Eli Thomas

Full Bio

Eli Thomas is active as a performer and teacher in Virginia and surrounding areas. Originally from San Diego, California, he moved to Virginia to study with Akemi Takayama at Shenandoah Conservatory, where he earned his master’s degree in violin performance. He performs frequently with local orchestras, including the Paragon Philharmonia and the National String Symphonia, where he serves as Principal Second Violin. He has performed numerous recitals in the Mid-Atlantic region, and was a featured soloist with the Charles Washington Symphony Orchestra. As a duo, he and his wife Emily performed at the Blair House in Washington D.C. for the president of the Philippines and the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. While in school, he served as concertmaster of the conservatory's orchestra, and was invited to attend the Castleton Festival, an intensive opera and orchestra program directed by Lorin Maazel, the Conductor Laureate of the New York Philharmonic.

Although his training is primarily classical, Eli has played in numerous genres ranging from Bluegrass and Celtic to jazz and classic rock. He was a member of the Bluefire Jazz String Quartet, which performed jazz classics and original material. The quartet had the honor to work with Wynton Marsalis. Eli’s great-grandfather was a fiddler from the island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and some of his earliest memories are of listening to Cape Breton Celtic music. He was honored to join Celtic Woman and the Irish Tenors as a member of the orchestra for their concerts in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

Eli is a passionate educator, and manages the Thomas Suzuki Violin School at Mountain View Music, the area's premiere comprehensive Suzuki program. He has completed intensive pedagogical training with two legendary teachers, Ronda Cole and David Strom, and has registered training in Suzuki books 1-6, 9-10 and multiple Practicum courses. Other pedagogical influences include the master teacher Steven Woodham, whom he worked with in Jamaica. He is also the assistant director of the Sunflower Summer Festival Strings Camp. Eli’s wife, Emily, is a pianist, and they reside in Stephens City, Virginia, with their four daughters.