Fox Chapel's Chloe Yofan pursuing a career with the violin

Chloe Yofan of Fox Chapel can barely remember a time when a violin wasn’t a fixture in her life.

The 24-year-old recalled her earliest violin memory: “I remember going to my first ever violin lesson when I was 5 and learning the names of the violin strings. I also remember going to the String Workshop in the South Side to get measured for my first violin,” she said.

Yofan is pursuing a master’s degree in violin performance at the University of Texas at Austin.

She serves as the teaching assistant to Sandy Yamamoto.

Yofan, 24, is the sole musician in her family that includes her parents, Courtney and Adam Yofan, and brother Eli, who dabbles in playing the cello but now is more interested in basketball.

A 2019 graduate of Fox Chapel Area High School, Yofan began school violin lessons in the third grade.

She played violin in the Fox Chapel middle school and high school orchestras “as much as possible” and was a member of the district’s Honors Orchestra in the sixth grade.

In high school, Yofan studied AP music theory and took piano classes.

“I’m very grateful to Mairi Cooper, the FCAHS orchestra director. She’s been a great mentor to me, and I attribute a lot of my musical knowledge to her. She’s given me valuable advice for my musical career over the years,” Yofan said.

Her Pittsburgh-based music teachers included Luci Tedesco, Joyce Wohlgemuth and Alison Fujito.

In 2023, Yofan was awarded the Peter Salaff Award for Excellence in Chamber Music and was inducted into the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda.

Yofan has performed domestically and in England, France, Spain, Canada and France.

“My two favorites are Aspen and the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. I loved Aspen because of how beautiful the mountains and the town are, and I also had a great time in Spain. The Palau is a beautiful hall with really interesting artwork on the inside and outside,” Yofan said.

She earned her undergraduate degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.

She moved to Texas last year and works at the Austin Symphony Orchestra after earning a second violin position there in September.

Yofan plays a 1996 William John violin and owns a Jay Haide violin from her high school days, which she keeps as a spare.

The public often inquires about what’s inside her music case.

“Another common question is if I actually pay attention to what the conductor is doing, and the answer is yes,” Yofan said.

Her summer violin musical pursuits have included participating in the Green Mountain Chamber Music Institute, Encore Chamber Music Institute and the Aspen Music Festival and school, where she was a violin fellow.

Future goals for Yofan include continuing her music career in Austin.

This spring, Yofan is scheduled to perform with the string quartet in chamber music competitions.

The quartet designed a monthlong educational project and interactive performance in collaboration with students at the Children’s School of Rochester No. 15 and the Rochester Public Library.

“They’re my closest friends in Austin, and I spend almost every day with them,” Yofan said of the musical group.

The quartet are finalists for the Music Teachers National Association chamber music competition in Minneapolis.

“Ultimately, I want to keep playing music with interesting people,” Yofan said.

Chloe’s mother credits Cooper for the huge development in Chloe’s musical journey.

Cooper took the Fox Chapel Area High School orchestra students on a field trip to The Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, a visit that was instrumental in Chloe’s decision to study there after high school.

“I remember Chloe being in awe of the school and of the program,” Courtney Yofan said. “I think this is when I realized that she wanted to pursue violin performance as her career.”

Courtney Yofan recalled the countless hours her daughter spent practicing the violin at home.

“It’s amazing and fun to think back to when she was 5 and she was squeaking out “Twinkle Twinkle” variations and now I’m hearing professional-quality Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Bach,” she said. “When she’s home, I get to listen to beautiful ‘concerts’ coming from her bedroom. How lucky am I?”

Her proudest mom moment?

“When Chloe took the stage at Heinz Hall for the first time as a member of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra when she was in high school. To think of all the great musicians and performers who have been on that stage , it was an incredible moment for me to see my daughter performing on the very same stage,” Courtney Yofan said.

When not playing the violin, Yofan loves to play with her beloved cat, Nadia, and go hiking, and she enjoys reading.