Jennifer Shackleton, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra viola section since 1997. She is a graduate of Oberlin College where she earned her Bachelors of Music Degree as a double major in Viola Performance and Music Education. Ms. Shackleton’s teachers include Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Karen Ritscher, Christine Rutledge, and Virginia Schneider. For several summers she studied at the renowned music festivals of Aspen and Tanglewood. Ms. Shackleton has enjoyed a varied career as a violist performing in a wide variety of ensembles and teaching. She has collaborated in chamber settings with the Kentucky Chamber Players, Ceruti Chamber Players, Highland Chamber Players, Commonwealth String Quartet, University of Louisville Faculty String Trio, Bach Society, and Louisville Master Chorale. She has held teaching positions at the Oberlin College Preparatory Music Department, Kentuckiana Music Institute, Louisville Academy of Music and as an interim viola instructor at the University of Louisville. Ms. Shackleton is a registered Suzuki Teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has completed long-term teacher training in Suzuki Violin books 1-10 with Dr. Timothy Durbin at the University of Louisville. She has also received additional Suzuki training in Viola Books 4-6, 9, and Suzuki Early Childhood Education from the American Suzuki Institute and Chicago Suzuki Institute.

What do you enjoy most about performing with the Louisville Orchestra? 

Working as a team to accomplish our goal of inspiring and thrilling our audiences through music.

In what ways do you think the Louisville Orchestra can make the greatest impact on our community?

Music as the ability to break down cultural barriers and connect people of all ages and walks of life.

Who is your favorite composer or musician?

Bach - a true rockstar!

What’s something unique, surprising, fun, or interesting about you?  

My family has influenced the musical landscape of Louisville since the late 1800's when my great great grandfather came over from England to Louisville as a tobacco exporter. He was a musician and attained some notoriety as the conductor of the May Chorus, a group of 250 singers who were trained by him to sing for Louisville's first May Festival in 1891. At the time of his death, he was preparing a report on the feasibility of forming a symphony orchestra for the city.

What are some of your hobbies outside the LO?

Boating

How do you stay connected with the community outside of your performances?  

I have a greenhouse and grow many different varieties of culinary and medicinal plants for people to plant in their gardens. I sell them every Saturday in the spring and summer at the Douglass Loop Farmers Market.

What's on your playlist (what song are you currently into)?

John Prine, Yonder Mountain String Band