Ashley Fitzwater

Ashley Fitzwater, violinist, is an active substitute with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the Rockford Symphony, and performs regularly in the Chicago area. Ashley served as concertmaster for the Illinois Valley Symphony from 2011-2017. Before moving to Illinois in 2009, she was a member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra for 2 years and performed with the Wichita Grand Opera.

Ashley maintains a private teaching studio of violin, viola, and piano. She is also a center director and teacher for her Music Together® center, in Aurora and Sycamore, Mighty Acorn Music Makers. Ashley has been teaching at Viva Performing Arts in Dixon, in various capacities, since 2014. At Viva, she taught a 3-year in-school group violin program, as well as lessons, and Music Together. Ashley taught for an El Sistema program, in Aurora from 2014-2015. She holds a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from Northern Illinois University, where she studied with Mathias Tacke, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance from Wichita State University, where she studied with Richard Young, John Harrison, and Nancy Luttrell.