Erin Furbee
Violinist
Leader, Tango Pacifico
Assistant Concertmaster, Oregon Symphony
Violin Teacher in Portland
Erin Furbee joined the Oregon Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster in 2001.
She was also a member of the Colorado Symphony for 8 years, and played with the Milwaukee Symphony for a season. Originally from the Chicago area, Erin attended the University of Michigan, received her B.M. from Rice University, and went to the University of Minnesota for graduate school. Her main teachers include Camilla Wicks, Raphael Fliegal, and Roland and Almita Vamos. She has performed as soloist with the Oregon Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Southeast Iowa Symphony, the Chintimini Music Festival, the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, and the Yaroslavl Philharmonic in Yaroslavl, Russia. In addition to her great love for performing classical music, Erin enjoys playing tango music, a passion she developed after hearing the music of Astor Piazzolla in 1997. While living in Denver, she co-founded a four-piece tango group called Extasis and traveled to Buenos Aires in 1999 to study with musicians in many of the tango orchestras there. She has since made several more journeys to Argentina, and feels very lucky to have been able to work with Jose Bragato, Piazzolla’s cellist and arranger on a CD project for piano trio called Bragatissimo. In 2001, she formed Tango Pacifico, a 5-piece band that specializes in the music of Astor Piazzolla, and produced the group's first CD Revirado in 2010. Tango Pacifico has performed with the Oregon Symphony and many other events in the Portland area. Erin has performed with other ensembles in Portland, including Third Angle New Music, Fear No Music, and Pink Martini. She also plays on the Classical Up Close series, which provides free concerts throughout the Portland community by Oregon Symphony musicians. Erin enjoys teaching, and is very proud of her students, many of whom play with the PYP and MYS orchestras. Her summers are spent playing at the Chintimini Music Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival. She also has a passion for science and recently received a Bachelor's degree in Medical Laboratory Science from OHSU/OIT and works part-time in the laboratory at Providence Hospital. |