Charlene Kluegel

Hailed for her “unsentimental verve, musical feeling and great technical skill” (New York Classical Review), violinist Charlene Kluegel is known for a diversity that transcends traditional boundaries of classical music. An award-winning violinist, she has performed with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cuarteto Casals, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera, and Third Coast Percussion, as well as with Jason Vieaux, Marta Aznavoorian, and Robert McDuffie. Her performances as a soloist and chamber musician have taken her to Vienna’s Musikverein and Ehrbar-Saal, the Ravinia Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Kennedy Center, and Canada’s Banff Centre for the Arts.

Kluegel’s performances have taken her to major concert venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Musikverein, Tonhalle Zurich, Chicago Symphony Hall, the Strathmore, and Orchestra Hall Detroit, as well as festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and programs at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Mozarteum Salzburg, and the Aspen Music Festival.

As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the Baltimore Baroque Band, Cornell Symphony Orchestra, Meilemer Symphony Orchestra, and the Carthage Philharmonic. Recent engagements include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Carthage Philharmonic and upcoming performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Kurt Weill’s Violin Concerto with the Carthage Wind Ensemble.

A passionate chamber musician, Kluegel served for seven years as first violinist of the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble. She is also the co-founder of Duo FAE, whose album featuring music by suffragette composers was released on Albany Records in 2025. Her recording work includes participation in the Grammy-nominated album Canto America, nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album.

An advocate for contemporary music, Kluegel has premiered works by composers including Dan Visconti, Julia Adolphe, Steven Snowden, and Stacy Garrop, and she continues to commission and perform new repertoire. Her upcoming recording projects include an album of contemporary works for scordatura solo violin.

In addition to her performing career, Kluegel is an active educator who has presented masterclasses and residencies at institutions including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, University of Texas at Austin, and the McDuffie Center for Strings. She has previously held positions at the Boston Conservatory and the Music Institute of Chicago, and currently serves on the faculty of Carthage College and Mostly Modern Festival.

Kluegel holds degrees from Cornell University, the Peabody Institute, and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she earned her Doctor of Music as a recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award. She studied with Pamela Frank, Jorja Fleezanis, Susan Waterbury, Stanley Ritchie, and Monika Urbaniak.

Charlene Kluegel performs on a 1780 violin by Antonio Gragnani and is an artist sponsored by Larsen Strings.