Artist Biography
As a classical violinist, Alice Blankenship is the co-artistic director of microphilharmonic, Concertmaster of the Oregon Mozart Players, section violinist with the Eugene Symphony, and member of the Oregon Bach Festival orchestra. In addition, she is a baroque violinist, serving as Director of Microphilharmonic Baroque! and performing with the Oregon Bach Festival baroque orchestra, and ensembles such as Portland Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and Santa Fe Pro Musica.
As duo partners, Alice Blankenship and Ali Luthmers-Teyssier launched Alicats, to explore the connections between baroque and folk music. Alicats perform on period instruments, offering a unique sound and crossover approach to both genres.
A musical partnership between Alice Blankenship and clarinetist Michael Anderson, Violette performs original works for violin and clarinet by composers such as Tomas Svoboda, Paul Safar, and Olivia Davis, along with unique arrangements of baroque, classical, folk, and popular music. This partnership also forms the core of both microphilharmonic and Høstedans.
Høstedans is the Scandinavian folk band Blankenship formed in 2020, supported in part by the Oregon Cultural Trust. Their first album, Børnemusik Volume 1 will be released in the fall of 2020. This album features Blankenship and Anderson's original arrangements of traditional dances at the Scandinavian Festival in Junction City, Oregon.
Alice Blankenship has taught violin lessons for more than two decades, and she welcomes players of all levels, from age 8 to adult. Healthy body mechanics related to violin playing are a specialty, drawing upon the work of Kato Havas and others. Inspired by her own mother, Gay Blankenship, a classroom music teacher and chamber musician into her late 80's, Alice hopes to give students the tools and motivation to enjoy the violin for a lifetime!
Alice holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance and Music History from the University of Oregon; a Certificaat of Early Music and Historical Performance Practice from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, The Netherlands; a Master of Music degree from San Francisco Conservatory; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and International Studies, from Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. Her teachers include Kathryn Lucktenberg, Monica Huggett, Enrico Gatti, Pavlo Besnoziuk, and Kato Havas.