Margaret Batjer

About Margaret

Margaret Batjer has served as concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998, where she also serves as Director of Chamber Music. She is also renowned as a violin soloist, recording artist, chamber musician and teacher, and has established herself as a versatile and respected artist worldwide.

Batjer has appeared as soloist with America’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Batjer has had an extensive recording career over the last several decades. Her most recent recording with the LA Chamber Orchestra includes the live premiere of the Pierre Jalbert Violin Concerto, and works by Bach, Part and Vasks released on the BIS label. She recorded the Bach Concerto for Two Violins with Salvatore Accardo and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for the Philips label, and later a 2003 Deutsche Grammophon recording pairing Batjer and Hilary Hahn as soloists with Jeffrey Kahane conducting the LA Chamber Orchestra. She has also made numerous chamber music recordings on the EMI, Nuova Era and BMG labels.

Batjer is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. Batjer has a distinguished teaching career and was a violin professor at the USC, Thornton School of Music until 2024. She now serves as a faculty member at the Colburn School where she is Director of Colburn’s Music Academy, a program dedicated to training exceptional pre-college classical musicians from around the world for careers in music as well as serving on the violin faculty at both the Conservatory and the Music Academy.

Teaching and nurturing students is one of the most important and gratifying parts of my professional life. Guiding students toward their professional careers involves dedication to and awareness of all aspects of the musical, technical, and personal demands required to make that transition successful. I was blessed throughout my student career to be surrounded by great teachers, musicians, and mentors who were so deeply generous in sharing their wisdom and knowledge. My goal as a teacher is to pass along all that I have had the privilege to learn throughout my life as a musician.