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Ellen Appleton, age 17, began playing the violin at age 3, when she entered the Suzuki Strings program at Memphis, TN.  She served as Concertmaster in the Jackson Symphony Youth Orchestra for six years and as a Symphony Ambassador, serving The Jackson Symphony Orchestra in several capacities at their concerts, a member of the Suzuki Strings Performing Group for four years, a two time first place winner in the Memphis Beethoven Club Young Artist Strings competition in the Junior and Senior divisions, a winner in the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree, and a two time winner of the Jackson Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto competition.  She has been Concertmaster for All West String Orchestra in 2007 and the Senior Orchestra in 2008.   In 2007 and 2008, Ellen won first place in the Irish musical competition in the Memphis Feis.  She received several first place awards in Irish Step Dancing in the 2008 Memphis Feis.  In summer, 2008, she received a full scholarship and teacher apprentice award for 2009 at the Randy Elmore Fiddle Camp in Texas.  In summers, 2008 and 2009 she worked with the Annie Moses Band in their fine arts academies in two states, teaching and performing, and will again work with the Annie Moses Band’s Fine Arts Academy in Nashville, TN, summer, 2010.  Ellen has served in the teaching capacity with young violin students, teaching the Suzuki method and also fiddle techniques and music.  Another outstanding facet of Ellen’s musical talent is that she does session playing.  She has worked in several studios doing back-up violin and mandolin for other artists.  Ellen composed her first classical piece at age 16, a piano quintet, O Daughters of Jerusalem, which has been performed at concerts, churches, and her personal recitals. She has several original compositions of fiddle music, folk music, and an original composition of praise and worship music.  Although Ellen is classically trained, she enjoys playing a variety of music—classical, western swing, jazz, old time fiddle, Celtic, and gospel bluegrass.  She featured this variety of music on her first CD released in 2004, at age 11.  She had her second CD released December, 2006, which features Will Tell, a newgrass band which she co-founded, encompassing music of the Celtic style.  Will Tell also released another CD, Nobody, which features some of Ellen’s original compositions. 

Ellen performed with the Virtuoso Baroque Chamber Orchestra at New England Conservatory of Music and with the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at New England Conservatory of Music in her junior and senior years of high school.  She also plays piano, mandolin, guitar, and the Irish penny whistle.  Ellen has studied Irish step dancing at the Inis Acla School of Irish Dance in Memphis, TN, and incorporates Irish dance into her own program of Celtic music.  Ellen is a member of the Jackson Area Plectral Society, Jackson, TN, which promotes old time music, and The Celtic Society of West Tennessee, promoting Irish and Scottish heritage.  She is involved in the music ministry at her church where she plays violin in the worship service with other instrumentalists.  Ellen enjoys playing for many community functions such as churches, dinner parties, weddings, festivals, music clubs, and fundraisers.  She performs with The Appleton Family Band with father, Dr. Joe Appleton, on guitar, and her mother, Joan, on bass fiddle.  Ellen graduated from Walnut Hill School for the Arts, near Boston, MA, in June, 2010., where she was a student in The New England Conservatory of Music at Walnut Hill program.  Ellen will enter Berklee College of Music, in Boston, MA, in the fall of 2010, where she will major in violin performance.  Ellen has a website, www.ellenmelissaappleton.com, which always has updates as to performances, etc.