she completed her bachelor’s degree at UCSD and won her first professional job as a member of the San Diego Symphony.
After a youth spent focused on training, Senger completed her master’s degree at UCLA, but recognizes her true start in chamber music as receiving the Maxwell H. Gluck fellowship and representing the UCLA School of Music in the Gluck Piano Trio.
Senger jumped headfirst into the life of a professional musician — she has been found in the pit orchestra for the LA Opera, on a movie set in a string quartet, performing live with Andrea Bocelli and Olivia Newton-John, touring Italy with the Spoleto Quartet and performing at Walt Disney Hall with the LA Master Chorale. In addition to working on movie soundtracks like King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia, she played regularly on television series like Family Guy and King of the Hill. She can also be heard on the albums of current recording artists such as Christina Aguilera, James Blunt and Kanye West.
Senger and her husband moved to Bend in 2007. She founded and is the executive director of High Desert Chamber Music, and is still an active member of the Crown City String Quartet, which makes frequent appearances in the Pacific Northwest.
You can hear Isabelle perform weekly this summer as part of High Desert Chamber Music’s new Pop-Up Concerts around town. These short, 20-minute performances are held outdoors and are FREE to attend and open to all. For upcoming dates and locations, visit HighDesertChamberMusic.com.
Come hear the music!