Grand Rapids Symphony

First encountering the violin through a public school music program in her native Pittsburgh, McElfish went on to earn a BA from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and an MM from Indiana University. Her principal teachers include Jens Ellerman, Linda Cerone, and James Buswell . McElfish came to Grand Rapids in 1980 as a violinist with the Grand Rapids Symphony. In 1983 , after serving a year as acting assistant principal second violin , she assumed her current position in the orchestra’s first violin section. Off stage, McElfish has been very active in symphony labor and organizational matters having served on the boards of both the Grand Rapids Federation of Musicians and the Grand Rapids Symphony .She is also widely recognized as host and regular lecturer for the Symphony’s popular pre-concert series, UpBeat.

McElfish is an Artist-Faculty instructor at Grand Valley State University. As Second Violinist of the Perugino String Quartet, the university’s ensemble-in-residence, she performs between ten and fifteen concerts each year on campus and around the state of Michigan.