Jerusha Taylor

Jerusha Taylor is a violinist who just graduated with her master’s degree in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan. She is currently a member of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and has been a substitute for the New World Symphony and Ann Arbor Symphony. As a freshman, she held the Principal Violin II position in the University Symphony Orchestra. For the past two summers, Jerusha has attended the Aspen Music Festival & School in Colorado and served as an associate concertmaster of the Aspen Chamber Symphony.

This summer, her solo collaboration at Aspen with baritone Thomas Hampson and pianist Myra Huang was featured on PBS. Throughout the years, Jerusha has won awards for her musicality and expression. Most recently, she received the Gottlieb Variations Award for Outstanding Chamber Performance, and the Irene Kinsey Stare Violin Award presented by the Tuesday Musicale of Detroit. She also won first prize in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Concerto Competition, and performed with the University Symphony Orchestra on its 2025 tour to South Africa and Carnegie Hall.

Her teachers include Fabiola Kim, David Halen, Kimberly Kennedy, and Naoko Tanaka. A dedicated educator, Jerusha is passionate about music education and regularly mentors the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles. She has maintained a private studio, teaching violin and piano, where she supports student growth through technical and artistic development. She believes in a pedagogical approach rooted in a high-challenge, high-support environment.